# 3 Point Hitch Chipper



## charly (May 24, 2013)

Since there are so many brands, who has used what? I have a L3010 Kubota 30hp.. Also I heard the pto driven chippers are very hard on tractors?  I looking to chip maybe up to 3 inch, the rest I keep for firewood..  I like the hydraulic feed chippers with variable intake speed.


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## MasterMech (May 24, 2013)

Check out Bear Cat.

http://bearcatproducts.com/

Hydraulic feed machines will be 2-3X the price of a self-feed unit.  How often/how much material do you plan to feed this thing?  Knife maintenance can get tedious, especially for a self-feed (gravity feed) unit.

That L3010 should handle a small 4-5" machine continuously eating branches no problem.


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## charly (May 24, 2013)

MasterMech said:


> Check out Bear Cat.
> 
> http://bearcatproducts.com/
> 
> ...


I want to clean up some of my woods and also use the chips on my logging road to keep down the weed growth, etc.. Just spent 2 months pruning out my 65 apple trees... All those branches are up in my woods in a good size pile.. That could have all been chipped as well.. I have like 50 acres of woods, so there's always something that could be chipped, especially when blazing new trails.. On one tree crew we had a 20 inch capacity brush Bandit... Once a day we would open up the flywheel housing and use a draw knife sharpener over the four blades.. That kept a nice edge on the blades and extended the time between flipping them around to the new side... I would do that with my own chipper.. I was looking at the Woodmax chippers, around 3000,, hydraulic feed.. 200 lb flywheel, all grease able bearings,, I use amsoil synthetic grease, stuff should last... watching some videos of the gravity feed chippers, you have to babysit the limb all the way in... Hands on will numb your hand after a while from the shock of the blades hitting the wood... I'd rather load it and forget it, move to get the next branch..


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## charly (May 24, 2013)

MasterMech said:


> Check out Bear Cat.
> 
> http://bearcatproducts.com/
> 
> ...


What do you think of these? Wood chippers, PTO Woodchippers, Woodland Mills Ontario Canada — PC8H - 8” PTO Chipper Hydraulic Feed


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## glennm (May 25, 2013)

I have a wallenstein BXM 32 for my bx23 and it works great. We have used it a lot for a couple of years now. It self feeds just fine.  We have a huge pile of chips for mulch and most of the trials covered. I don't think you could find a better machine in this price range!  

http://www.embmfg.com/forestry/Chipper_Shredder/BXM.aspx


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## Foragefarmer (May 25, 2013)

I think from reading the literature on both sites that they are both sourced from China. And the designs are only really cosmetically different. Only the knives are made in the US as stated by Woodmaxx. Given that you are in NY I would go with Woodmaxx since their warehouse is in NY. The price is basically the same when you factor in the different shipping policies and exchange rate.


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## blades (May 25, 2013)

I have a BearCat  5" Chipper shredder, self feed, sometimes ya got grab a branch so it can catch back up ( stand alone 20hp) controlled feed is nice but pricy. its a little slower than a straight chipper, I have been happy with it.


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## charly (May 25, 2013)

glennm said:


> I have a wallenstein BXM 32 for my bx23 and it works great. We have used it a lot for a couple of years now. It self feeds just fine. We have a huge pile of chips for mulch and most of the trials covered. I don't think you could find a better machine in this price range!
> 
> http://www.embmfg.com/forestry/Chipper_Shredder/BXM.aspx


They look pretty well built.


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## charly (May 25, 2013)

After watching the Woodmax video,,, that thing is actually slow compared to the BXM 32 Wallenstein,,, plus the Wallenstein gives you two in feed choices... Looks like you get what you pay for...


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## MasterMech (May 25, 2013)

That's the truth.

Price is real attractive on the WoodMax, prolly has something to do with it being a very simple design.  2 Blade design might explain why it's a bit slow as well.

One more note - You might need an over-running clutch if the chipper isn't equipped with one.  A 200+lb flywheel spinning down can be hard on your tractor's PTO brake/clutch.


