Small chipper help

[GA Groundcare]

2 hours ago, Jcarbor said:

Has anyone got one of these,yes it looks like a narrow boat but don’t be fooled,apparently its some sort of chipper.?

Haha! Guessing the area flooded?! opposed to the machine falling into the water?

 

We just sold a new GreenMech which is being mounted on a boat. Hopefully it'll stay a bit drier!  

[Nikos Papadopoulos]

Hi to all the people! I plan to start a business and have been wondering a lot about a chipper.

I would like to see your opinions on the quality of blades that are out there and how much different they can be to the whole lot.

Also, regarding the engine, such as a Loncin, a Honda GX and a B&S. I think that a better engine can upgrade the same machine, is that correct ?

 

Thanks !

 

 

[Josh u a Tree]

8 hours ago, Nikos Papadopoulos said:

Hi to all the people! I plan to start a business and have been wondering a lot about a chipper.

I would like to see your opinions on the quality of blades that are out there and how much different they can be to the whole lot.

Also, regarding the engine, such as a Loncin, a Honda GX and a B&S. I think that a better engine can upgrade the same machine, is that correct ?

 

Thanks !

 

 

Hello Nikos,
engine and knives/blades are vital for a chipper. 

ENGINE. I have a preference for Honda for its reliability. They keep going for 20 years or more.  These engines have no difficulty in being heavily charged.
Briggs is my second favourite. Uses more fuel and oil though. Keep an eye on that oil level.
If you are going to use the machine on a professional basis, the difference in price for a Chinese made engine seems to me not worth taking the chance. I must say I only have second-hand information on this. They might turn out to be good.

 

KNIVES. There are great differences in prices for knives of somewhat the same length and size. This is mainly due to the composition. High quality knives consist of three or more alloys, including chromium. The game for manufacturers is to produce knives that stay sharp for a long time: Soft is tougher but quickly blunt. If the material is too hard, it will crumble on the edge.
You cannot sharpen high quality knives yourself (unless you have a special machine for this). They are too hard for that and the material then turns blue and brittle. If you treat your knives well, they will last a long time; Ask the specialist (the same guy that sharpens lawn mower blades) to not take off more material than necessary: A few minor dents on the edge do not affect the shredding efficiency and may remain . This way you can sharpen your set of knives up to 6 times. Only put clean material in the machine, no sand, earth and stones.

Joost

[Nikos Papadopoulos]

2 hours ago, Josh u a Tree said:

Hello Nikos,
engine and knives/blades are vital for a chipper. 
Joost

Thanks for the answer Joost, its appreciated. But as I am a person who likes to drill more into a subject, I have many questions, which of course, someone can say they are of use and some are not. In any case, here goes from a person with no experience with such machines:

ENGINE
Some important things I guess, are hp, reliability/quality, running cost and parts sourcing/availability. A question is if at a machine you simply change the engine hp, it automatically changes the processing capability ? No other change needed ?

 

KNIVES

Is there a way someone to check the quality of the knives before buying them ? I mean, someone claims that they sell the best knives and they request a high price for them. How can I verify this ? Are there papers that document this, like from their supplier ? (I was working at a technical office and I remember that for the requirements that had to be met, we had to submit papers from the supplier that proved the quality of the steel bars)

Regarding design, I see options of two knives, two knives and a counterknive, two knives and hammers, but I don't actually understand the difference this design effectively has.. Is there a + and a - for each option and depending on where the machine is going to be used more ?

 

Then, I understand, there is the quality of bearings, belts, nuts&bolts, frame, steel thickness&quality, access to knives, paint, funnel size, etc. 

 

For my case, a towed version is not suitable for the totally inclined off-road places, that I would like primarily to serve. Therefore, I am thinking of a trailer, two folding ramps and a small sized chipper capable of shredding branches of 7-8cm. After that diameter, its firewood use only.
 

So, #Joost or any other, feel free to chip in to this !

[Josh u a Tree]

13 minutes ago, Nikos Papadopoulos said:

Thanks for the answer Joost, its appreciated. But as I am a person who likes to drill more into a subject, I have many questions, which of course, someone can say they are of use and some are not. In any case, here goes from a person with no experience with such machines:

ENGINE
Some important things I guess, are hp, reliability/quality, running cost and parts sourcing/availability. A question is if at a machine you simply change the engine hp, it automatically changes the processing capability ? No other change needed ?

 

KNIVES

Is there a way someone to check the quality of the knives before buying them ? I mean, someone claims that they sell the best knives and they request a high price for them. How can I verify this ? Are there papers that document this, like from their supplier ? (I was working at a technical office and I remember that for the requirements that had to be met, we had to submit papers from the supplier that proved the quality of the steel bars)

Regarding design, I see options of two knives, two knives and a counterknive, two knives and hammers, but I don't actually understand the difference this design effectively has.. Is there a + and a - for each option and depending on where the machine is going to be used more ?

