# Hydraulic or mechanical PTO wood chippers



## GreaseNipple

Hello,
I am thinking of buying a PTO driven wood chipper to use with my tractor. I see that most companies offer ones with a hydraulic feed and ones with a mechanical feed. It seems that most companies charge about $500 dollars more for the hydraulic feed. Which one performs better or doesn't it make much of a difference ? Please enlighten me......those of you who own one and who have a lot of experience !!!! Thanks



GreaseNipple


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## pogobill

Well, not sure if this is of any help, but I have a tow behind with it's own engine and hydraulic tank. It's a 25 tonne unit and I haven't had a lick of trouble with it. I like the fact that I can haul it to where I need it, unhook it and set up to split wood. I can then use the tractor (and a trailer if need be) to haul the wood back to the house. They run independent of each other so when one is running the other isn't so no real big lose in fuel consumption.
Never saw a mechanical splitter before, unless you count the one I have with the steel head and the hickory handle!


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## skippy

I can't say that I have heard of a mechanical feed... I have a hydraulic feed (frontier) model. Both of the other frontier models were gravity feeds.


Pros for the hydraulic as I see them having used it:
-mouth of the unit (the hopper) is in a more natural position since it doesn't need gravity to force the wood in.
-the hydraulic is nice when something gets stuck, just pop it in reverse to clear the system
-less effort when doing the feeding because the hydraulic does the work


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## MBTRAC

Are we talking wood chippers ( as in mulchers ) or firewood spltters here & do you have a particular model in mind? 

Generally, irrespective of chippers/mulcher/splitter, if you are doing a lot of work, hydraulic feeds will pay off in the long run due their infinite speed control & quicker stop/reverse functions - I've run commerical chipper/muluchers in past & currently run a commercial fire wood splitter.


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## pogobill

You know, I made the mistake, I guess it was a chipper this thread was talking about!Sorry about that!
Anyways, the only experience I have with the chipper is one I rented, Hydraulic feed, worked great... don't do a big bunch of small green stuff at one time, and watch out for old dry stuff shattering! I had the greatest success in the late winter / early spring when the wood is frozen.... chips great, quicker and with less trouble. The one I had was a tow behind as well, but I think if I was going to buy one, I'd get the three point hitch unit.


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## skippy

The manual that came with my chipper warned about doing to much dry stuff at once. The heat builds up or something, so they tell you to mix in some green stuff.


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