What would you guys "the Experts" do to make the perfect chipper? Would you take a little from one and put it on the other? Would it be a disk or a drum? Is chip quality important? What kind of ideas do you all have? I think it would be kind of fun to build one out of a variety of older chippers, just looking for some thoughts.
What would be the ultimate chipper?
- Thread starter The Rock
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John Paul Sanborn
Above average climber
As other threads on the subject of "what is your favorite chipper" it all depends on usage.
A guy doing a lot of removals wanting to reduce everything to chip would want a big rugged body with as much hp as possible. Some sort of loader would be noce too.
I've never had any problem with chip consistancy on a well maintained drum chipper, and disks are more costly because of what it takes to fabricate that big balance wheel.
If I were a high end trim company I would want a soemthing with a wide infeed with good braeking strength on the rollers, but not nessisarily a wide chipping area. maybe 12 inch maximum.
Feed speed and adjustable auto feed are a must. Having more then enough power so the engine does not lug down. loss of RPM is the greatest wear on the engine.
A guy doing a lot of removals wanting to reduce everything to chip would want a big rugged body with as much hp as possible. Some sort of loader would be noce too.
I've never had any problem with chip consistancy on a well maintained drum chipper, and disks are more costly because of what it takes to fabricate that big balance wheel.
If I were a high end trim company I would want a soemthing with a wide infeed with good braeking strength on the rollers, but not nessisarily a wide chipping area. maybe 12 inch maximum.
Feed speed and adjustable auto feed are a must. Having more then enough power so the engine does not lug down. loss of RPM is the greatest wear on the engine.
DDM
Addicted to ArboristSite
The ultimate chipper, You would carry it in your Pocket take it out Zap the tree to Dust Put it back in again and leave.
Well wishful thinking anyway
Well wishful thinking anyway
John Paul Sanborn
Above average climber
Then anyone could do the job!
They would sell the things on QVC. "why waste that money on a proffessional arborist!"
They would sell the things on QVC. "why waste that money on a proffessional arborist!"
D
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I would say lightweight yet not light enough where it would be cheap. It wouldn't vine, half inch chips, double edged blades, tear away holders so you wont have to replace whole discs/drums, I don't have a major preference between disc or drum although disc chips faster overall. I like the drum if I was into brush with lots of crotches. It would color the chips as you chip them (you could sell the chips after you are done chipping), maybe a touch up sharpener for onsite sharpening, I am like Tim the tool man. I just like convenience. Many of the things would be unrealistic I am sure but we all can dream.
John Paul Sanborn
Above average climber
Isn't there a hone stone on the market to touch up blades? I know a guy who keeps air tools on the truck since the bucket has a compressor. He can do any repairs in the feild.
Tim Gardner
ArboristSite Guru
I would have to say the perfect chipper would have twin side by side in feeds, one drum and one disc. A drum will out chip a disc any day feeding limbs but the disc will handle wood and very large limbs. Onboard 5’ wood splitter. 3’ tub grinder for rakings and small chunks of wood. Vacuum hose for small debris and stump grindings. A tongue that extended like a stump grinder to make it easier to back. Wide tires to aide in flotation over turf/sand/mud.
Tom Dunlap
Addicted to ArboristSite
Rock,
Which chippers do you service or which chipper company do you work for?
I'm content with how my Vermeer 1230 chips. When the time comes to buy a new chipper I'll probably look really hard at the Woodsman.
One thing that all chippers should have is the option to position the discharge chute in any direction. I like the geared or chain rotators on some chippers. Being able to change the discharge angle of the chute would be nice too. When blasting into the woods it might be nice to send the chips up more instead of just out. Having a clean out panel in the curve of the neck for the inevitable clog makes it easier than having to open up the housing.
There is a company, http://radioremote.com/
that makes an autofeed control that reverses the infeed rollers just a tiny bit when it kicks in the speed. by backing out the wood, there is less drag on the disc. This has to reduce wear and get the engine back up to speed quicker.
Tom
Which chippers do you service or which chipper company do you work for?
I'm content with how my Vermeer 1230 chips. When the time comes to buy a new chipper I'll probably look really hard at the Woodsman.
One thing that all chippers should have is the option to position the discharge chute in any direction. I like the geared or chain rotators on some chippers. Being able to change the discharge angle of the chute would be nice too. When blasting into the woods it might be nice to send the chips up more instead of just out. Having a clean out panel in the curve of the neck for the inevitable clog makes it easier than having to open up the housing.
There is a company, http://radioremote.com/
that makes an autofeed control that reverses the infeed rollers just a tiny bit when it kicks in the speed. by backing out the wood, there is less drag on the disc. This has to reduce wear and get the engine back up to speed quicker.
Tom
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Jumper
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Chippers
An angry beaver???
An angry beaver???
treeclimber165
Member A.K.A Skwerl
Most of y'all are thinking too small. Gotta think outside the box. I think the ultimate chipper would pick up the brush off the lawn and feed itself, vaporize the chips so there is no dumping involved, and have virtually zero operating costs. Oh, and I would get the first prototype for free in order to demo it. 
palmer4670
ArboristSite Lurker
The ultimate chipper would eat stuff like a tub grinder, pull like a little 6", and back as easy as a flatbed trailer.
I am with Tom, being more realistic, the chute should have infinate amount of settings so you could blow chip in all directions to completely fill your truck.
I am thinking that the new vermeer's are looking pretty good though.
Palmer
I am with Tom, being more realistic, the chute should have infinate amount of settings so you could blow chip in all directions to completely fill your truck.
I am thinking that the new vermeer's are looking pretty good though.
