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Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:34 pm
by ghmerrill
my beef with the couple of chippers I have tried, is that they are designed for chipping broomsticks... unfortunately, real yard waste has bends, curves, branches, and does not fit through the hopper. even if you take the time to cut off all the limbs, cut out the straight sections for chipping, you have to hold on to the end and push it down the hopper as its being chewed and ground down... not fun. Using the leaf shredder has worked well for me with culms up to 1", I have not had any larger than that that I have tried to chip. also, they have all been green still, I have not tried it with dried. I still look at the huge chippers that the tree services use with envy whenever I drive by one.....

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:53 pm
by Alan_L
ghmerrill wrote:...push it down the hopper as its being chewed and ground down... not fun. ...
Well, it's a little fun. For a short time at least.

Then after my arms are numb from vibration some time later, or I've gotten whipped by a vibrating branch I start thinking about those auto-feed models and wondering if I can find an affordable one somewhere.

The time when I actually have culms that I can cut down, use, shred, or whatever is a couple years away for me though, so keep your chipper reviews coming. :wink:

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:42 am
by ghmerrill
the auto feed is the only way to go. I got mine cheap by perusing Craigslist, I paid $350 for it. Its practicly brand new, and pretty good size, and supposedly does up to 3" limbs. The only problem in our area is that a limb 3" usually has smaller side limbs that have to come off.... more pain than its worth. I have used it twice, the last time was the leaf shredder for the boo culms, which worked well. I guess when I have forests of bamboo, I can justify the larger model also!

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:55 am
by Jerry Hamilton
The auto feed sounds great. When I wear mine out I guess I can check into them. Untill then I will have to use this one. Just a pain to feed it.

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:14 am
by jd.
needmore wrote:I know there have been threads here in the past regarding shredders but I'll ask again, what is a decent one for culms under 1.5 inches max?
A Wisconsin-based company, Patriot Products, Inc. offers a number of durable chipper/shredders:
http://www.patriot-products-inc.com/pro ... tm#eleccsv

Their electric model requires the least maintenance, chips branches up to 2.5 inches thick, and offers more than enough power for 1.5 inch branches. Although the maximum 2.5 inch diameter is an inch greater than 1.5 inches, the extra margin will make the chipping of 1.5 inch branches that aren't perfectly straight go much faster.

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:31 pm
by Bamboo Outlaw
I have used Mantis' BearCat and it works very well. I used a Craftman once and sold it. It worked me to death to groom one Painted. I would like to get a PTO model.

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 3:08 am
by Alan_L
Just for future reference, are all BearCat models equally good at shredding canes, or just the more expensive models? What model(s) have people used for bamboo?

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:22 pm
by mantis
Alan_L wrote:Just for future reference, are all BearCat models equally good at shredding canes, or just the more expensive models? What model(s) have people used for bamboo?
Alan, I've only had experience with the 3" models. It seems like that is the most popular. I bought mine a couple years ago, and it was around $1200. One of my friends bought the same model from a Home Depot rental center for $400. He had to do some adjustments, sharpen blades, etc, but now it works perfect. I know there is a 2.75" model that is a lot cheaper than the 3", but it is built for light use (suburban home owner), and not for heavy/commercial usage.

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:38 pm
by Alan_L
Thanks, I'll keep it in mind.

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:19 am
by dependable
If you are dealing with young culms that have come up where you do not want them, they decompose pretty quickly, just lay them down in the part of the grove you want to help. I have a 60 hp diesel brush bandit for my business. it shreds boo fine, though the chips are too splintery for most uses, good for the boo no doubt. The silica dulls the blades. If you have a really large amount of groves to manage, buying an old tree chipper might be worth it, esp if you are a mechanic.

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 3:39 pm
by terrabamboo
check this youtube video out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OyUJRos5u4

this is what I'm contemplating. It's just the support factor I am concerned about. If only I had someone who spoke japanese :)

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 6:37 pm
by stevelau1911
I actually do speak Japanese fluently, but you could probably just send them an email, and they probably have a division in the USA, or English speaking customer service. In the US, they always have Spanish customer service now so I think it works both ways. Those look like pretty solid chippers, and should work very well if you have lots of bamboo to chip.

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 3:48 pm
by terrabamboo
http://www.ohashi-inc.com/en/company.html

Steve, can you reach out to them and get an email address for me for someone that speaks English?

Thanks!!

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:05 pm
by stevelau1911
I directly asked them through their contact form which can only show up when you select the Japanese option so I'm guessing they only want inquiries in Japanese.

I asked them if they can ship equipment over to the United States, and we can see if they reply back to me. Based on what it looks like on the website, they may only ship within Japan since the location choices are only within Japan so they may not even export, but if it is worth it for them to go international, they may still consider it an option.

This is the inquiry form.

http://www.ohashi-inc.com/about/contacts.html

Re: bamboo mulch

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:52 pm
by terrabamboo
Thanks Steve.

I believe they sell to Europe so hopefully we will get someone.