Buy a chipper or a gallon of diesel and a mat5ch

[skeets]

Yes with the storm the other day and from earlier, and last year the pile has become rather large. Now the logs will have to burn cause they are pine and not much use. But the branches gave me pause to wonder if chipping them might not be a better way to go. Less chance of a totally out of control burn and mulch for the garden. So I put forth the question to the collative, what sat ye?

 

[Tractor Gal]

Yes with the storm the other day and from earlier, and last year the pile has become rather large. Now the logs will have to burn cause they are pine and not much use. But the branches gave me pause to wonder if chipping them might not be a better way to go. Less chance of a totally out of control burn and mulch for the garden. So I put forth the question to the collative, what sat ye?

Or...since it's pine, maybe just a match! Gotta' save when it's possible.

Tractor Gal

 

[Bee-Positive]

Let's see...you've got a "valid " reason to buy a "useful " piece of equipment...and the question is???

 

[Sidekick]

You want a brand new chipper to be covered in pine sap . Rent one.

 

[Killer Bee]

I'm right there with you skeets.. well except we don't have much pine, but rather we've got about a 150 walnut tops from last years logging and lots of black locust, hedge, sumac, etc. overgrown in our lanes and fence lines.

frequent high winds and roller coaster weather haven't afforded a lot of great burn opportunities.

I've got plenty of pto horses but not sure if that's the we best way to go. also there are chippers, shredders, chipper/shredders, etc.

two brands made in USA I was looking at were gas engine by MacKissic and pto by WoodMaxx. looking at light commercial/rental duty sizes.

I can't justify the cost of a big Vermeer like we had at work, new anyways. and not sure a used chipper is good financial risk to take.

so I'll follow along to see what folks that own them have to say.

 

[skeets]

Yes Sir, you pretty much hit the nail on the head, when the winds are down its to dry to burn, and when its to wet the wind is too high, a bit of a conundrum to be sure. Last year a boy stopped over and said he wanted a bunch of the logs for camp fire wood,, go for it,, he cut some and loaded it in his truck and never came back, too much work I guess

 

[Elliott in GA]

As the owner of a chipper (made in the USA WoodMaxx MX-8500 G+) that works like a charm, I would say rent one unless you will have on-going need/use year after year. I use my chipper several times a year every year for hours at a time (I am cleaning up fallen stuff, cutting down 2-4 inch trees at the edge of fields and fighting a never ending battle with privet hedge).

YMMV

 

[Sidekick]

As the owner of a chipper (made in the USA WoodMaxx MX-8500 G+) that works like a charm, I would say rent one unless you will have on-going need/use year after year. I use my chipper several times a year every year for hours at a time (I am cleaning up fallen stuff, cutting down 2-4 inch trees at the edge of fields and fighting a never ending battle with privet hedge).

YMMV

Woodmaxx chippers are Designed in the USA and made in China I was told by the sales guy at the farmshow when I bought my snowblower.

 

[Russell King]

I have chipped limbs several times with a rented chipper with a gas engine. I rented the smaller 6 inch version but they have an 8 inch version. It has more throughput per hour but costs more per day. I usually rent it on Saturday and return it on Monday morning but get to use it on Sunday. There may be some hour limit but I never got charged extra. It is quite a bit of work because you have to move the limbs into the chipper but it isn’t too bad of a job unless you have a bad back.

Then I got a tractor and a shredder. So now I just put the limbs down on the ground as I cut them and run the shredder over the limbs which cuts all the small branches off. Then I picked up the large remains and took them to a brush recycling yard that had a reasonable drop charge. But now the drop off charge per trailer full has gotten out of hand. Currently I am just stacking the limbs up as animal habitat in areas that are little used.

I have burned some limbs in the past but that lead to weedy patches since I didn’t put any grass seed down. And the burned areas have to be cleaned up some or the ashes make a mess in the rains and dogs seem attracted to the smell of wet ashes and rolled in them.

Now I just use a 55 gallon burn barrel (aka hobo fireplace) and burn the limbs in there when we have no burn ban and I feel like it.

