Help me buy a chipper/shredder

17 years ago

My husband says I can have a new chipper/shredder. Yeah!! I have been using a Troybuilt one for six years that has to be pulled and though I love the consistency of the shredded stuff it is too small and I spend the day working up a medium pile of roses canes and dead leaves...then I have to pull it back up the hill to the shed. Please help me pick a new one. Here is what I need: It must be able to hook up to my riding lawnmower...easy to start....large enough capacity that I still have time to plant something...would love the shreds to shoot into a wagon instead of having to rake it up or put on a plastic sheet...small shreds so that they decay fast in the compost bin. Thanks a bunch

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Comments (8)

den69rs96
17 years ago
you can start here with the DR series

http://www.drpower.com/Wood-Chippers_Engined_Specifications.aspx

or

http://www.mackissic.com/Products.html

I have the Mackissic 12PT. It will handle just about everything for the homeowner. Any branches over 3.5 inches become firewood. Mackissic makes are great machine.
Ratherbgardening
17 years ago
I got a Mackissic last year and I'm very happy with it. It's the same as the one den69rs96 has, but an older model with less power I believe. I haven't used it for 5 months or so, so I don't recall the exact model number. My only complaint about it is the narrow wheel base. It has come close to tipping over on our mole infested ground when we turn it.

It has different sized screens to control the size of the chips.

I was lucky and got mine off Craigs list, for about 1/2 the cost of a new one. It hadn't been used much and was in perfect condition.

Good luck!
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zen_man
17 years ago
ratherbgardening,

"My only complaint about it is the narrow wheel base."

Actually, if that is a big problem for you, you could increase the wheelbase with a trip to the hardware store. You would need to purchase longer steel axles (steel rods the same diameter as your axles), and some short sections of pipe that will fit over the axles to serve as spacers to keep the wheels from wandering in toward the frame. I would probably buy a single piece of pipe and custom cut it at home to the lengths that I needed.

The only modification I have made to my MacKissic 12PT9 is to replace the wheels with some that are a bit larger and wider, to give my machine a little more ground clearance and wheel footprint. The increase in wheelbase from that was very slight and I have noticed that it is still "tippy" on a slope, so I try to keep it going uphill or downhill on a slope, as opposed to diagonally or cross ways. However, slopes are less of a problem here in Kansas than they were when we lived in Maine.

ZM
Ratherbgardening
17 years ago
Thanks for the tips on making a wider wheel base. The larger wheels sounds like a good idea too.

We don't have hills, just the many packed mole mounds.

We had an old Sears model before, that we got at a garage sale for practically nothing just to see how much I'd use it before we put more money into one. Last year it got very loud, so we decided it was time to get a better one and I got good advice on here and got my MacKissic. Mine is the 12PT9 too. Our burn pile is the smallest it has ever been and I have a lot of mulch to use now. I even made bark mulch with it, since we had a big fir go down in a wind storm a couple of years ago and had a lot of bark from it. I use it to shred straw for mulch too and it does a good job.

I would've liked an electric start, but for half the price, this will do.
zen_man
17 years ago
ratherbgardening,

"I would've liked an electric start, but for half the price, this will do."

I bought mine new, and deliberately chose not to get the electric start, even though I could have afforded the price increment.

My reasoning was that the electric starter would be just another thing to wear out, need servicing, and eventually replacement. Mine usually starts on the second pull cold, and on the first pull warm, so starting it is the least of my worries. The centrifugal clutch is not engaged during starting, so it isn't that hard for me to pull the cord.

ZM
User
17 years ago
I have been watching craigslist out in the NorthWest looking for a MacKissic Mighty Mac 12P. The best price I've seen was something like $1475 for one that was used three times. Seems high.

On the web I can find the 12P for around $1900 shipped. That also seem high. I would buy a new one for $1500 or so if I could find one.

What are people paying for used ones? Sounds like ratherbegardening got one for about $1000.
baymee
17 years ago
The Macissics hold their value. I have one and it's a real workhorse. I paid about 1100 for my 6HP two years ago.
User
17 years ago
An update; I bought the Mackissic Mighty Mac 12pt new and I love it. A solid bit of machinery. I'll have to limber up an old garden tractor to pull it around because it's on the heavy side for pulling by hand.

Makes great mulch/compost shreddings.

I have an acre so there's plenty of work for it to do.