Vermeer BC1500

[treeslayer666]

If I upgrade, I won't be looking at a used one of any make. I LOVE my 1000xl but the time is getting near. Which bandit dealer do you use. I have none near me and even the vermeer dealer in hopkinton is 2 hours away.

Capetrees, If its in your budget its very smart to go with a new, leftover or demo chipper with warranty. Its not worth dealing with someone elses headache to save a few bucks that you end up putting back into repairs and still have to deal with downtime.

If you LOVE your 1000xl, you will s**t yourself when you demo a Bandit. I dont know how big you wanna go or what you have for a tow vehicle but if you really love the 1000xl the Bandit 1090xp is the answer, 12" capacity it will blow you away. If you want bigger the Bandit 1290xp is 15" and 1590xp is 17" or you can get the ultimate whammy 1890xp.

My Bandit dealer is Cleaves Co. in Needham, Ma 877-449-0833 My salesman is Jeff Mansfield but you should call and ask what salesman has your area to be fair to everyone. They will all treat you right.

As far as distance, if Hopkinton is 2 hours from you and your on the cape Needham is about 1:20 away. Who cares anyway they will bring the machine to you for the demo, thats their job and they are more than happy to do it.

Good Luck!

 

[capetrees]

I met with some guys afrom Cleaves at the trade show in Boaton a couple of years ago, MASCON. They seemed nice but I didn't get into anything deep. Currently, I tow the machine with the 92 one ton but can tow with the Mack to any job. I'll look into it. Thanks!

 

[capetrees]

Just had some major work done to my chipper. the guy that works with me fought the feed roller and won. A wide crotch wouldn't fit through the feed and instead of backing it out on its own power, he decided to pull and fight it, jumping the roller all the way. In the end, he won, chipper (my chipper)lost. New roller bearing and all the internal guts. the roller survived, barely missing the blades. The service rep was awesome. In Monday late afternoon, out by Friday morning along with newly sharpened blades, axle upgrade and a bill that wasn't too bad. Even better than before due to the fat that the rental company that owned it prior welded things they shouldn't have. Anyway, still a Vermeer man.

 

[custom8726]

I have spent many hrs running the Vermeer 1250's, 1400's and the 1800's. In my opinion the only one worth a sh!t is the 1800 with a winch. I also recently went from a 250 Bandit to a 1890 and all I can say is I would never own a smaller machine again!! Idealy the combination of the vermeer and the bandits designs would make the ultimate machine, But since that is not happening My vote goes with Bandit!!

 

[oldirty]

In my opinion the only one worth a sh!t is the 1800 with a winch!

for being the new guy, you got some taste bud. welcome aboard the site.

lol

 

[racnruss]

Same old Vermeer/Bandit crap

I have owned Vermeer and Bandit chippers. And all the complaints about both are correct.

Bandit dribbles crap on the ground and bottom roller jams, terribly frustrating. And they rust like a Morbark.

Vermeer has stupid vertical rollers with many grease/wear points and will swing a branch at you to straighten it every time. Plus, and this is the worst, the vertical rollers push all the small branches to one side which dulls the knives on one side but the other side does absolutely nothing unless you are chipping 15" material which is rare.

Now I have a Woodsman and will never, EVER, go back. One direct drive horizontal roller with hydraulic down pressure if needed. No springs, no bearings, no rollers, no grease needed because the roller has 2 direct drive motors. No bottom roller to jam or dribble crap.

The difference between the other brands and Woodsman is like trying to tie your boots with one hand.

Don't argue with me unless you have hands on experience.

Now quit your whining and get back to work.

 

[treeslayer666]

Bandit/Vermeer/Morbark/Woodsman

Racnruss,

Whats happinin brother. Wow this is an old thread.

I've been running my Bandit 1590 now for 2 years 9 months and have had ZERO problems or complaints about anything. It really is the most productive machine in its class hands down.

No Rust at all, looks just like the day Bandit delivered it to me and I'm in Massachusetts.

