Gregory E

Woodland Mills WC46 Wood Chipper Review If you’re looking for a quick review, I’ll sum this up here first. I’ve used this chipper for 11 hours. Before the snow got too deep and I couldn’t move through the trees anymore. I use it on a 2015 John Deere 2025R. Rated 18 PTO Hp. I was looking for a chipper with a powered in-feed roller as I have had shoulder surgery on both of my shoulders in the past 2 years. Also the hopper is at a comfortable working height. I purchased the chipper to mainly chip buckthorn, box elder and some mixed oak that have died from oak wilt. Also some live oak prunings along the trails. I don’t chip anything over 3” as I have someone that burns anything over that size. I’m happy with the chipper and do not regret my purchase. I’m happy with Woodland Mills as a company and am considering purchasing their stump grinder. For someone looking to use the chipper as I do, I definitely recommend this chipper. Now if you’re looking for a bit more in-depth review of this chipper, read on. As someone that has personally worked for a world wide company and has experienced the cost cutting practice of using inferior Chinese manufactured replacement parts (that fail in months instead of years) in place of quality manufactured OEM parts, I was skeptical of a product manufactured in China. Due to the positive reviews for the chipper, the features it offered I was looking for, and the price, I decided to take a chance. When it arrived at my residence (12 acres in rural central Wisconsin) on a truck with a lift gate as stated, I was informed that if the lift gate would need to be used it would be an extra charge. I was under the impression that the lift gate use was included in the price. For those wondering, the 2025R with forks and a ballast box was able to lift the 648 lbs from truck bed height. As others have stated, the shipping container is a steel welded and bolted framework covered by the cardboard box. No damage to the container, or the unit. After uncrating I immediately proceeded to do a very thorough inspection of the quality of the parts and manufacturing of the chipper. Me being extremely leery of Chinese made products. At the same time I also went over every fastener and hydraulic line connection to make sure they were tight. I have to admit. I am impressed and happy with what I found. The steel is of a decent thickness and strength. The welds look good, as much as can be determined from visual inspection. Everything is thoroughly and nicely painted. I did not find one loose fastener or hydraulic line fitting. As someone who has had bad experiences with Chinese bearings, I greased the bearings first thing. I also checked the bed plate gap. The manual states 1/16”-1/8” gap. I found the gap to be well in excess of 1/8”. So I adjusted it to 1/8”. I found that a piece of 1/8” x 2” x 24” flat stock makes a great thickness gauge. I also have a 1/16” x 2” x 24” piece of flat stock. Assembly was straightforward and easy. Even assembling it by myself. For my tractor with the iMatch quick hitch, I needed to trim the PTO shaft by 1-1/2”. Easy to do following the instructions. I have a cordless bandsaw for making cuts like that. As to actual use and functioning. First thing I discovered, that on my particular unit, the hydraulic in-feed roller wouldn’t rotate until I moved the adjustment lever to the “2-1/2” position. Not a big deal. It does work. Rotation speed also increases as it should when the adjustment lever is moved beyond the “2-1/2” position. I found that for my general purposes I just leave it set at “2-1/2”. It typically chips faster than I can feed it. My main purpose is to chip the buckthorn. Anyone familiar with this evil vegetation knows how crooked this can grow with branches coming off the main trunk at angles up to 90 degrees. Perpendicular to the trunk. I have buckthorn as tall as 20’ or more. A few with trunks up to 6” in diameter. My original hope was that I would be able to take a 15-20’ tall buckthorn that has grown fairly straight, no more than 3” at the base, and would just be able to feed the trunk into the chipper with the branches hopefully bending and folding to feed in also. I’m referring to 3/4” diameter and smaller branches. That doesn’t work quite like I had hoped. The buckthorn are tough and stubborn. The branches don’t fold in like I had hoped. So I’ve modified my cutting technique to accommodate the capabilities of the chipper. It seems to work a little better with the more flexible box elder branches. I did debate at length if I should purchase the WC46 chipper or the WC68 chipper. Due to the fact the larger chipper has a larger size hopper and 2” wider roller. Which I can only wonder if it would lend itself to bending and feeding branches better. I have read the reviews of owners of the larger chipper used with small tractors like mine. As stated, I don’t chip anything over 3” diameter. I can only wonder if the larger chipper would have worked better for my purposes. Other than the branch bending/folding feeding issue, the chipper chips quite well. For a test I took some 4” diameter dead and live oak branches and fed them through to see how the chipper would handle those on my tractor. The engine rpm dropped from 3000 to 2800 rpm but it just kept right on chipping and sped back up. Like I said. I don’t plan on chipping anything over 3” diameter so it suits my purposes just fine. A representative from Woodland Mills suggested I set the bed plate gap to 1/16” which should help keep the rpms up on my tractor. I set the gap to 1/16” but haven’t had a chance to test it out yet. Too much snow to get out to the woods. I have discovered that the smaller green branches can do two things as they flex and don’t chip. I’m referring to the 1/4” and smaller size at the ends of the branches. They go through in lengths rather than chips. Sometimes these lengths if fed in large quantities without larger materials, can clog the discharge chute and plug it up. It’s at these times you will be thankful for the design of the chipper. Remove one bolt, open the chipper and clean out the chute and chipper. Nice. Back to chipping in minutes. The other thing I’ve noticed with those smaller green lengths of branches, they will wind around the main shaft in the chipper. Between the back of the flywheel and the housing. On the in-feed side. So far they haven’t caused an issue, but since I discovered this possibility I open the chipper and check it at the end of the days use. Due to the distance between the in-feed roller and the cutting surface, you can end up with a small chunk of branch sitting in that spot. Until you feed more stuff in that usually pushes that piece into the blades. Not an issue. Just thought I’d mention it. If there’s a piece like that in the chipper at the end of the day you might hear it rattling around. For storing the chipper when not in use in my shop I built a cart. I had some scrap 1/4” x 2-1/2” x 2-1/2” angle I used to build a frame with 5” hard plastic rollers. Two fixed and two pivoting. I can push the chipper on this cart with one hand. I really like the fact the chipper folds into a small footprint. I’ll try to include some photos of some of the things I have mentioned. At this point I am quite happy with the chipper. Time will tell how it holds up. I am also very happy with the staff at Woodland Mills that I talked to or emailed. Polite and knowledgeable. Other companies could take some lessons from this staff. Thanks Woodland Mills for designing and building nice products for small land owners like us. Chip Pile.jpg Stringy Wrappings.jpg Chunk.jpg Chipper Cart.jpg

