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Bearcat chipper (small)

Hi everyone, I was thinking of buying a second hand Bearcat shredder 8HP petrol engine this weekend. Does anyone have any experience of these? I know they can be quite time consuming but I have a few weekly customers who want to get more from there composts.Also it would be handy not to have to bag up hedge waste and drive it to my friends burning pile. I appreciate it's only a small one and big ones are better but I'm a very small business and £500 (which is the cost) is quite a large expense for me for something I could live without. Also storage is an issue with size etc. Thanks for taking the to read the post!

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  • I have one, 8hp, model 70180 I think.

    It will take some shifting up and down your ramps, and they seem a little top heavy - I take the whole chute off mine when transporting, makes it much easier.

    If clients will pay for your time and petrol, it may work for you, although used on a weekly basis I guess it will need storing in your van?

    I prefer to bag up waste rather than mess around getting out the shredder, much quicker and easier. 

    Had a similar idea to you when I started, didn't work out so well. Van space is always needed, shredder gets in the way, is heavy and awkward to move and isn't really very quick when onsite. The actual shredding process is quick enough, preparing cuttings to get them down the chute is time consuming - small privet and hawthorne trimmings are easier, anything that isn't straight has to be either cut first or pushed down the chute.

    Used it a couple of times to deal with tree limbs, worked a treat but thats more tree work and if I did more of it I would have a larger chipper.

    Need the screen with the largest hole size, 1 1/4" I think,  the others get blocked easily with damp soft stems.

    The old 8hp Briggs is a bit of a guzzler, well mine is, and the Flojet carb has an issue - the jet doesn't seat so well and leaks fuel, easy fix just a pain.

    I've been thinking of selling mine this autumn, really doesn't get the use it should and takes up space.

  • a client of mine bought a eliet  Maestro Country ( the old version of it) it was to slow to chip things with it only used it three times and then left it in the garage it was quicker to take it to the bonfire 

  • I bought one two years ago had it for a month and sold it on. I use a local tree lad he turns up munches and goes much smoother
  • I find just running the mower over the hedgecuttings pretty effective................particularly if you go over them a couple of times without the bag on first.  Reduces them down to a fraction and once the bag is on, picks them up too. 

  • Thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions. It's a pretty damning read!!! But I'm not entirely surprised as some gardening friends had similar thoughts! 

    • In case you were still on the fence, I have an old Eliet here that hasn't been used in four years. Once day it might come in handy for a job with totally rubbish access, but doubtful.

      Geoff- yes, a  mower with a blade fan is great for this. That's how we work if the hedge is being just lightly trimmed- do it before we mow.

  • We bought an Eliet shredder new about 10 years ago and it sits in our shed gathering dust. gets used two maybe three times a year.  Handy for back gardens with limited access for dragging stuff out, but just too slow otherwise.  We bag up into ton bags, store and have a 'green waste run' every two or three weeks. Last weeks was 950kg at the cost of £50.00 + 3 hrs load/transprt and tip.

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