Agri Fab Hardtop Chip and Vac Model 45-0578 I did an initial review of this unit when I purchased it in June, 2023. I really didn’t use it until the fall of 2023 to pick up leaves. My initial purchase was driven by the fact that the bin had a large capacity and that it had a chipper attached. Now that I’ve used the unit I’d like to critique it. While I still rate it pretty highly, I have to say that the engineering on it should be much better. 1) The unit is advertised that it easily lifts onto the tractor for hook up. WRONG- I bought this because I’m not getting younger and it’s tougher to do some things. At 74 I’m still able to lift the unit to hook up, but if you have to move the unit any distance to hook up, it’s difficult due to the weight on the tongue. There needs to be a trailer swing jack on the tongue. This unit sits low so current market ready swing jacks have to be modified. 2) the weight of the chipper sits offset on the tongue with the majority on the right side, and it sits about 2 feet off of the ground at its highest point. My property is on a slight slope of about 2-3 degrees, but has trees and roots everywhere. The center of gravity is so high and off to one side that it causes the unit to be “tippy,” especially when you start to add the weight of the leaves. Mine rolled on me a couple of times because it was so full and heavy with leaves and I didn’t realize how much was in the bin because there is no warning signal or sounding device to tell you that you’re near capacity. When the unit rolled, the tongue twisted. The design is only 3/16” x 3” channel and the trailer hook up is only a “Through Pin” through two prong forks and the trailer plate. To address I straightened out the tongue and welded ribs in the channel to give it better support, then welded an inverse “V” leg to the front of the tongue to lift it off of the ground so some of the weight is already “up” when I lift it into a hook up position. Finally I welded a trailer ball receiver to the tongue which gave me an extra foot of length to the tongue and allows a little tighter turning capacity. 3) To help with the stability, the center of gravity should be lowered. I’d recommend that the wheels be placed on the outside of the cart instead of under the cart frame, that way the wheel base would be wider and more stable, less likely to roll. Four tires versus two would also be an improvement. 4) Lastly, the motor should have an oil dipstick, instead they have the standard Briggs oil plug in the oil fill. This normally works well, but with the chipper chute there isn’t a lot of room to remove check and fill the oil and when you do the oil leaks everywhere. As previously stated I still rate the unit highly and am relatively happy with it but suggest they improve it further.5

Overpriced crap. You have to modify your tractor just to get it installed. And it is constantly getting clogged. You can't use the tractor (by it's self) unless you unbolt the entire thing and that is a huge job. Had to tape it to the tractor to seal all the gaps that leave you in a cloud of choking dust. Dump action is useless...you have to craw inside to clean it out. And the "chipper" is good for nothing but pencil size pieces of branch's. Also have to make sure you trim the branch down to fit in the tiny little feed hole.