# Considering buying a wood chipper...any advice?



## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Hubby has his eye on a wood chipper at Home Depot. We haven't gone to look at it yet so I don't know any specifics. We have multiple reasons for wanting a wood chipper:

1. Could be used for bedding in the horse stalls;
2. Make our own mulch;
3. Could be used around the barn, pasture gates, etc. when it gets muddy (which is pretty much all winter and spring);
4. Rather reuse fallen limbs, etc. than burn them up in a brush pile;
5. Can make my own fire starter nuggets;
6. All of the above may turn into money making prospects.

Are these viable reasons? Is a wood chipper a good investment? Currently we have about 15 acres in trees so have a lot of limbs, etc. to clean up. We're also cleaning out some areas around the house and pastures that have been allowed to become overgrown. And, we just planted 34 acres in hardwoods. Of course, using that is a long way into the future!


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## RedneckPete (Aug 23, 2004)

Here in Ontario, we can get wood chips for free. Call any tree company and they will be happy to drop off as many loads as you will take.

Save your money, burn the brush and let the tree guys supply you with wood chips. The homeowner wood chippers are of limited use anyways.

Pete


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

................Old Pete is right about the "Girly Chippers" as they aren't good for anything except small limbs at most . Look at the chippers made by...VERMEER... if you want to see a REAL chipper but you'll spend some of those 401k bucks to buy one unless you can find a used one at an auction somewhere . fordy..


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

What tree guys? We live out in the boonies of Mississippi. Aren't any tree guys working anywhere near us!

Hubby was concerned about the ability of these woodchippers to process anything larger than small limbs. Guess we'll have to go take a look (have to go into town anyway for a doctor's appointment) but we probably won't be bringing one home.

I need to ask my dad if he has one. He's got everything else laying around his place.


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

I second the opinion on the toy chippers. If you have a tractor, consider a pto driven model with hydraulic feed. Those will chomp stuff faster than you can feed it.

Check out www.tractorbynet.com for lots of threads on chippers. Use the search feature on the site and you'll find plenty of first person info.


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

With as much woodland as you have, I'd look around for a good used commerical chipper. The ones you see in Home Depot are built more for the suburban homeowner. 

Look at the ones that Home Depot rents (the tow behind kind). Better yet, start out renting one for a half day or a day. Have all the stuff you want to chip ready in one (or a few) spot(s) so you can just keep feeding it through. 

I use the smaller stuff (limbs down to large twigs) for campfires. Lots of small stuff (not tinder) burns down fast and gives you a nice bed of coals for cooking. During the summer we cook out most days. At the farm I just haul a wagon behind the tractor to gather stuff up. This is especially true when I am cleaning up the trails through our woods. I have a couple of down trees that I'll need to take a chain saw to. 

Mike


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

I agree with Mike on the commercial chipper. You're way ahead of the game that way than going with one of the cheapo's. We bought a used 625 Vermeer from a local rental center with about 600 hours on it for $4000. They're over 12,000 new. It'll chip anything up to a six inch thick limb. I don't know how we ever got by without it.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

We do have a tractor. Renting isn't really a good option for us though as it's a 50 mile round trip to rent something, although we should probably consider doing that once or twice a year. 

Any limbs over 4" usually gets chopped up for firewood.

Thanks...lots of food for thought.


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## duke3522 (Nov 16, 2004)

I don't know about the ones they make today. But my 1994 Troy-Bilt chipper will take anything up to 4". I have sent tons of stuff through it and it's still running strong.


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## bearkiller (Apr 21, 2003)

Hi all,

I have a 10HP chipper/shredder and have used it a fair bit. The conclusion I came to was whatever you want to reduce HAS to be dry. If it is wet or damp it just clogs up. I found this true for limbs as well as compost makings. Yes, the company propaganda says it will chip up to 3 1/2 inch limbs, but I wasn't favorably impressed.

Worked great on reducing bales of straw to fine pieces, but as mentioned gotta be DRY!

bearkiller


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## caballoviejo (Sep 6, 2004)

After much research, I bought a BearCat chipper/shredder for a short-term consulting project where I absolutely had to have a machine that was heavy built, would always start, would'nt break down. I had no problem with green wood (actually perfer it) whether chipping or shredding. Loadin piles leaves, however, is pretty tedious for the large volumes you need to get down the hopper. Its easier to compost them whole. I had a Troy-built a work which was O.K. but light for extended use. 

These are the features I found valuable:

1. Hondo motor, especially if you don't get electric start. At least 10 horses.

2. Heavy (literally) and thick rotor (flywheel).

3. Continuous welds - no tack welding

4. Large hopper for shredding and large orifice at the small entry end to the grinding chamber. 

5. At least two cutting blades

6. Blades easy to remove

7. Reversalbe blades

I live about 50 minutes from you if you want to try one out on my place pm me.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Thanks for the offer caballoviejo and for the tips! We don't plan to ever shred leaves...neither one of us are big believers in raking leaves! I've always believed that's what the wind is for...to blow them all away. We need something for branches that are blown down, brambles from clearing out areas, etc. 

Talked to hubby when he got home from work and he agreed that we should ask my dad if he has one first.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Raven, if ya got power lines, ya got tree guys. Call your electric supplier and ask them who clears the right-of-ways.


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## Hoop (Jan 1, 2003)

My advice on wood chippers is this:
Buy a commercial one or don't bother.

Someone gave me a smaller wood chipper about 10 years ago. It was absolutely, positively useless. How they can sell these things with an "expectation of performing tasks" is a mystery.

The small wood chippers are downright junk that do nothing but make noise and waste gasoline.


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## Ed K (Oct 24, 2003)

I've posted the same thing on chipper/shredder questions.

