Which Engine on new Chipper
- Thread starter Dillweed
- Start date
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Here's what I signed on. Attached. Had to fight octogon style on the price.
Morbark: Tested the Morbark 1922, he only had a gas engine, 165hp PSI motor. Sturdy, phenomenally loud, (wake-up dead loud). Limited features, probably limited repair. Morbark is new to this area. Solid, motivated salesman.
Bandit 19xpc: They should take a look at replacing the Bandit salesman here in central Florida area. Did not follow through, repeatedly. Bandit's out.
Vermeer 1800, 130 HP Cummins diesel: Let me demo one for a week. Ate a 20" log no problem. I like that the feed rollers open up on thick logs easily. No need to raise the rollers with a lever. You can set it to automatically idle down if not being fed after one or five minutes. Has remote control. I realize the extra electronics will come with extra repairs.
Getting one built, having it painted white at the factory. You talked me into a winch.
Morbark: Tested the Morbark 1922, he only had a gas engine, 165hp PSI motor. Sturdy, phenomenally loud, (wake-up dead loud). Limited features, probably limited repair. Morbark is new to this area. Solid, motivated salesman.
Bandit 19xpc: They should take a look at replacing the Bandit salesman here in central Florida area. Did not follow through, repeatedly. Bandit's out.
Vermeer 1800, 130 HP Cummins diesel: Let me demo one for a week. Ate a 20" log no problem. I like that the feed rollers open up on thick logs easily. No need to raise the rollers with a lever. You can set it to automatically idle down if not being fed after one or five minutes. Has remote control. I realize the extra electronics will come with extra repairs.
Getting one built, having it painted white at the factory. You talked me into a winch.
Nice job!
Strangely, when I was looking for a chipper, my Bandit guy was a loser too. No idea why. Morbark guy was decent, Vermeer was nice but Bandit was not.
Which reminds me. I have to call my Vermeer service guy and thank him for a recent job well done.
Strangely, when I was looking for a chipper, my Bandit guy was a loser too. No idea why. Morbark guy was decent, Vermeer was nice but Bandit was not.
Which reminds me. I have to call my Vermeer service guy and thank him for a recent job well done.
Is that an under CDL chipper?
they weigh about 9500 lbs
That’s something anyway. I just wouldn’t have scrimped on the engine at that point. My 173hp bandit is only 850lbs heavier (dry). Yeah it’s over CDL but I can honestly say I’ve never wished for more chipper, is just perfect for us. Not too much a fan of white equipment either. They show every little chip and streak of rust as time passes. Just being honest.
Congrats on the new chipper, though!!!
Nothing wrong with yellow at all. Lot of money to pay for white put it towards a winch or something else.
So for another $8350 you could get the 173 Deere and just let em paint the chipper yellow. Might need to get a CDL A, but that’ll just push you further in a positive direction. Just my thoughts on it.
Also, do you know what the CID is on the Vermeer feed wheel motors?
Also, do you know what the CID is on the Vermeer feed wheel motors?
NeSurfcaster
ArboristSite Operative
We used a older 1800xl w/ a john deer diesel, not sure what hp for 10 years. Engine was getting tired but still chipped 18" plus logs w/ ease. I find vermeer's vertical feed wheels much easier to feed then bandits horizontal feed wheels. I've never used a bandit w/ a winch but that would certainly make it easier to get logs to the drum.
Eventually the older 1800xl w/ JD wanted starting fluid during the winter and was smoking more and more. So we got a 2019 1800xl w/ a gas motor. The gas motor chips big logs just fine and has been very reliable. I think I'm the only one that turns down the feed wheel speed when chipping tree's/logs.
Winch is a life saver pulling whole tree's and large awkward limbs right into the chipper. Also helps for pulling over trees.
I've only borrowed or rented bandits up to 12" w/ 70hp? diesel. Never cared for them, akward limbs/logs tend to roll around or smack ya on there way to drum.
Eventually the older 1800xl w/ JD wanted starting fluid during the winter and was smoking more and more. So we got a 2019 1800xl w/ a gas motor. The gas motor chips big logs just fine and has been very reliable. I think I'm the only one that turns down the feed wheel speed when chipping tree's/logs.
Winch is a life saver pulling whole tree's and large awkward limbs right into the chipper. Also helps for pulling over trees.
