Your welcome. The chuck n duck is not as dangerous as some may say. It should be fed from the side, yes. As long as you are paying attention to the work, and sorta toss the limbs in you will have no problems. All the local asplundh crews here use them everyday. If they were really man killers asplundh wouldn't use them. Mine will chip 8-9 inch max diameter, but the big thing is the length of the material unlike a disk chipper. I can only remember stalling it once and that was a largest 20 foot maple limb, it was just a bit too long. C and D chippers require the material to be cut a bit shorter. If you look at it as a stepping stone its not bad. They are light to tow, cheap to run and fix, and simple. The downfalls, limited size/length or material, fixed chute. I say buy one, let it buy you a disk chipper in the future.
Should i buy a chipper
- Thread starter shongaloo
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if a disc chipper gets ahold of you, the rollers will crush and feed you right through. even if my leg got caught in my chipper, it would only chip until it was met with resistance. if your getting whipped from the branches and losing clothing, your putting yourself in harms way. if I run a long, large limb and the motor starts to die, I can grab the limb and stop it from chipping. feed the chute from the side and step back and its fine. check craigslist and ebay. I had a few between $2500 and $3000. I went with the one closest. I can tow it with a pick up truck no problem. I can work it all day on $20 in gas. its been the best investment I have made.
Both of you have great points and I agree, If used with proper respect and training its not a problem. Me personally it would be a matter of who i work with, even with the chipper we have now. not everyone has the same mind set when it comes to common sense.
The difference is a chipper with feed rollers has a knee bar and panic bar, which will stop the rollers. Flesh and bone don't offer much resistance. Next time you see a dead deer by the side of the road, feed it through and see how long it takes to make deer sausage.
Lol no need for that, 8 foot log about 10 inch thick and it will spit it out in under 30 seconds, there's no need for the blood/smell. I do get what everyone is saying as far as being able to stop what is going in easily, since they do bog down under a load, but that just like saying a bump bar on the feed chute is going to save your life if your dumb enough to put your foot in the chute. nothing is 100% safe and everything should be treated as such.
no doubt it would chip a human with no problem. I don't fit through the chipper feed chute so it couldn't suck me through. whereas the rollers would make me fit. I am not saying either are safe, but its not like a vortex either. use your head, stay to the side and make sure there is NEVER a rope near the chipper. and I mean never! not even an old clothesline that was in the tree. I can upload a video to youtube of us running my chipper if you like.
sgreanbeans
Treeaculterologist
Don't knock ya, sorry but have to, actually going to delete that vid, not trying to be the PPE police, but come on man, that's too much and then to throw that up here! Guys will post pics and have one thing missing in a still pic while posing for the camera and we/I will give them hell for it. Your running brush in a old aas chipper and nobody has any PPE on! Even your guy. Big difference. If not the helmet, what about ear and eye protection? That on the cam too? Eye protection is a must at the chipper, fastest place to get a stupid little chunk in your eye, that will make you wanna go postal.
Don't relax your standards to post a vid bro. If something did come out and smash u in the face, it would be for what?, a vid of you running that thing for the OP!, not really worth it man.
Don't relax your standards to post a vid bro. If something did come out and smash u in the face, it would be for what?, a vid of you running that thing for the OP!, not really worth it man.
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I saw the sun, what a great thing. Thanks.
Well i have kinda changed my position on them, while not a fan. If it was all i could get a hold of then it would have to do. I'm just not a big firewood person, so if it fits it gets turned into chips.
Well i have kinda changed my position on them, while not a fan. If it was all i could get a hold of then it would have to do. I'm just not a big firewood person, so if it fits it gets turned into chips.
Thanks guys for all the comments and feed back sorry I just recently had a chance to get back on here being @ the fire station this tour hasn't been an easy or slow one that's forsure other than that I did find an 1994 whisper with the ford 300 approx. 2 hours from the house going Sunday to look @ and and hopefully take it home with that being said what are some of the thinks I need to look for in the chipper like if I see this or hear this should I let this one slide or that's the norm. Again I really appreciate all the feed back. Heath
kyle goddard
Original HitchHiker
That made me think of a time when i was young maby 13 i would go to work with a company my dad climbed for.. we were clearing a lot found a frozen dear and ran it through a self feeding chipper. Thats something you never forget. Thank god it was freezing cold out. There wasnt much to smell.
CalTreeEquip
ArboristSite Guru
That chipper should serve you well. Pound for pound and dollar for dollar, Asplundh's are still the best deals around. No they are not safe but what chipper is.
I ran them for 20 years and never had a problem.
Couple things to check. Look at the blades, hopefully they are sharp and have been maintained. If it has been sitting for years they can be a real bear to deal with.
The blades take some skill to change and about 3 hours when you know what your doing. Getting the cutter done right is the biggest issue these chipper have. Next take a large pry-bar with you and pry between the drum and the base plate (not the blades) see if there is any play. You don't want to have to replace those bearings. Check the clutch. Those are not adjustable so if its high its worn. Check the radiator, see if its clogged. If it is, they have been running it hot and that could mean problems. It also mean they have not been maintaining it properly.
