Got a Woodmaxx WM -8H woodchipper and review

[Kevin in Ohio]

Decided it was time to a medium size chipper to smaller jobs around the farms. We need something that will chip up the smaller limbs as we cut and use most everything over 2 inches in diameter. When we clean fencerows and such we'll burn those. When a single tree or large branch falls in a field it will be a lot nicer to chip it and blow it in the fencerow where a bush hog will spread it out. A plus will also be with other cleanups I can simply blow in the back of a truck to save hours of limb dragging or multible brush loads with the truck.

I wanted a PTO powered version with a power infeed system. Did some comparing of different ones and decided on a WoodMaxx WM- 8H. It will handle up to 8 inch material, which is more than I need but it's nice to have the option! Should be a strong unit that will last. Here is a review and how it is working for us.

I had planned on doing a step by step on the set up but the pics got messed up and I lost those. The manufacturer has a set up video you can view on YouTube if you want to get an idea. One thing I will stress is to COMPLETELY go over the unit and TIGHTEN ALL BOLTS. some were not tight , even on the pumps so do yourself a favor and take the time. An old trick is to get a dry erase marker and mark them as you go so you can be sure you didn't miss any.

It has a self contained hydraulic system so you have no hookups. Just hook the unit up and PTO and that is it. Dual hydraulic motors on the feed rollers and they are variable speed if you have a smaller tractor and run bigger diameter stuff.

Greasable bearings and access panels to get to the knives make it nice. Overall the quality of the machine is better than I expected.

Chip chute is completely adjustable and lockable. Has a flap on the top to direct chips too which is nice. You do have to get pretty close if your using a trailer but I've completely filled a 10 ' x 12' x 3' trailer with it and it wasn't a big deal. You could put an extension on the chute without too much work but the extra weight may work on the welds here.

This is the forward and reverse lever. I took off the bar that is supposed to be on the top of the feed chute. When the unit would bounce a little it would shut the feed roller off. I'm sure it is a safety feature but I'll take responsibility for my actions. It's easily reachable for panic stops this way for me still. It could use a little better design as it's too much weight for the valve body to hold.

This is something I'm going to change. I assembled according to manufacture and they showed nuts in with standard bolts. Stuff does snag up some as they have a lot of extra thread sticking out. I'm sure it's another safety thing as to not snag yourself on the outside of the macione. I'm going to pick up some short carriage bolts and have the heads in.

This is where the feed roller pivots. After running it for a few hours I noticed the roller casting was rubbing on the radiused slot. It wore into the casting some and found that the adjustment was WAY off. Don't know why they missed that but is fine now. Don't take things for granted and COMPLETELY check it over before running.

Trying to show the wear on the casting here.

3 point hook up is adjustable and I didn't even have to cut the drive shaft for my application. They have all the specs in the manual with easy to follow instructions.

Air intake to keep the chips flying a plug free. Haven't had a plug yet.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Feed rollers are pretty aggressive and have sharp edges. This has about 20 hours of use on it here.

This is the speed adjustment for the feed roller. Just a simple screw valve. I'm running it wide open and no problems even with feeding some test, big stuff. For the most part I'm 3 inch and under but I am running a tractor with around 60 PTO HP.

Ready to start cleaning the driveways.

I'm using a smaller MF 175 for the chipper. Seems to be plenty for the chipper.

Wanted to get some driveways back though the hillside behind my house. when I was a kid it was pasture and you could drive between the trees.

Not now as Honeysuckle has invaded our area and made it impassable. I used the backhoe and cleared the driveways and threw the uprooted tress and honeysuckle to the sides.

After that was all done went back through and cut all the brush and windrowed it back in the center of the driveway. Cut most everything 2 inch and bigger for the stove.

All toll it's probably about a 1/4 mile in length. I'll chip all the brush and blow it off to the side. Didn't want to leave the brush to rot as it will just compound the problem. Lots of ash trees in here that are dead now from ash bore beetle so I want to get the wood out.

Chipper should make quick work of the brush as it's all green and soft. I cut/clipped all the root balls off to save some wear on the chipper knives(no dirt)

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

For those of you that don't have honeysuckle this is what it does. Grows fast and creates a canopy that blocks all the light so the grass dies out. after a while you can actually walk under the canopy. Only thing worse for use is if it was Multiflors Rose.

Gets so thick the deer won't even try it. It does pull out easy though.

