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Bar Nuthin

Another MacKissic Mighty Mac thread

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D_Mac

Had one a couple years ago. I gave it to a friend of mine and he built a little trailer for it so he could tow it around with his tractor. He had it a few years and gave it back to me. He loved using it so much he bought a huge chipper that he hooks up to his Kubota. I have since sold it. 

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ebinmaine

I ordered a new screen with  3/4" holes in it.  

The original setup is 1" holes. I decided to go a bit smaller for a slightly finer output because we use our shredded materials in pathways for the most part. 

At some point we may begin using shredded leaves as garden materials too. 

 

A note about the size of the output materials. 

@Handy Don and I were conversing several months ago. He told me something I hadn't yet considered 🤔  and  I'm glad he brought it up then.  

The output size holes being smaller would cause an inversely proportional increase in the time of processing. 

It takes longer for materials to GET smaller so it takes longer for the whole process to happen.  

 

Well this week I confirmed that with Steve at Mackissic by his own tested statistics. 

They'd done some timed testing for a large corporation. 

 

These are approximate: 

For 35 lbs of a certain undisclosed material in a commercial machine  to go through 1" holes took 60 seconds. 

That same machine with the same materials and same 35 lbs with 1/2" holes took around 112 seconds. 

8 seconds shy of twice the time. 

 

Interesting to me considering the holes are 1/4 the size.  

 

Steve figured that me using the 3/4" holes would technically be slower but we don't think I'll even notice the difference because while processing, one has to pick up the next handful of materials for deposit. 

During that time the output of 3/4" holes shouldn't slow down enough for me to notice.  

 

 

 

 

 

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Bar Nuthin
12 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

I ordered a new screen with  3/4" holes in it.  

 

I'm wanting to go the other way. I'd like to pick up a screen with the large oval holes, or the one with just bars.

One of the main things I wanted the shredder for was corn stalks and other garden waste at the end of season.

they mention running without a screen, but I'm skeptical of how effective that would be.

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ebinmaine
1 hour ago, Bar Nuthin said:

 

I'm wanting to go the other way. I'd like to pick up a screen with the large oval holes, or the one with just bars.

One of the main things I wanted the shredder for was corn stalks and other garden waste at the end of season.

they mention running without a screen, but I'm skeptical of how effective that would be.

 

 

I've done it. It certainly works. 

As one could imagine there are some decent sized hunk chunks that come through.  

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OoPEZoO

When I was using my smaller screen, I most definitely had to adjust my feed rate.....especially for putting things in the top hopper.  Old dry branches were never much trouble, but anything green or damp would quickly cause clogging issues if you got too aggressive.  I mentioned earlier that I deal with bamboo.  Its technically not on my property, but that's because I am so aggressive about KEEPING on my neighbors property.  The small screen was a no-go with the bamboo unless it was dry and brittle.  Any hint of life in it would clog the small screen almost immediately.  The big oval one I use now allows me to move an acceptable pace, no matter what I shove in there.  Sometimes I will pick up shovel loads of already chipped stuff and drop it back in the hopper if I feel its too chunky, but most of the time its fine.

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Bar Nuthin

UPDATE: I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd share it here is well for the benefit of anyone chasing down Mighty Mac topics.

 

Quote

Well, the design I had in my head worked. This is just a quick mockup to confirm the geometry. I'll fab up better parts now that I know it works "GREAT" I must say!

I think I'm going to try a boat trailer roller as the bottom support - In this video I'm just using an opened-up eye bolt.

 

 

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Bar Nuthin

It just keeps getting better. The cool part is most of the add-ons or upgrades have been from scrap laying around in my garage! :D

 

 

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Treepep
On 4/15/2025 at 5:54 PM, D_Mac said:

Had one a couple years ago. I gave it to a friend of mine and he built a little trailer for it so he could tow it around with his tractor. He had it a few years and gave it back to me. He loved using it so much he bought a huge chipper that he hooks up to his Kubota. I have since sold it. 