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## charly (May 25, 2013)

MasterMech said:


> That's the truth.
> 
> Price is real attractive on the WoodMax, prolly has something to do with it being a very simple design. 2 Blade design might explain why it's a bit slow as well.
> 
> One more note - You might need an over-running clutch if the chipper isn't equipped with one. A 200+lb flywheel spinning down can be hard on your tractor's PTO brake/clutch.


They say they can run a two blade design because they speed the flywheel up from the norm 540 rpms to 1200... In the videos the Woodmax couldn't really finish one limb of wood on it's own,,, pathetic when I've been around chippers both old style drum chippers and then the slow feed hydraulic, for a good part of my life...and saw that.. Wallenstein walked right by that chipper... For 800 more I'd buy the Wallenstein...

Never thought about the chipper winding down against the PTO.. I suppose you could just disengage the PTO at the instant you lower the motor RPMS..Let it just free wheel down.. I think the Wallenstein only runs an 80lb wheel..
I'll keep an eye out for next to new used ones as well... Just have to be patient..


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## glennm (May 26, 2013)

The wallenstein is a real beast!  It is very well made (I would bet best in its class). Built local to me by the Mennonites. I use the shredder a lot as well. For me it is perfect!  I have put lots of hours on mine and it has been everything I hoped it would be.


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## Jack Fate (May 26, 2013)

charly said:


> What do you think of these? Wood chippers, PTO Woodchippers, Woodland Mills Ontario Canada — PC8H - 8” PTO Chipper Hydraulic Feed


 
Is the exchange rate like $4 us to $1 Canada ? because that's to good to be true


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## charly (May 26, 2013)

Jack Fate said:


> Is the exchange rate like $4 us to $1 Canada ? because that's to good to be true


 Latest I've seen is 1 dollar Canadian = 96 cents US


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## charly (May 26, 2013)

glennm said:


> The wallenstein is a real beast! It is very well made (I would bet best in its class). Built local to me by the Mennonites. I use the shredder a lot as well. For me it is perfect! I have put lots of hours on mine and it has been everything I hoped it would be.


That's good to hear..


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## SIERRADMAX (May 26, 2013)

I couldn't afford the $2000+ for a PTO chipper. I scoured CL and finally found a WW Grinder Apache 240C for sale. Guy wanted $300 and all it needed was new belts. Granted, it's not self feed but this little thing can chew a 3" limb pretty well. The shreader on top handles some large debris as well.


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## charly (May 26, 2013)

SIERRADMAX said:


> I couldn't afford the $2000+ for a PTO chipper. I scoured CL and finally found a WW Grinder Apache 240C for sale. Guy wanted $300 and all it needed was new belts. Granted, it's not self feed but this little thing can chew a 3" limb pretty well. The shreader on top handles some large debris as well.


Nice score


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## Jack Fate (May 26, 2013)

Most hyd. Feed chippers that size cost $9-12 k

This must be a HF quality tool? 

Around here you can't SEE any of these units 

Dealers only order them when needed

How about you buy one & report back ; )


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## charly (May 26, 2013)

Jack Fate said:


> Most hyd. Feed chippers that size cost $9-12 k
> 
> This must be a HF quality tool?
> 
> ...


Staying away from the Woodmax,,, your right! That has to be a short lived chipper compared to paying 9-12 K...I'll keep my eye out for a good used Wallenstein ..


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## 'bert (May 26, 2013)

I have the Wallenstein BX 42s but have not used it since I sold my tractor last fall..  It is well built and will chew thru a 3" tree like nothing.  Often I wish I had bought the hydro feed model.  On Friday I picked up a 3 pt hitch adaptor with pto drive for the skid steer, so have to test the chipper today.  Buy the Wallenstein you wont be disappointed.  I would suggest buying bigger then you think you need, often a 3" branch has a crook or a twist in it that wont allow it to go thru.


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## charly (May 26, 2013)

'bert said:


> I have the Wallenstein BX 42s but have not used it since I sold my tractor last fall.. It is well built and will chew thru a 3" tree like nothing. Often I wish I had bought the hydro feed model. On Friday I picked up a 3 pt hitch adaptor with pto drive for the skid steer, so have to test the chipper today. Buy the Wallenstein you wont be disappointed. I would suggest buying bigger then you think you need, often a 3" branch has a crook or a twist in it that wont allow it to go thru.