I was working by myself here and tried to get some action shots. Once it starts pulling it in it normally will always pull it through. I've had a few VERY odd pieces that were over4 inches in diameter that caught as they were 90 degree bends but that is acceptable to me. I'm really impressed with what the feed rollers do break up and pull through. A VERY pleasant surprise there.
http://photos.imageevent.com/kevininohio/woodchipper/websize/MVC-002S_1.JPG[img]

[B]It is happiest if you can constantly feed it and with one guy it keeps you moving. Easier with 2 people to do. If you put the next round of limbs UNDER the ones nearly done it forces it to squeeze the brush down and is non stop. Basically this way you don't have to reach the feed roller. it'll do the work for you.[/B]
I'll try to get some better "in use" pics tomorrow if the weather holds out. All in all I'm very pleased with it so far. This is not a chuck and duck so if you want very fast speed and chip everything you will not like this one. I posted here as it really doesn't fit in the commercial catagory and it's going to be a nice tool for our operation. Cleanups and such is where it shines. I got hit with some pretty heavy wind damage and chipped 2 big trailer loads from my yard with it. Probably about 30 truck loads of brush into 2 dump trailer loads is fine with me! A LOT less work on my end.

The slower feed rate than a chuck and duck commercial chipper is what I want. No getting slapped with limbs and a lot safer to me. It's speed is just about perfect for us.

I'll keep posting updates with some pics and if any of you have any questions or need close ups I'll do it. Not being paid for this as I did a buy it now off Ebay so I'm telling the pros and cons that I have seen. I looked for something like this while doing research to get one and thought it would be useful to some.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Looking good Kevin! Sure would be handy. Is that stuff burnable in an OWB ya think?

 

[Steve NW WI]

Nice review Kevin, and nice looking 175. I wish my 180 still looked that good. Some day it will look new again though.

I do wish you'd put the stop bar back on though, maybe add some springs to keep from getting the false stops. I'm not normally a "safety nazi", but the bar's there for good reason.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Looking good Kevin! Sure would be handy. Is that stuff burnable in an OWB ya think?

It's green and with what little heat value honeysuckle has it would not be worth it to me. Trying to find a way to dry it or the space it would take up means a no go. I think you would shovel it in as fast as you'd have to shovel the ashes out!

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Nice review Kevin, and nice looking 175. I wish my 180 still looked that good. Some day it will look new again though.

I do wish you'd put the stop bar back on though, maybe add some springs to keep from getting the false stops. I'm not normally a "safety nazi", but the bar's there for good reason.

The feed rate is not fast enough to suck you in, you have plenty of time to move the lever from either side. I don't put my hands way down into the chute either so everything is good. I've run chuck and ducks and they worry me WAY more than this ever will.

The 175 has been a good little tractor. Dad mainly bush hogs with it and ran the old 3 point splitter with it. It starting to mark it territory though. I do like the Perkins.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

It is happiest if you can constantly feed it and with one guy it keeps you moving. Easier with 2 people to do. If you put the next round of limbs UNDER the ones nearly done it forces it to squeeze the brush down and is non stop. Basically this way you don't have to reach the feed roller. it'll do the work for you.

Started on this section of driveway this morning. It was pretty thick through this area and was by myself. Brush was pretty solid from the base of the tree snag that fell.

Hard to show the scale of this pile but would easily fill a full size truck bed. I was surprised that it chips the stuff pretty fine so it packs more per load when hauling away.

I just keep backing up the line so I don't have to drag it very far. Goes pretty quick.

This stuff is long and stringy so it feeds really well. Basically it keeps chipping constantly.

Dad showed up to help and we really started moving. You can keep the feed chute like that and it just keeps pulling it all in.

Very little, if any trimming is needed as it'll pull it in. Sharp 90's on bigger stuff should be trimmed but you can see what needs to be trimmed before you start. Just a common sense thing.

This thing is pretty hungry!

Just blowing this stuff on the ground so it's cleaned up. Honeysuckle isn't worth too much for anything.

About 2 1/2 hours and this section of drive is done. would have taken a lot longer to burn and it always seems like the brush is in the wrong spot if you throw it to the side.

Makes for a nice drive to get the dead and fallen trees out.

Had one line start leaking a little oil so got out the wrenches and tightened it up some of the others were a little loose from the original go over. Went over all the other nuts again too as the manufacturer says but they were fine. All in all I am really pleased with it. I'll give an update from time to time for the long term review but so far, so good.

 

[Steve NW WI]

That little A4-236 Perkins is a great motor. Light work it runs on about a gallon an hour, and I don't know that I've ever burned a full (30?) gallon tank of diesel in a day working it hard plowing or disking. Mine was bought new by Dad when I was 2 - back in '73, the tach hasn't worked since sometime in the 80s, but I'd guess it's got 8,000 hours or more on it by now. It could use a set of injectors, but it doesn't use hardly any oil yet.

I can't justify a chipper, but I sure do want one. Rabbits and other critters sure like my brushpiles though.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Had my first plug up the other day, I had noticed some longer strings were starting to get thrown out of the chute. When I took the chute off to unplug the strings were what caused the problem so I decided to look at the knives to see if adjustment was needed. The knives themselves were not bad but I flipped them anyway. When I got to the adjustment knife near the rollers, it was a royal pain to get out. They use recessed allen bolts and they fill up with stuff and hard to get to.

