DEK (4") 15-HP 420CC Professional Duty Tow-Behind Chipper Shredder

This seems solidly built. It's certainly heavy enough. I've used it 4 or 5 times and it eats the scots broom and small limbs that I've cleaned from a tree filled yard in Oregon. However the drive pulley has separated. It peeled apart, looking like a cheap pressed metal assembly.

Given that this is the heart of the beast, you'd think the engineers would have put some beef in it. I'm going to ask for a refund. But suspect I'm stuck with warranty repairs.

I bought this chipper to help take care of brush and downed limbs on my new property. It chips up limbs 4 inches in diameter with little slowdown and chips are nice sized to use around the house. The only problem I've had from it is the rubber tabs covering the limb chute have been ripped off one by one as they hang the limb feeding through. I do have 2 suggestions for improvements, though. First, the tow bar- it could stand a little more pitch. When I hook it up to my lawn mower or four-wheeler, the foot is only about 2 to 2-1/2 inches off the ground, and it drags in slightly rough ground. 4 inches off the ground would be a lot better. Second, can the limb chute stationary rubber tabbed protector be replaced with something a little more flexible, or that don't snag limbs and get ripped off?

Pro: Runs like a champ!! Gobbles up whatever you can get down the chute.
Cons (2): Narrow wheelbase & chute somewhat restrictive (must prep branches which will not fit down 4" opening)

Good and bad. Well made, solid metal, easy to put together. I do worry about the leaves only on the hopper. I put in wood chips elm and small twigs in the hopper. The bag is cheap, the grommets pull away in no time. I took it off after the first run.

Not adjustable for size of chips. It really shreds the wood. Gloves, tools and safety equipment included all incredible cheap. The ear protection snapped at the first cold weather run. The gloves might work for putting on mascara.

Quality chipper but strange lapses that worry me as to the life of the machine.

Got it out of the box, assembled and put the oil in, filled the gas tank started her up and she purred just fine. After about an hour and a half there was oil all over the bottom of the engine and smoke coming out of the side where the belt is.

Shut her down, checked the oil, and tried to start her back up, this time there was more smoke and sparks started coming out of the side that has the guard and belt. So after the first day, it has to go to a repair shop. Mechanic tells me that the manufacture may store these in the warehouse for months with no oil in it so all the gaskets and liners dry out, thus the oil leaking. Now going on two weeks before we can get it back for use again. Yes it's under warranty, but thats no excuse.

Tired of paying for mulch at the nursery, we have so much debris we can use, just need to chop it up. Well this machine is great, it does not disappoint, I can work through the Fall and into some of the winter, making my garden bed ready for spring. Very happy with this investment.

I bought this machine in March. It's 7 months later, and I've chipped and shredded leaves, branches & vines, enough to fill 10 heaping wheelbarrows full of 3/4" mulch.

I am completely satisfied with it's performance. It starts just as easy as when I first bought it and I have not had any real problems. But there are some things to consider:

1. The hopper top opening is 18"x 21" and funnels down to 5"x 6" just above the hog chamber. Because it is only gravity fed with no forceful air flow through it (surprisingly), broad leaves get compacted at the bottom of the hopper and plugs it up just above the hog chamber. 3 solutions: 1) only feed melon-size handfuls at a time, 2) mix leaves with heavier branches, 3) use a twig longer than the hopper is high to poke the leaves into the hog (be careful!), 4) figure out someway to blow air through the hopper/hog.

2. Do NOT attach the discharge chip bag that comes with it. Chips pile up on the ground immediately outside the discharge shoot and a pile bigger than about 2-basketballs will plug the shoot. (might be why some reviews complained about burnt belts). I was constantly raking the chips away from the shoot.

3. Green, wet foliage plugs up the discharge screen. Let that stuff dry out a bit, but DO chip branches when they are green (it will keep the chipper blade sharp longer).

4. The chipper worked great while it was sharp, and ate everything I threw at it without taxing the motor at all. The blade got dull quicker than I expected, but i guess my knife would too if I was to whittle all those doug fir branches into 3/4" chips. Once its dull, it won't chip no matter how hard you push and make it smoke! Changing the blade wasn't easy. I could not get enough torque on the dinky wrench supplied to undo the blade's torqued down allen bolts, so I used my impact wrench to remove them. Sharpening a chipper blade is different than a knife, because it needs to be razor sharpened from one side and absolutely flat on the feeding side in order to work right. I had a table-mounted disk sander with a tilting bed that I used to sharpen mine.

5. This machine is not like a lawn mower, it takes work to make it work, but I am pleased with its performance and durability. Besides, it makes a lot of noise and chews big stuff into little stuff really fast. It conjures up Tim Allen's "arrrgh, arrrgh, arrgh".

6. It is quite easy to move around with the big tires on it.

Works well. Used for 3 hours out of the box with no problems.

Did the trick, have run a lot of branches through it. Only negative was how to figure out the choke, labeling is not clear. Yes I would recommend it, just wear ear muffs, it's loud!

This chipper cost a little more that I was willing to pay but it does everything it says it will do with ease. I have only used it about 8 hours with no problems.