GreatCircleUSA Mini Wood Chipper Shredder Mulcher Ultra Duty 7 HP

I'm currently not around the chipper, but I am hoping to paint a picture with words . . . so here it goes . . . First, to set context: My wife and I purchased several acres in our quest to "get away from an HOA". The property was rather over-grown, and we saw potential! We felt that the purchase of a chipper would "go a long way" towards being more self-sustainable (making our own mulch for our flower beds, along with bedding for our ducks). Most of the wood that we wanted to chip were already pieces that were of the size that this machine would handle (3" or less), were already on the ground (so dry / seasoned / even approaching being "rotten"). I found this chipper, and most of the reviews were good and subsequently I pulled the trigger on the purchase. Assembly (strike 1): The chipper came in several parts for shipping purposes. As a someone who is relatively good with my "hands", and as someone who is not afraid to break out the tools and fix things / assemble items, I was very well equipped to put this chipper together . . . but then came the issues. The largest issue with assembly was that either nuts and bolts, and even cotter pins were missing. I had to make a trip to the hardware store to attempt to find like parts in order to complete assembly. Usage (strike 2): Once the assembly challenges were overcome, I added oil and gas, pulled the cord and the thing started right up. I have probably used it on about 5 or 6 (maybe 10?) separate occasions. All things considered, the engine will fire right up (assuming that the cutting head isn't jammed with a stick, but more on that here in a few). One would expect, that the angle of the hopper for feeding sticks would allow for you to put a stick in it and watch the machine chew it up and spit out the shavings . . . well . . . yeah, that doesn't happen. My property is mostly Ash and Walnut trees. I have to literally PUSH the sticks against the blades in order to get the chipper to . . . uhh . . . chip the wood. If I push too hard, the blades bog down and the motor dies (it's only 7 HP). If I don't push hard enough, then the sticks will just "bounce" off the cutter head and will take a non-insignificant amount of time to "chip". I can't imagine that these (very substantial looking) blades have gone dull already, as I have probably only produced around 1 cubic yard of chips. Quality (strike 3): This is probably my biggest "beef" with this machine. And I am not going to cover the "lack of chipping" here as a know that I can pull the blades, and sharpen them myself, although this will require me disassembling most of the machine to get to the blades. Having only used this machine about a maximum of 10 times, I can't believe it is falling apart on me like it is (I don't abuse it). So far, the parts that have gone "missing" (as in lost) are: the bolt that holds on the output nozzle (between the nozzle and the engine) is gone . . . vibrated loose is my guess, the screws holding on the muffler have vibrated away, along with the nuts that hold on the gas tank. This unit has the tendency to get jammed. In fact, while using it this past weekend, I had to disassemble it four times in order to unclog it. It appears to be a design flaw (or blade issue) that allows for chunks of wood to make their way Output Nozzle: yes I know this is a user installed part, and yes, I probably should have used thread lock. But at the time of assembly, usage of thread lock was not required, nor was thread lock provided. In addition . . . almost EVERY weld on the output nozzle has broken. My nozzle (the entire assembly, is now wrapped in duct tape to hold it together and provide the route for the chips to take. The output nozzle has a "flap" at the end of it, which is designed to assist in "directing" the chips (far / near). The screw that holds this adjustable flap in place likes to vibrate loose and all of a sudden drop down, thus not directing the chips where I have been wanting them to go. Over all: I would NOT recommend this product for purchase based upon my experiences with it. The missing / wrong sized parts, the loss of parts during operation, and potentially the chipping blades being made from a metal soft enough to be "ruined" by wood that they "don't work" without me having to force the wood into the machine (which is highly unsafe in and of itself). There are so many issues that I have with this machine, that I can't even be bothered to contact the company to attempt to remediate this. At the end of the day, they would have to essentially replace the entire machine due to how it is assembled, as I have issues on everything from items on the motor (like the muffler / gas tank) to the ability of the machine to actually chip wood.