Not sure why I bumped into this thread... I have an older Bearcat 70050 chipper/shredder. Came with a 5HP B&S engine. I hated that engine and hated the pulley/belt power transfer. Every time I let the engine sit for a few months unused it took a major effort to start it again. Yeah, should have run it bone dry first, etc., etc. Eventually I unmounted it and got a quality 3HP 220V Leeson electric motor and a chain and some sprockets to go from the 3600 electric motor RPM to ~1900 flywheel RPM. You'd think 5HP vs 3HP means it's gonna suck. Well, turns out the opposite is true. Electric torque vs. gas lack of torque specially at low speeds makes the electric win every single time! With the gas engine it took a good 10 seconds to baby the flywheel from standstill to full speed. Electric: under one second! I'm really not making that up. When I'd jam some thick wood into the knives with the gas engine and bog it down I'd have to wait several seconds for the gas engine to open the throttle and come back up to speed. With the electric it's a fraction of a second. Overall, the 3HP electric motor has turned my chipper from an underpowered machine to a scary beast. The motor power is not any limitation on what I can chip. The knives get hot and the grease in the bearings starts to smoke before the motor limits anything I do. From a safety point of view I don't recommend this mod to anyone! I just wish there were good electric chipper/shredders to buy like there are in europe. Yes, I did have to run some good 10ga copper 200v circuit to my chipping spot, but for me, that was much more pleasurable than cleaning carburators to no end. Of course, everyone's tradeoffs are different...

I've used a Troy -Bilt vac for about 4 years as I have a lot of leaves. It has overall done a good job. It can get heavy with a full leaf bag but I usually keep a wheelbarrow nearby to empty the bag. The bag can pack up to the point the leaves need to be dug out. The hose also works well but you have to be careful not to suck up any small sticks which can cause the hose to plug up. It also has a branch chipper that will chop small branches (about 1 inch). Mine is a Troy-Bilt when Troy -bilt was a stand alone company. I don't know if the quality has been compromised when they were bought out by MTD. They also make a self propelled model.

Thanks for the input greenhobby. I've got 40 acres, and most of it it wooded. The part I mow is mowed and vacummed with a large collection system on the mower. The collected grass, and leaves in the fall, has given me a hug compost pile. I dump the grass/leaves on one end, and pick black dirt off the other. Occasionally I 'stur' the composting part with a front end loader. Some of the stuff likes to stay in grass like clumps, and isn't composting well. I figure that stuff would be really nice if run thru a shredder. I also heat my house and domestic hot water 100% with wood, for about 9 months of the year. So there is alot of 'trimmings' that I don't use for heat. I have been burning them in a burn pile in the winter. But local fire officials frown on these types of activities unless the ground is covered with snow. I would like to chew up some of this stuff to make mulch to put around some smaller pine trees. I planted some pines on the boundry line some years ago. I mostly have oak, maple, elm, cherry, and cedar here. So I think the 12PT-10 is about the size I could use, without financially destroying me. Where can I go to get the best deal on-line? I like the "no tax" I usually get by ordering out of state. Free shipping is a plus on this type of thing too. :-) Lloyd

I love my chipper/shredder that I bought at Home Depot a couple years ago. It is gas powered and can only handle branches about 3 inches wide. I use it frequently for my property and now it seems to travel and we help others with their yard waste. The best thing of all is we get to keep the wood chips - which I love. How about if you put an ad (free) on Craigslist or Freecycle giving away the wood to someone who can use it? In my neighborhood there is a guy with a huge chipper for commercial jobs. I've even asked him if I can have the 'waste' that he pays to take to the dump. He is happy to give it to me. It saves him time and money and saves me money from buying mulch. If you don't have room to compost - you could do a sort of 'horizontal' compost where you have something like leaves and wood chips scattered on the ground. It will decompose and improve your soil. Just a thought.