Probably go 4 inch... I really save like 2-3 inch stuff anyways... unless we are talking pine.. I want to build a pallet or two that will hold nothing but kindling..  So any chipper I get will be just chewing up the brushy branches of the trees I harvest..not like I'm doing tree work and just want the trunk wood.. It's nice to hear all the positive posts about the Wallenstein chippers..I appreciate every ones feed back.. Nice to find out before you buy..


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## glennm (May 27, 2013)

The 42 is a great option but I use the mulcher quite a bit. I dont know what size your tractor is but a BXM 42 would be too big for my tractor. The BX 42 was what I started looking at, it would be fine but I am glad I have the mulching option. The crooked a bushy branches can be a pain but you quickly learn how to trim them with the chipper in mind. The self feed is great, if it slows down a bit you have dull blades.


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## 'bert (May 27, 2013)

Charly - not trying to hijack your thread but I just wanted to add that the PTO adapter on the skid steer did not work for the chipper.  (in case anyone happens to search that subject and finds my comment above.)  The PTO drive just went into bypass with larger trees


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## charly (May 27, 2013)

glennm said:


> The 42 is a great option but I use the mulcher quite a bit. I dont know what size your tractor is but a BXM 42 would be too big for my tractor. The BX 42 was what I started looking at, it would be fine but I am glad I have the mulching option. The crooked a bushy branches can be a pain but you quickly learn how to trim them with the chipper in mind. The self feed is great, if it slows down a bit you have dull blades.


L3010 Kubota--30 HP


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## MasterMech (May 28, 2013)

If the majority of the material that you want to run is under 1" then you most definitely want a chipper with a shredder (hammer mill) built in.  Bearcat makes an excellent unit that IIRC isn't priced too bad either. The downside to chipper/shredders is that there are none with a hydraulic feed that I am aware of.


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## glennm (May 28, 2013)

I use mine with a bx23 and it works great. Here is a link to one in action. This video is accurate, mine works as well as the video illustrates.


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## charly (May 28, 2013)

MasterMech said:


> If the majority of the material that you want to run is under 1" then you most definitely want a chipper with a shredder (hammer mill) built in. Bearcat makes an excellent unit that IIRC isn't priced too bad either. The downside to chipper/shredders is that there are none with a hydraulic feed that I am aware of.


I'm use to cutting so that branches chip easily...   Even when I was a climber, I was always considerate of the ground men.. I'd always make sure when I was free falling limbs that they were cut so they could go right in the chipper,, no crotches or branches sticking out a steep side angle.. work on the ground went smooth that way... I use to hate seeing a climber bury a ground crew trying to keep up... next thing people are under your drop zone trying to keep up... not good... Not to get off the subject,,, but I worked for a guy years ago that thought he was very fast at taking down trees.... Well he was actually slow when you looked at getting the whole job done... This guy would for example limb out a pine, like a mad man,,, then start blocking all the trunk wood on top of all the brush... come down go look at another job and leave us to clean up,,,, LOL now we had to move all the trunk wood to even get to the brush to start chipping... ahhhhh,,,  the early days


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## Adios Pantalones (May 28, 2013)

glennm said:


> I use mine with a bx23 and it works great. Here is a link to one in action. This video is accurate, mine works as well as the video illustrates.



Pretty convincing. I could use one- but only 2 days a year


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## MasterMech (May 29, 2013)

charly said:


> I suppose you could just disengage the PTO at the instant you lower the motor RPMS..Let it just free wheel down..​


 
You'd be better off lowering RPM's as much as possible and then killing the PTO.  As soon as you disengage a PTO with a hydraulic clutch/brake (usually electrically controlled via switch/relay) the brake is immediately engaged.  Also, some Kubota's with hydro transmissions use a clutch pedal that will disconnect the PTO.  I'd just stand on that and let it freewheel down.


