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McCulloch 14-AMP Electric Chipper/Shredder # MCS2001 | List Price: $199.99
Discount Price: $249.00
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Brand: McCulloch
Binding: Tools & Hardware
Features: - Tamper included
- Rounded chute
- V-type blade
- ETop hopper design
- Environmentally friendly
Well built and quiet but hates green wood [Posted on 2008-03-28]
The well built McCulloch Electric Chipper/Shredder was far better constructed than the photos suggested. When turned on, it's as whisper quiet as a small room fan when not chewing material.
If the sticks/branches are dry(over a year old), it makes fast and enjoyable chipping work for anything up to the 1.5" rated size. It shreds any dry plant matter as fast as you can feed it. The tiny post-shred volume is truly astounding for branches and leaves alike.
My only complaint is that it tends to choke on green branches, especially hardwoods like oak and maple. Green wood under 3/4" diameter is okay, but anything above that will cause it to stall (requiring the feeder tube to be removed to clear debris, a tool-less no big deal but still time consuming). But if you can stack larger fresh cuttings for next season chipping, this machine is a near-maintenance free wonder.
As an added plus, it breaks down for easy storage and is also sedan-trunk portable because the feeder tube easily separates (without tools).
IMPORTANT WARNING: Always use safety glasses when operating this machine. Although very well designed, organic bits do periodically emerge at eye-threatening velocities.
A Cautionary Tale [Posted on 2008-03-29]
The product arrived quickly & in good shape. Now it's time for the big HOWEVER, as with most Chinese produced pieces of equipment, this was more a "kit of parts" to build the machine than the actual machine. Following the assembly instructions caused us to discover that once the legs are attached to the machine body, the upper portion of the machine body would no longer fit, nor would the connector bolts line up. My husband, the millwright/welder-fabricator, says "no problem." Out come the die and angle grinders combined with 40 years of experience fabricating tooling and the problem was solved in two hours. He tells me that this is a common experience in industry. The tool now works as intended - smoothly and efficiently. However, I would not recommend purchasing this kind of equipment unless you have the skills and equipment to solve these problems. Or perhaps you could purchase it from someone who has already completed the assembly and sorting-out process. All-in-all, this is a great piece of equipment once properly assembled and tuned.
A Useful Tool, But............. [Posted on 2008-04-08]
I have three electric "Made in China" chipper/shredders. One is the McCulloch unit, and two others are labeled "Chicago Electric" bought at Harbor Freight Tools. One of the Chicago Electrics is no longer in production but still running, but the other one is a current production model.
I discovered that these things are so "safe" (idiot proof) as to render them virtually unuseable. I remove and discard, or never install, the top plastic feed chute with the protective "flaps" and narrow openings. I wear leather gloves and a full face shield in addition to hearing protectors while operating these machines, and try real hard, not to be a Darwin award candidate and put my hand or any other body part inside the machine while it is running. It also helps not to put your face or body in line with the top feed hopper as chunks of wood can be ejected with some force.
New blades can be purchased from various McCulloch (MTD) equipment dealers for around $15.00 per blade or, you can order Chicago Electric chipper/shredder blades from Harbor Freight Tools for around $5.00/pair plus S&H. I have found that the blades are interchangeable.
The blades can be easily sharpened if you use a chisel/plane iron sharpening guide (local hardware store) combined with a piece of plate glass or other flat surface, to which you have glued a sheet of ~150 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper. Clamp the blade into the plane iron holder, set the angle, and run the blade back and forth on the sandpaper till it is again sharp. Remove the blade from the holder and run the blade flat against the paper to remove the wire edge. Periodically vacuum or brush off the sandpaper to clear the grinding detritus. Slightly dull blades seem to work better on large (+1") branches as they are less "grabby", making it easier to control the feed and not stall out the machine .
Very effective, quiet and powerful [Posted on 2008-04-15]
I replaced a hard-to-start 5HP gas chipper with this electric unit. Maybe I'm just getting smarter about what to chip, but this handled everything I wanted it to, and was as quiet as an electric fan when not actually chipping. Everything I chip is under 3/4". What's left when I'm done looks like a pile of broomsticks. I'll use those for firewood. It jammed a couple of times in a morning's work, each time I found the pile of chips had backed up into the outlet chute. I learned to check it once in a while and push the pile away from the exit. With it's tall size and grippable plastic mouth at the top, it's very easy to roll around. I'm very pleased with this unit. Shipping was $70! But it arrived in 3 days via Fedex from HomeAndBeyond.
McCulloch needs to provide decent assembly instructions for MCS2001 [Posted on 2008-05-26]
Haven't used the machine yet, so I can't speak to that, but I just finished assembling it. McCulloch wasted a couple of hours of my time by not providing comprehensible assembly instructions and by shipping the machine with bolts in the wrong holes on the axle.
See the review by u12soccercoach for very helpful instructions on how to assemble the chipper. Ignore the manual's clueless assembly instructions and pictures.
The main problem is that the axle is shipped with two hex bolts screwed into the two holes towards the middle of the axle. You need to unscrew them and screw them back into the outer two holes, then screw the support arms onto those interior holes that you just took the screws out of. A decent diagram could have made that clear and saved a lot of time.
No excuses, McCulloch. The original equipment manufacturer, wherever they are, may not have provided decent instructions, but it's ultimately your responsibility. You show disrespect for your customers by failing to provide usable instructions for putting the machine together. And when somebody assembles it wrong and somebody gets hurt as a result, you'll be dancing with lawyers. Get your act together.
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