Mtd Yard Machines Chipper/Shredder 6.5hp

Pros: Fine mulch, good powerful motor.
Cons: Noise, cost, easily clogged feeding chute and quality of some parts.

Our main purpose in purchasing this machine was to help with the heavy work load of leaves that we need to take to a town compost area ourselves. With 8 full sized Maple trees and other large trees around we get A LOT of leaves in a given year. Our ...

Pros: Nice Mulch, easy to use,
Cons: Takes a bit to get use to its mechanics & Price

UPDATE 4-19-06: I received a few e-mails asking how the Chipper/Shredder is working out..how it handles leaves ect.. so here you go: So far I have over 200+ hrs into this machine. I have eliminated 5 large brush piles (12 x 20+) from over 15 tress ...

Pros: Price.
Cons: Capacity. Assembly.

Capacity is rated at 3", but it is not a productive machine for anything over 1.5". A 3" branch brings it to it's knees, and it's somewhat painful on the arms. That noted, it eats the smaller stuff right up. The resulting chips are very small. ...

Pros: Strong little machine, easy to use and portable.
Cons: LOUD!

The main reason I bought this was the numerous trees and tall bushes I had in my yard. They consisted of Maple, Lilac, Honeysuckle, Apple, and Peach. The neighbors oaks also liked dropping acorns in and around my yard. The bag that attaches on the ...

Pros: Shredding, price
Cons: Chipping (have to force branches at times), restarting when warm

I bought this model to do twice yearly cleanup around my yard and so far I like it. It's probably overkill unless you have deal with a lot of brush and branches. It works great for shredding piles of brush, leaves and pine cones, I bought it mostly to ...

Pros: good power
Cons: poor access to fluids, nuts holding chute assembly almost inaccessible, clogs frequently

This is the most user-unfriendly machine I've ever used. A 1 in. green sapling will clog it. When it binds up (and it will), then you have to have incredibly small hands to reach the nuts connecting the chute assembly to clean out the debris. In less than 15 hours of operation (about 3 days of work), the cotter pin holding the flail screen sheared, ingesting the hard metal flail screen into the cutting blades. It's down for the count and in the shop for repairs. I am going get rid of it as soon as I get it out of the shop and will never buy another MTD product.

Pros: Makes great compost. Chops up cuttings and vines
Cons: Needs modifications. Very noisy!!! Need ear and eye protection. Needed parts after five years.

I've had the model 462 Yard machine for five years. I use it for the abundance of trimmings on a half acre lot in Hawaii: lots of jungle-like stuff. It has a 10 horsepower Tecumseh engine and plastic intake chutes. I had to make modifications so it wouldn't jam a lot. I removed the flail screen and discharge chute; now I seldom get a jam. Also, I don't use the bag for the output, I direct it to a 33 gallon vinyl garbage can. I cut a hole in the can cover so the output chute would fit into it. About a quarter of the output misses the can and I have to rake it up. The output makes great compost, only oversize limbs go to the county dump. After five years, the intake chute and collar broke, so I had to order replacement parts from M-and-D in Ohio at a cost of $240.00. I expect this Yard Machine to last another five years, at which time I will replace it with a machine with metal chutes!