Forest Master FM6DD 6hp Petrol compact self-feeding wood chipper. Powerful garden machine delivers up to 3600 rmp. Chips up to 50mm (2 inch) Easy storage and portability

Dropped a star on maneuverability purely because its quite short, so I have to hunch-over to grip it by the tube around the feed hopper mouth, and its a bit top-heavy so teeters over easily on uneven terrain -but as long as you grip the hopper with both hands its fine -and really rather light with good size wheels for rolling over imperfections.Another star down on assembly just because i'm being finickity -a few of the bolts are a bit on the short side, but they do there job (so far) -it would be much better with captive thumb-screws on the hopper and shute -I've spent ages looking for the dropped screws / washers, and as they could potentially fall in the chipping mechanism if you tried to leave them on the hopper / shute, it could be hazardous for the mechanism / people nearby if you didn't find them and fired the machine up, but I'm sure this is all because they were keeping a tight eye on cost. because this is...Incredible value for money -this solid, stout, compact little machine really is a bargain, the engine doesn't start as well (hot or cold) as a Honda, and it isn't anywhere near as well made in many respects -but you couldn't buy the Honda engine alone for the price of this whole machine delivered! -there is an electric start option too (see Forest Masters website if you can't find it here), that could be handy fatigue-saver if you were using it regularly, but I wouldn't bother if you were only going to use it a couple of times a year -as I'm sure the battery would be flat or need replacing whenever you actually needed it.I'd prefer to have the regulation longer shute (I think it is 1200mm -long enough to not get your fingers into the chipping mechanism) than the access-restrictor plate alternative that is required by EU / UK law -this would make it easier to push around and feed -but I respect this would also make it heavier more top-heavy, and cost more -both in unit price and likely delivery costs so I can see why this compromise was taken.I am a former arborist and used to using commercial chippers up to 24" capacity -I used to laugh at gravity-feed (yes I know the blades sort-of draw material in -but not the same as spring / hydraulically loaded, hydraulic powered feed rollers!) little chippers -and yes I'd still like powered feed-rollers, but even the smallest power-feed models are well over £1000 and bulky, which I didn't have spare, so I was unsure whether to bother with a gravity fed machine, but as I only use it for small stuff, because I keep anything bigger for kindling / firewood, and this little machine looked so stout -with minimal sheet metal, no drive belts, and was just so cheap, it was a no-brainer! Less smoke and hassle / fire risk from bonfires, more compost!

Easy to assemble, easy to start, very powerful only thing it could do with is a handle to make it easier to manoeuvre.Been using it for the last week and loved every minute of it, been after a small chipper for a while and this certainly hasn't disappointed me, as a gardener it really is a great addition to my work gear.... fantastic!

Made me think to put it together, but I tend to put things together without the manual, it chops and chops and chips, make sure you have a 10mm spanner in your pocket, sometimes the feeder shoot needs a pit if attention, really quick fix. It has saved me loads of money, we have a small holding and I cut and chip as I go, the only thing I’m going to do is make a trolly for it as whilst you can move it, it has to be done slowly on uneven ground which puts a bit of pressure on your lower back, as a physiotherapist, this is not helpful.Really pleased I bought this brilliant

Great

The only fault I can find so far after approximately 10 hours of work, is the feed shute. The 2" guides are great at stopping the accidental insertion of larger items but it does stop branches with offshoots feeding through as they can and do jamb in the guide. This results in the tedious need to trim all branches and feed through one at a time. Not sure if it can be recommended but I have removed the guide plate and this has solved the problem; however, care has to be taken not to feed larger than 2" branches.

Bought so I could clear a garden which is overgrown with shrubs etc (these have been left wild for years), the 2 packages arrived and I found the courier had knocked the boxes to pieces,(DPL) 1 was in a sorry state , so much so that bolts fell out of the package as it was carried to our door, Fortunately all pieces were there and undamaged. I built the unit (20 mins) put oil in 600mls and the unit started second pull, It now starts first pull every time, I've run this unit now for about 6 hrs this week and I just cant fault it, the guard supplied on the feed chute is restrictive and so I've adjusted mine. Other than that its a wee belter,

The chipper arrived and was very heavy 40+ kg – assemble was difficult due to the weigh and needed 2 people but the actual process was not difficult.Filling with petrol and the required oil the chipper starter at the first pull of the handle and subsequent start ups was just as easy.The one thing I found that I didn’t like was that the manufacturer had fitted a restricting guard to the intake hopper – restricting the diameter of anything to 50mm. – THS IS NOT MENTIONED OR REFERRED TO IN ANY OF THE DESCRIPTIONS.I realise that the max branch size is 50mm but if you wanted to say put a bundle of small stick like branches say 6-10mm diameter you could not easily do this. To be honest I removed this restrictor plate and made the decision not to overload the chipper with lots of large branches and then the chipper was 10 times easier to use. There is a rubber and a plastic flap anyway to stop chips being flows out towards the userI have used the chipper twice for fairly long sessions (30mins plus) and with the silly plate removed the chipper gobbles up anything that it fed to it with ease. If you are careful not to put in huge great tree trunks the chipper doesn’t even give the impression its being worked and you can feed it with a handful of small branches and it chips them with ease.I am glad I removed the restrictor plate (even though it’s not advised) as I never intended to overload or feed the unit with thick tree trunks as I kept these for a friend’s wood burning stove. If I had to leave this in place I would have probably returned the unit as it is ridiculously restrictive. If you remove this it is your own desicion.