Different Types of Wood Chippers

If you need to do any type of lawn or landscaping maintenance, woodchippers are an essential machine to own. A wood chipper is mainly used for reducing yard waste such as limbs or tree branches into small particles or wood chips. They are often portable, whether they are mounted to wheels and towed, or attached to another machine such as a tractor. Power is either self-supplied via an internal engine or a chipper utilizes power from an external engine via a truck or tractor. 

Fundamentally all wood chippers shredders are made up of a hopper and a cutter. You feed materials such as tree limbs or branches into the hopper and the chipping mechanism of cutting blades or discs will begin chipping and shredding the wood into small pieces. The hopper then allows you to transport the wood chips to wherever you need them, whether to reuse them or dispose of them. Before operating the machine, it's important to understand and study wood chipper safety guidelines. 

Woodchippers can range in size and power, from home-use to commercial-grade machines. To put it simply: the larger the woodchipper, the stronger the chipper’s performance and capacity. Apart from the different brands and models of woodchippers, you first need to understand the different types of chippers and how each can serve your intended purpose.

Electric-powered chippers are often smaller models of woodchippers. They are compact and run off of your standard household outlet. You can operate electric start chippers in smaller spaces due to the lack of engine supply. While lacking the power that a gas engine produces, electric chippers require less maintenance and don't produce any exhaust fumes. Due to its smaller size, they will generally only chip branches up to 1” in diameter, so the type of material diameter you intend to break down is important to consider. It is also important to note that electric chippers require the use of a tamper to safely feed material through the hopper.

Electric wood chippers also referred to as electric chipper shredders, are best for homeowners who need to occasionally clear their yard from debris. They are often lightweight, portable, and quieter; however, you are limited in range due to the power source and the cord length. These are usually the less expensive type of woodchippers and are a perfect solution for residential home projects.

Gas-powered chippers use an internal gas engine to shred and chip wood. They offer horizontal chutes and gravity feed or hydraulic feed systems. Gas chippers are usually extremely portable by either manually pushing them or by using an easy tow-behind setup. Gas chippers are also available in varying models such as gas chippers only, gas chipper shredders, or even gas chipper shredder vacuums.

You’ll find that gas wood chippers can chip smaller branches of a half-inch in diameter upwards to 6 inches in diameter. This sets it apart from the smaller electric wood chipper, but if you need to chip anything larger than this, you’ll probably need a PTO-style wood chipper or a commercial tow behind. Still, the gas-powered woodchipper is an excellent option for the homeowner with a property with hefty work up to a lawn care or landscaping professional.