If you want to invest in a professional-grade wood chipper but can't afford a new chipper, there is also plenty of good quality and used wood chippers out there that may just fit the right bill for your job. Here we share the top 5 things to look for in a used wood chipper so you know you are buying the right machine with still decent operational hours left for hard work. So, here are five tips before you buy a used wood chipper:
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Engine.
This is where all things chipping originate. If the engine will have trouble performing, then the chipper will also have issues. When buying a used engine you should look for the work hours (look for an hour-meter or ask the owner for an approximate number). you must look for any oil leaks around the engine seals, or any sign of an oil leak and this could determine that the engine has been opened for any number of reasons, rebuilt, or went reheated. If the engine is manual recoil look for the yo-yo mechanism if it's in good condition. If the engine has an electric start option, look for any strange starting noises that can scream worn gear pieces or any other trouble. If the engine can start but can't stay on constant idle RPM that could be signs of a clogged air filter or dirty carburetor.
Clutch or Pulley Transmissions
If the chipper you are buying contains a clutch, make sure the clutch can transmit power, or if it is making significant slippage by looking at any sign of smoke. Also, make sure the belts are in good condition. You should look for worn belt corners or cracks that will tell a sign of prompt replacement. In any case, belts are a wear-and-tear element and should be fairly easy to replace.
'Chipper Frame
You should inspect the chipper frame for any signs of abuse or fatigue. A chipper is exposed to a lot of forces because logically the chipper is cutting wood at a very high pace. This creates vibrations that may grow when the blade gets dull. This takes us to our next topic.
Blade
The blade is very important because you need to know if it still has an edge left and the possibility of resharpening. A good blade usually lasts approximately 25 hours of work (depending a lot on factors such as debris, encountered which nicks the blade, wood hardness, density, dryness, etc) so if the blade is shot and not possible to resharpen you need to make it sure that spare parts are available. Generally, generic imports are hard to find blades because suppliers or distributors do not hold onto a lot of spare parts. Yardbeast is a manufacturer so we will have you covered in that sense.
Bearings
All the cutting magic is sustained on the bearings, which are equally as important as the blades. Ask the owner if the bearings have ever been replaced, otherwise, ask for it to run and see if there is any grease coming out of the seals (not good) or if it overheats. A good bearing running temperature should be in the range of 120F to 160F. If the chipper is not able to run, make sure you are physically and technically able to replace these elements as they usually involve removing the rotor from the frame and then realigning everything once it's reassembled.
Buying a used chipper, in the end, is a lot like buying anything else that is used, you would have to rely a lot on the previous owner's good maintenance habits and honesty to tell everything good -and bad- with the chipper. But we hope these tips can help you figure out that whatever you are buying is worth your money, and your time!
It can very difficult to find wood that requires minimal milling, but it is possible. The tradeoff is that you may need to spend a lot of time searching through every board to find the one or two that are straighter than others.
Look for wide, 4/4 (1") or thicker boards with few knots. These come from larger trees and are generally more stable.
Look at the end grain, ideally searching for quartersawn material where the wood grain is perpendicular to the face (wide side) of the board.
Generally, the lumber used in construction is not suitable for fine woodworking without additional milling. Some home improvement stores also sell pre-glued panels and hardwood lumber (sometimes wrapped in plastic), but it usually costs significantly more than buying dimensional or rough-sawn lumber from a hardwood dealer.
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If you do not have the tools to mill lumber on your own, call some local cabinet shops. Often they will sell you lumber and may even do some milling at little or no additional cost. You can also buy your lumber directly from a local sawmill or hardwood dealer, and they will typically surface the lumber on 2 or more sides for a small additional charge.
If you're tight on space, hand milling your lumber is always an option. If you prefer power tools, you may also want to consider looking into a combination jointer/thickness planer. Also, depending on what you're building, you may be able to build jigs to do most of your milling. A taper/straight-line rip jig will do the edge jointing, and you can build a separate jig to joint the faces of boards to about 6" wide (assuming you have a 10" table saw and can raise the blade to a little over 3").
