I like that it is small yet towable. I wish the chip were smaller for composting, but it seems just the larger machines make the smaller chips. Thanks for your video.
Thanks for commenting, and you’re right the chips would take quite a while to break down and are not ideal for composting. When the blades are real sharp the chips are pretty thin and would break down more quickly, but that condition doesn’t last long :) Cheers, Dan
@@appalachianheartsong5487 I assume you are saying that the blades go dull quickly? I wonder what "quickly" might mean as clearly, you have a lot of trees and bushes to use. We only have the 1 big tree and a few small ones. LOL So you may ask, WHY OH WHY would we spend that kind of $$$ for such a machine when we won't be using it often. LOL Fair question. it's because to get a 'tree person" to come and do it, around these parts, costs more than the machine! In fact, almost double. So I felt, better to just buy the thing so that there's something to show for the expense when done.
It handles a lot bigger branches than I thought, and has been a huge help in getting the permaculture orchard/food forest started. I really appreciate you participating on the channel, cheers.
Thanks for commenting. Overall, I cannot recommend this particular machine, it self-destructed this last summer chipping red cedars. Specific to leaves, it does alright but they don’t have enough mass for the shredder to really grab so half the leaves are expelled before they are mulched. The denser the pack the better it works but, beyond a leaf compost application, it’s not the solution for leaf mulching. Of course, it does better with branches, until it rips itself apart internally. Hope this helps, Dan
@@appalachianheartsong5487 We just bout the DK2 OPC513 version a couple of weeks ago. We don't have a lot to chip, but what do you mean, specifically when you say that it "self-destructed" ? Did the motor blow? Or the bearings in the internals? Other? Please do let me know as I'd like to be ready for any possible issue. I hope not the motor, however, because I figured, if the rest of the machine does go poof, as long as the shaft is the same size as the shaft on our snow blower (5.hp briggs, I think it is) then this Kohler motor would be good to repurpose for that. Thanks in advance.
@@BlondieSL Thanks for participating on the channel! I’ll respond to both your comments herein. So, it sounds like you purchased your chipper for light duty residential use and it should serve you well in that role. It’s hard for me to say exactly how much material was chipped before the blades dulled but I had to sharpen them about twice a day. Re its terminal act, it consisted of the metal shredders attached to the back side of the cutting wheel breaking loose from the wheel and tearing up the wheel and internal housing. We never really used the shredder side of wheel because the vines we would have shredded just wrapped themselves around the wheel. So, not sure if it was centrifugal force or chipped material that led to the shredders detaching themselves. It sounds like a plane crash when it happens, so you will certainly know if it happens to yours. Hope this helps.
@@appalachianheartsong5487 Thanks for that info. WOW that failure really sounds horrible. I'm assuming that the damage done made it not worth rearing? As for blade sharpening, twice a day? WOW! But seeing your video, I guess it makes sense with all you have to do there. May I ask, what method did you use to sharpen yours? For our old, electric shredder, with much smaller blades, but similar design, I bought a dual wet stone and sharpen those by hand, making sure to keep the exact same angle on the beveled part. I've seen one guy get a 1000 grid belt sander belt and just use that, also keeping the angle. LOL So I'm curious what you used and how. Clearly, it works. Again, thanks in advanced and much appreciated.
I just ordered one to make wood chips for my chickens to help make compost. The only issue ive been seeing lately on youtube are people saying they couldnt get this engine to start when they brought it home. Did you have any experience with yours not starting when you got it home?
Hey Thomas, thanks for commenting. No, we had no issue with it starting. Did the folks you saw with this problem provide the eventual solution and issue to watch out for? My only discovery of note was accessing the blades by removing the top bolt to the chute and then removing the blade retaining bolts inside (towards hub) first then outside.