 

Then, I understand, there is the quality of bearings, belts, nuts&bolts, frame, steel thickness&quality, access to knives, paint, funnel size, etc. 

 

For my case, a towed version is not suitable for the totally inclined off-road places, that I would like primarily to serve. Therefore, I am thinking of a trailer, two folding ramps and a small sized chipper capable of shredding branches of 7-8cm. After that diameter, its firewood use only.
 

So, #Joost or any other, feel free to chip in to this !

In my opinion for these compact wood chippers: Forget the running costs. Purchasing one of the better brands might be a bit pricey, but having one in use is not: A set of knives every 2 to 4 years is not an important cost. Fuel: With an efficient compact wood chipper you will be running the engine for half an hour to an hour per day if you save up branches at the site (1-2 liters for Honda 13 HP and 3-6 liters for a Briggs 18 HP). Next on the list of wearing parts are v-belts but they stay well for years. What more? A bit of engine maintenance, a full Honda13 service kit costs 45,00 Euro and for a Briggs18 48,00 Euro (oil, filters, spark plugs).

Changing the engine for a more powerful one will improve efficiency, est.10 to 20%. However, with good drum chippers it is the technical side of it that does the job and less the power. In most cases you will gain a few minutes a day by choosing a heavier motor (consider that you need to run it for just a short while if you keep knives in good state). So yes, the efficiency improves with HPs, and not the max branch diameter: The shape and size of the rotor decides for max diameter, and does not improve with 10 or even 20 more HPs. On several platforms I have seen distributors uplift their product with maximum diameters up to 15 cm of which I know it's not credible.
More HPs will need a modification in the drive system. If not, the belts will just slip and wear quickly.

 

Check the knives by purchaing and trying them if it feels reliable and change to more expensive ones if not good.

Systems with two knives and a counter knife normally work fast and create nice small chips while leaving leaves more or less in its original state (cut ones or twice only).

The system of a combination with hammers and knives will be slower and make very fine chips and dusty stuff.

Two important things to check on the machines you look at are:

- clogging. Lots of machines can clog quite quickly. Check if videos on youtube are not broken off at the moment a big branch is being fed. That often is a good indicator.

- throw distance. For filling up your trailer, you want the chips to be thrown at least 4 to 5 meters. If not, you'll still find yourself shoveling heaps of chips to the front board of your trailer.

 

And quality of parts and construction is a main factor as well: These machines are of small size but the combination of centrifugal forces and vibrations can shred a shredder ? in to pieces in a short while if too lightly build.

 

In the end, my idea has always been: Talking about purchase costs is less important if you work professionnaly with your machines. A good chipper is vital to prevent too much wear and tear on the most important tool in your company: Your body. Stay well!

[Nikos Papadopoulos]

• What size of a chip does your machine produce ?
• Does the chip size has variables that it depends upon, such as type of wood, dry,soft etc ?
   

I would like to hear what machine users say also !

Edited October 19, 2019 by Nikos Papadopoulos

[Ashbrooke]

In my opinion for these compact wood chippers: Forget the running costs. Purchasing one of the better brands might be a bit pricey, but having one in use is not: A set of knives every 2 to 4 years is not an important cost. Fuel: With an efficient compact wood chipper you will be running the engine for half an hour to an hour per day if you save up branches at the site (1-2 liters for Honda 13 HP and 3-6 liters for a Briggs 18 HP). Next on the list of wearing parts are v-belts but they stay well for years. What more? A bit of engine maintenance, a full Honda13 service kit costs 45,00 Euro and for a Briggs18 48,00 Euro (oil, filters, spark plugs).

Changing the engine for a more powerful one will improve efficiency, est.10 to 20%. However, with good drum chippers it is the technical side of it that does the job and less the power. In most cases you will gain a few minutes a day by choosing a heavier motor (consider that you need to run it for just a short while if you keep knives in good state). So yes, the efficiency improves with HPs, and not the max branch diameter: The shape and size of the rotor decides for max diameter, and does not improve with 10 or even 20 more HPs. On several platforms I have seen distributors uplift their product with maximum diameters up to 15 cm of which I know it's not credible.
More HPs will need a modification in the drive system. If not, the belts will just slip and wear quickly.
 
Check the knives by purchaing and trying them if it feels reliable and change to more expensive ones if not good.
Systems with two knives and a counter knife normally work fast and create nice small chips while leaving leaves more or less in its original state (cut ones or twice only).
The system of a combination with hammers and knives will be slower and make very fine chips and dusty stuff.

