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

The buying experience of this product from Power Equipment Direct was great as they kept me apprised of the purchase and shipment process. The first use of this chipper, it plugged and melted the belt. We changed belts and by the time we had 15hrs of use, the clutch assmbly needed to to replaced as the pulley sheared off leaving it, requiring a new clutch assembly of $115.00.

I've only ran this machine a couple hours, but I expect many years of dependable service out of this machine. This is my assemble and initial performance review:

Pros:
1) 300lb sturdy shipping crate with wood pallet arrived in good shape.
2) I shoveled 4" to 6" chunks of Oak bark and small chunks of Oak wood into the hopper left over from my firewood splitting and it shredded it into a fine mulch without slowing the motor down but just a bit.
3) The chipper ate a 3" thick, 6' foot long Douglas Fir limb quickly and easily, again without taxing the motor at all.
4) This machine is powerful and built with heavy-duty steel throughout.
5) It has a fuel shut-off lever, and an on/off switch for quick shut-offs.
6) It has a centrifugal clutch for easy starting.
7) It has a v-belt drive for assurance that machine jams will not will not put extreme stress on the engine.
8) Two easy starter rope pulls with the choke on and it fired up. Within 15 seconds I opened the choke and it sounded like 15 horses ready to work.
9) The chipper-blade/shredder-flail arm assembly is made of thick steel and looks like it will last a long time under heavy use, with one exception that I talk about next.

Cons:
1) During assembly, I did discover a few issues with its construction. I had read a review for this machine that told about a pin coming out of a shaft that the shredder flailing arms are mounted on, causing some damage to the unit. So before attaching the hopper to the base, I closely examined each pin on the 4 shafts and found some pins not fully inserted through the pin hole. I tapped each pin so that they protruded equally from each side of the shaft. The pins were snug and probably would not have fallen out, but to make sure, I slightly flared both ends of each pin with a thin screw driver.
2) The side chipper-chute base plate is thick steel, but it had a 3/16" curve over its 9" length, so it did not fit flat against the side of the machine's base, leaving a gap. This gap may be the cause of chips "flying out between the motor and the shredder" that another reviewer complained about. There is no way to straighten this out and I did not want to distort or stress the side of the shredder housing, so I created a gasket out of a piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting to match the surface of the base plate. I attached the chute and snugged down nylon-insert nuts. It should last because the chute will not be under any stress, and it works so far. I suppose a bead of caulk could do the same thing.
3) The little sticker by the choke has confusing choke instructions. The diagram is labeled, "choke", with "off" to the left and "on" to the right. But "off" means "choke" and "on" means "run'. Luckily there is a "I/I" universal choke symbol molded into the plastic on the left side of the choke slot that a guy could obviously see is the choke position without the confusing sticker.
4) The "maintenance schedule" in the manual says to lubricate "Hooper Assembly" and "Release Bracket" at "50 hrs or 3 months", but I see no way to lubricate the assembly (it has sealed bearings) and I don't have a clue to what a "release bracket" is.
5) I like exploded views of machinery with diagrams and parts named (like where to lubricate and what a release bracket is), and this came with none. The manual only has broad pictures with arrows pointing to "fuel tank", "chipper funnel", "starter", etc.
Here's a tip: Write down the serial # located on the base of the engine that faces the hopper before attaching the hopper.

Summary: Its big and heavy and powerful, and seems like it will last a long time under heavy use, but its made in China, as my "cons" indicate.
I hope to follow this up at the end of summer with a durability review.

I've only ran this machine a couple hours, but I expect many years of dependable service out of this machine. This is my assemble and initial performance review:

Pros:
1) 300lb sturdy shipping crate with wood pallet arrived in good shape.
2) I shoveled 4" to 6" chunks of Oak bark and small chunks of Oak wood into the hopper left over from my firewood splitting and it shredded it into a fine mulch without slowing the motor down but just a bit.
3) The chipper ate a 3"... more

Looked at first it would do the job. Then problems started. The unit has major bolt and nut problems. Nuts came off on the the bearing blocks holding the main shaft. Before I could shut the unit down the roll pin on one of the hammer shafts came out and dropping a hammer blade into the mix which was very bad news. Also burned up the drive belt. Then problems with the nuts on the blade bolts. They're a poor grade, threads strip out on them (Made in China is my guess). There parts list online is a joke. They don't list parts you really need. There warranty is a joke also. If you buy one consider it as is with no help from them.

Looked at first it would do the job. Then problems started. The unit has major bolt and nut problems. Nuts came off on the the bearing blocks holding the main shaft. Before I could shut the unit down the roll pin on one of the hammer shafts came out and dropping a hammer blade into the mix which was very bad news. Also burned up the drive belt. Then problems with the nuts on the blade bolts. They're a poor grade, threads strip out on them (Made in China is my guess). There parts list online is... more

We got this chipper thinking it would do what we needed. Wrong! Here in Florida we have lots of Palm trees and it just does not work on them. It will just plug the screen. On the Oak branches the blade dulls after about an hour and major job to change. Also had the belt guard break a couple of times and the main shaft bearing burn out.

