Super Tomahawk

[Ken in NJ]

Does anyone have a Troy Bilt Super Tomahawk chipper/shredder ??

I ran across one for sale today at a garage sale. It looks to be in VERY good shape. It has the 8HP Briggs IC electric start motor ( no battery with unit )
He does have the owners manual and optional tow hitch set up so it can be pulled behind a garden tractor.

My questions are ... I have never used one of these ..and wondered how well they work. I know he will let it go if I show up tomorrow am with a crisp new $100.00 bill. I assume its worth that for sure .. I saw one on e-bay listed for $450.00 without electric start or the hitch set up.

Any input or comments welcome from all who know something about these (looked to be) well built chipper/shredders.

Thanks
Ken

[Ingersoll444]

Is that belt driven? I have heard some of the TB, were belt driven and tend to burn up belts a bit. Other then that, you just have to use good judjment when using it. Its not going to suck in, and chop up branches like you see the big boys doing, but for home use, there handy to have. I have a 5hp MTD chipper, and it does come in handy. For a C note, you cant go wrong. Buy it now!!!!

One thing. You MUST use hearing protection!!! They are VERY noisy!!!!!!

Also eye protection. It is very common for brinches to be kicked back out of the chute. Other than that, be carfull. You REALY dont want to get your arm cought in there!!!!!

[Ken in NJ]

Yes Paul it is the belt drive one ... Maybe that is why it came with two extra belts :fing20:

Well I bought it and he did take the C note for it .. I put a battery in and it started rite up and runs like a champ .. Maybe I will have time to chip up the pile of brush I have out back some time soon and see how it works in action

[Deerehunter]

I had one some time ago. Worked great what little I used it. Seems everyone else used more then I did so, I ended up selling it. Don't know what kind of shape yours is in, but for a C note, you got a darn good deal IMO.

[bontai Joe]

If in decent unbent condition, it's was worth a LOT more than the $100 you spent. New they went for over $1000. The hitch was close to a $100 alone. You got a very sweet deal. I bought mine around 1980 when GardenWay (then the parent company of Troy-Bilt) was thinking of adding this to their product line. I got the info in the "Troy-Bilt Owner's News" (I owned a tiller and the newspaper was a lifetime subscription for owners) and bought it at a "pre-introduction" discount, and agreed to fill out their questionair on it at the end of the year. Mine is painted green and says that it was manufactured by W. W. Grinder. I still have mine although it has many fewer features than the newer model you have. Yours will chip up to 3" dia hardwood, and shred up to 1", although mine is happier if I limit the shredder section to 3/4", probably due to the fact it has a 4 HP Tecumseh, instead of the 8 HP you have. They are a very good machine, but as mentioned above, you should ALWAYS wear hearing AND eye protection when operating it, and to not work when tired. An accident with this kind of machine is almost always serious.

[glenn27]

10/4 on the ear/eye protection..stuff flies everywhere....Also, I don't know how the intake chute is, but cramming too much in (especially wet, pine, etc) will clog up real quick...Do NOT get in a hurry, and not when your total mind is on job @ hand!

[neil_nassauequipment]

Sounds like you got a deal............one caveat though.

When MTD bought some of the Gardenway-Troybilt assets from court, they didn't buy the tooling on the Tomahawks. MTD already had chippers.

Murray bought the tooling, went bankrupt as well , and now Briggs owns it. Hard to tell if /when/ how it will fit in with Briggs/Simplicity/Snapper/Ferris/Giant Vac.

Take care of it and it will last awhile.

[bontai Joe]

The good thing about the Super Tomahawk chipper is that there are very few specialty parts that you really have to go to the manufacturer for. The shredder knives are generic, the housing is just a metal box, the engine is a bolted on affair and can be easily removed for repair or replacement. Belts are belts, the only really special part is the chipper knife, and that can be reverse engineered by any competant machine shop.

[Ken in NJ]

The good thing about the Super Tomahawk chipper is that there are very few specialty parts that you really have to go to the manufacturer for. The shredder knives are generic, the housing is just a metal box, the engine is a bolted on affair and can be easily removed for repair or replacement. Belts are belts, the only really special part is the chipper knife, and that can be reverse engineered by any competant machine shop.

Joe

Do you know an online source for the shredder knives ??

I used the machine today for the first time ... changed the oil, drained out the old fuel, installed a new fuel line and filter, sharpened the chipper knife on my course oil stone.

Overall it worked well .. very loud as I was told it would be.. but I did reduce a huge pile of brush and vines to very fine mulch...

It was around 55 - 60 here today .. and after I was done mulching .. I went to get some more gas and came back and the pile of mulch was loaded with honey bees :omg: ... I guess the were attracted to something I mulched.. dont they know its the middle of winter ?? :bonk:

I may be selling the tomahawk in the spring if anyone might be interested .. after I finish removing the rest of the brush and small trees to make way for my new garage.. Let me know if you might be interested

[bontai Joe]

For the shredder knives, try www.mayberrys,com as he was a long time Troy-bilt dealer. But I'd also remove one of the old ones and try any dealer that sells MacKissic or Kemp shredders and see if they match up. It's just a hardened steel "T" with a hole through the base.