There is a tread on this site that address ropes getting caught in chippers. This would be a good thing to read since that is the greatest hazard to using these.
There are also videos on youtube that should how to properly feed one of these chippers. Take some time to look those up.
Good luck.
I ran them for 20 years and never had a problem.
Couple things to check. Look at the blades, hopefully they are sharp and have been maintained. If it has been sitting for years they can be a real bear to deal with.
The blades take some skill to change and about 3 hours when you know what your doing. Getting the cutter done right is the biggest issue these chipper have. Next take a large pry-bar with you and pry between the drum and the base plate (not the blades) see if there is any play. You don't want to have to replace those bearings. Check the clutch. Those are not adjustable so if its high its worn. Check the radiator, see if its clogged. If it is, they have been running it hot and that could mean problems. It also mean they have not been maintaining it properly.
There is a tread on this site that address ropes getting caught in chippers. This would be a good thing to read since that is the greatest hazard to using these.
There are also videos on youtube that should how to properly feed one of these chippers. Take some time to look those up.
Good luck.
This is all good info. Check the belts as well. Its like anything, pay attention to everything. Watch and listen. See how it starts, feel the clutch engage, listen to the way the engine responds. Bring some wood to chip. If the knives are good, it will pull in limbs/logs fast. If you have to push the wood in, you need new ones or a grind, not a big deal but could be a bargaining chip for you. Run it long enough to get it hot. Make sure nothings leaking. Put your bare hand on the drum bearing housing on both sides to see if they are warm or hot, could indicate a failing bearing. When the bearing on mine went bad on the drive side there was an occasional spark. After you shut it down, listen to the drum spin. You will know if you have a bad bearing. Otherwise these things are pretty simple and easy to fix.
CalTreeEquip
ArboristSite Guru
I concur.
fearofpavement
Trying them all
I have an Altec 12" with the 4cyl Ford engine (looks like a Pinto engine to me)
Anyway, we have a lot of pine here and these chippers work great for pine. When I cut oak/hickory/sweetgum etc, I cut everything into firewood so don't usually have that much "brush" left. For those jobs, I usually cut everything up, throw the brush in the dump trailer and then pitch the wood in on top of it. After I dump it out at the staging area, I sort it into firewood and debris to be burned.
I don't think the drum "chuck and duck" chippers are any more dangerous than the disk chippers but they will give you a good whipping from time to time. I am cautious when feeding wood with vines, etc. They are very fast. No matter how long the branch is, two second max later, it's in the hopper. They are also extremely loud to work around and I often wear earplugs AND muffs when using it. Interesting name: "Whisper Chipper" which is a huge misnomer.
The reason these chippers are cheap (relatively) is not because they are dangerous, but because most are old, they are relatively simple, and a lot of them were made.
I would suggest that unless you have very good mechanical abilities, don't buy a project disc chipper. These have lots of components that can be very expensive to replace.
A drum chipper has an engine with a dry clutch (like a car's clutch) driving a belt (several side by side) which turns the drum with the knives in it. (essentially like a wood planer).
What to look for? Check the engine over, check the drum bearings and general condition of the chute, trailer frame, lights, coupler, tire condition, wheel bearings, etc. They are not a maintenance hog if operated properly. Mine had carb issues but I finally remedied that and now it's pretty trouble free.
Buy one at the right price, use it, sell it again later for the same money. The drum chipper is the way to get started. Hauling out loads of brush can be avoided and the time savings justify one quickly.
Anyway, we have a lot of pine here and these chippers work great for pine. When I cut oak/hickory/sweetgum etc, I cut everything into firewood so don't usually have that much "brush" left. For those jobs, I usually cut everything up, throw the brush in the dump trailer and then pitch the wood in on top of it. After I dump it out at the staging area, I sort it into firewood and debris to be burned.
I don't think the drum "chuck and duck" chippers are any more dangerous than the disk chippers but they will give you a good whipping from time to time. I am cautious when feeding wood with vines, etc. They are very fast. No matter how long the branch is, two second max later, it's in the hopper. They are also extremely loud to work around and I often wear earplugs AND muffs when using it. Interesting name: "Whisper Chipper" which is a huge misnomer.
The reason these chippers are cheap (relatively) is not because they are dangerous, but because most are old, they are relatively simple, and a lot of them were made.
I would suggest that unless you have very good mechanical abilities, don't buy a project disc chipper. These have lots of components that can be very expensive to replace.
A drum chipper has an engine with a dry clutch (like a car's clutch) driving a belt (several side by side) which turns the drum with the knives in it. (essentially like a wood planer).
What to look for? Check the engine over, check the drum bearings and general condition of the chute, trailer frame, lights, coupler, tire condition, wheel bearings, etc. They are not a maintenance hog if operated properly. Mine had carb issues but I finally remedied that and now it's pretty trouble free.
Buy one at the right price, use it, sell it again later for the same money. The drum chipper is the way to get started. Hauling out loads of brush can be avoided and the time savings justify one quickly.
Carburetorless
ArboristSite Guru
I wonder why the DOT doesn't use chippers to get ride of animal carcasses in the winter time.
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