The only time the bottom feed roller will jam is if we are feeding LARGE HARDWOOD 15"+ stuff. All we do is drop the tray before hand...common sense...Problem Solved... a couple shovel fulls of chips doesn't seem to frustrate my crew.

As far as the Woodsmans go, I did demo a 15x and thought it was a decent chipper, no doubt, but ended up buying the Bandit simply because the 1590 out performed the 15x in my opinion and Bandit has been around a lot longer, woodsman was an unproven newbie at the time. I was a crash test dummy on the Vermeer 1400 and said NEVER AGAIN!!

Here is a little story about a company that was running multiple 18x's on a large State contract in my area last winter. HUGE removal project, Hundreds of maples & hardwoods, everything was craned into the streets, chipper on one side rearmount log truck on the other, perfect set-up.

Anyway.. I spent many hours on different days watching these guys pick out mature maples and when they hit the street nothing over 12-14" material went through the 18x's and let me tell you the 18x was struggling just to get the chips into the trucks. I asked one of the ground guys whats up?? Need to change the knives in that bad boy or what?? He replied "we just changed 'em...all three of our 18x's are running like this, guess they are not meant for chipping maples" he laughed.

Moral of that story is... that company I was speaking of now has a fleet of shinny new BANDITS.

Not trying to argue brother, just giving my two cents on the Bandit/ Vermeer/Woodsman/Morbark Debate.

 

[racnruss]

Bandit chippers

thanks for the informative reply. The bandit I owned was severely underpowered and maybe that's why I hated it.

The Woodsman 12x that I have now has a John Deere 4.5L diesel and it can chip its max w/o trouble. Plus, no mess under the machine anymore. The opening is 13"x24" and sometimes we'll even put 2 10-12 in logs in at once side by side.

Anyway, I guess chippers are like saws, everyone swears theirs is better but really they are all doing the same job.

 

[oldirty]

Racnruss,

Whats happinin brother. Wow this is an old thread.

I've been running my Bandit 1590 now for 2 years 9 months and have had ZERO problems or complaints about anything. It really is the most productive machine in its class hands down.

No Rust at all, looks just like the day Bandit delivered it to me and I'm in Massachusetts.

The only time the bottom feed roller will jam is if we are feeding LARGE HARDWOOD 15"+ stuff. All we do is drop the tray before hand...common sense...Problem Solved... a couple shovel fulls of chips doesn't seem to frustrate my crew.

As far as the Woodsmans go, I did demo a 15x and thought it was a decent chipper, no doubt, but ended up buying the Bandit simply because the 1590 out performed the 15x in my opinion and Bandit has been around a lot longer, woodsman was an unproven newbie at the time. I was a crash test dummy on the Vermeer 1400 and said NEVER AGAIN!!

Here is a little story about a company that was running multiple 18x's on a large State contract in my area last winter. HUGE removal project, Hundreds of maples & hardwoods, everything was craned into the streets, chipper on one side rearmount log truck on the other, perfect set-up.

Anyway.. I spent many hours on different days watching these guys pick out mature maples and when they hit the street nothing over 12-14" material went through the 18x's and let me tell you the 18x was struggling just to get the chips into the trucks. I asked one of the ground guys whats up?? Need to change the knives in that bad boy or what?? He replied "we just changed 'em...all three of our 18x's are running like this, guess they are not meant for chipping maples" he laughed.

Moral of that story is... that company I was speaking of now has a fleet of shinny new BANDITS.

Not trying to argue brother, just giving my two cents on the Bandit/ Vermeer/Woodsman/Morbark Debate.

actually the most productive crane crew hands down during this whole alb project runs nothing but woodsman chippers and still does.

who were you watching work?

hey racnruss. let them fellas be none the wiser to which chipper out there that actually is the best chipping machine. let them all have trouble with crotches for the rest of their tree chipping careers.

