Red Ox Chipper/Shredder

[TheFallGuy]

Hey everyone, It's a little late now, since i already bought it, but was wondering if anyone had any experience with Red Ox Chipper/Shredders? I can't seem to find much info on them. The one i bought was on Ebay listed as a 'new other' (dealer floor model). 6hp engine, and had what i really wanted, a metal chute that can be lowered to ground level to blow leaves directly into. And it came with a bag, but i am thinking of upgrading to a larger bag. It was listed as buy it now for $500, but there was a 'best offer' button, which i used to place a $300 bid that was accepted immediately. I hope i didnt make a mistake, i'll be picking it up tonight. Any feedback would be great! Thanks, Zac

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

I couldn't find a picture of that. Do you have one you could show us? Also what made you want to get such a chipper/shredder?

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[TheFallGuy]

i'll try to attach a pic here, hope it works, its from the ebay posting.

I wanted to get a chipper shredder so i could blow leaves into it and have them shredded to greatly reduce the amount of leaves I would need to haul. Also with bag included should help.

[Steve]

Do you still have a bunch of leaves you can try this on? I'd like to hear your review of it once you start experimenting with it.

[TheFallGuy]

Well I used it yesterday for a fall clean up of a huge property that I had to do. Most of the clean-ups that i have had to do so far have county loose leaf pickups at the curb, but this one didnt so I had to bag. The shredder worked pretty well, didn't get bogged down really at all. Bagged about 45 42 gal contractor bags full of shredded leaves. The bag that came with it is too small, that's really my only gripe so far. You can buy larger bags on ebay so you don't have to change it so often.

[Steve]

As you use it, do you feel there are other ways you would like to handle leaf cleanup in the future as you grow? Or will this method suffice for quite some time?

[TheFallGuy]

There are definately better ways to do it than the way that I am. The way I am doing it is pretty hard manual labor and is time consuming. I am just going with what I can afford for now, and hoping to grow and expand into better equipment/processes. A zero turn equipped with a pull behind leaf vac system is probably the easiest/best way to do it. Also having an enclosed dump truck or something like that to dump into rather than bagging would be a huge time saver also.

But all of those things are pretty expensive. If I can figure out something to do in the winter months, I may be able to save enough to upgrade and expand my services, but until then, I guess i'll have to stick with hard work.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by TheFallGuy

There are definately better ways to do it than the way that I am. The way I am doing it is pretty hard manual labor and is time consuming. I am just going with what I can afford for now, and hoping to grow and expand into better equipment/processes. A zero turn equipped with a pull behind leaf vac system is probably the easiest/best way to do it. Also having an enclosed dump truck or something like that to dump into rather than bagging would be a huge time saver also.

But all of those things are pretty expensive. If I can figure out something to do in the winter months, I may be able to save enough to upgrade and expand my services, but until then, I guess i'll have to stick with hard work.

Here is a winter project depending on if you have access to a welder

http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=157416

[Steve]

That is a great winter project idea! Quite complex!

There are definately better ways to do it than the way that I am. The way I am doing it is pretty hard manual labor and is time consuming.

How much time do you feel you are saving now with this machine on the average lawn than before you had it? Others may be reading this and thinking about taking these same growth steps as you.

[TheFallGuy]

yeah that is an awesome project! Just outside of my realistic capabilities though

Well I would say that, for me, it was more of an issue with removing the leaves. Previously, all i was really able to do was to clear properties and blow the leaves to the street for curbside removal. Now I can blow into piles, feed them through the shredder, and dump into bags so i can haul away. Otherwise i would have just been scooping up leaves and bagging them off the ground. The verdict is still out on whether i would recommend this method or not. If you have the means, some sort of vacuuming device would certainly be easier to use. I do have an old 5 HP White Outdoors blower/vac that I used as a vac for the first time this weekend and was pleasantly suprised at how well it picked up the leaves, and how much the bagger held. Only problem was emptying that canvas bag into a contractor bag to haul away, it didnt fit, and we ended up just dumping them into the shredder.

I think a newer, even more powerful version of that would be best, or as i said before, a trailer vac system for a tractor or zero turn. But it all depends on what you can afford.