I said, "NEVER AGAIN!" They should at least use recessed carriage like bolts that are used on field cultivator shoes on farm tillage equipment. I TIG welded tacks and that works fine as well. No clearance issues by doing this. The only downside would be with sharpening if you wanted to completely sink it in to hold. Not a problem for me as I have a surface grinder with holding devices.

To hold them nice and flat for welding, I used some 1/2" nuts for spacers and snugged them up. I then tacked them down. VERY little heat and it's so isolated it won't hurt the temper of the knives.

They want .020 - .030 gap between the knives. I used a couple pieces of .025 wire taped to the knife. Worked well. BE SURE to cycle the flywheel around to BOTH knives as one on mine was closer than the other. Might save you a BAD situation.

Got some 3/8" carriage bolts for the chute intake as well. This will let the stuff feed a lot easier too.

On the bolt at the end of the chute I put an acorn nut on the outside. It's about the only one you might snag yourself on. You could cut them down or get shorter ones but this will work for me.

 

[Eddie P]

Kevin, I really appreciate the time you have taken to write this review. I'm thinking about buying this model or maybe the one with mechanical feed. Please keep the feedback coming as you get more hours on
the machine. Very helpful!
Thanks for your time!

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

No problem and glad you liked it. I was looking for some reviews before I pulled the trigger but nothing was out there from actual, independant owners. I have used it more and still no major issues with it. I'm still glad I bought it.

 

[BonanzaMan]

Great information and review Kevin. Much appreciated. Close to pulling the trigger on ordering a WM-8H. In my case, I have acres of Multi-flora rose that I need to remove and chip. I have read that some chippers don't do well with rose and tend to get tangled up in it. What has been your experience chipping the rose canes with the WM-8H?

Thanks.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

On honeysuckle it eats it up great. I do cut stuff bigger than 2 inches in diameter as I burn it in the shop for quick heat. Being the honeysuckle normally grows in long, slender branches it feeds fine. Never had a plug up with it. As I said, push/lay the next one under the one feeding and it will self feed it in as fast as you can grab them. No rose bushes here in number to give a review on that. I'd be VERY careful on those as the "grab you and pull you in" thing would be a factor. I cut a 20 acre pasture that was loaded with osage and multiflora rose. Numerous times I got trapped by the stuff grabbing you while trying to get to a trunk. We started using a big backhoe to get an entrance.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Over the years, I've owned several different chippers, including a 5" power feed model, I'm glad yours is working well for you, as I wasn't happy with mine.

In fact, i wasn't happy with any of the ones I bought, as by the time I cut all the limbs off, just to get a piece through the chipper, I could of much easier just "rotary cut" it! My 5" model was a brand name, but made in china!! AND I found the steel in it too soft, I was NOT happy with it at all...

I never bothered chipping brush like you are, waaaaaay too slow and too much work. Instead I bought a HD Woods rotary cutter and I run that honey suckle right over with a tractor, letting the cutter do all the work! It cuts that brush right up, and spreads it out, cut into chips. I have no problem going right over 2" tree's or heavy brush with the cutter, making short work of the job.

I've made a LOT of money with my cutter, taking out brush for others too, so my cutter has paid for it self more than once now...

SR

 

[BonanzaMan]

I'd love to be able to run a rotary mower over my rose... my property is very hilly and mostly forested so my plan is to cut and chip the bush - collecting the chips in an effort to minimize spreading seed. Then I'll apply a herbicide (crossbow) to remaining stems and reapply as needed to regrowth. Laborious and no doubt painful but other than turning goats loose, its about the only option I can come up with. Other ideas welcomed!

 

[milkman]

Great review, sure would like to own one.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I'd love to be able to run a rotary mower over my rose... my property is very hilly and mostly forested so my plan is to cut and chip the bush - collecting the chips in an effort to minimize spreading seed. Then I'll apply a herbicide (crossbow) to remaining stems and reapply as needed to regrowth. Laborious and no doubt painful but other than turning goats loose, its about the only option I can come up with. Other ideas welcomed!

I made my original post based on the picts you posted... A decent tractor with a GOOD cutter would easily have cleaned that area MUCH easier than all the hand work of cutting/chipping, and the job would have been just as good Clearing that trail through the woods would have been a 30 minute job for my tractor and cutter!

As for those thorny bushes, I rotary cut them all the time and make money doing it,

and it leaves the customers pasture/trails or what ever, nice and clean. Here's after one pass,

After two pass', it's almost like it was never there...

SR

 

[gary courtney]

enjoyed your post. been looking at this model for months waiting to pull the trigger

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

enjoyed your post. been looking at this model for months waiting to pull the trigger

The only thing to watch is if you feed larger doady stuff that is rotten wet like a sponge. It has a harder time throwing that as it feeds through so fast and did get it to plug up doing that. For me it has done what I hoped it would.