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New Chipper Shredder - Home Use

16 years ago

The old Troy Bilt Tomahawk is just too much of a PITA to use any more. I've been looking at the Troy Bilt 10 HP chipper shredder but the Lawn Machines (both MTD) appears to be the same except for a plastic feed chute and about $350 less. Any comments on the LM unit or other similar size/capacity machines? Recommendations?

Here is a link that might be useful: Troy Bilt

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Comments (8)

maineman
16 years ago
Steve,

I recommend the MacKissic model 12PT10. A lot has been written about chippers here in this forum.

MM
Steve_889
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Maine - The Mighty Mac is over our budget, any other suggestions in the under $1,000 range?
Thanks,
Steve
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Beverly, Since your face mask is leaving deep lines in your face, it must be too tight. Those one-size-fits-all face masks with rubber bands tend to do that. You might try to find face masks with adjustable bands. On the farm, when we were kids pitching hay (a very dusty job), we just tied hankerchiefs over our faces, sort of like bandits did in the days of the Old West. They worked pretty well, certainly lots better than nothing. We also live on a hillside, but over the last three years I have created an increasingly level area for the garden that adjoins the back yard on the west. It isn't as big as yours, but it gets a bit bigger each year. This property has about 3.5 acres, the majority of which is still wooded. I have our compost piles in the woods down the hill to the south of the back yard, and to the southeast of the garden itself. I have had as many as six compost piles going at once in that area, and I keep my shredder-chipper back there under a weatherproof nylon cover cabled to a tree to keep it from "wandering off." It's convenient to have the shredder-chipper near the compost piles because it processes the material that goes into the piles and occasionaly I will run a pile back through the shredder-chipper to improve its consistency. I used to have an electric powered WW Grinder shredder-chipper but it was very heavy and, like your Baker unit, the parent company went out of business. We sold it rather than pay the considerable expense to move it. Like you, I preferred electric powered over gas powered because it would be ready at the flick of a switch, whereas back then my two-cycle gas-powered lawnmower always seemed to need a lot of frustrating pulling before it would finally start. I don't recall the exact horsepower of the WW's electric motor, but it was probably about 2 and certainly less than 3 horsepower. I kept the WW Grinder under a protective cover that came as an accessory, but the motor was supposed to be weatherproof. Despite its size and weight, the WW Grinder was distinctly underpowered and was limited to chipping limbs about one-inch or less in thickness. It did do a great job on cornstalks, but they are made of pretty flimsy material. Even though it had interchangeable screens, it wasn't a true hammermill because it didn't have pivoted swinging hammers, but used fixed L-shaped blades that came close to the screens. For that reason the machine was susceptible to choking, jamming, and had a rather slow throughput. When we came here to Maine to live with my daughter and son-in-law, I realized that we needed a good shredder chipper to take advantage of the abundance of organic matter, brush piles, tree trimmings, and leaves that existed here. I did some research and settled on a gas powered MacKissic shredder-chipper. I am very pleased with that choice. Gas engines have improved a lot over the years and my "Mighty Mac" starts on the first or second pull. MM
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techdave
16 years ago
Howdy Steve, if'n you dont mind me asking, why is the t'hawk getting to be a PITA to use?
Steve_889
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Dave -
The belt/clutch does not stay engaged (I've adjusted every which way) so I hook a bungee cord to keep it snug; engine is a bit touchy and the output chute area gets backed up with chips so I have to keep raking them away. When I do that I am right in front of the muffler and the hot, smelly exhaust (not to mention noise.) We also have to stomp a lot of things down the chute so it is normally a two-person operation. (Don't expect too much, do I?!?!?)
Can I take the screen out so the chips would be bigger and stay more clear of the chute area?
Thanks,
Steve
farmerboybill
16 years ago
Hi Steve,

I too have a Super Tomahawk. Do you have the bar grate? I purchased a bar grate for mine off ebay and it has helped a little with the issue of plugging but makes larger chips. I've also noticed that the twigs sometimes end up shot into the ground right through the grate instead of being ground up. That problem would be worse with no grate at all. I've run with no screen in wet leaves and corn stalks that plug even the bar grate. I actually leave the grate on but pull the pin on the far side of the feeding area. It's worked ok but I have to shred some stuff twice. I've been looking for a screen with inch and a half or two inch holes to see how that would work.

As far as clearing the discharge area, you'll be doing that with any chipper if you run a lot of stuff through. A 6 tine manure fork works great. Scoop it up and toss it aside.

The experience I've had with an MTD chipper was a bad one. It won't solve your plugging problem with wet material. I was shutting the chipper down about every five minutes and digging stuff out of the discharge by hand. This was an older MTD. Maybe they've redesigned them to be better by now.

A visit to the shop would solve your touchy engine and clutch engagement for a fraction of a new chipper. My B&S 8 HP I/C start withing 5 pulls and runs as long as I need it. It does seem kinda thirsty...

My Super Tomahawk has treated me well but I'm gonna upgrade to a chipper to mount on my BCS tractor this summer. That option is pry gonna be outta your price range...
techdave
16 years ago
hi steve, the answer to your problems could be as simple as a carb adjust, belt adjust, and flipping the flails and sharpending the chipper knife.
Steve_889
Original Author
16 years ago
I went out yesterday at lunch and fired the old Tommy up. Sitting for over 6 months and started on 5th pull. (Recoil didn't rewind so well but some oil will take care of that.) Carb leaks gas but you are right, a little rebuild can take care of that. It did tear up the belt, probably old and dry from being outside, so I got a new one and will try it this weekend. I turned the hammers last year so they are sharp again. I don't have the bar grate just a 1" screen. I'll try it this weekend with and without the screen and see how things go.
Thanks for the feedback - might save me a bunch of $.
jerseybob_gw
16 years ago
I bought the 10hp Troy-Bilt(not Gardenway, but MTD) about 3-1/2 years ago. The impeller assembly has come apart twice. I thought it was due to something I put into it that was too large. I'm now convinced that it was the design of the impeller assy to begin with. The replacement impeller assy has a different design. I have not replaced the second one yet, but am hopeful that it will not self-destruct like the first two. I am planning on trying to get the old one off tonight.
Lowes now carries a 14.5 hp model, it has the new impeller design.
When it was running it did a great job of shredding the stuff.

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