John S

This is a fantastic piece of equipment. Easy to set up and operate. Chews through large and small material with ease. The hydraulic feed is a game changer.

Brian M

The WC46 has been a huge help in the cleanup of my property. The brush from trees that come down in storms or the tall nuisance pines that I’ve cleared, the brush is now a non issue. And the chips we’ve been putting down to prevent future overgrowth. My Kubota BX tractor powers and handles the WC46 no problem.

Dennis T

Great machine..sturdy build...eats pretty much everything I put into it...even when I use it on my small tractor, a JD 18 hp diesel...it will still eat up to 4 inch branches if I decrease the feed rate some...clearing 10 acres of tree tops after timbering...great machine love it...instant reverse is priceless when you do get something jammed up...would highly recommend this product

Robert W

I received my chipper in October have used every week since. Wished I had it 20 years ago. It does everything I thought it would do and more. It so easy to use even my wife says it's fun and enjoys helping me. I'm very impressed with the quality, and would recommend it to anyone.

Jacob L

The WC46 is an excellent piece of equipment and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I had a tornado come through and used it to help clean up my branches as well as the neighbors yards. They only time it had issues is when I was chipping a large amount of spruce branches or green hard wood branches with a lot of leaves on them. The hydraulic feed had a hard time grabbing on the the small leaves or needles and they gum up the works. The obvious solution would be form me to wait until the branches to dry.

John W

HAVE ABOUT 15 HOURS OF USE. VERY HAPPY WITH THIS PURCHASE. LOVE THE SELF FEED FEATURE. WHILE IT IS CHIPPING, YOU CAN BE GETTING THE NEXT BRANCH FROM THE PILE. TIME SAVER DO NOT HAVE ANOTHER BRAND TO COMPARE WITH IT. NO NEED TO. CAN'NT MISS WITH THIS ONE. SEE YA!

John S

Works great. Looks great. Is great!

Roy T

Great machine only disappointment is how far it throws and disperses the chips. Overall I love it .

Stephen D

Awesome addition to my JD 1025R!! Great website video, easy to assemble, and Wow- crazy good at shredding through the brush from Fall clean-up and recent tree trimmings!!