. . . grabs the limb right out of your hand . . .

. . . the limb snagged the cuff of my Levi work jacket . . . and that is how I lost my left arm.

edit: Just to be clear, I have all of my limbs.

I just thought it was funny that @MrCreosote was saying: "I want this specific kind of dangerous wood chipper"

Peace.

 

I looked at the Harbor Freight model. It's essentially still a gravity feed unit, that just relies on the chipper knife to grab the branch and pull it in. It may, or may not, grab the branch depending on the branch size and feed angle.

True self feed chippers use rotating feed rollers and look like this: Ritchie Bros auction link

Cal

 

It should tell you in the advertisements or manual whether or not it is "self-feeding". Some will gravity feed with help from the chipper wheel pulling the material in. My PTO powered DR chipper self-feeds this way, but the big professional models or those with a horizontal hopper use a powered roller.

 

If you want 'productivity', you will need a much bigger machine. It is operating on a gravity feed using the weight of the stick to slide into the blades.

Those little machines are good for the small branches and twigs raked up after a wind storm. If you have a big pile of large branches it will be a headache.

A self or hydraulic feed machine, it is in the 2-4 thousand dollar range.

Something more like this:

MDWC1500 Gas Wood Chipper - High-Powered, Efficient & Reliable

Experience the power and efficiency of the MDWC1500 Gas Wood Chipper. With a 13.5HP 420CC Briggs & Stratton Gasoline Engine and electric start, this tractor-independent wood chipper is perfect for both commercial and personal use. Enjoy free shipping and warranty included on your purchase

etractorimplements.com

 

Watch enough YouTube vids and you can identify them.

This one is mine…

I have a self feeding PTO driven one and I like it, but it needs to grow up and stop being so cheap because made in china. I run it with my 46 horsepower Kubota L4610, so this little chipper doesn’t even phase the tractor, but It’s disappointingly slow. At least for the most part I don’t need to babysit it too much as long as whatever I put in there isn’t going to catch on any of the sheet metal. It takes some experience to learn how to efficiently run these things. (Spoiler alert - the big commercial tow behind models like you see the tree companies using have a much shorter learning curve). It’s only like 6” capacity, which handicaps it to how “brushy” of a limb it can take in just as much as the actual diameter. It only has one infeed roller instead of two, and it’s mechanically driven rather than hydraulic powered. It’s worth every penny of the $450 I paid for it though. Hydraulic ones are typically reversible.

The big ones that tow behind a truck like the commercial tree companies use are almost exclusively self feeding. A lot of times you can tell by looking at them from the side if they’re drum fed (aka “chuck and duck”) or powered roller fed. Those chuck and duck ones are scary. They’re crazy fast working, incredibly powerful, and super efficient, but the hazards speak for themselves. They pull in the branch in REALLY fast and there’s no way to stop it. Better hope that branch doesn’t catch you or your clothing on its way in. I’ll run a unguarded buzz rig, chainsaw without a chain brake, and tricycle front tractor equipped with a loader - but I won’t go anywhere near a commercial grade drum fed chipper.

I’ve never really tried a gravity fed model so I can’t say one way or another how they work. I had a chipper/blower/vac when I was younger. On that one you had to force the branch in and it would vibrate to the point of painful on the hands as it went. I think the majority of the residential grade units are drum fed but gravity does a lot of the feeding. Someone may correct me because I don’t know too much about them, but I believe these ones are identifiable because the infeed chute is angled downward, often fairly steeply.

No matter what kind you get, please wear double hearing protection and never lose respect for it.

Edited more to add: the link in the post above is a large disc rotor type rather than a small (like around 10” diameter drum). A disc almost like you see on a wheeled leaf blower. If you see that large disc shaped housing and horizontal infeed chute, it’s likely powered roller fed.

 

Yeah, the small 2-3" ones, can suck to use, in that unless the branches are dead straight, and with not a lot of leaves/needles, or sub-branches, the branches don't feed at all or are much more difficult to get through. I've got a DR Power blower/chipper, and I tried using it with much smaller branches, and it was quite frustrating to use.

But, come to think of it, I might just make a larger feeder chute for it, so I can better feed them in. It won't change the max diameter, but it probably will help with feeding smaller stuff, but with more leaves and sub branches into the machine.

