LGP Eddie

This was my Farmi 260 with Conveyor not crane, so a fair chunk hanging out back of the N series Valtra, but it was for site use and proved a very capable combination on the duals, able to sneak about between piles of material with minimal impact. Loaded with a low ground pressure machine and the chip ran off with a tracked dumper, it fitted the job nicely. You’d just have to try a 260/crane setup on your Massey, as the crane is well forward and there’s no infeed hopper as such, so everything is tight to the Tractor, and with suitable weight could be fine? Just as an example this is the 260 being fed with an excavator and there’s a well used 7840 New Holland powering it, playing as we were setting it up. They can rattle it through for a small setup.

That’s why we were talking niche and almost certainly their own work and some hire. Plenty of cheap big chippers for hire if it’s only chipping you want. One good guy turning up in the truck with the kit alongside that Valtra and in a shift you can have an awful lot done, leaving valuable product for later collection and no heavy work for anyone. You’ll not even hammer the fuel through in a mixed shift of winching/processing/chipping. You can forward material, load it straight onto a processor table, etc etc, and that’s besides going off on standard tractor work. The original poster is a non starter simply because the intended Tractor isn’t big enough, the Valtra is only an example of how such a crane/pto chipper could work for some, which it does. Always easier to load with an excavator, but plenty of decent inexpensive cameras about to give the operator a better view now.

Same unit with chipper off and crane now hooked onto trailer.

Intermercato grabs have nothing to prove in the job now, some are moving onto Indexator XR rotators for them to gain a bit more rotation hold, worm drives are a lottery and you get what you pay for in them. Thumbs are great, hydraulic are better, I’ve had great success with Grapples, it’s all really what works for you. These TMK Multigrab are a head scratcher, been told the geometry doesn’t work as you reach out more with it open, but I’d have to try one. They’ve even tried to copy the grab a rake trick with them. Copies already becoming available, so some must see potential in it.

I’ve worked alongside pictured setup and it works spot on. Travels the ground surprisingly well and it was seriously wet where we were. The owner knows his stuff, all of a sudden with just another good guy on the ground they have an awful lot processed, with brash through the chipper and everything else stacked for easy later collection by the same setup with it’s forwarding trailer. I know another guy who had similar, but only difference being roofmount crane and in some respects having the ability to get back to standard tractor for a full season of work is a big plus for some. Great niche setup capable of a wide range of work, and if you’re chipping stuff over 8” at this end of the game at present, you’re probably due a rethink anyway.

Leave me out of that one, pistols at dawn stuff! I’m all white now on the machines, and the Mrs has never had so many Tesco points!😂

I had a Farmi 260 with infeed conveyor and no crane, it was purchased for niche work and did me very well, excellent build quality, easy to work on and never had any parts apart from one bearing I put the wrong grease into by mistake. It would produce an excellent biomass quality chip, being fitted with twig breakers too, and this is really what they’re intended for, chipping smaller roundwood for fuel, and are seriously rapid at it if setup correctly and don’t need much hp to do it. The downside was anything remotely brash would want to wrap around the feed rollers, and as long as the operator was familiar with reversing the rollers regularly it became very little of an issue. Had it on tractors from 70 to 250hp and in reality the 125hp Valtra N111 ran it best. More hp was good, but twisted pto lemon tube isn’t!🤦‍♂️ For the intended Massey quoted here, as previously stated, it’ll run the chipper ok, you can even put them on 540 speed if required, but it’ll be too large cumbersome for the actual tractor size, and be a proper tail wagging the dog setup. Don’t let me put you off though, others have quoted a “niche” and there is a place for such setups. I know of two who have put some thought into it and it seems to work well for them. Basically reverse drive Valtra with TP Chipper and 3 point linkage crane. Same crane drops straight onto the bolster trailer for any forwarding duties and a nice Tajfun winch on the front for good measure. Same tractor is back on all sorts of summer duties in standard form when required. It goes without saying the Heizohack is a fantastic tool and in site clearance has an incredible ability to manage to finish the shift with blades that shouldn’t be able to! They are literally everywhere and I could get hold of big twin axle units with crane, large hp tractor and highly experienced operators for the rates already quoted here and obviously fuel colour is the main issue for these guys.

