Yardbeast (3") 10-HP 305cc Chipper Shredder

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. This is much better than the Troy Bilt chipper I had before, even though that had almost the identical Briggs and Stratton motor.

The Good:
The chipper works great. The design of the shredder mechanism means there is alot of angular momentum, and the motor keeps it's rpm up better than my old Troy Bilt.

It is easy to feed the shredder hopper, because it is a straight shot down to the shredder knives. My Troy Bilt had a bit of a curve in the chute. That also means that it is VERY IMPORTANT to wear safety goggles. It can sometimes fling debris out of the chute.

It is a heavy unit, and doesn't "walk around" on the concrete when under operation because it runs pretty smoothly.

The lukewarm:
I wanted the unit to be narrow so I could fit it in my garage. It is top heavy, and I think it would be easy to tip over when moving across rough terrain, because it is so narrow. It's a trade off, but it works for me.

The disappointing:
When I shred garden clippings, sometimes they are still a bit green. They clog up in the grate, just like they did with my Troy Bilt. My biggest problem with the Yardbeast is that it is a pain to clean off the grate. The Troy Bilt grate was cast iron with a 5/8 inch rod that you removed to swing it down. It was easy to replace, because the pin was tapered, and it was easy to see where it was positioned. The Yardbeast is lightweight steel with a 1/4 inch retaining rod. It is frustrating trying to line up the rod with the hole by bending and wiggling the flexible grate. To me, it's not a reason that would keep me from buying, but I think their designers could have done better.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. This is much better than the Troy Bilt chipper I had before, even though that had almost the identical Briggs and Stratton motor.

The Good:
The chipper works great. The design of the shredder mechanism means there is alot of angular momentum, and the motor keeps it's rpm up better than my old Troy Bilt.

It is easy to feed the shredder hopper, because it is a straight shot down to the shredder knives. My Troy Bilt had a bit of a curve in the... more

The chipper is very top heavy and moving it over uneven terrain is very difficult especially if you are an old fart like me. The first thing I did was remove the cheap black handles (they actually fell off) that are held in place with a dab a glue. A cross bar connecting the handles would be very handy and it would give you more control while trying to move it.

I tend to use my tractor to carry it to where the work is, it is safer that way. It eats most of what I put into it. It is not fond of small green branches. They tend to gum up the works. Overall, my first impression is - it is a brut, but it also gets the job done.

The chipper is very top heavy and moving it over uneven terrain is very difficult especially if you are an old fart like me. The first thing I did was remove the cheap black handles (they actually fell off) that are held in place with a dab a glue. A cross bar connecting the handles would be very handy and it would give you more control while trying to move it.

I tend to use my tractor to carry it to where the work is, it is safer that way. It eats most of what I put into it. It is not... more

Chips dry material very well. Wet or green material plugs up really easy. All in works very well.

Built really strong. Chipper does well for branches up to about 2.5 in but 3 in branches are very difficult to chip. The reason for this is as soon as the branch is cut at an angle, it is now wider than 3 inches and if rotated, will no longer fit into the 3" throat. Also, when any branch over about an inch i.d. diameter is chipped to about a foot long, it tends to bounce around in the hopper and can jam crossways preventing another branch from being fed into the chipper or even cause the chipper blade to jam. I found the best way to prevent that is to open the hopper flap and actually let the piece get kicked out as it is bouncing around. Shredder works very good. All in all this Yardbeast is really a beast and worth the money.

Built really strong. Chipper does well for branches up to about 2.5 in but 3 in branches are very difficult to chip. The reason for this is as soon as the branch is cut at an angle, it is now wider than 3 inches and if rotated, will no longer fit into the 3" throat. Also, when any branch over about an inch i.d. diameter is chipped to about a foot long, it tends to bounce around in the hopper and can jam crossways preventing another branch from being fed into the chipper or even cause the... more

As advertised, this machine is up to handling quite a bit however the shredder works MUCH better than the chipper in my experience so far. The shredder literally grabs things right out of your hand and seems capable of demolishing anything I can find to feed it. The chipper is a bit more of a challenge, as larger limbs tend to bounce back toward you as the business end of the limb hits the teeth.

I think it's more an issue of getting used to handling the chipper because it seemed to work better as I went. The mulch is perfect in size and consistency - but you have to take care to periodically clean out the mulch chute at the bottom of the machine as it sits on the ground and there is not really any vertical clearance. The only real issue I have is that the machine is VERY top-heavy and therefore a bit difficult to move.

As advertised, this machine is up to handling quite a bit however the shredder works MUCH better than the chipper in my experience so far. The shredder literally grabs things right out of your hand and seems capable of demolishing anything I can find to feed it. The chipper is a bit more of a challenge, as larger limbs tend to bounce back toward you as the business end of the limb hits the teeth.

I think it's more an issue of getting used to handling the chipper because it seemed to work... more

Instructions booklet is nonsensical. The metal is cheap. In fact, the hopper tray broke with the first branch that was put to shred. When called to get replacement part, I was told that they would send me an e mail as to the cost and after three days I am still waiting. Piece of junk.

Generally a good product. Chipper chute needs to be consistently cleaned out to avoid backups. Happy with the product.

jt

It's tough, heavy gauge steel, designed to easily un-clog, (being over zealous, will stop the action). Seriously, relax feed it at 2/3 throttle, steadily, and its a winner.

