What size chips?

[Oldchuck]

I'm shopping for a wood chipper. I want to use it to make chips to fuel a wood gasification unit I'm about to order. My impression is that different chippers make different size and quality chips, depending on raw material. What I'm told works best for a gasifier are cleanly cut chips about 1" square. I'm wondering if some of you folks could pass along some information regarding the type of chip your various machines turn out.

 

[RalphVa]

Size on mine is set by the screen. Think they're about 1/4". With a bigger screen like I had available on the TroyBilt, I got bigger chips, but also got more stalks that made their way through without being chipped. Some even make it through the 1/4" screen.

Is this something between a pellet and regular chunk wood stove?

Ralph

 

[escavader]

IM NOT SURE[because of material size] if you can control the size of them,but you can control the thickness of them,by how far your knifes are from your anvil.Ilike the fine ones ,because i mix them in my compost pile with everything else,they break down quicker.
On our sawmill chipper,to get the chips to proper size for the paper industry,the chipper has a shaker screen on top of it ,to sort them.
If i want some nice ones to spread on a pathway,or for landscape ,ill pick up some junk cedar at the mill i work at and mill it on the table saw so it fits through my 4 inch chipper.Ill then slide my anvil back for maximum thickness.It will make nice big chips,perfect for landscaping material.
ALAN

 

[Oldchuck]

Thank you, Ralph and Alan. It would be helpful to know what brand of chipper you are using. Right now I'm leaning toward the Wallenstein, PTO operated for the HP. Open to other suggestions. Screens and chip size is something I will be asking about.

Ralph, I want to generate electricity from wood (as I have a lot of wood and am a damned long way from the power line). The wood smolders in the reactor unit and the gas (otherwise known as smoke) is driven off into a condenser-scrubber. Then you just feed the cooled and cleaned wood gas into a gasoline, diesel, or propane genset. I'm thinking propane would be easiest to adapt. This is the unit I'm buying:

Gasifier Experimenters Kit

People run cars and tractors off wood gas too but that is a bit too clunky for my taste.