In Jan. 2013 I bought a Troy Bilt 3" chipper shredder. It failed in 3 weeks. It lost power and quit and wouldn't restart when it warmed up. Probably due to bad spark. Took it back and exchanged it. The second one blew another Briggs engine. Took it back and got a refund. Would never buy another Briggs engine product.
Bought the DEK and have used it quite happily for a month now. It starts easily and will handle anything that will go in the chute. The big hopper is large and is a straight shot into the grinder, so nothing jams in the chute.
This is a well engineered machine and well worth the money!

In Jan. 2013 I bought a Troy Bilt 3" chipper shredder. It failed in 3 weeks. It lost power and quit and wouldn't restart when it warmed up. Probably due to bad spark. Took it back and exchanged it. The second one blew another Briggs engine. Took it back and got a refund. Would never buy another Briggs engine product.
Bought the DEK and have used it quite happily for a month now. It starts easily and will handle anything that will go in the chute. The big hopper is large and is a straight... more

Unit runs and works fine but should have an idler pulley for engaging belt drive. Reason being, if the shredder or chipper tube is loaded and you run out of fuel the unit is jammed.
Otherwise works well.

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.

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... more

While I commend Chippers Direct for the shipping and handling of our DEK chipper order and our order was delivered without problems, I think there are aspects in the design, manufacture and packaging of this machine that could be much better.

Our machine came with a major scrape approximately 5 1/4" across from the end of the handle on the side of the chipper funnel for dropping leaves, on the same side as the chipper chute. This suggests a defect in the shipment packaging.

When we unpacked the chipper, we noticed immediately that the glue at the base of the leaf hopper is ineffective, as the large hopper gasket came right off.

The tools that came with the chipper for assembly are very low quality. One of the wrenches deformed under use. In step 5 of assembly, the four protruding bolts were poorly aligned and we had to use a rubber mallet to complete assembly.

The goggles and the ear muffs were very good, in fact I find the ear muffs more comfortable than ones we have bought.

The second time we used the machine, one grommet came right off the output bag.

During that same second run, sawdust started blowing out from where the engine is bolted to the main stand (see picture in manual, page 3, tip of white arrow), and we later found a small black square rubber part sitting on the ground on the opposite side, very warm from having been in the machine (and then came flying off). We now have to contact a service center to find out what exactly this is and how to get to get it back on. The manual does not explain it.

In addition, the machine is difficult to move just around our yard. As an enhancement, it could use attachable wheels on the stand opposite the existing wheels.

Ideally, it would be nice to have the oil input accessible from the top rather than the sides, with a dipstick to show the level. (We have a lawn mower with a built-in dipstick in the filler cap.)

The manual's assembly instructions are minimal and it would be better to replace the poor-contrast photos with line drawings. One drawing should be a diagram of the chipper exploded out showing all its parts, which should be numbered and identified.

Overall, the chipper does what it is supposed to do, however with the sawdust blowing so heavily out of places from where it is not supposed to blow, we have had to cut our run times short.

Overall, I give this chipper a C.

While I commend Chippers Direct for the shipping and handling of our DEK chipper order and our order was delivered without problems, I think there are aspects in the design, manufacture and packaging of this machine that could be much better.

Our machine came with a major scrape approximately 5 1/4" across from the end of the handle on the side of the chipper funnel for dropping leaves, on the same side as the chipper chute. This suggests a defect in the shipment packaging.

When... more

Even though we could have bought 100 tons of chips, for the price this is perfect for us as we use this machine for making wood chips for our garden. We build up from the soil, not dig into the soil via tilling. We already have manually cleared an acre and chipped up 99.7% of what we have cut down. I had to change a belt my fault and sharpen the both blades once. We have a dump truck load amount already!! Safe as it can be. Simple as it can be. And by God this thing works. Couldn't be happier with it's performance and I complain about everything that's made cheaply. Great product!!!

Even though we could have bought 100 tons of chips, for the price this is perfect for us as we use this machine for making wood chips for our garden. We build up from the soil, not dig into the soil via tilling. We already have manually cleared an acre and chipped up 99.7% of what we have cut down. I had to change a belt my fault and sharpen the both blades once. We have a dump truck load amount already!! Safe as it can be. Simple as it can be. And by God this thing works. Couldn't be... more

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.

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... more

I have an acre and a quarter of heavy woods. Lots of trees, branches, and leaves. I read the review and I do believe I bought the best equipment for the job. I am very happy with the performance.