WoodMaxx WM-8H Wood Chipper 5 Year 500 Hour Review

[@WilsonForestLands]

It’s good to get a real review after someone has actually used something for a while. I go back and forth on whether I need a chipper or not. It’s one of those things where I don’t think I really need it. But if I had it I would probably think, why didn’t I get one of those along time ago?

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Thanks for watching and commenting! If you are clearing property (without a bulldozer and heavy equipment) it is very handy and you get a pile of usable product. For the occasional tree that might fall in your yard it is nice to have but probably not a reason to get one...unless you are looking for a reason/excuse!

[@MsdMakingSawDust]

Sounds like you got some good use out of that chipper so far, let alone the small problems you’ve had. Sounds like the major components have held up pretty good. Maintenance helps a lot.. grease grease grease. I’ve thought of buying a big chipper just to chip up the off cuts ,but burning always came out cheaper. Not counting the fuel and maintenance. Good review thanks for sharing . Take care

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

We have got good use out of it. It doesn't owe us anything at this point! We haven't used it for off cuts yet but that may be it's future life as the orchard always needs chips. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@kalevalasouthfarm]

Thanks for the review, I have been looking at these.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

It has been a workhorse. Your JD might overpower it and break shear pins if you were to feed something big thru it.

[@gregie9999hotair1]

Nice video Paul. We had what was told to me 120 trees, walking the property looks like 150 or more, looks like Beirut in back of our land.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Sounds like you could use a chipper then! We really appreciated having it when we cleared the orchard site.

[@woodruffwoods]

Very nice. I like the fix you did on the top link. That should be much better with the new welds. Thanks for pointing me to this video. I also became your newest sub.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Glad you liked it! It may not have been a pretty welding job but it is strong. Thanks for the sub! 😀

[@edwardcoke2306]

Any videos or advice on changing belts? I've been wrestling with the alignment of the pulleys and even getting the bolts loosened to change the belts.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Thanks for watching and commenting. Luckily I've never had to change the belts however they are due, or perhaps a little past due, for a change that I'm hoping to put off until spring so I may be asking you in the spring 😁

[@TheOldManAndTheSaw]

Good video, Paul.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

I almost forgot that I had said in an earlier video that I was going to do a review!

[@JohnSmith-oj3uu]

any issues with the blades cracking? I have the Gas powered DC-1260 when I bought it it was rated to 6" now it dropped to only 4". However the cutting blades seem to always chip. Not just a little chip. A chunk of the blade will brake off. I was told it was me and what I am feeding. I am sure it has something to do with the amount of work I put the chipper though. The blades on the DC-1260 seem too thin for any real long-term work like 8 hours days. I want to upgrade to a PTO but am worried about the blades on other woodMaxx systems. Thanks in advance for your insight.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

We only had one blade get damaged and I have to admit that it was operator error. It was awhile ago but I either forgot to tighten or misaligned the opposing chipper plate resulting in a big thunk when the blade hit it. The piece that came off was around 1/8th inch by 1/2 inch. Thanks for watching!

[@gsones]

What about the knives? Still on original set, resharpened or changed? Any estimate on the number of hours you can get on a set of knives?

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

We have 4 pairs of knives we rotate and get resharpened when we put the last sharp pair on. The original knives are still in the mix. Oh, and each knife has an edge on both sides so they can be flipped. I think each knife has been sharpened twice so far. As far as hours per knife we didn't keep track and it depends on the wood...in nice fresh cut green wood they will last longer than dead or dirty wood. When branches don't feed well or stringy chips come out it is time to change the knives. I guess an estimate mathematically would be 500 hours/4 sets of knives = 125 hours, sharpened twice plus original edge = 42 hours, flipped over = about 21 hours per knife edge. Hope this helps and thanks for watching and commenting!

[@triciahill216]

Any practical way to estimate about how much material could be fed through your chipper in an hour or day?

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Good question. The short answer per manufacturer website...up to 75 feet per minute. That is variable and I find somewhere around half that speed is suitable for mixed sized branches. The next time I chip I'll do a real world time as there is always time taken for additional sawing down to size to fit and other non-chipping activity. About 2 years ago I did a video called Clearing around the Sawmill I don't recall the answer but I showed a trailer full of chips and made a comment about how long, here's a link...kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zpi3Zpmipql6aqM

[@triciahill216]

@@southernadirondackoutdoors Thank you!

[@robertrice5272]

that is a nice Chipper good video

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Thank you. It has been thru a lot and still keeps chugging away.

[@Flatfoot2282]

What size is the spring? Great vid btw

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Thanks! I do not know the spring size. At the time WoodMaxx listed I think a regular and a heavy duty spring for the infeed roller but I just checked and they are only listing one spring and they describe it as heavy duty but do not list the specs. I appreciate you watching and I'm glad you liked it!

[@patrickoberfranc3804]

Thanks for the long term review. Just picked one of these up for a thousand dollars. it has less than 16 hours on it. It had the same issues yours had at the top link point. A weak point and poor engineering. I straitened mine and plan on strengthening it as well.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

Your welcome and Thanks for watching! One thing I recently found was a filter in the hydraulic pickup line in the tank. I happened to see that it should be changed every 100 hours...I had never known this and had never changed mine. It made a world of difference in performance albeit over 400 hours late, Ooops!

[@patrickoberfranc3804]

@@southernadirondackoutdoors (Chuckle). The one I purchased is a 2015. The guys who bought it new went skydiving with it and forgot to put a parachute on it! LOL. The jackshaft is bent and I did manage to straiten out the PTO flywheel housing half issue you experienced as well. I will at some point weld support on that weak linkage. I purchased spare springs, knives, belts, filter, jackshaft, pully assembly, tach meter (didn't have one) and a couple 50mm flange Barings to replace the cracked flywheel baring on the infeed flywheel housing half.

[@patrickoberfranc3804]

Was also going to ask you if you have tried to sharpen your knives.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

@@patrickoberfranc3804 Just got in from about four hours of chipping. I have not tried sharpening myself. It has been hard to find a place to do it. Most shops that work on big chippers laugh when they see the little knives and say their jigs won't work with them. I did find one machine shop that would do them but it burned down so I will have to come up with a solution soon.

[@patrickoberfranc3804]

@@southernadirondackoutdoors It would seem one could build a jig and sharpen them on a bench top grinder or stationary belt sander perhaps. I know some things require precision but something like this might work for this application.

[@sanmcnellis94]

Thanks

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

You're welcome