We own a small home nestled in 10 acres of woods in rural Tennessee. We have a fenced in garden at the front of the property and are clearing land in the back of the property for a new home and garden. We needed a good chipper to process all of our tree limbs and saplings that we cut down when gathering fire wood and clearing land. The wood chips are used in our garden as mulch, as well as in the chicken coop and for building garden paths. I had done some research online as well as through the local big box stores (Lowes and Home Depot) looking for the best deals and reading online reviews. Our budget was tight, we needed to stay under $800, but I wanted to be able to chip as large a diameter branch as possible. A 3″ diameter branch/limb was the largest capacity I could find within our price range.
I decided to purchase a Stanley CH7 Chipper/Shredder from Lowes.com on 2-19-2015 for $630 plus tax. It was delivered to our Lowes Home Improvement Store in Savannah, TN for free pickup. At the time of my purchase I didn’t realize that the chipper wasn’t made by Stanley, but was made by GXi Outdoor Power LLC (www.gxioutdoorpower.com) through a licensing agreement. GXi is based in North Carolina and makes power equipment under other brands, such as The Beast, DEK, and Brush Master. The Stanley CH7 that I am reviewing is currently unavailable through Lowes, but a similar model is being sold through Home Depot as the CH8 Brush Master. It looks identical to the CH7 (270cc engine), but is painted gray instead of Stanley Yellow. Hopefully they’ve addressed some of the shortcomings of the CH7 with their new model. I have yet to see the CH8 Brush Master in person, hence the review so that you can make an informed decision.
When I went to pick up our chipper from the local Lowes store it was still boxed up just like it came from the factory. This was fine with me as I preferred to put it together myself to make sure all the nuts and bolts were assembled as they should be and to familiarize myself with the machine. However, when looking at the box it appeared that the freight company or the Lowes employees were less than gentle in their handling. The Chipper was strapped to a metal frame inside of a cardboard box. This protected the machine somewhat, but not nearly as much as strapping the entire box to a wooden pallet. I have seen Lowes employees trying to roll a box like this across the floor, which wouldn’t happen if it was strapped to a pallet at GXi. I went ahead and accepted the product and took it home. Upon uncrating I noticed some damage on one of the wheels and the leaf chute. I called GXi about the damage and was told to send pictures of the damaged parts to their customer service (see below). They promptly sent me new parts at no cost to me. I installed the new parts and away we went….let the chipping begin!
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Wheel damaged during shipping or at Lowes. (click any picture to see a larger view)
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Leaf chute damaged during shipping or at Lowes.
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We initially used the chipper and let the chipped wood blow onto the ground. That didn’t work so well for us because the chips blown all over a 20’ diameter circle. Since we wanted to catch and use the chips somewhere else we had to come up with some way to catch the chips for further use. I’ve seen flexible attachments that fit over a garbage can, but they were too expensive and had poor reviews. I came up with my own version using a 30 gallon metal trash can, 1/2” OSB (cheap plywood) and some 1/4” hardware cloth. It works excellent! You can see better pictures and descriptions about the trash can attachment, here. A word of caution though, do not put a plastic trash can next to the output chute because the muffler’s exhaust will melt your trash can (see pict below).
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Stanley CH7 Chipper with homemade chute for 30 gallon trash can
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Use a metal trash can or barrel because the muffler exhaust will melt a plastic garbage can for catching chips.
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After about 14 months of use I noticed the muffler was shaking while the engine was running. The base of the muffler was cracking where it bolts to the exhaust pipe. I called GXi and ordered another muffler at my expense ($68 including shipping) since it was 2 months past the one year warranty. I installed the new muffler and after about two weeks of use I noticed it too was vibrating while the engine was running. Inspecting the new muffler revealed a crack starting to form in the same place as the previous muffler. Another call to GXi and they agreed to send me another muffler at no charge. They suggested I double check all of the bolts and make sure they are tight, which I’ve done without finding any loose bolts. Hopefully this new muffler will hold up better than the last two, but I don’t see why it would.
