Hi Ben
As a timberwolf tw250 owner myself, I would say you would be disappointed with an 8 inch machine like a tw280 or st8, although the capacity of the 280 or st8 in only 2 inches less , the machines differ greatly, the flywheel on the 250 is twice the weight, the engine on the 250 is twice the size, the st8 or tw280 will not chip a near capacity pole at near the same rate as a 250. If you don't want to deal with logs like myself the smaller machines would be a mistake, there not an efficient means to deal with logs in terms of the time you would be waiting for the stress control. I would miss the huge hopper and huge rollers of the 250 and the relative ease they accept material that is offered to them, vs the fight you would have on your hands trying to force something comparable, for example a bundle of previously reduced conifer hedge tops into a 8 inch machine.
You will have no doubt become accustomed to the processing speed the 250 offers, the 280 or st8 will create a bottle neck in the days job in comparison, you will have to reduce the size and the amount of material that is put into the hopper, feeding it with a larger number of smaller bundles taking more time, the stress control will kick in more often and you will be waiting for this as your ready to feed the next in.
The smaller machines like the 280 or st8 cant been seen behind a 7.5 lorry or bigger when reversing, one of the reasons I got rid of my tw230, the 280 or st8 being similar in physical size to the tw230 are not practical behind a lorry nor are they practical to handball on a gravel driveway etc. A bigger machine you can see is far easier reversing into driveways in my experience.
I would have thought an 8inch machine would feel like a step backwards in reality and cost you time that would certainly add up over the course of a week.
A clean bandit 990xp may be a consideration if you can find a new low hours example if you are in the market for a used machine.
