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Looking about the new Convert Towers it looks like big tree and bush management is part of my future life. Lots to do now (I've got to rid ourselves of 6 horror show leylandii for planning permission and get on top of an encroaching forest of broadleaf trees) but then ongoing annual maintenance too.
It looks like for the price of hiring a petrol chipper for 2 or 3 weeks I could buy something like this:-
Not quite as butch as the rental jobs but not a naff little leccy number either. Anyone any experience of small 'prosumer' petrol chippers? A pain in the hoop or good enough? I'll be feeding it with the cullings of my petrol husky chainsaw, pole saw and manual loppers. I'll be wearing my lumberjack shirt and feeling v manly. #gottalovepowertools
I have a similar situation to you at home with a bit of woodland to look after and lots of small stuff to get rid of
I can direct you away from electric ones with ease! I borrowed one from a neighbour and find it very tricky to work. I've sharpened the blade so it's very sharp indeed (its basically a metal disc with some blades attached that rotates at high speed).
Unfortunately, the circuitry in the dammed thing allows it to set off backwards half the time so it kind of wears the branches out rather than chipping - it's also hard to get started and clogs all the time
The one you link to looks great - worth trying before you lay out that kind of money though?
Yes, the electric ones I don't think have a chance of cutting it. Some of the small petrol jobs have a main hopper for everything under 10mm thickness and then a small narrow entrance for chipping thicker stuff. Looks a right pain having to divide out the thicker stuff and strip it of all branches off it before chipping. i 'think' the one I linked to might be the sweet spot between useable and prohibitive price.
My pal who is a professional gardener has one similar. They are good but make sure you can get replacement teeth for it. Usual reminders about safety around them but he says the most dangerous job is replacing the teeth as access is v tight.
Similar situation here with hedges and trees. Been through a few electric and pretty useless for anything substantial. Have had a a petrol Bear Cat which I bought second hand about 10 years ago and replaced the motor since. It’ll deal with 2-3” easily and quickly and is tough as old boots but you definitely can’t just chuck it all in - you’ll need a very spendy one for that Just need to take your time. I wouldn’t be without the it now. Tend to use the lawn mower to chop up the less tough leafy stuff.
Dad spent more than that on a Stihl electric one and it blooming useless. It’s going back, not fit for purpose. Will point out the one the op posted. Looks far better.
Picked up one of the smaller bearcats off eBay a few years ago, and while it's certainly not throw in and forget, it will pull stuff into the main chipper quite happily. Will easily chomp throu 3" branches although you do need a fair amount of pushing and shoving at times to get stuff into the chute.
The top chute can be a bit of a pain at times too... but overall it's an awesome piece of kit and blows the socks off the electric one it replaced.
Also, I didn't know they were made in Fargo... which ties in nicely with one particular scene in that film... 😁