Time to upgrade my chipper

[Kemptreeservice]

Hey guys, my 97 woodchuck 17 has finally kicked the bucket. I can say that was the best $2700 i ever spent 4 years ago. Ive been looking and want yalls advice on what yall like. I would love to have a 18"er but i cant afford it. i dont want to spend more than 20 or better yet 15. I have a 20 foot dump trailer on site at every job so anything thats bigger than 12" will get thrown in it. I just want another 12" disk style chipper but i want to hear what yall have used and like. Drum or disk? My woodchuck has two feed rollers that set on top of each other and thats what im used to, but ive noticed that the vermeers and brush bandits are different. (one has only one roller and one has two rollers that are vertical). Yall tryed these? I dont like on mine how the curved branchs will hit right behind the bottom roller and get stuck. does the different styles help? Also do they sqeeze better on the bushy stuff or the forked stuff that dont break when they go thru? Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Bigus Termitius]

what kicked the bucket on the 17?

It all depends on where you live and what access you have to which dealers. My best bet is a vermeer because they aren't far from me. I don't care for the vermeer 1000, but I spent a couple years with the vermeer 1400 with a winch.

I've got dibs on the 1500 with a winch that my friends at the power company are still using. They will likely be selling it soon.

I need to upgrade, but I'd like to keep my 17 in the wing for a back up. It works pretty good all things considered.

If bandit was closer, I'd go with their drum unit based on the design....it's the 1390xp.

 

[Kemptreeservice]

Yeah the ole 17 has been a dang good machine but after my number 1 hand left the back door open on my bucket truck, and then i decicded to run and feel up the water jug.... well lets just say when i turned it pushed the door into the radiator and governor. It would make a dang good parts chipper or maybe a backup. The bearings are great in it, and the ford 300 still runs. i mounted a aluminum radiator on the side of the motor and it works. But it sucks with no governor, you cant hardly run anything thru it without the rpms droping bad. I guess i need to sell it. Is there a big difference on running a drum chipper?

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Yeah the ole 17 has been a dang good machine but after my number 1 hand left the back door open on my bucket truck, and then i decicded to run and feel up the water jug.... well lets just say when i turned it pushed the door into the radiator and governor. It would make a dang good parts chipper or maybe a backup. The bearings are great in it, and the ford 300 still runs. i mounted a aluminum radiator on the side of the motor and it works. But it sucks with no governor, you cant hardly run anything thru it without the rpms droping bad. I guess i need to sell it. Is there a big difference on running a drum chipper?

With no more damage than that you should fix it and at least keep it for a backup.

I've got pdf files on parts and an operations manual, if you'd like them PM me your email. You can also call Altec, they bought out woodchuck and handle parts for the old ones...the new ones aren't that much different.

Both the vermeer and the bandit have drums and they do a good job, the larger bandit drum chippers have a much larger drum which gives a better angle of attack.

Bandit model 1390xp 13 15 drum style hand fed chippers watch 2 video