I purchased the YardBeast 2050 to replace a TroyBilt Chipper/Vacuum that I had for 22 years, and that I was no longer able to get repair parts for. The TroyBilt had a 5hp engine, and a 3” chipper capacity. The TroyBilt served me well, but it was under powered, and one had to continually push and jab larger limbs into the chipper blade all the while making sure one did not stall the engine. Self feeding was not a primary attribute.

Also, brushy limbs had to be cut into small pieces to feed and be pushed into the chipper blade. Research on a new machine led me to the YardBeast 2050 to get the power that I knew a 3” chipper needed, and to get the shredding feature that I did not have before. Both the chipper and the shredder do a remarkable job. It is a real pleasure to be able to take a limb that has many twigs less than 5/8”, full of leaves, and even fruit on them and put them through the shredder with no problem.

The chipper is pretty much self feeding even with big limbs. In fact, it is very aggressive at yanking the limb around as it is being chipped so that one really does not want to be holding onto it especially when one gets close to the feed hopper. This takes a little getting use to, and makes you want to have a good heavy pair of gloves on. The 10hp engine runs the machine with no concern for being under powered. The YardBeast 2050 lives up to everything I envisioned it to be and to do.

I purchased the YardBeast 2050 to replace a TroyBilt Chipper/Vacuum that I had for 22 years, and that I was no longer able to get repair parts for. The TroyBilt had a 5hp engine, and a 3” chipper capacity. The TroyBilt served me well, but it was under powered, and one had to continually push and jab larger limbs into the chipper blade all the while making sure one did not stall the engine. Self feeding was not a primary attribute.

Also, brushy limbs had to be cut into small pieces to... more

I knew nothing about chippers/shredders so started to research online and found Chippers Direct. After thoroughly going through the site I decided to call Bob and ask a few questions. Bob never returned my calls (I guess that's what happens when you have a good website, too busy) so I called Yard Beast myself. Nobody answered the phone.

After extensive research, I decided to give yard beast another chance and called again. They answered in person this time. He apologized for not answering the first time, he said they like to answer the phone in person with each customer. After asking him many questions, I was very impressed. And convinced this was a trust worthy company that built a good product. He said I could order it through Chippers Direct. So I did. Everything went smooth with the order. Free shipping to Washing State was very nice.

I live on a remote Island in Alaska, so it was a big deal to get it here. Barge from Washington to Alaska, truck from barge co to small boat dock. Load in a 16 ft. skiff then motor eight miles to our cabin. The Yard Beast is mostly together, but does need some assembly. They need to do a better job on the instruction manual.

The engine, a Briggs and Stratton runs strong and started on the first pull. The Yard Beast 2050 worked like a beast! As fast as you can push the branches through the chipper it will spit them out, pine needles, small branches and all - amazing.
The engine is loud, does use a fair amount of fuel, but it is a big powerful engine so this is all good. If this engine last - it'll give Honda a run for its money.

The shredder works great and is the main reason I went with the combo chipper/shredder. To chew up dead fireweed stalks and other small branches etc.

The machine is manageable to move around. The wheels/bearing are cheap and will need replacing before long. They need to be sealed with a grease fitting. I live in a rain forest, nongreasable wheels don't work here for long. The main and only real challenge I see with the 2050 beast, is where the chips exit the machine, its at the bottom near the ground and constantly gets clogged up.

If you are going through lots of branches, you constantly have to push the chips out of the way with your foot. Most chippers/only have a topside shoot that throw the chips away. Because this is a chipper/shredder I'm not sure if you can get away from this.
Overall a great machine. Highly recommended!

I knew nothing about chippers/shredders so started to research online and found Chippers Direct. After thoroughly going through the site I decided to call Bob and ask a few questions. Bob never returned my calls (I guess that's what happens when you have a good website, too busy) so I called Yard Beast myself. Nobody answered the phone.

After extensive research, I decided to give yard beast another chance and called again. They answered in person this time. He apologized for not answering... more

The machine is very aptly named, this is a Yard Beast! The unit is very very well built with high quality steel and bolts.

The machine eats and shreds tree limbs. I had cut down a 30 foot tree and the machine shredded all the limbs and made a nice pile of wood chip mulch for the garden.

I did put a limb that was larger than the 3inch limit. It got stuck in the chipper and stalled the machine. I was VERY impressed with the design of the machine. Removing the limb was as easy as removing 2 cotter pins, removing two long pins gives you easy access to remove the cage covering the chipper blades. Removing the stuck was very easy. Total time to remove the limb was around 5 minutes.

The only issue I have is the speed at which you can chip/shred items is faster than the discharge can blow the material out/away from the discharge shoot. I had to use a stick to clean the discharge shoot.

The device is expensive. When it arrived I thought the device was over built. But given the speed at which it shreds/chip I feel now that it is not over built at all. The useful live of this machine is measured in 10s of years.

The machine is very aptly named, this is a Yard Beast! The unit is very very well built with high quality steel and bolts.

The machine eats and shreds tree limbs. I had cut down a 30 foot tree and the machine shredded all the limbs and made a nice pile of wood chip mulch for the garden.

I did put a limb that was larger than the 3inch limit. It got stuck in the chipper and stalled the machine. I was VERY impressed with the design of the machine. Removing the limb was as easy as... more