The Wood Chipper 101

Welcome to the ever-expanding, ever exciting discussion topic of wood chippers! Yes, my friends, wood chippers are the new black. Not really. But they are useful for everyday gardening, landscapers, municipalities—why, I bet even those fancy celebrities everyone’s always talking about own one, or at least their gardeners are using it. In any case, wood chippers are better, faster, and chipping away better than ever before.

Wood chippers and chipper shredders are mainly used to slash fallen tree limbs, branches and uprooted trunks into wood chips and sawdust. They’re extremely helpful for getting rid of yard waste and converting backyard trash into valuable garden materials, like wood chips for ground cover. Plus, it’s easy to use since most are powered by internal engines. All you need to do is insert the yard trimmings and the wood chipper does the rest for you. Many even come with different options to suit your particular yard cleaning dilemma, such as mulching. And others come with reversible feeding, so your engine doesn’t have to work overtime and the chipper knives don’t wear down too quickly.

Old, archaic chipper shredders used to sound like chainsaws from horror films. You know, that VROOM VROOM sound? Nowadays, wood chippers are much quieter due to more powerful motors and mufflers, so there’s no need to be frightened of the sound. However, one must use absolute caution when operating a wood chipper. In fact, one ought to pay it the utmost respect, lest it painfully shred up an appendage or two. As long as you use common sense and practice safety techniques at all times during operation, no harm will come to you—just to your dead tree limbs, and they can’t feel anything.

The newer, lightweight versions are not only compact, but they also help convert dead leaves into new mulch that improve your garden’s soil. Other versions have higher powered motors that can chip and shred pretty much anything recommended. Yet every wood chipper is as individualistic as its owner. Whether you need a compact model wood chipper to get of some brush, or a heavy duty monster to shred up the remains of a forest, chippers everywhere are waiting anxiously to be used. Don’t disappoint them.