I have an older sturdily built Kemp 5 hp model with a briggs engine. It chipps up to a 3" limb. Smaller sticks go into the shredder end. If you're chipping a pile of broomhandles it goes pretty fast but if you're doing branches with twigs and side shoots they don't feed quickly into the chipper.

The results are fine but it's not speedy or effortless.

I lent mine to my wife's boss. He had been hot to buy one but after using mine for a couple weekends he didn't get one. 

I thought his comment describes it well "It's like sharpening pencils all day. 

I'd take the offer to borrow one and work with it before buying. I doubt a Home Depot model would perform better than mine.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

The little 8-10HP chippers are ok, but I dont think they are worth the asking price. You can buy a LOT of wood chips and savings for what one cost. If you can find one off season onsale then great. 



Ravenlost said:


> Hubby has his eye on a wood chipper at Home Depot. We haven't gone to look at it yet so I don't know any specifics. We have multiple reasons for wanting a wood chipper:


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## Bishaj (Oct 8, 2004)

Wood chippers always make me think of the movie Fargo. I sure wish I could burn away that image.


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## MaKettle (Oct 2, 2003)

Bought a chipper one time ago thinking it would be easier to run the trimmings from the raspberries though it, rather than piling them into the pick up and hauling them to the gulley. To work, all of the side branches would have had to be trimmed off. Ditto any branches. And few branches are straight like a broom stick. It did eat corn stalks. What an absolute waste of $$.


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## treewizard (May 10, 2002)

I've been in the tree business for many years. If you need a wood chipper remember the non-professional models won't work on any branches over about 3 to 4 inches. They also won't chip branches that are crooked. If you watch the adds they always show long stright limbs being chipped. If you have a tractor you may want to look at some larger units that are driven by the pto.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Well, we looked at the wood chipper Home Depot had and we did NOT bring it home...piece of flimsy junk.


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## Tango (Aug 19, 2002)

We looked for a long time before deciding on the Craftsman 8.5 HP model. For the price and hp it was the best buy. It is also all metal. My experienced opinon is it sucks. It sucks even for small straight branches. Someone on this board a while back mentioned it is like sharpening pencils all day long. Yeap. It also was so dusty it gave me an asthma attack. Used it once and it has been in my shed for 2 years since. trying to sell it now. Only thing it is good for is a very light load of thin straight branches once in a while, aka a suburban yard.


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## Armstrong69 (Aug 31, 2020)

I've a 10HP chipper/shredder and have used it a fair bit. The Conclusion I came to was anything you would like to reduce needs to be sterile. If It's moist or moist it only clogs up. I Discovered this true for all limbs Too Yes, the firm propaganda claims it will chip up to 3 1/2 inch limbs, but I was not favorably impressed.

Worked great on diminishing bales of straw into nice bits, but as mentioned obtained ta be DRY!


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Zombie thread but I'll post anyway.
If you have any amount of timber over what a suburban lot may have, get as big as you can afford.
The Box store chippers are not made for anything but Ken & Barbie for a few hours in the fall.
I have a large portable unit that is great for leaves, straw, etc but my next chipper will be PTO driven.
If a PTO chipper cannot handle it, then that limb belongs in a fireplace.


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## Farmerjack41 (Jun 6, 2017)

Have older MTD, bought in the mid 80's. No idea how many hours it has on it. Used most of the time for chopping up leaves, garden debris, etc. Any woody material larger than an inch or so, is used in the wood insert. The chipper portion is used mainly for chopping up corn stocks. Added a hitch to it so can be pulled around with the garden tractor. Do not use the bag that came with very often. There are some makes that do not blow the debris as far as this one. That might be handy if trying to fill a compost bin. Would like to have a PTO model, but most are chippers only, and I use the shredder part most of the time. As I recall this is an eight horse model, plenty of power for what I do.


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## random (Jul 23, 2020)

Several of the old comments reference these as "toy" chippers. How would you determine if a chipper is at a level beyond toy?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Rent one first.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

I am the 3d owner of this old troy built super tomahawk chipper shredder. It came with a 5 HPengine but could be had with a 8 HP engine.
I ran it for many years before decideding to repower it with a HF 221 cc 6.5 HP engine.

I love it and am very happy I bought it.









Kare doesn't like thr size of the chips around her plants but sure saves on the mulch needed to do the paths thru out the gardens and here and there during mud season to cut down on the amount of mud you would other wise have to wade thru.










I load it in a trailer and go out to trim thre brush aways from my trails. go to where I am working in the woods and clean up the limbs and such.





Al


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## WinonaRail (May 20, 2020)

@random asked about toy chippers. I believe they are referring to the types that claim to chip up to 3" limbs and typically available at the big box stores. I bought one at Harbor Freight. It was fairly easy to assemble, runs well and does what is advertised. It won't pulverize a whole tree but I'm glad I made the purchase. I use it probably once or twice a month with 5 acres. 

As a side note, just calling a tree service will not always produce results. I've gotten 2 loads so far in a year. I've reached out to 5 local tree companies. If you aren't in a hurry, you may get something but there's no guarantee.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

These smaller/home owner chipper/shredder are ok for a Home owner---But there is a catch-----them branches need to be green. I have cut down smaller pines a little less than 3" and stick it in and it will chip it right up, pull it right in even with the upper limbs still on it. Then I have put a dried 1 1/2" pine tree in it and it sound like its tearing the machine all to pieces. Needs to be Green to make it easier on the chipper!!


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## rambler (Jan 20, 2004)

If it doesn’t have a power feed it is a toy.

power feed is a drum or two with blunt teeth that turns and feeds the brush into the chipper.

if there is no feeder and you have to push the branches into a 3-4 inch throat yourself, the thing is a toy. You will spend forever cutting up branches small enough to fit in that little throat. The chipper will work, but it won’t accomplish much.

Paul


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