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Original muffler failure after 14 months of use.
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The Replacement muffler beginning to crack after two weeks of use.
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Taking apart the chipper looking for any loose nuts/bolts, or missing/damaged parts that could cause excessive vibration and cracking on two mufflers. No loose or suspect parts were found.
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The muffler problem aside, there are other problems with the chipper that I’ve noticed, which are described in the pictures below.
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A bad weld on the exhaust pipe (not the muffler) was causing an exhaust leak, but it shouldn’t have contributed to the muffler failing.
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There was a gap between the frame and the black plastic case that makes up the leaf chute. It appears to be a design flaw and my simple solution was to place a piece of cardboard in the gap to keep chips from flying out.
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There is supposed to be a restrictor plate with rubber flaps on the infeed that keeps debris from blowing back. I’ve taken mine off because the rivets were failing and popping off. The chipper is easier to use without it, but eye protection is mandatory and a 3” maximum diameter on the infeed still applies.
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Right next to the infeed is the On/Off switch. There are exposed wires that can be easily snagged and damaged by a miss fed branch. This is another bad design…the wires should be better protected or the entire switch moved away from the infeed chute.
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There is a spark plug tool that comes with this chipper…SAVE THAT TOOL. You can’t fit a standard socket on the spark plug to change it because the valve cover is too close.
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The weld is weak on the infeed chute. It is beginning to crack as noted by the red circles in the picture. I may need to take this to a muffler shop and get it welded when it gets worse. I’ve heard this complaint on other reviews of this chipper.
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The valve cover just barely clears the wheel by about 1/8”. Any mud or debris on the tire will hit the valve cover. Another example of poor design. This is the wheel that was damaged in shipment…it is possible that this wheel is riding higher if the wheel’s axle or frame was imperceptibly bent from the shipping damage.
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I have sharpened our chipper blades several times and it is very easy to tell when to sharpen the blades. If the blades are really sharp you will not have to push the limbs in, they will auto feed. Also, the chips will be very uniform in size. As the blades get dull you’ll find that you’re really pushing the limbs into the machine and the engine will drop in RPM from the extra work caused by dull blades. Also, if the blades are dull the smaller limbs and twigs will pass through without getting chipped as shown in the picture below.
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Keep the blades sharp and your chips will be nice and uniform
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We use our chipper quite a lot. This is the only chipper I’ve ever used, so I don’t really have anything to compare it to. However, I feel like I’ve learned quite a few things to look for in other chippers. I hope ours gives us many more years of service.
Customer Service at GXi has been very good overall. They have been helpful, friendly and professional. However, the replacement parts that I’ve received have had no install instructions, no torque specifications for nuts/bolts and no warranty information is included.
Pros –
- Low price
- Local company and customer support staff
- Low oil sensor with automatic engine shutoff
- Leaf chute for creating your own leaf mulch.
- On/Off fuel switch for long term storage of engine without leaving stale gas in the carburetor.
- Large 3″ diameter limb capacity
- Larger engine than other 3″ capacity chippers
Cons –
- Not delivered on its own pallet, shipping damage occurred.
- Cracks developed on two separate mufflers, I’m on my 3rd muffler after a 1 1/2 years.
- Spark plug difficult to change without included tool.
- Poor build quality (bad weld on exhaust pipe caused leak, weak weld on infeed limb chute)
- Poor design (gap in leaf chute, low wheel clearance on OHV cover, exposed wires to On/Off Switch)
- Muffler exhaust blows onto garbage can and will melt a plastic garbage can for chipper collection.
- Chipper chute blows chips all over, no easy way to collect output without rigging something up yourself or buying overpriced accessories that should be included in my opinion.
- Poor documentation – very sparse maintenance information (e.g. Part numbers for replacement consumables aren’t listed, such as air filter, compatible spark plugs and blades)
- Replacement parts sent with no instructions, no torque specifications for bolts, no warranty information…just a packing slip.