Chipper Question

What chippers are available that are between the small homeowner type that look as if they'd puke their guts on anything larger than a twig and the big Vermeer types used by cities that can swallow whole trees?

I've got some honeysuckle and other brush to clear on some hillsides and would like to get a chipper big enough to easily handle the twisted branches, etc., as I cut them. I've thought about renting, but the job is big enough that it would be easier to do a little at a time spread out rather than trying to rent something and use it for 24 hours straight.

I'm in Wisconsin and my budget is about 2K or less for something in good used condition.

Go to the DR chipper website, or try to buy a used piece of equipment. Depending on how much you have it might be cheaper to hire a crew for a day, and have them do it for $1k and then for the future you would just have a burn pit, cut it up then burn it up.

Check with a rental place. They will keep a unit for XXX hours and sell them off. They keep up maint. so it is reliable to rent out. I bought a Vermeer 600 a few years back that ran like a new one. It would handle 6" pretty easy. I used it for 3 years until I got my needs done and sold it for more than I paid. They will have commercial duty machines but if you buy new ones for the same money, they will likely be lighter duty machines.

I'm skeptical that you'll find anything really helpful for under $2k. But prices vary by region. $5-6k and you can probably find a good used 25hp 6" Vermeer. My father has one. Of course first thing your post made me think of was from personal experience it isn't the best at vines. Somehow they find a way to wrap up inside. It's funny too how a soft pine will often not feed well. The ring of limbs around the trunk makes nice knots that prevent it from being pulled in easily and the soft nature of the wood makes it hard for the infeed roller to grab it--it ends up sharpening the end.

(quoted from post at 16:48:23 12/08/14) What chippers are available that are between the small homeowner type that look as if they'd puke their guts on anything larger than a twig and the big Vermeer types used by cities that can swallow whole trees?

I've got some honeysuckle and other brush to clear on some hillsides and would like to get a chipper big enough to easily handle the twisted branches, etc., as I cut them. I've thought about renting, but the job is big enough that it would be easier to do a little at a time spread out rather than trying to rent something and use it for 24 hours straight.

I'm in Wisconsin and my budget is about 2K or less for something in good used condition.

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I bought a used trailer mounted Busy Beever Model 100 chipper with a 24hp Kohler engine few years back for $ 1950. It's a 6" capacity but I wouldn't try to put a 6" piece of anything through it. Biggest I do is about 2-3". It does fine for that but any bigger and you feel like you've got a tiger by the tail as it feeds in. That size stuff I save for the fireplace or firepit. It has a single hydraulic infeed roller. Have to be careful feeding pine boughs through it as it CAN plug up if you go too fast. It was owned by a golf course and is a decent machine for a homeowner. I've drooled over the big models with big engines but wife just says "NO!" :lol:

Kerwin, Don't buy anything that doesn't have an automatic feed. I had a Wallenstein 4" chipper, a 3 pt hitch mounted one, that I spent more time limbing and pruning brush to go through it than I did actually chipping. I was constantly having to take a stick and push stuff to make it feed. Ellis

I also have a Busy Beaver 100. Mine was a sacker
or blower depending on how you had the chute set,
I think all of them were that way? Because of the
sacker they had to temper the blowing a bit and I
had same problems with pine plugging as you. I
gave right at 2000 for mine also.

Back to the OP A lot of times in life you can
spend too little money and chippers is one of
them. For $2000 you dont buy a decent chipper in
ready to run condition. Most of the tree service
units that find there way to consignment auctions
are junk and the few decent ones cant be touched
for $2000
I agree with the poster that said you need a
hydraulic feed type and that adds $$$. The
Morbark Busy Beaver 100 can be a very good
personal chipper, will chip up to 6" stuff and has
a feeder roller, the basics are all there. As
built they are 100 times the chipper of any big
box store models and they usually sell cheap,
watch golf course auctions as that seems to have
been the main market for them. Mine is now
extensively modified in the feed box and discharge
chute arrangements and the hydraulic system has
also been extensively modified. Like everything
else China is involved and there is a 3 point
hitch chinamade chipper that gets decent reviews.

get an old forage harvester you get power feed fast and tough for scrap price