woodsman 15X 18X

[gts]

I'm looking at buying a new chipper.Woodsman 15X or 18X,does anyone have any feedback on either of these models.I have used 12X and it had trouble with 11" hickory & locust, like would'nt take the hickory auto or manual.that was 125 hp jd. 15X would be 140 hp perkins 18X would be 180 hp perkins.

Thanks for any info

GTS

 

[Koa Man]

Trying to chip 11" hickory and locust with a 12" chipper is big time overload. Chippers perform best up to about 50% of the max. rated capacity. If you plan to chip a lot of logs up to 12" dia., then I would strongly suggest a 18" chipper. I have a 18X w/200hp Cummins and I have chipped many pieces cut like a cake, 18"X24". I like this chipper a lot. Xander has a 15X and as far as I know, he is very satisfied with his chipper.

 

[gts]

Thanks for the info koa man.
I agree chippers do much better on a daily basis if your not maxing them out,on the other hand the manufacture says it should if needed take two 12" pieces side by side.Anyhow i demoed the 18X 170 hp jd today and the 2400 morbark monday,woodsman hands down chips faster throughs farther with less bog and 30 less hp.Problem is we were running spruce trees through and the limbs were hitting the control bar stopping or reversing the feed wheel.have you ran into this problem koa man.Also feed wheel not to sensative when feeding 12 to 14" with loader had to manually raise feed wheel.

gts

 

[gts]

I forgot to mention the morbark feed system worked very well.Took in big wood with loader much better no manual lifting of feed wheel.

 

[Koa Man]

I personally think all these electronic autofeeds are a waste of time. Seems like the electronics don't hold up very well to the extreme vibration of a chipper. I disconnected mine. On tree branches with a lot of right angle crotches the branches do hit the feed control bar and kicks it into reverse. I don't know how the present Morbarks are, maybe their bar is more forward. The Morbark feed wheel is bigger. That is probably why they climb over bigger logs w/o needing to lift the feedwheel. Bandits with the 2 small feed rollers need to have the feed wheel lifted a lot more. I used to own a Morbark Model 17. That was the worst chipper I ever had. It would clog almost everyday. It could not chip coconut fronds....it would clog constantly. Christmas trees would clog it too. I heard the new Morbarks are much better, but I have no experience with them.