Pequea 3 Champion Wood Chipper

I am going to look at a Pequea 3" wood chipper tomorrow. This is a gravity wood chipper and is new. I was wondering if anyone has one or knows of them. Do they chip well? Do you have to baby sit the thing or is it a good machine? I am going to put it on my Ford 860. I would like a hydraulic feed, but they jump to a 6" for feed and are a ton more $$$. I know they work better but am concerned that a 5.5 or 6" would be a little big for my Ford? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Dean: The 3" chippers, regardless of brand, are not worth the money. Not enough capacity. If at all possible, move up to a 6" one with hydraulic feed. They automatically control the speed of the feed so that your tractor maintains RPMs within the proper range. Remember that the 3 or 6 is MAXIMUUM. So even though it is rated at 6", that machine has a much lower realistic capacity. Enjoy whatever you get!

I have a Patu dc-40 chipper, it work great on stright limbs and trees. If you have brush or alot of limbs its a pain to feed them in. Crooked wood is also hard. Mine is manual feed, but it will pull a stright piece in on its own. When Im chipping I keep my chain saw right next to the chipper so I can delimb or cut out bent pieces in the trees.
It gets the job done, but its alot harder to use than a hydrulic feed one. But it cost less? and for the amount I use it its fine for me.

Tree Farmer is right the small machines are near worthless.Mulchs leaves and twigs ok but limbs take forever! Unless you need one all the time it is FAR better to simply stockpile your brush and trimmings and rent a commercel size chipper occasionally to quickly do the job.

Do you think a Ford 860 would run a 5.5" hydraulic? The 5.5 hydraulic says 35HP+. The 860 is like 39 max.

after too many bad investments, I finally bot a used Bandit 6 inch chipper with hydralic feed from rental yard, 25hp Kohler, feed opening is 6x12 so crotches feed more often, I keep strong loppers nearby for bigger ones, Vermeer is 6x6 so lot more trimming needed

after bringing the knives/anvil and feed wheel back to spec it chips everything I ask it to including dry elm, very knarly thornapple and fenceposts with barbed wire attached (oops)

unit has rpm sensor to stop feed as engine loads down then restarts it when engine comes back, you can do same thing manually with feed bar, thats how a 25hp engine works on this machine

old time drum style needs enuf power to chip the whole piece, no way to stop the feed

I had 6 inch Woods hand feed before this, great for 2x4's or straight pine but useless on the kind of wood I have to chip

PTO units eliminate engine headaches including mouse infestations and gas gumming up the carb, some units use tractor hydralics to run power feed, other have own pump/tank but cost dearly

some people stack the brush then rent machine for a day, if machine is taken care of and is available when you need it then this is best way to go, too many rental yards neglect the knives

Our 6 inch power feed Vermeer chipper runs on a 25 hp Kohler engine. When it runs correctly which has been a recent concern, it has plenty of power. Ran a 5 inch manual feed with a 30 hp tractor and also had plenty of power. So we have had both a manual feed and power feed. Wouldn't consider a manual feed unless intended to use it a few days/year or on limbs/brush not larger than about 1 1/2 dia and most being smaller. Would also consider a manual feed if I was again 35/40 years old and still lifting weights.

Come on, 1 1/2dai and most being smaller? My chipper is a 3pt on a 30or55 horse diesel tractor. I have put 5inch sumac threw it. I dont know if it would chip 5inch oak, but I dont need to chip 5inch oak as it goes for firewood. Popular, pine european buckthorn and all kinds of other garbage brush it works great on.

Yes it will chip 3-4 inch stuff, but I'm not going to be the one that does it more than a couple of times. With both of us pushing we did force a 3.5 inch dia piece of hedge and also used the same technique to chip similar larger diameter hard stuff. After a couple of years decided to park the arm strong machine. So yes it can be done but rather than beat our shoulders/arms to a pulp we decided to spend some more money and get a machine that will chip the big stuff all day without the physical distress. However if you need to chip a lot of bigger branches and tend towards a masochistic personality, a manual feed chipper might just be the ticket