You might try putting some signs out for free campfire wood (you cut/you carry) and see if you get many takers - assuming you can tolerate people doing that.

 

[Caden]

Save the money and burn I say.

I try not to light up the whole pile though, I get a small fire going nearby and feed it in a controlled way from the large pile.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

I think you got a couple options when it involves garden and compost:

If not want to chip, maybe consider

How to Create the Perfect Hugelkultur Garden in Your Backyard

Hugelkultur is a marvelous way to use deadwood and create a rich garden bed that sustains your plants for years. Here's what to know.

morningchores.com

If chipping, maybe consider you need to compost the chips first so as not to steal the nitrogen from the soil. (Some grass clippings may help speed up the process

if plan to burn the pile, when it makes sense is to burn the pile over the garden the spread the ash(yes, that would mean wait with the burn until garden finished for season)

personally I think anything you can put back to the permaculture is a win. i ve had good luck with any of the above, but i really like framing a raised bed and filling with the logs/branches and then backfill on top with compost (sort of combines all the above for something that continues to produce - ime the downside is it settles more than expected, but chickens do the backfilling)). Makes for very nutrient rich soil that continues to break down. Sure it’s more work, but also it’s fertilizer priced right

Anyway I think this is a dealers choice between effort and concern for controlled burn.

I have a chipper and love it and would buy it again. Downside here is frequency of use is low.

Good luck.

 

[NCL4701]

Agree with @Elliott in GA. If you have an ongoing need, even if intermittent, buying a chipper makes sense if you don’t burn.

Having a chipper available all the time keeps our place a good bit more tidy than it used to be. It’s really nice to be able to chip the debris from a storm or downed tree immediately regardless of burn bans, weather conditions, etc.

 

[Shawn T. W]

I burn mine ...

 

[Elliott in GA]

Woodmaxx chippers are Designed in the USA and made in China I was told by the sales guy at the farmshow when I bought my snowblower.

The WoodMaxx MX chippers are made in the US, but the WoodMaxx WM chippers are made in China.

 

[Workerbee]

Around here we can only burn piles in the winter when theres snow. But if you get a chipper, make sure its big enough to fit a politician in.

 

[Killer Bee]

Around here we can only burn piles in the winter when theres snow. But if you get a chipper, make sure its big enough to fit a politician in.

sorry but somebody had to...

 

[NCL4701]

sorry but somebody had to...

An unusual, but memorable, demonstration of why many find hydraulic feed to be highly preferable.

Edit: And change the blades then grind the heck out of the old ones so some smarty pants forensics engineer with a comparator microscope can’t match the microscopic grinding striations on the blades to any of the stray bone chips. Wasn’t involved in that case, but sat through a CE class many years ago with the engineer who made the match. He was pretty proud of that, and rightly so.

 

[Gaspasser]

sorry but somebody had to...

Used to be called "divorce...... Connecticut style."

 

[Sidekick]

The WoodMaxx MX chippers are made in the US, but the WoodMaxx WM chippers are made in China.

Thanks. That's good to know. I saw when they were acquired by Ronin Equity Partners the products changed but didn't realize the original Vetran owners formed The Back Forty Group and bought it back recently to return it to the original values.

 

[GeoHorn]

An unusual, but memorable, demonstration of why many find hydraulic feed to be highly preferable.

Edit: And change the blades then grind the heck out of the old ones so some smarty pants forensics engineer with a comparator microscope can’t match the microscopic grinding striations on the blades to any of the stray bone chips. Wasn’t involved in that case, but sat through a CE class many years ago with the engineer who made the match. He was pretty proud of that, and rightly so.

I remember that one…. But another case that blows that away..was the airline pilot who got rid of his flight attendant wife….. blew her out into the lake one night for fish-food…. Which worked until they found a tooth in the rented chipper and ran DNA on it.
He was convicted on that. (and my Sister in law who worked for another airline as a gate agent had put up with his intense flirting for several months while he pretended to be a pitiful widower…. was glad she’d resisted his advances… )

(be certain to clean out any politician residue before returning the rental unit…. unless you want to start a go-fund-me to which we can all contribute…)