Snapper (3") CS14503 305cc Chipper Shredder

I live in Fortuna, California and have a one acre property with lots of redwoods and smaller trees too. I needed to clear the brush and trim the redwood trees.

First I went to harbor freight and bought their chipper unit. That unit had a 200cc motor. It literally grabbed the branches out of my hand and stalled repeatedly on 2 inch branches. I returned it.

I then went to sears and bought their chipper/shredder. It cost a little more. It has the same engine as this unit. It works OK, but wouldn't handle large branches. It was also built cheaply as the plastic chute also served as the handle, and it was bulky to store. So back it went to sears.

I then purchased this unit for about the same price. It works very well. It can easily handle branches up to about 21/2 inches. It doesn't rip the material out of your hand. You do have to stop feeding larger branches if the motor starts to bog down. You just resume feeding when the motor picks up speed again. It starts easily.

I agree it's hard to roll around with the handle placed where it is. I am also adding a factory heat shield and dipstick to the Briggs motor. The wheels could also be more substantial and have a locking brake.

It is very simple. This unit does the job it is supposed to do and doesn't cause you aggravation by constantly stalling or ripping branches out of you hands. It is also easy to store. Overall a very good chipper/shredder for the money.

I live in TN on a 5 acre parcel, about 75% uncut woods. Has a beautiful log cabin, but there are too many trees that are close to house, and when they drop acorns, sounds like a bomb on the metal roofs. We can use the firewood, but needed a way to dispose the small branches and small limbs. Did research on the net and ended up purchasing the larger Earthquake chipper/shredder. Have had it about 6 months now, and have about 75 hrs with it.
It comes with thin plastic wheels w/solid rubber tires. Very difficult to move around on anything but pavement. So I changed them to pneumatic air tires. After the first use, I removed the cover off the inlet tube for branches. It really impeded sticking anything that wasn't straight or in excess of about 1" diameter into the chipper blades. Without, I can feed 3" branches, and when it comes to the small branches growing off the main branch, I just keep stuffing and it works great. I also got one of those hour meters on Ebay for $10, so I can track maintenance intervals.
The hopper, it also had this rubber cover that made it nearly impossible to do other than "spoon feed" it small twigs. So, I did away with that as well. Now, it is much more usable and efficient, though OSHA may not approve. It is really quite strong. I have previously owned two Craftsman 8 HP units, and this is substantially better. And it starts very easily.

Now, the negatives: Im 6'0 tall, but this unit is quite low. To pull it around, it is hard on the lower back, especially over uneven terrain, despite the new tires. The pull handle is low, so I need to stoop over to pull it, and its rather heavy. Next, the tube for feeding long branches is also quite low. Would be nice if it also were higher. There is no tow bar to drag it with a tractor. I have a small 36" x 60" trailer from Lowes, and I chain the chipper down in there and then drag it to the woods with a small JD tractor. I leave it in the trailer to chip, and just point the chute out the open end of trailer.

I used the bag twice. It doesn't make a real good seal, but the bad is that if fills in no time, meaning you will have to shut down, untie it and go dump it. I doubt I will ever use the bag again, though it is a good quality bag.

Funny, when you look at it, it appears sort of cheap. When you start it and feed it, WOW! This unit has authority.

All in all, I am satisfied and would buy again, but it does need tweaking.