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## charly (May 29, 2013)

MasterMech said:


> You'd be better off lowering RPM's as much as possible and then killing the PTO. As soon as you disengage a PTO with a hydraulic clutch/brake (usually electrically controlled via switch/relay) the brake is immediately engaged. Also, some Kubota's with hydro transmissions use a clutch pedal that will disconnect the PTO. I'd just stand on that and let it freewheel down.


That's what I do with my rear 5 ft blower... Engage and disengage at an idle.. I have a standard transmission on my Kubota... Live PTO,,, so when you flip the lever it's immediately turning..


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## MasterMech (May 29, 2013)

charly said:


> That's what I do with my rear 5 ft blower... Engage and disengage at an idle.. I have a standard transmission on my Kubota... Live PTO,,, so when you flip the lever it's immediately turning..


 
You might not get away with engaging a heavy flywheel'd chipper at idle, especially with no way to feather the clutch a bit.  Wet PTO clutches can withstand an incredible amount of abuse.  Makes me wonder why they use dry clutches in cars/trucks still.


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## eauzonedan (May 29, 2013)

Another vote for Wallenstein.  I have a +/-35 hp Deere 970 and it spins the bigger unit (62 without feeder) just fine.  I went with the bigger chipper unit as the additional flywheel weight is a plus to bust up pesty little hard chunks - like rock hard dry pine.  The extra weight makes it a bit of a bear to wrestle when off the tractor, but worth it.  They said they don't need the aux feeder and they were right.  Also said the lower HP rating for a bigger unit is not anything cast in stone.  For me anything more than a couple inches if firewood.  My only problem has been thick viney leafy green tops of birch trees tends to plug it if you don't let them dry a week or two before feeding.  I suspect the smaller units would be even worse and plug easier due to smaller chutes.  Anything without fresh green leaves is great....bangs thru oak just as easy as softwood....  good source is http://www.iowafarmequipment.com/wallenstein-tractor-pto-wood-chippers.html  These were good people to work with and will ship it to your door.  10-4 on engage the clutch at low rpm and ramp it up with engine rpm.........with the big flywheel there is a couple hundred pounds of mass to spin up to 500+ rpm.....

Dan


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## denn (Jun 2, 2013)

I have a Wallenstein BXM 42, I'm hard to impress and this is the best built piece of equipment I ever bought. $3700
It's sure better then anything I've bought made in USA.


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## Highbeam (Jun 3, 2013)

I've spent lots of time behind a pto chipper. You engage the pto at idle just as you do with all equipment, slip the clutch to bring things up to speed. Then raise the idle to pto 540, get off the machine, flip up the seat so it doesn't fill with junk, and start chipping. The engine will lug when you feed something too large too fast. You can either stop feed or slow feed to allow the rpm to come back up. None of this disengaging the PTO.

If you plan to chip 4" material then get at least an 8" chipper. Realize that the branches aren't straight and forks in a 2" branch will often exceed the throat width of an 8" chipper.

Go power feed or don't buy a PTO chipper. Whether that is hydro feed or some type of mechanical feed.

The last option which is often cheaper than a PTO chipper is a stand alone foresry chipper like the power crews use. Those things are impressive and can often be cheap to buy. Not a lot to wear out that can't be replaced easily. Some are power feed and some are "chuck and duck" with a drum that sucks in the branch violently and fast.


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## Lastcoin (Apr 20, 2015)

SIERRADMAX said:


> I couldn't afford the $2000+ for a PTO chipper. I scoured CL and finally found a WW Grinder Apache 240C for sale. Guy wanted $300 and all it needed was new belts. Granted, it's not self feed but this little thing can chew a 3" limb pretty well. The shreader on top handles some large debris as well.


I just bought the same chipper on CL. You got a better deal. Not too many PTO implements down here in SoCal. I've got it hohked up to my JD 1025, but I keep blasting through the sheer bolt. I'm not sure this is the original PTO shaft. Any tips for a newbee?


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## Fiziksgeek (May 11, 2015)

I also have a Wallenstein BXM32 and its great. I power it with my Massey Ferguson GC2400 with 18.7 PTO HP. Seems like its matched well. You could easily go up to the BXM42 with your tractor. 

Took this video on my first use.


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