 

Most of the chippers I've seen on youtube are ones you have to manually push the limb into it.
This is no good for productivity.
Ironically, the Harbor Freight $600 chipper grabs the limb right out of your hand and chips it crazy fast - it's a hungry beast - it's almost hazardous! this is the feature I want.

Is there any way by looking at the posted pictures of a chipper for sale to determine if it is like that?

I've seen videos of 8 and 9 hp models that you still have to push the limb in - so HP is not an indicator.
Thanks
Tom

You need one like my cousin scored at an auction. Big flywheel type chipper driven by a 6cyl Ford truck engine.

 

I just edited the link to the HF chipper beast in my original post. Here it is too:

The good part is just before half way. This thing is a BEAST.

 

Yeah, that style input chute for the chipper works great if you want to get rid of a bunch of broom handles or similar near-dead-straight branches that have everything trimmed off. The further the branch varies from that, the worse it works.

 

I've seen shredders that have look very similar that do not suck in the branch. Maybe it has to do with the type of cutters on the wheel.

I have over 200' of privet hedges and 3 big yews - the stems are straight with very weak branching - I think they would get sucked in nicely. If I have to manually feel hedge stems that are 1/2 to 1", I'll be there for days. I do have pine trees that I'll be taking down, but the city will chip for $$. It would be nice to have a chipper that would handle my shrub maintenance.

 

The most common type of non-manual feeding chipper's are hydraulically fed. You can tell by looking into the chute. If it's hydraulically fed, there will be a roller in there that pulls the branches in.

I'm not sure if you're looking for a stand-alone variety, or a 3pt type though.

 

I’ve found that with chippers, you get what you pay for.
I’ve had a Troy-built.. resold after one hour.
Smaller DR Power.. better but didn’t do what I wanted, always looked for a used version of their biggest offering, but nothing came up.
Bought a Power King from HD, very impressive for a non-hydraulic feed. Pulls in most branches with ease.

 

I don't know why I have a chipper hasn't been used in years.
Well yes I actually know why I have one. Thought I was bidding on a cement mixer. What a shock that was.

 

Well I suppose it would mix cement too..😉

 

You want one that can pull in like this one?

 

I know that was meant to be funny. But it happens.

 

We had a "chuck and duck" type commercial chipper in our State Forestry Dept. It would literally grab any sized branch, rip it out of your hands at high speed and eat it in a couple of seconds. I would rate it as dangerous to anyone, and no one liked it. You had to throw things at it like a spear and let go before they caught for a "safe" operation.

The machines most companies use have spiky feed rollers that push the material into the blades at a controlled rate. You can stick branches into the rollers and then walk away to get more for continuous, efficient work. The tapered chute will compress or break off branches so they keep going into the machine. The rollers can be released or reversed to clear jams.

 

This is what I used to operate:

It belonged to my father.

I could drop a whole tree into it, branches and all, and it would take it. So I'm spoiled.

But even that would clog with wet, green, soft wood. Thin and flexible branches would wrap around the cutting wheel axle and bring it to a halt.

Then I had to open the drum housing, cut them all up, and pull them out by hand.

The machine was high maintenance and difficult to move. It kept breaking down, and eventually my family got rid of it.

If I ever get another one, I'd like something like this:

They do come up at auction occasionally, but with the Internet you're bidding against the world and I never seem to win.

Cal

 

I need to clarify. I'm talking about shrubs. I don't want to buy the HF out of principle, if it was $300 I'd probably do it, but $600 way overpriced. But if HF can do that, then I should be able to find a used something for $100-200. There have been 8-9 hp used ones on market for $200 or less, but if they don't "suck" they're worth nothing to me. (In fact, I saw a YouTube of a 8hp Craftsman I think and they had to manually push the twigs into the chute (why make a vid of a 8hp 3" "capacity" chipping shrubbery? I've seen $1500 chippers that you have to manually shove the branches all the way in.

 

I heard the other day a chipper sucked in person.

Virginia man killed after being pulled head-first into wood chipper

A Virginia man is dead following a tragic accident involving a wood chipper.

wpde.com