GreatCircleUSA Wood Chipper Shredder Mulcher Gas Powered 3 in 1

This is a well built, solid machine with a strong engine, good design for chipping and mulching, and it does handle up to 3" as advertised. That said, it took me several days to get the hang of it-- Engine: 1. Others say there is no easy way to turn the engine off, but my machine came with a switch that does kill the engine. 2. The engine is moderately loud so if you have good hearing, wear ear plugs. If you wear hearing aids (like me), take them out. The engine is considerably LOUDER if you have the top hopper open. I recommend you close it except when you need to use the hopper or you want to "blow out" the bag. More on that later. 3. Starts easily, but if the engine is cold (this is the first time you are running it today) set choke ON and speed LOW and pull the cord. If engine is warm already, you can skip the choke. After a couple seconds, set choke OFF and increase speed to desired level. DO NOT LEAVE THE SPEED AT LOW. The engine is not happy at low speed. That said, maximum speed is not required. I prefer a little lower speed so there is a little less vibration when pushing branches into the chute. Bag: 1. Others say the bag is too small and difficult to attach and I agree. The bag fits around a rectangular port and they provide two knob-screws to secure it, but you must be sure the bottom of the bag opening is going over the metal protrusion and also you must cinch the drawstring tight and use a decent clip to hold it. I used these clips: "DYZD Plastic Cord Locks End Spring Stop Toggle Stoppers Multi-Colour" which cost $6 for a set of 10. You only need one, so you have 9 more for other uses. 2. If you are using the bag and the some stuff gets stuck at the front of the bag, you'll notice a change in sound as the machine bogs down and you'll see chips/mulch going sideways instead of in the bag. Usually when this happens, you can simply open the top hopper slider for a couple seconds. When you open the hopper, the machine becomes a strong blower and this can often clear any blockage going into the bag. If that doesn't work, lift the bag off the ground and shake a little. Worst case, remove the bag and clear the blockage directly. 3. After a couple days of use, I got tired of constantly starting/stopping the chipper to empty the bag, so I built a box! See picture. Now I run for over an hour before I have to stop and empty the box with a shovel :) It never gets clogged and the machine never bogs down. Chipper Chute: 1. True to advertising, it will handle wood up to 3" in diameter as long as its straight enough to fit down the intake tube, but I find it more efficient to cut/saw anything over 2" into 18" lengths and stack it, then run an ad in craigslist for "free wood" when the stack gets big. People come immediately. 2. Keep in mind you will need to pre-process most limbs and branches before you feed them into the machine. Any branches too large to bend parallel with the limb will need to be cut off first. Crooked limbs will need to be cut into sections small enough to feed into the intake tube. I got some "Fiskars 32-Inch PowerGear Bypass Lopper" for $5. They have a decent lever design so it's easy to cut anything up to 2". Pretty amazing. Of course, if the side-branches are very small, you can use normal clippers or just tear them off with your hands. 3. NOTE: The chipper chute leads to sharp metal blades that look like a beard razer blade. They can get dull and need to be replaced. I've used the machine around 10 hours / 4 gallons of gas and the blades are still OK, but I see GreatCircleUSA sells the replacements for $25 on amazon. Top hopper: 1. The top hopper is for leaves and small twigs. However, if you put a large amount all at once, they might not fall in, so you'll need to shove them down with a medium-size stick/branch. I typically just nudge once side down to get them started. The machine likes to grab them all at once and pull them in, so I don't recommend putting things like ivy into the hopper unless you have already cut it into short lengths. 2. NOTE: The top hopper leads to large free-spinning metal whackers with a similar design as a garbage disposal. These are not sharp and probably never need to be replaced, but if you accidentally put a rock in here, those whackers will take a serious beating before the rock finally falls into the bottom well or gets kicked out. If you hear a rock banging around in there, stop the machine, remove the 6 bolts to remove the hopper assembly, and extract the rock with some grabbers. Also, if you put branches in here or dense ivy or other things that can get tangled up in there, it can wedge the machine and stop it. Again, you'll have to remove the 6 bolts to remove the hopper assembly and clear it. FINAL NOTES: 1. Use a chair! Otherwise, you are constantly stooping over to push things into the chute, and your back will hurt. I like to pile things up and then feed the machine from my chair. See picture. 2. Wear gloves! The machine grabs most branches and pulls them in, but if the branch has leaves or bends you will have to shove it, and it will be vibrating like crazy. 3. It paid for itself quickly, as it costs $400 to rent a chipper for a week and I have used it for 6 weeks. The build quality is solid and it will last for many years.