Greg Crawford
04-17-2010, 12:16 PM
I have gotten clamps, air hose fittings, wrenches, etc. from Harbor Freight, and have a friend with one of their sliding miter saws. The miter saw isn't anything I would ever buy after using it a little, and I've always been very hesitant about buying anything with a motor or gas engine. Most of what I've seen in that area is pretty lame.
Well, each year when I trim my bushes and trees, I wind up with a pile of limbs that have to be taken care of, usually bundled and put out for trash pickup. This year, I wanted to borrow a chipper/shredder so I could have mulch instead of trash, but never could hook up with my friend. I looked at buying, but a Troy Bilt (MTD I think is the same company now) just seemed like too much $$ for a once a year project. I couldn't find any decent deals on used machines, so I decided I'd take a chance on the HF 5.5 HP model. It's listed for $340 on the web, but the store sticker said $450. I also found a 20% off coupon that they said they would honor from the price at the register. As it turned out, the actual store price was the same as the internet price, so I got the machine for about $270, less than half a new Troy Bilt, plus, the engine itself has a 2 year warranty.
So far, I've put about 5 hours on the machine. I've never used any other chipper/shredder, so I can't compare it to anything else, but it started, ran well and chipped and shredded. It's made of fairly heavy metal, not real flimsy like I thought it would be. It has solid rubber tires instead of the larger, inflatable tires on the more expensive units, so it's a bit harder to wheel around. One thing I do like is that the wheels are held on the axles with cotter pins instead of the hammer-on caps that always manage to fall off and get lost. I did have to stop the thing several times and clear clogs in the chute from small, pliable twigs and vines that didn't "self feed".
I don't know if anyone else is holding off purchasing something like this from HF, but the gas engine seems to work well (so far), and for the light work I have for it, I think it will do just fine. It may only last half as long a a TB, but it was half the price. At 5 hours a year, it may last decades.
I hope someone finds this helpful and not just a waste of time. After all, anything that runs on gasoline, makes a lot of noise and destroys everything that goes into it can't be all bad:D
Well, each year when I trim my bushes and trees, I wind up with a pile of limbs that have to be taken care of, usually bundled and put out for trash pickup. This year, I wanted to borrow a chipper/shredder so I could have mulch instead of trash, but never could hook up with my friend. I looked at buying, but a Troy Bilt (MTD I think is the same company now) just seemed like too much $$ for a once a year project. I couldn't find any decent deals on used machines, so I decided I'd take a chance on the HF 5.5 HP model. It's listed for $340 on the web, but the store sticker said $450. I also found a 20% off coupon that they said they would honor from the price at the register. As it turned out, the actual store price was the same as the internet price, so I got the machine for about $270, less than half a new Troy Bilt, plus, the engine itself has a 2 year warranty.
So far, I've put about 5 hours on the machine. I've never used any other chipper/shredder, so I can't compare it to anything else, but it started, ran well and chipped and shredded. It's made of fairly heavy metal, not real flimsy like I thought it would be. It has solid rubber tires instead of the larger, inflatable tires on the more expensive units, so it's a bit harder to wheel around. One thing I do like is that the wheels are held on the axles with cotter pins instead of the hammer-on caps that always manage to fall off and get lost. I did have to stop the thing several times and clear clogs in the chute from small, pliable twigs and vines that didn't "self feed".
I don't know if anyone else is holding off purchasing something like this from HF, but the gas engine seems to work well (so far), and for the light work I have for it, I think it will do just fine. It may only last half as long a a TB, but it was half the price. At 5 hours a year, it may last decades.
I hope someone finds this helpful and not just a waste of time. After all, anything that runs on gasoline, makes a lot of noise and destroys everything that goes into it can't be all bad:D