The DR® Rapid-Feed Wood Chipper - 16.50 Pro can chip 4½" limbs and costs $2609.10. Do you really need to chip limbs that are that big? If so, that might be the chipper for you. If not, it may be expensive overkill.

"Although I don't really have a need for a shredder, I would purchase this item if I was sure that it would do the same work as the DR chipper."

Are you sure you don't need a shredder? Tree limbs have a lot of small branches and leafy twigs that don't lend themselves to being "chipped".

I am not familiar with the "Mighty Mac model 12PHT10M chipper/shredder", since I didn't see it on the MacKissic website. I suspect it is limited to 3-inch or 3½-inch limbs, which is smaller than the DR model, so it would not "do the same work as the DR chipper."

"The flywheel on the DR is considerable heavier and should take more punishment than the Mighty Mac."

I've never known the ability of the flywheel to "take punishment" to be an issue. Bigger flywheels are needed for bigger limb diameters and faster throughput. I suspect the flywheels on both machines are properly sized for their limb chute and engine horsepower. You don't want the flywheel to be bigger than the engine can handle.

ZM

i have a 12PT10 without the electric start. You really don't need it in my opinion. The engine starts easily enough. The shredder is a nice feature. You can put branches up to 1 inch diameter in the shredder. This is very helpful especially since I get a lot of small branches etc that fall off the trees. The chipper handle 3 1/2 branches which is about as big as I want to chip. Usually anything over that is used as firewood in our outdoor fire pit.

If you feel you may need to chip a lot of 4 1/2 branches go with the DR but the Mighty Mac will handle most of your needs. The Might Mac is a quality machine if your wondering.