Palmer
Tim Gardner
ArboristSite Guru
Tom,
We have a Bandit 250 with a clean out just past the bend. Works great. The pic attached does not show it very good but you get the idea.
treeman82
Addicted to ArboristSite
I had worked with a guy for a day last year who had just purchased a Bandit 254XP. To swing the discharge chute all he had to do was push or pull on a small lever and the thing would go 360* It also had the winch on it which was a really nice option, however I did not like the fact that it was only at MAX 100 ft and that it was a cable. I rather like the winch that Vermeer has which is 150 ft and is a rope.
Tree Machine
Addicted to ArboristSite
What would be the ultimate chipper.....
I think we have a front leader who's taking a stab at this.
Bandit Industries decided to deck out one of their more popular models, put on it all the bells and whistles, make it ultra effective in every way possible, from on-chipper tool storage sites, to Autofeed Plus, to an on-board winch, a 24-ton vertical log splitter, advanced hydraulics, a bombproof front swivel caster wheel jack, maneuver handles, high-end battery. You can adjust the speed of your infeed wheel down from 90 feet per minute, to about zero for total chip control, or when you're in a weird mood to make sawdust, rather than chips.
What else...? The infeed area can accept material 12" wide, though this is only a 6" capacity chipper. The chipper is light and maneuverable by hand. It has wide flotation turf tires. It has an on-board jack that allows you to easily raise the infeed wheel mechanism (like if you get a short chunk stuck in there kittywampus). That same jack fits mounts on the back left, and back right sides of the chipper frame for when you might need to jack it up onsite, to change a tire, or something. And it carries an on-board spare tire, and a lug wrench.
There are brakes on this chipper. They've kept it so light that it is easily maneuverable by one man. Since they've made accomodations for the owner operator to move the chipper around by hand, they put in this emergengy brake handle on the tongue to lock both wheels (auto-chock), in case the chipper might want to have its own mind about where and how fast it might want to go.
There's other stuff. Quick-couple hydraulic hoses for running the onboard splitter, or any other hydraulic accessory you might want to run. It has a place to hang the Knife Saver, just so it's handy. Three steel 'tool tubes', assumidly for a couple rakes and a push broom. They've made the back infeed pan an instant, one-handed, close-and-lock operation. They even put on a mount for carrying a log arch ON THE CHIPPER. The aluminum diamond tread engine cover is adjustable up and down over the engine manifold for drying your wet gloves. I told them you could heat up a foil-wrapped sandwich. They smiled.
This thing is SO new that it's not even on their own website yet. I know this stuff because we were yibber-yabbering at the Milwaukee TCI EXPO a few weeks back. They gave me this DRAFT of their ideas, told me feel free and show it around, but to just tell the people that the blue document is an incomplete, and fairly rough draft. In fact, they hadn't even formally given the chipper a name yet, but were referring to it as the premier "Personal Industrial Chipper"
Feedback. ---------Tree Machine----------
I think we have a front leader who's taking a stab at this.
Bandit Industries decided to deck out one of their more popular models, put on it all the bells and whistles, make it ultra effective in every way possible, from on-chipper tool storage sites, to Autofeed Plus, to an on-board winch, a 24-ton vertical log splitter, advanced hydraulics, a bombproof front swivel caster wheel jack, maneuver handles, high-end battery. You can adjust the speed of your infeed wheel down from 90 feet per minute, to about zero for total chip control, or when you're in a weird mood to make sawdust, rather than chips.
What else...? The infeed area can accept material 12" wide, though this is only a 6" capacity chipper. The chipper is light and maneuverable by hand. It has wide flotation turf tires. It has an on-board jack that allows you to easily raise the infeed wheel mechanism (like if you get a short chunk stuck in there kittywampus). That same jack fits mounts on the back left, and back right sides of the chipper frame for when you might need to jack it up onsite, to change a tire, or something. And it carries an on-board spare tire, and a lug wrench.
There are brakes on this chipper. They've kept it so light that it is easily maneuverable by one man. Since they've made accomodations for the owner operator to move the chipper around by hand, they put in this emergengy brake handle on the tongue to lock both wheels (auto-chock), in case the chipper might want to have its own mind about where and how fast it might want to go.
There's other stuff. Quick-couple hydraulic hoses for running the onboard splitter, or any other hydraulic accessory you might want to run. It has a place to hang the Knife Saver, just so it's handy. Three steel 'tool tubes', assumidly for a couple rakes and a push broom. They've made the back infeed pan an instant, one-handed, close-and-lock operation. They even put on a mount for carrying a log arch ON THE CHIPPER. The aluminum diamond tread engine cover is adjustable up and down over the engine manifold for drying your wet gloves. I told them you could heat up a foil-wrapped sandwich. They smiled.
This thing is SO new that it's not even on their own website yet. I know this stuff because we were yibber-yabbering at the Milwaukee TCI EXPO a few weeks back. They gave me this DRAFT of their ideas, told me feel free and show it around, but to just tell the people that the blue document is an incomplete, and fairly rough draft. In fact, they hadn't even formally given the chipper a name yet, but were referring to it as the premier "Personal Industrial Chipper"
Feedback. ---------Tree Machine----------
Tree Machine
Addicted to ArboristSite
Oops on the chipper picture
The sheet they gave me as an electronic file is a PDF, and arboristsite.com doesn't take accept that format. I've sent PDF's all over the place, they're small, and any computer can open them. If you're intrigued, drop me a personal e-mail and I'll fire it off directly to you. I'll also see if I can turn it into a JPEG for this thread.
The sheet they gave me as an electronic file is a PDF, and arboristsite.com doesn't take accept that format. I've sent PDF's all over the place, they're small, and any computer can open them. If you're intrigued, drop me a personal e-mail and I'll fire it off directly to you. I'll also see if I can turn it into a JPEG for this thread.