 

[CUCV]

This thread is an oldy but goody. I have been kicking myself for 6 months for passing up on a 1400XL. I don't feel bad anymore. I really want a 1590 but I can't seem to find one in my price range on the used market. I got a good deal on a 1850 disc to get me thru some big pine jobs (relative) and to flip. So when going to a job I have to decide if I'm going to take the powerful, big and bulky 1850 or the bandit 100 with all the typical bandit disc chipper problems of that era. It sure would be nice to have a 1590, seems like it would be the one quiver chipper for me.

 

[ducaticorse]

Capetrees, If its in your budget its very smart to go with a new, leftover or demo chipper with warranty. Its not worth dealing with someone elses headache to save a few bucks that you end up putting back into repairs and still have to deal with downtime.

If you LOVE your 1000xl, you will s**t yourself when you demo a Bandit. I dont know how big you wanna go or what you have for a tow vehicle but if you really love the 1000xl the Bandit 1090xp is the answer, 12" capacity it will blow you away. If you want bigger the Bandit 1290xp is 15" and 1590xp is 17" or you can get the ultimate whammy 1890xp.

My Bandit dealer is Cleaves Co. in Needham, Ma 877-449-0833 My salesman is Jeff Mansfield but you should call and ask what salesman has your area to be fair to everyone. They will all treat you right.

As far as distance, if Hopkinton is 2 hours from you and your on the cape Needham is about 1:20 away. Who cares anyway they will bring the machine to you for the demo, thats their job and they are more than happy to do it.

Good Luck!

You had me until you said cleeve's co gave you a good deal. They are by far the most astronomicaly overpriced tree equipment distributor around, with 90 an hour service techs to match. They are an absolute last resort IMHO.

I do LOVE the 1590 though, it sounds like a phalanx cannon firing when it chips. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. GO BANDIT!!

 

[ducaticorse]

actually the most productive crane crew hands down during this whole alb project runs nothing but woodsman chippers and still does.

who were you watching work?

hey racnruss. let them fellas be none the wiser to which chipper out there that actually is the best chipping machine. let them all have trouble with crotches for the rest of their tree chipping careers.

I'm guessing Mayer Tree and his army of brand new Grove's?

 

[ducaticorse]

This thread is an oldy but goody. I have been kicking myself for 6 months for passing up on a 1400XL. I don't feel bad anymore. I really want a 1590 but I can't seem to find one in my price range on the used market. I got a good deal on a 1850 disc to get me thru some big pine jobs (relative) and to flip. So when going to a job I have to decide if I'm going to take the powerful, big and bulky 1850 or the bandit 100 with all the typical bandit disc chipper problems of that era. It sure would be nice to have a 1590, seems like it would be the one quiver chipper for me.

Is the 1890 not available anymore?

 

[CUCV]

Is the 1890 not available anymore?

It is still available, I got an email from him yesterday. Its a heck of a drive I don't have time for right now and a wife ready to pop, I thought it might be near Boston. I just got off the phone with a friend who could fly me out to check it out but he is booked with work and will be in Florida until after the holidays.

 

[treeslayer666]

You had me until you said cleeve's co gave you a good deal. They are by far the most astronomicaly overpriced tree equipment distributor around, with 90 an hour service techs to match. They are an absolute last resort IMHO.

HaHa, that deal did go through Cleaves. At the time there must have been a pi*sin contest going on between Cleaves & Vermeer Northeast because they both kept coming back with better numbers wanting to know what the other was offering. Actually in the end I was dealing directly with someone at Vermeers HQ. I also got a call from a higher up at Bandit to see what it would take to make the deal happen. I defiantly paid more for the Bandit but it was worth every penny.

Your right about the service dept. Brought it in for a service and it cost me just under $600!!!!

 

[ducaticorse]

HaHa, that deal did go through Cleaves. At the time there must have been a pi*sin contest going on between Cleaves & Vermeer Northeast because they both kept coming back with better numbers wanting to know what the other was offering. Actually in the end I was dealing directly with someone at Vermeers HQ. I also got a call from a higher up at Bandit to see what it would take to make the deal happen. I defiantly paid more for the Bandit but it was worth every penny.

