Wood Chipper

A chipper/mulcher/shredder is not an item suited to every home. People shopping for this item are those with large properties where small trees, garden scraps, leaves, winter deadfall and other yard waste become an issue. By having a chipper the homeowner can make his or her own mulch to feed the land, which also results in a less unruly landscape.

If you’re a new homeowner – walk your land and get a feel for how big it is, how many trees might or bushes need to come down, how high the weeds are, etc. If you’re going to need a lot of power, you’re going to want to shop for belt driven chippers instead of direct drive as they’ll hold up longer under heavy use. Belt driven chippers also give you greater mulching/shredding force.

Wood chippers are also wonderful to make mulch for the garden

Be forewarned, chippers don’t come cheaply. You’re looking at an investment of about 1,000 for a heavy duty machine and about half that for light duty. If you only need a system twice a year, it might be wiser to rent it locally instead. However, for those who have an on-going need the resulting mulch a chipper makes is great for deterring weeds, holding in soil moisture where its needed, and becoming a fertilizer as it biodegrades. Chippers typically reduce anything put therein to small wood chips. If you want finer mulch, then you’re shopping for a shredder or a chipper with shredding capacity, which is not uncommon. In fact, a chipper with the added ability to shred increases its usefulness so that you get more bang for your buck.

A light duty machine usually has between 5-9 HP where the heavy duty models go up to 12 HP. The lower the horsepower, the more time it’s going to take you to finish this chore (time is money – so think carefully about how much power you need). Additionally, recognize if you’re chipping a lot of hard wood, you will want greater horsepower as smaller machines just won’t be able to do the task.

Finally, look for a chipper with good safety features, like automatic shut off, an emergency stop control (sometimes called “last chance” stop), engine disable button, and a way to lock the machine if you need to clean out something stuck in the blades. People have gotten badly hurt from not taking precautions, and there is no such thing as a small accident with a chipper. Please take precautions and learn about your machine fully before using it.

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