Also look into community shops and rental stores. If you live near a community college or university, they may have a wood shop with all the tools you need to mill your lumber. My local university offers daily or monthly options, and larger cities have MakerSpaces where you can buy a membership and use the equipment. There is also a Habitat for Humanity "ReStore" in a town near me which rents out all kinds of woodworking equipment (including table saws and planers), though you must first purchase an annual membership.
Great question, Steve. I wish I'd had the wisdom to ask this before I got too into woodworking. I used to buy all my hardwood lumber at Home Depot for 4 times the cost! (I'm not exaggerating). Big box stores specialize in construction lumber so it's a very poor place to buy furniture-grade lumber.
So I started shopping at a local hardwood dealer. (I'd do a search for hardwood dealers or lumber dealers in your area. If that doesn't work, you can always order online for marginally more expensive than what you could find locally). Most hardwood dealers offer "surfaced and straight-lined" lumber--meaning they surface both sides to be parallel and straight-line one side at 90 degrees. For several years, this was more than sufficient for my needs. The surfaces were almost perfectly flat and I just used my tuned up table saw to make the other edge straight.
So that's what I'd recommend--find a local hardwood dealer that will surface and straight-line your lumber. Then all you need is a table saw (or even a bandsaw could work, provided you don't mind a few minutes of hand-planing).
Eventually, however, you'll become a lumber snob and decide that the lumber yard's version of "surfaced" isn't up to par and you'll have to ask them to sell it to you "in the rough" and invest in the expensive tools for milling (i.e., jointer and planer). But, you'll probably have a few years, so start saving up! (Which will be a LOT easier now that you're not buying hardwoods from big box stores!)
I personally have looked in my area for "hardwood dealers" as my Google search term. This uncovered two that sell oak and walnut (occasionally cherry) where I live in Oklahoma.
I have also looked on craigslist. This is not very fruitful for me but it can be for others - it depends a lot on where you live. The one or two sellers I have found were both selling rough sawn lumber.
Also, if you search for "lumber" in your area on Google and then eliminate the big-box stores, you may find that there are suppliers of building materials in your area that have much nicer hardwood. I have purchased red oak from local building material suppliers in my town in this way. It was much nicer than the big-box wood in the sense that it warped less when I cut it.
In all cases, it is most likely that you will find only the most common woods like pine, oak, and maple. Depending on where you live you may find other "finer" woods like cherry or walnut. The last two almost always have to come from an actual hardwood dealer unless you just happen to know somebody who has a WoodMizer portable bandsaw mill that will have access to trees that have come down (for whatever reason). The WoodMizer website allows you to search for owners in your area and they may recycle trees and be a source of local wood that you can buy. This however would require you to stack it and dry it before using as well as requiring access to a truck or trailer to go get it.
I have also purchased from WoodCraft since they have a store in my town. They have a wide selection of wood but not a great deal of any one species; however, it has always been sufficient for my projects. They will also surface it for you if you don't have a surface planer. They say there is a minimal charge for this but I have never been charged - possibly since I usually only buy one or two boards.
Finally, there are the online dealers that I have no direct experience with. I am a fan of The Wood Whisperer and he has a paid site where the members will build a project together. He arranges for the students to purchase their wood online from Bell Forest Products. He speaks highly of them.
When shopping for wood one will quickly realize all the bad pieces of wood that are overflowing the shelves. So be prepared to spend at least 30 minutes finding suitable enough pieces to purchase. Personally, I like the more natural look of wood, so I don't sand it with too high a grit and of course use a stain instead of paint or other finish.
The first thing though, that I would do is design what you're wanting to build, so you can better determine which type and size of wood you should buy. I wouldn't just go to the store to buy some wood without knowing what thing(s) I'm planning to make. So I'd suggest drawing up your design, right down to the dimensions, and then do some research on the internet for which wood you should use for this and make a decision.
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