Troy-Bilt Chipper/Shredder
Patrick U. Hsieh x3145
That's the 3 hp model. A friend of mine is considering buying one and I don't
know that much about them. A guy I met who owns a landscaping company
recommended against them, saying that they clogged up easily.
So, I'd like to know how suitable one of these things is for residential clean
up, a little less than 2 acres of treed property. Any comments regarding
functioning, reliability, etc. would be very much appreciated.
Thanks all!
Pat
Patrick Hsieh p...@sarnoff.com
David Sarnoff Research Center
So many adventures couldn't happen today, Alphaville
So many songs we forgot to play, "Forever Young"
So many dreams swinging out of the blue,
We'll let them come true.
Gary Heston
> Hi! Has anyone used one of the Tro-Bilt Junior Tomahawk Chipper/Shredders?
> That's the 3 hp model. A friend of mine is considering buying one and I don'
> know that much about them. A guy I met who owns a landscaping company
> recommended against them, saying that they clogged up easily.
The Junior has a 5 HP engine, not a 3. The regular Tomahawks have an
8 HP.
> So, I'd like to know how suitable one of these things is for residential clea
> up, a little less than 2 acres of treed property. Any comments regarding
> functioning, reliability, etc. would be very much appreciated.
Depends. Is he going to use it for lots of leaves, or mostly for
branches? It's great for branches, limbs, most prunings (green
privet tends to clog it) and generally anything you can stuff into
the chipper chute.
It's a pain for leaves. You have to scoop them up, dump them on the
top, then stuff them down into the hopper with some sacrificial item,
like a cornstalk or small branch.
My sister has a Junior, which stayed at my house for a couple of
years, and I became quite familiar with it.
Last year, my mother bought a MTD 5 HP chipper/shredder. It works
almost as well for chipping as the Junior, and is *wonderful* for
leaves. The MTD has a drop-down ramp; you just park it in front
of your leaf pile, crank it up, and sweep leaves in with a rake.
Easily four times faster than with the Junior, and much less work
since the leaves get sucked in once they're halfway up the ramp.
No clogging, no bending over until it's time to empty the bag.
And about 1/2 the price of a Junior.
The Junior is a good piece of equipment, and I recommend it highly
as a chipper. The MTD is far better for leaf shredding. Given a
choice, I'd like to have a 12 HP industrial-grade model..... :-)
Gary Heston, at home.... ...with the blackberries almost done,
ga...@cdthq.uucp I'll be chipping next weekend...
Krzysztof A. Kozminski
>p...@pecan.sarnoff.com (Patrick U. Hsieh x3145) writes:
>> Hi! Has anyone used one of the Tro-Bilt Junior Tomahawk Chipper/Shredders?
>
Ahem. According to the blurbs they keep sending me, the Junior has 3HP
(it looks different from other Tomahawks - more flimsy). Regular Tomahawk
has 4HP, and two models of Super Tomahawks have 5 and 8 HP.
>> So, I'd like to know how suitable one of these things is for residential clea
>> up, a little less than 2 acres of treed property. Any comments regarding
>> functioning, reliability, etc. would be very much appreciated.
>
>[ great for branches, limbs, most prunings (...) pain for leaves]
>Last year, my mother bought a MTD 5 HP chipper/shredder. It works
>almost as well for chipping as the Junior, and is *wonderful* for
>leaves.
Well, I can 50% agree. MTD positively SUCKS for branches and
prunings. I have the top-of-the line 8HP MTD, and it is no competition
for a 5HP Tomhawk I once rented. Any fresh cuttings will clog MTD, and
the chips turn out quite darn large. Running them through the MTD
twice doesn't help much. And anything remotely moist, like
half-decomposed grass clippings, clogs it as well. Tomahawk munched on
these without problems. True, MTD is great for leaves ...
Note that the above refers to the Super-Tommahawk ($1300 machine)...
Generally, I am sorry that I got baited by the low price of the MTD.
Should've sprung for one of the Baker/Lightning models, cheaper than
Troy-Bilt, and just as fast. Too bad their new line was not introduced
yet when I was looking for a shredder...
KK
PS: Anybody wanna buy an 8HP MTD for $300? RTP area preferably, the
darn thing would have to be shiped freight at mucho $$ if you can't
pick it up. 1-year old, about 40 hours of use. Was $540 new ...
--
"Limit congressmen to two terms. One in office. One in jail."
Danny Shaw
Hi there, has anyone had any experience about Troy-Bilt Chipper/Vac?
Is it worth the money? Any alternatives? Any comments regarding
functioning, reliability, etc. are very much appreciated.