20220403_170931.jpg

20220403_170958.jpg

20220403_171019.jpg

20220403_170949.jpg

 

 

I like the custom pusher!:)

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Marv
On 4/11/2025 at 12:08 PM, OoPEZoO said:

Nice.....I bought my MacKissic at the big show a few years ago and love having it available.  Mine is mounted on the front half of an old plow frame so it attaches to the center and front attachamatic mounts.  It was originally on a full plow frame, but it was a PITA to muscle around, so I hacked off the back end and welded in the cross bar for the mid mount.  The previous owner also added a set of swing down legs on the front so when its not on the tractor, I can walk it around like a wheel barrow.  Then I can flip it up on its end in the corner of the shop when its not needed.  It works really well.  The only downside being that I have to remove the hood any time I want to use it because the belt comes in contact with the edge of the hood.  I could probably fix that by remounting the unit on the plow frame slightly offset, but its not that big of a deal and works great as it is.  I've probably run 8-10 tanks of gas through the horse with this thing going full tilt.  

 

Mine came with the tiny 1/2" screen installed.  It worked ok for VERY dry material, but clogged often.  I watched Ebay for a few months and managed to score some NOS screens and a spare chipping blade for a decent price.  I typically use the 1.5"x3" oval screen.  I chip/shred a lot of stringy wet stuff, plus bamboo, and it seems to handle that the best.  

 

EDIT: Oh.....and my flapper door is pinned out at the end of the unit.  I pin it at the top and leave the bottom loose to swing out.  If it was farther back in the machine, I would be concerned with constant clogging.  This thing will chip a LOT of stuff, very quickly once you get a routine down

 

IMG_2883.jpeg.d52876fc48d0f3d26d08d01f99f73a4b.jpeg

 

Nice setup. Question about the muffler. What muffler did you use? I replaced an engine. Looks like I need something like your set up.

Marv

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ebinmaine
On 8/3/2025 at 11:29 AM, Marv said:

 

Nice setup. Question about the muffler. What muffler did you use? I replaced an engine. Looks like I need something like your set up.

Marv

 

Marv that's a Cub style muffler. Readily available on the interwebs. 

 

I've used those here too.  Good sound. Relatively quiet. Deep tone.  

I switched to the smaller Gravely style which also has good tone and is a smaller more easily adapted piece.  

 

 

 

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Marv
6 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Marv that's a Cub style muffler. Readily available on the interwebs. 

 

I've used those here too.  Good sound. Relatively quiet. Deep tone.  

I switched to the smaller Gravely style which also has good tone and is a smaller more easily adapted piece.  

 

 

 

Thanks EB. 

Here is what I ran into. The exhaust elbow is one piece and the OD is a bit larger than the standard nipple, The  nipple part is angled down too. .Doesn't make for a nice setup. Still working on it.

exhaust elbow too.jpg

exhaust elbow.jpg

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ebinmaine
8 hours ago, Marv said:

Thanks EB. 

Here is what I ran into. The exhaust elbow is one piece and the OD is a bit larger than the standard nipple, The  nipple part is angled down too. .Doesn't make for a nice setup. Still working on it.

 

 

 

It can be a real challenge to get those elbows out but that's what I'd do. 

 

The replacement is hardware store black iron pipe.  

 

 

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OoPEZoO

Yup....What EB said.  The muffler is a "cheap" muffler off of Amazon that said it fit Cub Cadet and Kohler singles.  The exhaust piping is hardware store black pipe.  If memory serves.....a threaded nipple, 45 elbow, and short cut off section of pipe.  I think it looks a little dopey, but it sounds fine and is out of the way.  It will never be show queen and it serves its purpose, so its a winner in my book

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Bar Nuthin

Things are starting to come together. Hydraulic lift is working good, as is the MacKissic!

 

The branches off of these Locust Trees are a pain in the ass! They're like giant wooden spider webs! :teasing-blah:

 

 

Edited by Bar Nuthin
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