I actually spent the much better part of last weekend finally dealing with the massive clean pile in the backyard, and honestly, the merry mac wood chipper was your only cause I didn't drop my mind. In the event that you've ever tried to deal with decreased limbs and overgrown hedges using nothing but a set of loppers plus a prayer, you understand exactly how rapidly things can get out of hands. Wood chipping isn't exactly a "fun" Saturday afternoon pastime, but having a machine that actually will what it's expected to do makes a world of difference.
There's a lot of noise in the particular outdoor power products market—literally and figuratively. You've got these cheap, plastic-shrouded products at the big-box stores that appear more like vacuum cleaners than energy tools, and then you've got the industrial-grade beasts that price as much since an used car. The Merry Mac stuff sits in that sweet spot to get professional-grade durability without requiring a commercial hauling license to maneuver it around.
Built Like a Tank (Seriously)
The very first thing you notice when you stand up close up to a merry mac wood chipper is that will it's almost completely made from heavy-gauge steel. In a world where everything seems in order to be moving toward flimsy plastic in order to save a few bucks on shipping, these things feel refreshingly old-school. MacKissic, the company behind the brand, has been doing this for a long period, and it displays in the design.
I'm the big believer that if a device is meant to vibrate, grind, and spit out wood chips, it shouldn't be held together by plastic clips. The particular solid steel body on these models means they don't bounce around the particular yard when you're feeding them a new particularly stubborn oak branch. It seems grounded. That excess weight is a bit of the double-edged blade when it comes to moving this across a hilly lawn, but I'd much rather have got the stability during operation than the usual lightweight machine that walks across the front yard on its own.
The Magic of the Hammermill Shredder
One factor that confuses people when they first appear at a merry mac wood chipper is precisely why you can find two various places to place stuff. You've got the big hopper on top and the smaller pipe on the aspect. It is because these devices are technically chipper-shredders, and they also handle different materials in different ways.
The side tube is for the "real" wood—branches up to 3 or four inches thick, depending upon the model you've got. Inside there's a heavy-duty flywheel with a heat treated steel blade that just slices through limbs like some sort of hot knife by means of butter. But the real star of the show, in my opinion, is the shredding action in the main hopper.
Instead of just more blades, Merry Mac uses exactly what they call "hammermills. " These are usually basically free-swinging metallic weights that spin at high speeds and pulverize whatever you throw in them. If you're dealing with piles of leaves, moist garden waste, or those spindly little twigs that usually just clog up a standard blade chipper, the hammermills are a lifesaver. They turn a hill of garden particles into a great mulch that's in fact useful for your flower beds.
Let's Talk Regarding the Engine
You can have got the best blades within the world, however they aren't going in order to do much without a solid engine backing them up. Most of the particular merry mac wood chipper versions I've seen arrive pre-loaded with Briggs & Stratton engines. Today, I realize everyone offers their favorite engine brand, but Briggs & Stratton is all about as reliable since it gets for this type of work.
They often start on the first or even second pull, that is a blessing when you're already tired through dragging brush across the yard. The rpm is consistent, and they don't seem to bog down as easily as a few of the lower-end engines I've used in the past. Simply make sure you're using fresh fuel and keeping an eye on the particular oil, and these engines will likely outlast the individual working them.
The particular Reality of Using One
I'm not going to sit here plus tell you that using a merry mac wood chipper is a zen-like experience. It's loud. It's dirty. You're going to need some serious listening to protection and also a good pair of basic safety glasses because, let's face it, it's a machine designed to destroy things.
One thing We really appreciate regarding the design will be the centrifugal clutch. In the event that you've ever utilized a chipper where the engine is directly bolted to the particular blades, you understand how much of a pain it is usually to start. With the clutch on the Merry Mac, the particular engine starts upward with no weight of the heavy flywheel holding it in return. As soon as the engine will get up to speed, the clutch activates and the blades start spinning. It makes the whole starting process way less of a workout.
Also, be ready for the "pull. " When a person feed a department into that part chute, the knife catches it plus starts pulling this in. It's the bit startling the particular first time it happens, but once you obtain the cling of it, it actually saves you a lot of effort. A person don't have to stand there pushing the wood in; you just direct it and let the machine do the heavy raising.
Maintenance and Longevity
In the event that you're the kind of person who else buys a device and never looks at it again until it breaks, you might want in order to adjust your practices a bit here. Because a merry mac wood chipper is a high-vibration machine, you'll want to examine the bolts every right now and then to make sure nothing is rattling loose.
The particular blades do ultimately get dull, specifically if you're chipping a lot of hardwood or—heaven forbid—accidentally let a rock or perhaps a piece of wire go through. The good news is that the blades are reversible and replaceable. MacKissic in fact makes it pretty straightforward to get to the internals for maintenance, that i appreciate. There's nothing at all worse than the machine that's impossible to service your self.
The shredding hammers are also incredibly durable. Considering that they swing freely, they're less susceptible to breaking if these people hit something too hard. They'll ultimately round off from the corners after years of use, you could usually just flip them more than to get a new edge before you decide to actually need to purchase new ones.
Is It Well worth the Investment?
Let's be genuine: a merry mac wood chipper isn't the cheapest option on the market. You can definitely discover something for fifty percent the price with a discount device store. But individuals cheaper units are usually disposable. When the motor burns out there or the frame cracks, you're just left with the very heavy item of scrap metal.
With the Merry Mac, you're paying for a tool that's built to become repaired, not changed. If you possess a huge property along with a large amount of trees, or even if you're someone who actually enjoys making your own mulch and compost, the particular investment pays for by itself over time. I'd much rather invest the money as soon as on something that will works than spend half as much each three years on the replacement.
As well as, there's the time factor. These machines process material therefore much faster than the entry-level stuff. Exactly what used to get me an entire weekend now requires an afternoon. You can't really put a price on getting your Sunday back again.
Final Ideas
All in all, the merry mac wood chipper is a workhorse. It doesn't have any unnecessary bells plus whistles, plus it doesn't try to look like a futuristic spaceship. It's just a strong, American-made piece of equipment that manages yard waste just like a pro.
In case you're tired associated with bagging up twigs for the city in order to pick up or you're sick associated with your burn heap taking over your back again lot, this is a severe solution. Just remember in order to wear your earplugs, keep your hands clear of the chutes, and maybe warn the particular neighbors before a person start a big project. It's a beast of the machine, but man, does it perform the job.