Your right about the service dept. Brought it in for a service and it cost me just under $600!!!!

Yeah, they're no joke, or a total joke deending on how you look at it.. 1590 is a bad ass machine though.

 

[treeslayer666]

actually the most productive crane crew hands down during this whole alb project runs nothing but woodsman chippers and still does.

who were you watching work?

hey racnruss. let them fellas be none the wiser to which chipper out there that actually is the best chipping machine. let them all have trouble with crotches for the rest of their tree chipping careers.

Whats going on Oldirty, How have you been? Hey who is the most productive crane crew so far during the ALB project anyway?? What outfit are you with?

From what I saw, different company's and crews were all working together. Kinda strange to see one company's bucket and another company's crane with another company's chipper and chip truck and another company's log truck. Not to mention all the out of state "cheap help" the big guys brought in. But that's a whole different story.

I plow for the City of Worcester in the Greendale section that's why I spent so much time watching these guys, I was plowing around their set ups! Pretty amazing to see 20 cranes working removals in a four block radius!

 

[ducaticorse]

Whats going on Oldirty, How have you been? Hey who is the most productive crane crew so far during the ALB project anyway?? What outfit are you with?

From what I saw, different company's and crews were all working together. Kinda strange to see one company's bucket and another company's crane with another company's chipper and chip truck and another company's log truck. Not to mention all the out of state "cheap help" the big guys brought in. But that's a whole different story.

I plow for the City of Worcester in the Greendale section that's why I spent so much time watching these guys, I was plowing around their set ups! Pretty amazing to see 20 cranes working removals in a four block radius!

Has to be Mayer Tree. He's got like 5 New giant Grove's now, and he uses woodsman's.

 

[oldirty]

ducaticorse, kinda sounds like you got some serious manlove for the the guy? whats up with that? lol

he only has 4 of them groves anyway. one of them should count for 2 but it doesn't.

you ever met the man? personally, i like him. and even if you don't you kinda got to respect his effort which i do. sweet cranes for sure.

i only got a short tender suckle at the teet that is alb but the 2 weeks i put in there were what i was built to do.

hey ts666 who were you talking about with all the woodsman's and now a bandit? last i checked mayer didn't have one and i know we don't......

in regards to everyone working together on that project that was what it was all about. just get wood to the curb and have the log trucks running after it.




i am sure that bandit is a nice machine but i promise you at the business end of a chipper the woodsman cannot be equaled in chipping ability. ****, man. we did 200+ yard of red and white oak today. they are a nasty machine.

hey cucv. before you pull the trigger on that bandit call northeast tree (local woodsman dealer) in reading (or woburn) mass to test run one of their chippers. be worth the effort on your part to see them out.

 

[ducaticorse]

ducaticorse, kinda sounds like you got some serious manlove for the the guy? whats up with that? lol

he only has 4 of them groves anyway. one of them should count for 2 but it doesn't.

you ever met the man? personally, i like him. and even if you don't you kinda got to respect his effort which i do. sweet cranes for sure.

i only got a short tender suckle at the teet that is alb but the 2 weeks i put in there were what i was built to do.

hey ts666 who were you talking about with all the woodsman's and now a bandit? last i checked mayer didn't have one and i know we don't......

in regards to everyone working together on that project that was what it was all about. just get wood to the curb and have the log trucks running after it.




i am sure that bandit is a nice machine but i promise you at the business end of a chipper the woodsman cannot be equaled in chipping ability. ****, man. we did 200+ yard of red and white oak today. they are a nasty machine.

hey cucv. before you pull the trigger on that bandit call northeast tree (local woodsman dealer) in reading (or woburn) mass to test run one of their chippers. be worth the effort on your part to see them out.

Dan has a giant woodsman with grapple, and yes, I am envious of his op. Mayer is off the chain, and I understand he has a 5th grove on he way, but I could be wrong about that. He's connected up the ying yang, head of the MCA, and rocks a huge outfit.. Coming from a business perspective, he runs THE model operation. Now let me get off my knees, I'm getting a cramp.....