Always enjoyed Arbtalk, like to think I’ve contributed to and taken back for what’s getting to be a long time now. Seen a few heated debates, some seriously savage banter, but on the whole it ticks along, and if that sort of thing is not for you, plenty of other threads going on. I’ve sold kit and attachments to people from all over on Arbtrader, and all without question have been a pleasure to deal with. Probably responsible for a few Takeuchi TB016 sales, and Arb Digger inspiration! Plenty of topics, some seriously talented and experienced people out there, an awful lot of knowledge shared. Credit to you Steve. 👍

A lot less, the old saying grease is cheaper than metal might just be at a tipping point, having priced my regular 500g grease cartridges this week.😱 You get used to when machines need grease, not everything needs the same amount at the same time on a regular basis, hence you might do the bucket pins even twice a day, yet the arm every second day. Slew rings are important, little and often and get someone to slew the machine every 90 degrees to grease it around the circumference if there’s no extra grease points piped on it. So many on larger machines don’t know to put a couple of cartridges of grease inside the slew ring every 500hrs via the access plate between the boom rams, you never see this facility on smaller machines. Wipe the excess off before greasing, gives a good opportunity to check hoses etc as you go around, and if some pins are just oozing out, then back them off on the greasing a bit. Grease isn’t metal, if it’s worn and needs pins, the grease will be gone in minutes, so sort it out and save the waste of grease. If it’s on self drive, grease it at the bottom of the low loader ramps when they collect it!😉😂

I’d personally go single axle with floatation tyres, just to get the bigger rolling radius and decent footprint. Getting the tyre to pull itself back up on top instead of just dragging along forming a rut as if chocked makes all the difference. These Mecalac are virtually made for the job, but the trailer is a good example of what I mean. Oil for final drives is pence by comparison to replacing a drive, so double up on the service intervals, it’s what I do on the LGP stuff as the big pads obviously put a bit of strain on. I’ve not towed anything with this yet, but I’d expect it to go pretty well.

Must have let it go, you really don’t see much Farmi stuff, yet it’s good kit.

Global took it on I believe, alongside the Bandit kit.

I loved my Farmi 260 with infeed conveyor, but on something like Conifer you have to know how to get the best from it, to basically avoid the top feed roller getting totally wrapped with material, thus rendering it ineffective. If I had stuck at this route, I’d have gone Heizohack, simply for their ability to seemingly always finish a shift and take in an extraordinary amount of absolute shite, but still get it through. I had a little search and this actually came up with the additional top crush roller mod, which I would consider pretty essential for your needs. Large Chipper For Sale - Tree Services Company - 4 Seasons Tree Care WWW.4SEASONSTREECARE.CO.UK Large Chipper for sale from 4 Seasons Tree Care in Thame. Contact us today.

Keep it simple then, attachments are best when cutting labour out of price work or specialist hire. I’d wait and see where the work takes you, it could be a Hydraulic Hammer or a Rotating Grab that you’re continually needing or hiring, and that leads you to a purchase. A Ripper Tooth for the price, pretty much pays for itself with the reduction in strain put on the machine in some tasks, they really can make that much difference, so perhaps worth adding one to any bucket package. If it’s just Arb work you’re after, I’d be down the rotating grab and bolster trailer with hitch on the blade route, they’re such a versatile setup. It’s really a case of having a go, it’s incredible how attachments come and go with current trends and projects that come on, but generally if well looked after they fetch a good return when moving them on.

I think the Sany certainly is in front at present with their offering, it’s telling when they’re even coming into John Craig’s for conversion work and he’s surprised just how well they’re put together. Not many get to see just what metal really is in the undercarriage etc, but no hiding in his workshop after the gas axe has been through it. I generally don’t even comment on base machines now, everyone has a favourite brand, very little between them, and the scales of paying more to get more residual value, work very much the same as paying less, for less return. This class of machine mentioned really is as tight as you can get, so many options and let’s be honest, the best ones are a squeak above legal to tow, but nobody particularly worries about that.