If your house possesses a lawn or a garden and you have a hobby of gardening, or you think that you have the potential to start your own wood chipping business from your lawn.
So, to minimize the cost of labor, try to invest in something more lucrative and be self-employed.
Some gardening tools are considered must-have tools such as a trowel, spade, shovel, wood chipper, pruners or clippers, forks, rakes, etc.
Among them, a wood chipper is one of the essentials you need to commercialize your hobby or make your gardening area look more manageable.
Before investing in something unknown, quick and thorough research is always a good strategy to escape the losses.
All you want to know about wood chippers before buying it is entailed in this article is comprehensive style. So give a glance at the article and order your chipper and use it and reap its benefits.
If you want to purchase a wood chipper, you are confused about which one is best for you. Don’t worry! We are here to help you. Check out our detailed review of wood chippers by types, varieties, mechanism, price, use & brand. This detailed guide will help you to choose the best one according to your requirements. Scroll down and read more about types of wood chipper.
What Is A Wood Chipper?
Wood chipper is a machine that aims to break down the branches, shrubs, and wood logs.
A small wood chip obtained has multiple uses and makes your life easier. For example, these wood chips are easy to dispose of, transportation, and labor-friendly, or can be used as mulch.
Other than gardening, the wood chipper is found to have its applications in different industries, for instance, paper and wood recycling industry, agriculture industry after heavy natural calamities to maintain the land.
A wood chipper consists of three main parts, a hopper, a chipping system, and a chip collecting bin attached to the truck.
Check out our detailed guide about wood chipper parts, back to the topic. Scroll down and read more!
Wood logs are put into the hopper, and when the engine is on, the chipping system starts to operate.
Through the drive belt and impeller, the wood broke down into chips and compelled into the collecting truck or to the ground. The chips you got have tremendous applications.
Types Of Wood Chipper | Which Wood Chipper Type Is Best For You
Woodchipper comes in a plethora of designs, so you might probably be stuck in a dilemma of selecting which one best suits your requirements.
Each chipper has its limitations. Variations exist in terms of size, power generation, shapes, sturdiness, efficiency, and price, of course.
For ease, we have categorized the wood chipper in different sections considering some factors.
Following is the list of wood chippers available on the market. Please give it a look below.
Types Of Wood Chipper By Source Of Power Generation
Based on the power generation, wood chippers are divided into two categories.
- Electric Wood Chipper
- Gas Wood Chipper
Electric Wood Chipper
These electric-powered wood chippers are handy to use. They are lighter in weight and portable. These features make it suitable to use for a house garden.
The operation is relatively easy, just as you operate your household electronic gadgets. First, you need to plug in the power supply.
You can do your chipping without disturbing your family members as these chippers are very quiet and do an efficient performance.
It does not create fumes, so that you can operate it in a storage room or garage of your house.
There is no specification to use in open areas. Its maintenance cost is economical because no machine parts replacement and oiling are required.
Apart from this, they are less expensive than heavy-duty chippers. As they are designed to use for domestic purposes, they cannot chop big logs. Therefore, their subject of chipping is always tiny branches. Read all about electric wood chipper in detail.
Gas Wood Chipper
When you are purchasing a gas wood chipper on the market, you come across three different variations.
One with gas chipper only, the second with the gas chipper shredder, and the third with gas shredder vacuum. Each chipper has its specific advantage, which eases in manual work.
Gas chipper shredder helps you to chip both smaller branches and plants. A gas chipper vacuum pulls all the wood material into the chipper by creating a vacuum.
It saves your time and energy. However, only gas chippers perform chipping functions solely.
In comparison to electric wood chippers, they are more powerful and fast. In addition, they are not restricted to the land area under cord extension.
Furthermore, they are not quite like electric chippers; they generate fumes during operation. Finally, they are more expensive than electric chippers. For these reasons, gas chippers have commercial applications.
If you work in an area where the power supply is intermittent, gas chippers are the solution. But, first, make sure that the fuel tank remains full. Check out our in detail blog about gas wood chipper.
Types Of Wood Chipper By Mechanism
According to the process of chipping implied in the wood chipper, it has three main types. They vary in size and shape, and every chipper has its own merits and demerits. Check them now individually.
- Drum Wood Chipper
- Disc Wood Chipper
- Power Take-Off (PTO) Wood Chipper
- Screw Wood Chipper
Drum Wood Chipper
It comes in a drum-shaped appearance. Two drums are attached in parallel directions, along with the sharp knives in the horizontal direction.
The wood material is taken by the drum, which is then chipped by the knives and blades in the chipping system while moving towards the exit bin.
If you deal with huge and fibrous wood logs, then a drum chipper is the ultimate solution.
Drum chipper is used in industry to process raw materials, including wood and wood residue such as timber, batten, branches, particleboard, fiberboard. It also transforms non-wood materials like sugarcane, bamboo, reed, etc.
It is suitable to use for public parks and land maintenance to clean up or remove plantations.
One of its limitations is cap drum chipper buying. In addition, the uniformity of wood chips is not maintained in this chipping system because it trims larger logs.
As a result, a huge amount of energy is consumed to gain finger chips making it less energy efficient. In addition, they are not portable and need an attachment to any vehicle.
Moreover, these chippers are speedy and loud. Be vigilant enough while loading the wood into the drum as it may cause some injury and even death.
Nevertheless, high-tech models on the market have reduced sound and improved safety precautions.
