Discussion
We're doing a stack of garden clearing at the moment, and are likely to be doing a fair bit in the future, too - we've got an acre and a half of semi-feral land.
We've been burning all the hacked-down stuff, but of course the time of year to do the major clearing is the time that stuff doesn't really want to light and stay lit... So, staring at a bloody great big mountain of scrubby rubbish, I'm thinking about woodchippers. Rental seems daft money, thick end of a ton a day, as well as the hassle factor.
MachineMart's choice seems uninspirational, but a look around finds stuff from brands you've heard of that seems to be surprisingly capable.
Something like this...
https://www.lawnandpower.co.uk/product/hyundai-hyc...
Then there's the various anonymous-almost-certainly-Chinese-offbrand stuff on the 'bay.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162903789383
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263278742855
Any experience, any suggestions? I'm thinking of the kind of diameter of stuff that's cuttable with a pair of loppers, rather than needing to get even a handsaw out.
We've been burning all the hacked-down stuff, but of course the time of year to do the major clearing is the time that stuff doesn't really want to light and stay lit... So, staring at a bloody great big mountain of scrubby rubbish, I'm thinking about woodchippers. Rental seems daft money, thick end of a ton a day, as well as the hassle factor.
MachineMart's choice seems uninspirational, but a look around finds stuff from brands you've heard of that seems to be surprisingly capable.
Something like this...
https://www.lawnandpower.co.uk/product/hyundai-hyc...
Then there's the various anonymous-almost-certainly-Chinese-offbrand stuff on the 'bay.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162903789383
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263278742855
Any experience, any suggestions? I'm thinking of the kind of diameter of stuff that's cuttable with a pair of loppers, rather than needing to get even a handsaw out.
Depends what you need it to chew
Those small ones will do twigs etc, but if you are going to do bigger stuff...
I rented one
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Those small ones will do twigs etc, but if you are going to do bigger stuff...
I rented one
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
JPJPJP said:
Depends what you need it to chew
Those small ones will do twigs etc, but if you are going to do bigger stuff...
I rented one
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
That's a big chunk less for a much bigger machine than I'm seeing for hire...Those small ones will do twigs etc, but if you are going to do bigger stuff...
I rented one
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
PArbor1 said:
Have a look at the greenmech CA100. It’s a 4in drum chipper and very capable. A bit more money but it’s a professional machine and looked after would last a life time. There are a few second hand ones knocking about.
A bit more! <blinks>I thought I might have difficulty getting £7-800 past domestic management. £4.5k is definitely pushing it.
Where about's in the Welsh Borders are you? Any where near to Gloucester? I have a 8HP MTD Chipper Shredder that I need to get rid of as I now have a JoBeau M300 (similar to the Greenmech CS100 mentioned above). Oh, I also have an Entec CH25 (video link, but not of mine) that will take and chew up a 6" diameter trunk with power in-feed rollers powered by a 20HP twin cylinder Honda engine that I'll eventually get rid of once I've finished clearing the garden.
Video of an MTD Chipper Shredder
Oh and I've also got one of those little electric Bosch units with a drum cutter that will chew a 1" stick and not a lot else!
Is 4 chippers too many???
Video of an MTD Chipper Shredder
Oh and I've also got one of those little electric Bosch units with a drum cutter that will chew a 1" stick and not a lot else!
Is 4 chippers too many???
S6PNJ said:
Where about's in the Welsh Borders are you?
Western Herefordshire.S6PNJ said:
Is 4 chippers too many???
No, you can stop any time you like...Yesterday afternoon saw the mother of all conflagrations, which got shot of a medium-sized mountain of shrubbery - couldn't believe how well it got going and how much we got through, so I think the requirement has passed for the mo. For scale, we're talking about stems that were borderline lopper-cuttable (I actually broke the blade on the loppers yesterday, getting a bit ambitious), and anything up to about 10m long. If it'd all been in one pile, I'd guess at about 2m tall and maybe 5m diameter.
If it stays good today, the chainsaw's coming out for some of the bigger stuff.
BugLebowski said:
From experience small woodchippers are a pain in the backside to use. You'd be better of renting a decent sized one. Or just leave it for a few months and burn with lavish amounts of diesel which is what I always end up doing!
I have an incinerator made from 3 mm steel plate, it's one I designed myself. It's about 18" square x 24" high, with a cone shaped lower section and a 3" square hole at the bottom. It lights easily with newspaper and thin twiggery, and when it gets going it will burn quite thick stuff, and that's without the aid of diesel fuel etc.In fact the thing gets so hot I've known the plates to glow red. Unfortunately 3 mm steel plate doesn't seem to be thick enough, so the thing now shows considerable distortion - but it still works.
I've sometimes fancied the idea of having a chipper or shredder, but the cost of getting a decently capable one has always put me off. So it's now a matter of burning or composting our garden rubbish, and as we have a large garden in a rural area this seems to be a satisfactory solution.
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