Are there any small wood chippers that actually work?

I've decided to clear the back half of my property. I'm pretty sure that this used to be a poison ivy and pricker bush farm.

Step One needs to be clearing out all of the nasty underbrush. It's mostly made up of two invasive species, Japanese Barberry (evil) and Russian Olive (annoying). I've been making good progress cutting everything at ground level with a pole saw (chainsaw on a stick), but I need to get rid of it.

I know that most small, homeowner grade wood chippers are garbage. I need something that is self feeding to pull all this crap in.

Does anybody know of any small self feeding machines that are any good? The project is big enough that I'm thinking about finding something on Craigslist, using it for a month or two and then selling it.

I dunno about self feeding, but the one I bought at Lowe's works pretty well.  You can feed the brush in the big hopper and thicker branches in the smaller shoot.  If it's too big for the shoot, then it gets cut up for firewood.

In reply to Dr. Hess :

Thanks. Do you know the brand name?

Have you looked at renting a full size one for a couple days? As long as you have enthusiastic help it goes pretty quickly.

In reply to Wally :

We did this at our church once.  It’s a lot of fun.   

In reply to Wally :

That’s the most likely option, though enthusiastic helpers will be hard to find around here. 

I have a brushcutter attachment on my Tanaka weedwacker that works pretty well at clearing out similar stuff at our place.  I'd be very careful with chipping poison ivy, though - you don't want it airborne where is can get in your eyes, throat, lungs, etc.

I bought a used MTD 5 HP chipper after a big storm knocked a huge tree down on my property.  With the cutters freshly sharpened, it was okay for stuff up to an inch or two.  Any bigger than that and the machine just wasn't up to it.  The cutters need to be pulled and sharpened every few hours unless you plan to beat the sticks into pieces with dull cutters.  Sharpness is crucial, and the cutters are easy to sharpen.  Did I mention the cutters need to be sharp?

I sold the machine for what I had in it after I turned my brush pile into chips.  I spent more than a few hours feeding it sticks.  And it's bloody loud.  Ear protection is an absolute must.  If you've got a big pile, or some big stuff and no use for the firewood, look into hiring somebody to come out and make it disappear.  It might be worth it.

Also, if you've got brush and vines that are green and flexible, getting it through a chipper is going to be next to impossible.  What I do now is pile it up in a corner of the yard until it reaches a certain size, then load it on my truck and carry it to the county landfill where they mulch it with their machines.

What kind of diameters are you dealing with?

I used a chipper one time, pretty good sized one, I want to say like 8HP.  Borrowed it from a friend.  Spent all day chipping up a big pile.  It was loud, hot, and vibrated a lot.  At the end of the day, I ended up with a small trailer full of mulch that, I later learned, should not be used around the house or any plants you like, as it may contain mold spores.  I guess the mulch they sell at the stores is treated with something to kill the mold.

I'm convinced that chippers are one of those things that sounds great, but in reality is just one of those useless toys that adults seem to want.  I can buy 40 yards of mulch for what a modestly-sized chipper costs.  

The real-deal tow-behinds do work.  Sometimes you can find them used for 1000 or 1500 or so.  Look for one powered with a car engine- the 300 cu in Ford is a popular choice.  Then sell it when you're done with it.  

Bottom line- We now have a compost pile of brush in the forest.  So it either gets tossed back there, or burned.  Had a big old multi-tree bonfire last weekend.  Sitting around a burning pile of wood is a lot more fun than fighting with a noisy old chipper.  

You should get the same one they use here!

I'll have to look, Woody.  It's red and like 8 HP or so.  I bought it 10 years ago to clean up after a storm.  It's pretty handy to have around when you live in the middle of 10 acres of trees and rocks.  When we are doing a big job, I have Dr.Linda feed the stuff in as I cut it up into chippable sizes with the chain saw.

Apexcarver said:

What kind of diameters are you dealing with?

1/2"-3/4" mostly, but it's all a tangled mess. It's the stuff in front of the actual trees in the photo. Imagine chipping barbed wire and you'll be pretty close.

In my humble opinion, trying to "chip" that tangled mess isn't going to be any fun.  I'd venture to say a chipper is the wrong tool.  You need a heavy-duty mower like a Bush Hog.

Or maybe the DR Field and Brush mower.  Said to take saplings up to 2" in diameter.

Small?

Self feeding? 

Chips wood?

1988RedT2 said:

In my humble opinion, trying to "chip" that tangled mess isn't going to be any fun.  I'd venture to say a chipper is the wrong tool.  You need a heavy-duty mower like a Bush Hog.

Or maybe the DR Field and Brush mower.  Said to take saplings up to 2" in diameter.

I've already cut everything down. Now I need to dispose of it. Fire is only an option if there's snow on the ground.

Woody said:

1988RedT2 said:

In my humble opinion, trying to "chip" that tangled mess isn't going to be any fun.  I'd venture to say a chipper is the wrong tool.  You need a heavy-duty mower like a Bush Hog.

Or maybe the DR Field and Brush mower.  Said to take saplings up to 2" in diameter.

I've already cut everything down. Now I need to dispose of it. Fire is only a option if there's snow on the ground.

I see.  Around here, the county landfill accepts brush and tree prunings free of charge.  Is that an option for you? 

A monster mower could still work for you.  You could just run it back and forth over the pile.  Better than picking the stuff up and trying to stuff it down a chute. 

In reply to Sonic :

That's a nice beaver shot.

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to Sonic :

That's a nice beaver shot.

Things that you never thought you would read on a car forum.

My experience with a wood chipper is that you are going to have a hard time feeding that underbrush into one. I looks vine like. My neighbor used to have a rural fire prevention business. He had this nasty toothed rotary attachment on the front of a big tracked skidsteer that basically chewed up everything into the top layer of soil to cut down on the fire danger. That thing would chew up most everything. I don't know if you can rent something like that but it would make short work of your problem.

I’ve fought with this a lot of the years. Either make a big pile,let it dry out and burn it or call a tree service and pay them to grind it with their big chipper.  Last option is load it on a trailer and take to mulching facility. Anything else and your beating your head against the wall. 

https://hartford.craigslist.org/grd/d/dr-chipper/6570364171.html

I've heard good things about the DR.

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/dr-chipper-initial-impressions.98461/

Woody said:

1988RedT2 said:

In my humble opinion, trying to "chip" that tangled mess isn't going to be any fun.  I'd venture to say a chipper is the wrong tool.  You need a heavy-duty mower like a Bush Hog.

Or maybe the DR Field and Brush mower.  Said to take saplings up to 2" in diameter.

I've already cut everything down. Now I need to dispose of it. Fire is only an option if there's snow on the ground.

Used to have a DR, I would typically just mow over stuff like that over and over and create sticks less than a foot in length. Then I could take a normal lawn tractor to it and just keep mulching it that way.  Let the remains rot in place. Keep mowing to prevent regrowth.

Unless you are really trying for nice landscaping?

1988RedT2 said:

 

I see.  Around here, the county landfill accepts brush and tree prunings free of charge.  Is that an option for you? 

 

Brush is $70 per yard here.

Wait until winter, and then:

I tried chipping with a small chipper and it was so slow. I tried hauling it to the free drop off my city offers and it was so slow. I finally realized I was the only person on my street that didn’t burn their brush so I started burning it. So much faster.