We live in a 1 acres heavily wooded property. Thanks,
Danny Shaw
Stuart Lewis
> That's the 3 hp model. A friend of mine is considering buying one and I don'
> know that much about them. A guy I met who owns a landscaping company
> recommended against them, saying that they clogged up easily.
Can't vouch for the muscle in the 3 horse model, but..... I have an
8 horse Super Tomahawk and have nothing but praise. This would be a
magnum jump in price from the Junior (figure on ~$1400, +/- $$, more
for electric start). These are powered by Briggs & Stratton motors,
the smaller shredders are powered with Tehcumsa's (sp?). The
Brigg's are one-pull engines! (at least mine is - even after sitting
all winter under a tarp outside. choke on, switch on, 'yank',
revvv!)
My Super Tomahawk will eat *anything*. In fact, if at all, it's a
little too agressive when feeding in branches into the chipper -
it wants to suck them right in - not a big problem for softwood, but
for something like maple, you need to have a good grip and pull back
regularly so it doesn't "bite" more than it can handle - And I'm
talking about the 3" diameter stuff.
As for clogging, there are different size screens than interchange
to allow you to regulate the size of output. The only "clogging"
I've ever experienced is when the outflow simply piles up into the
exit screen. You have to keep a shovel handy to keep sweeping the
area clear, and you'll have no clogging problems. Let me take that
back a little bit. If you run nothing but *wet* leaves through it,
yes it will clog. Intersperse the input with branches and that will
help, but wet leaves can create a problem. It's pretty easy to
clear the screen, however (screen is a relative term here; it's
rolled steel, about 1/4" thick, with holes it it). You pull a
cotter-type pin, swing the screen down, clean it, swing it up, re-pin
it and you're done.
My wife and I spent nearly every weekend two summers ago clearing part
of 5 acres we bought in preperation for moving out. We ran that sucker
all day, stopping only to gas/oil it or to eat - and it never missed a
beat all summer. You will want to keep at least 2-3 extra drive
belts handy, and a can of belt dressing spray with you - we did eat
a lot of belts - but then, we ran the hell out of it too!
Also, they are *very* dangerous. Wear goggles and gloves and keep
your hands back. When you stuff a big wad of branches into the
chute, it will sometimes just snatch them and you can get whipped in
the chops quite easily - and it hurts! And because of this action,
let go of what you're feeding immediatly, or before you blink, your
hand is at the opening to the shredding chamber! I know. Oh yeah,
wear ear plugs, too. Your brain will be buzzing if you don't.
One of the uses recommended in the owners manual, is to throw in all
your old newspapers - makes great mulch or worm bedding.
> So, I'd like to know how suitable one of these things is for residential clea
> up, a little less than 2 acres of treed property. Any comments regarding
> functioning, reliability, etc. would be very much appreciated.
I'm of the school that if you're going to purchase something like
this, get the best there is, don't scrimp, and make sure it's able
to do the job you want it to. The Troy-Bilt was the most expensive
on the market (there were basically two other competitors), but upon
close examination of them, you can see why. These babies are *heavy
duty*. The blades can all be removed and sharpened - something that
at least one of the competitors didn't feature (WW Grinder). Some
of them didn't have Briggs & Strattons - something I've always had very
good experiences with. The bodies were really heavy steel. The
welds looked very well done - just an all around high quality piece.
Both in material and workmanship.
If you're going to do a one-shot clean up and then landscape, you might
just want to rent one. If you'll have recurring growth managment to
worry about - like blackberries, vine maple, alder, cedar - stuff
that is constantly growing like weeds, then by all means invest in a
good one. Our Super Tomahawk will make a very impressive pile of
chips in a very short time - you couldn't, in your wildest
imagination, picture the huge piles of brush, limbs, branches and
saplings I'd clear with my brush saw then feed through the chipper!
I'm talking maybe 20 feet long by 15 feet wide, piled high - and I'd
chip/shred maybe 4 piles that size in one day! I'd get to the point
where I couldn't shovel off the outflow anymore and I'd have to
move the chipper somewhere else. By the end of the day I'd have 3
or 4 little mountains of chips in various locations on the
property!
Now, like I said, this is the largest model Troy-Bilt makes. The
only model above mine is identical except for electric start. But
I'm sure the smaller ones follow the same design philosophy. My
father-in-law has a Troy-Bilt 'tiller/cultivator. Must be 15 years
old, and that sucker shows no signs of slowing down yet. It's a
large 8 horse also. He does have to use starter fluid once in a
while though.
In my opinion and experience, go with the Troy-Bilt. It's an animal!
Stuart Lewis
s...@ssc-vax.boeing.com