Two important things to check on the machines you look at are:
- clogging. Lots of machines can clog quite quickly. Check if videos on youtube are not broken off at the moment a big branch is being fed. That often is a good indicator.
- throw distance. For filling up your trailer, you want the chips to be thrown at least 4 to 5 meters. If not, you'll still find yourself shoveling heaps of chips to the front board of your trailer.
 
And quality of parts and construction is a main factor as well: These machines are of small size but the combination of centrifugal forces and vibrations can shred a shredder [emoji846] in to pieces in a short while if too lightly build.
 
In the end, my idea has always been: Talking about purchase costs is less important if you work professionnaly with your machines. A good chipper is vital to prevent too much wear and tear on the most important tool in your company: Your body. Stay well!

The 18hp Briggs and stratton on our cs100 uses closer to 1.5/2l hour. Will fill a truck in acouple hours.

[Josh u a Tree]

8 hours ago, Ashbrooke said:

On 09/10/2019 at 13:37, Josh u a Tree said:

In my opinion for these compact wood chippers: Forget the running costs. Purchasing one of the better brands might be a bit pricey, but having one in use is not: A set of knives every 2 to 4 years is not an important cost. Fuel: With an efficient compact wood chipper you will be running the engine for half an hour to an hour per day if you save up branches at the site (1-2 liters for Honda 13 HP and 3-6 liters for a Briggs 18 HP). Next on the list of wearing parts are v-belts but they stay well for years. What more? A bit of engine maintenance, a full Honda13 service kit costs 45,00 Euro and for a Briggs18 48,00 Euro (oil, filters, spark plugs).

Changing the engine for a more powerful one will improve efficiency, est.10 to 20%. However, with good drum chippers it is the technical side of it that does the job and less the power. In most cases you will gain a few minutes a day by choosing a heavier motor (consider that you need to run it for just a short while if you keep knives in good state). So yes, the efficiency improves with HPs, and not the max branch diameter: The shape and size of the rotor decides for max diameter, and does not improve with 10 or even 20 more HPs. On several platforms I have seen distributors uplift their product with maximum diameters up to 15 cm of which I know it's not credible.
More HPs will need a modification in the drive system. If not, the belts will just slip and wear quickly.
 
Check the knives by purchaing and trying them if it feels reliable and change to more expensive ones if not good.
Systems with two knives and a counter knife normally work fast and create nice small chips while leaving leaves more or less in its original state (cut ones or twice only).
The system of a combination with hammers and knives will be slower and make very fine chips and dusty stuff.

Two important things to check on the machines you look at are:
- clogging. Lots of machines can clog quite quickly. Check if videos on youtube are not broken off at the moment a big branch is being fed. That often is a good indicator.
- throw distance. For filling up your trailer, you want the chips to be thrown at least 4 to 5 meters. If not, you'll still find yourself shoveling heaps of chips to the front board of your trailer.
 
And quality of parts and construction is a main factor as well: These machines are of small size but the combination of centrifugal forces and vibrations can shred a shredder in to pieces in a short while if too lightly build.
 
In the end, my idea has always been: Talking about purchase costs is less important if you work professionnaly with your machines. A good chipper is vital to prevent too much wear and tear on the most important tool in your company: Your body. Stay well!

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The 18hp Briggs and stratton on our cs100 uses closer to 1.5/2l hour. Will fill a truck in acouple hours.

That's intersting: I suspected the Briggs 18HP to use less than the 6,2 l/hour the factory says it consumes and users have been telling me so. Never seen that low an indication though. You sure? 

[GA Groundcare]

1 hour ago, Josh u a Tree said:

That's intersting: I suspected the Briggs 18HP to use less than the 6,2 l/hour the factory says it consumes and users have been telling me so. Never seen that low an indication though. You sure? 

It is a rough rule, but it'll put you in the right ballpark and you usually aren't *that* far off.

 

Add a decimal point to the hp for fuel consumption.  eg a 18hp Briggs will use circa 1.8 l/hour, a 23hp Honda fitted in the GreenMech Arb 130 will use around 2.3l/hour and the Briggs 37hp fitted in the GreenMech Arb 150p will use around 3.7l/hour.

 

Rings true with Ashbrooke's comments above and also I know from multiple users feed back that a GreenMech Arb 150p will use just under 4 litres per hour.

[Ashbrooke]

That's intersting: I suspected the Briggs 18HP to use less than the 6,2 l/hour the factory says it consumes and users have been telling me so. Never seen that low an indication though. You sure? 

100 percent mate. Never managed to use more than 2, 5l cans in a day. That's with it running non stop.