Thinking of getting a new 18" chipper, opinions wanted

[cory]

Sounds like morbark paint lol.

How many hps in your chipper, Paul?

 

[rbtree]

I'm happy with my one crew company, nothing but truck and chipper....Love my old 97 250 XP. Don't like chipping big stuff unless its crap like willow, or populus, as it fills the truck, a 19 yd box, too quickly. And I like having no payments. I'd spring for a 1290 if I wanted to go newer, but I don't. Easy to make firewood and give it away, and all cool woods go to my live edge custom furniture peeps, and bowl turners, or to the mill, if fir, cedar, pine or alder....

 

[cory]

Finally talked on the phone to the owner, the picture is wrong, that chipper was sold awhile ago.

 

[PCTREE]

Also IMO the winch sucks. You have a loader so pull it and use the spool for a chute rotator , we love the one I put on ours.

 

[Evan Sussman]

Definetly. Although some folks claim that the new law says that the truck and chipper combination together if it weighs more than 26k, you need a cdl. Not sure I believe that though.

It must vary from state to state.

In WA, over 26k single or 26k combined only if trailer is over 10k. So, truck can be 26k and trailer 10k, gvcwr is 36k, no cdl required.

However my f550 17.5k + dump trailer 13.4k requires a class A.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

The Dynamic factory still exists, you can get any parts you need from them. It's just owned by Barko now, and they only build the really big chippers http://www.barko.com/products/biomass-chippers/

This is one of the very earliest 510's with 125hp. I filmed this when I visited the Factory

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qzilI9MH9K4?list=UU2uXu3GTOwRMl2CrMZmyMxw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[PCTREE]

Cory mine is a 140hp Cat

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Actually Paul, that CAT is just a rebadged Perkins anyway.

 

[Tucker943]

Cory, I would strictly stick to a brand with reasonably local dealer support. Its real easy for everyone to rave about their machine, but those chippers will do you no good if you have a serious breakdown with yours. That's not taking a shot at anyone. But even the best machines can have a failure. Are you prepared to go very long distance for repair? Are you prepared to become a bona fide chipper mechanic in an instant? Chippers are relatively simple machines, but I was texting with Joe (1BUS) today and he was shooting me pics of all the chippers he repaired at work this week, and the diesel work and mechanical work he was doing was over my head and Im not a chipper dummy typically.

Just food for thought. Theres surely some great brands out there, but like its been said in every other discussion on here aside from this one, "go with what you have solid dealer support on".

 

[brendonv]

I agree wit chris, buy wit dealer support

When my woodsman needed parts they asked me to take pictures because they had no clue. Seemed like they never built two the same ( heard this from marquis also who bought two of the same chipper at the same time and parts and infeed measurements were different). Got my bandit and every single part is in this lovely book with a part number. Bought winch and it went on like butter. Id prob never buy another brand, hate to say that.

 

[cory]

B, what do you think of Harlan's morbark 18" compared to BB. How many hps in his??

Yes, I have to agree with Chris too, at least for me. I'm a tree cutter not a mechanic so I can't afford to set myself up where I'll need to do wrenching. And good mechanics around here are nearly nonexistent

 

[lumberjack]

I am removal heavy and as such, I would skip the 18" and go up to the 20-21" class and certainly not worry about keeping it under 10klbs. I would get the most horsepower I could afford/find, preferably pre Tier 4, even if that meant used. I would skip the winch and loader to get a fixed infeed tray or the steel conveyor infeed to facilitate feeding with machines.

Morbark, Terex, and Bandit would be where I started looking.

 

[cory]

Over 18" would of course be nice on many a job but I feel like 18" is a good size that gives you a lot of capability without towing too huge a machine around. I agree, the over/under 10k lbs is basically irrelevant because even if you get a chipper that is a tad under 10k, you still need a CDL cuz of the combination rule. Fixed tray is key cuz it is usually machine fed, but to me a winch is also a no brainer cuz it does so many things. BB is the front runner, with Morbark still in the mix cuz of the nice job my current morbark has done over the years. It is looking like I can still get a tier 3

 

[lumberjack]

The 1990 is only a couple thousand pounds heavier than the 1590, that wouldn't bother me, but then again, at this point I don't need a chipper as disposal is free.

 

[cory]

BrendanV, what do you think of Harlan's morbark 18" compared to BB. How many hps in his??

Bump

 

[brendonv]

I dont have enough time on it to make a statement about it. I can say he still uses his 1590 a lot. We used it today actually.

I have seen them stall out the morbark multiple times on tulip and pine though. I cant imagine if you tried a big hardwood. Havent seen them stall the bb.

 

[Husabud]

Cory,

http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/2007-carlton-2018hd-740hrs-29-650-ohio.28144/#post-393233

 

[cory]

B, cool info, thanks.

Husabud, thankyou for the link. I'm leaning toward a new BB, their owners speak highly of them and I'll have some dealer support, there are no carlton dealers around here.

 

[Husabud]

I'd be heading that way myself.