In this way, drum chippers are best suited for commercial and public areas rather than home gardening. If you are not happy with detail so check out A to Z guide about drum wood chipper.
Disc Wood Chipper
It is designed in a disc-shaped fashion onto which blades are attached horizontally. The disc is usually made up of steel. The disc is as max as 160inches in diameter along with an engine of 5,000horsepower.
The wood material is taken in by the hydraulic pressure and chap, chip by the blades, and move forward through rotation.
Disc chippers are easy to operate, and maintenance is not arduous. It creates wood chips of sizes ranging from 20-100mm depending upon the disc rotor of the machine, but the uniformity of chips is maintained throughout the process.
Unlike drum chippers, disc chippers are energy efficient and fast working mechanisms at a time. However, it cannot handle fibrous logs and only trim small branches, shrubs, etc.
Like drum chippers, they are not portable and generate noise. However, you can minimize the noise effect by the installation of a noise canceller.
They have their best usage in industrial operations. For example, it is used in density board plants and paper manufacturing plants to provide raw material by cutting wood logs and their residues. I know its not all about disc wood chipper. Don’t read out in detail guide about disc wood chipper.
Power Take-Off (PTO) Wood Chipper
PTO wood chippers have no power generation system attached to them. Instead, it derives its power from a truck engine attached to the chipper.
So, if you are a farmer or your business is about land maintenance, a PTO chipper is a good investment. This chipper can easily trim big and fibrous logs and branches in your farm with precise uniformity.
They are extremely robust but are very noisy and costly, and sometimes they may overkill your land area. It is available in two variations.
The PTO chipper with shredder and without the shredder. Shredder in the chipper machine finely chips approximately one inch wider into manure, but it gives a heavy load on your engine.
Before Purchasing The PTO Chipper, You Must Consider A Few Things.
- Flywheel quality, if your work is to trim wide branches, then choose a heavier flywheel.
- The tractor’s engine must be capable enough to run this big machinery.
- Automatic feed roller application in the chipper can reduce your manual work.
Are you want to read more about PTO wood chippers?
Don’t worry! We are here to help you. Check out our in-detail guide about PTO wood chippers.
We try to explain everything about PTO wood chippers, PTO wood chipper types, maintenance, safety guide, pros and cons and a lot more.
I hope you will enjoy this guide. Then, back to the topic, scroll down and read more types.
Screw Wood Chipper
It has a flywheel onto which a conical-shaped screw is attached. This screw pulls in the log and chips the material with the blades, and the flywheel then moves the chips outward.
Feed hoppers are available in variations where the logs are pulled and grabbed by the screw into the chipper to feed the wood logs.
It is more efficient than a disc chipper and a drum chipper because of the homogeneity in the wood chips and the speed of the chipper.
Unlike disc chippers and drum chippers, it creates less noise. Moreover, it has a low maintenance cost, simple in design, and has a long service life.
In addition to this, the wood chips obtained are splinter-free and can be used to cut almost every type of wood, and of course, it has no impact load owing to pulling cuts, which makes it stand differently.
Several sellers are offering different screw chipper ranges suitable for use in agriculture, sawmill, and industrial use. Read more about screw wood chipper.
Types Of Wood Chipper By Power Range
Wood chipper derived its energy from a combustion engine which is attached inside the machine. As a result, a wide range of wood chippers is designed to meet the specific preference of the customer.
Following range of house power engine is available on the market 1.5hp, 2.5hp, 4hp, 5hp, 5.5hp, 6hp, 6.5hp, 7hp, 7.5hp, 8hp, 8.5hp, 9hp, 10hp, 12hp, 14hp, 15hp, 18hp, 20hp.
A more high-power engine is also used to deal with the big chipper mounted with the trucks.
A high-power engine is designed to deal with the thick and strong branches and logs. In addition, technical parts used in these chippers, such as blades, are highly durable.
If your work deals with 3 to4 inches branches in excess, you should not buy less than a 10 horsepower engine. If you have more budget, you can go up to 14 horsepower.
If you think electric power engines are enough to chip your wood branches, but the constant power supply is the exception, you can use a gas power wood chipper instead of paying high power charges.
Types Of Wood Chipper By Sizes
Wood chippers have certain specifications in terms of the wood diameter to pass through the chipper to transform into finer chips.
Household wood chippers can convert woodblocks of around 2-3inches in size by their chipping system.
This is used to cut the twigs, fallen branches in your garden. Other than this, some herb specialists used this to chop shrubs and plants to gain medicinal benefits.
Industrial grade wood chippers tend to handle 9-24 inches of wood pieces. More giant machines are more powerful, and they have more material capacity.
Whole tree chippers and Recyclers have the capability to chip 2-8 feet of woodblocks. These machines are not implied with a chipping system, but a carbide-tipped hammer will crush the wood.
Heavy-duty chippers are used to clear the forest area after storms and for urbanization.
In addition, it is used by industrial manufacturers who use wood as raw material, such as the cardboard industry, paper-making companies, recycling plants, carpentry arts, etc.
Larger wood chippers have their limitations, but the benefits you gain outweigh the disadvantages associated.
Conclusion
At this stage, you are aware of all the necessary information that helps you to make a wise decision while purchasing the wood chipper.
Wood chipper is no more unknown to you. So you become clear how a wood chipper works?
How do different models have their characteristics? And what are the parameters you should analyze when you plan to buy a wood chipper?
Investment in the wood chipper undoubtedly is a wise step you take because it saves a lot of money you spent on renting machines or labor.
