Don't go by hours - go by overall condition. Hours alone isn't a very good indicator of how many more hours a machine has to offer before major repairs are necessary. Need to look at bearings, rollers, clutch, etc.
That said, $1200 less for a machine with 1000 more hours isn't much of a discount. That's only $1 per hour in additional depreciation. Should be more like $5 per hour if not $10.
I used to run a 1230A with a 115hp perkins. That was a nice machine with lots of power. Next chipper was a bandit 200+ with an 80hp cummins. It ran fine and had 3200 hours on it when I bought it but it was underpowered for the big stuff. I had to babysit the feed rollers because it didn't have autofeed. If you plan to feed anything bigger than 6" on a regular basis, I'd look for a machine with autofeed (and make sure it works) or find a machine with a bit more hp.