I've only borrowed or rented bandits up to 12" w/ 70hp? diesel. Never cared for them, akward limbs/logs tend to roll around or smack ya on there way to drum.
BraschBros
ArboristSite Lurker
I would always recommend diesel for big chippers, the gas engines just don’t have the balls behind them to chip the big hard wood right. 130 is enough with a diesel, I am running a 115 turbo diesel John Deere and I chip up to 14-15 inches no problem, but if I were going up to an 18 inch I would want as much horse power as I could get, especially if you plan on using the full 18 inches often! Buy the 173 if you can afford it, you won’t regret it, go with the used 173 model over the new 130 if money is the deciding factor.
best of luck,
Ethan
I run morbark chippers, I would give them a good look before making a decision.
best of luck,
Ethan
I run morbark chippers, I would give them a good look before making a decision.
look at the torque numbers not the horsepower this is the real working power of the engine under load. A bit of advice on diesels hard to start is to try some stiction eliminator with a oil change to help clean the internals of the injectors and pump and check all of the filters including the pickup in the tank...they like to partially clog. On new equipment service requirements are further apart but with use and age they need to become more important with services closer together to keep sediment buildup in the oil systems at bay and pumps from getting restricted flow or filtration systems being bypassed. If you plan to use synthetic oils in 4 stroke engines wait until the 2nd- 3rd oil change where break in has finished and the oil consumption has subsided. I have seen one too many diesels try to ingest their air filter due to it being restricted to the point the engine collapses it and folds it in on itself to the point unfiltered air enters.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
Why are chipping good firewood or saw logs.
because there is no room to store cords of wood living in high density subdivisions
My thoughts are that any chipper the size of an 1800 should have a winch. There will be too many occasions where the loader won't be present, or it won't be effective when the winch would be essential. There might be many occasions where you would just skip transporting the loader and only bring the chipper, just because you had the winch. In a high density urban work zone, I would expect that more than 1/2 the jobs wouldn't let you tear up the yard with a skid steer, but the winch would still be handy for those front yard jobs.
As to striking the winch when loading with other machines? Tough call. I have always found it more practical to load my chipper with the butt of a limb on the feed tray, and then push it in. If you are running high production, you'll have a guy at the chipper full time anyway; there might be many occasions where the loader can deliver the log and then the attendant can finish pulling it in while the loader goes back to get another branch.
Conversely, if your machine operator is a klutz and your groundies shouldn't be trusted with a winch, you might do well to skip an investment that won't get used. It all depends on your operation.
As to striking the winch when loading with other machines? Tough call. I have always found it more practical to load my chipper with the butt of a limb on the feed tray, and then push it in. If you are running high production, you'll have a guy at the chipper full time anyway; there might be many occasions where the loader can deliver the log and then the attendant can finish pulling it in while the loader goes back to get another branch.
Conversely, if your machine operator is a klutz and your groundies shouldn't be trusted with a winch, you might do well to skip an investment that won't get used. It all depends on your operation.
Yeah, you gotta tweezer the log right by the end, grab the log at like 3 and 9:00. Sometimes rotate a little so you can come in from the side of the winch. Have your ground guy tell you how close you are to winch with your machine (headsets).
I like at least a five or six foot log with my setup. Four footers get set on the tailgate and pushed in by hand usually.
Rabid K9
ArboristSite Guru
Would consider a winch essential on any chipper over 12". Just adds a whole level of versatility & efficiency to the machine & operation.
Have a 15" Bandit, 142hp 4 cylinder Cat diesel with winch, also couple of Vermeer mini loaders with 360 continuous rotating five finger grapple. Combination of loader & winch is ideal, multiple situations where they compliment each other. Obviously, operators on both machines have to be competent to get the most out of them, have never found the winch drum & fairlead to be an obstruction loading with machine & we will often process dozens of trees in a day. The combo allows a strong 2 person crew to comfortably do a what a 3-4 person crew does is other operations.
On the horsepower side of things, within my side of things, our Australian hardwoods are just that. Dense & reluctant to seperate fibres, think I would struggle with 130hp in the 18" class, I aiming for next chipper to be the Bandit 21". Somewhere around 285hp six, dual axle a big drawcard as well.
