What not to feed a woodchipper

[cqaigy2]

I rarely throw something in the chipper that shouldn't be there. Somehow missed a piece of 8 gauge brace wire, chewed up most of it, i think, and threw a junk back out.

 

[OldPaint]

Hugel

ever looked into hugelculture

Actually, yes and I have been doing it (before I knew what it was) since 2005 in a lot of the erosion ditches on my property. Learning about it has encouraged me to refine my processes and selectivity a little.

Pine/conifer species don't work well for hügelkultur as a general rule. Hügelkultur needs coarse grain wood species with low tannins and non-aromatic/non-volatile resins that will easily absorb water and rot. Pine/Cedar will tend to repel the very things (bacteria/insects) you want in that pile to break down the solids. It's OK to put a well-rotted pine log in a hügelkultur, as long as there's no 'seasoned' wood in the center that's waterproofed with solidified resins. Save that stuff to make pine kindling for starting campfires. Chip your cedar and seasoned pine into stuff you want to use for flower bed covering. It'll keep some of the unwanted critters off your flowers, but may also detract from favorable dirt dwellers, too. But it won't rot as fast as hardwood mulch. DO NOT use any untreated chips for mulch near your house. Not unless you want to turn your home into a buffet for termites. Anything 50 feet or more away gets the stuff from my clearing activities. Those beds tend to have the better flowers.

It's best to avoid denser grained woods like cherry and black walnut, too. Denser grained woods are typically not well suited to hügelkultur because they don't absorb water fast enough. They chip pretty darn good, though, which helps break up the grain and fiber, and promotes water absorption. Dried cherry can be a little hazardous because it shatters and flies apart. Use that kinda stuff mixed with other softer species for the filler between the logs before you cover with mulched leaves, then soil. If you're doing this on a sloped and eroded lot like mine, the soil will cover it nicely as the leading edges decay, and it will hold water in very well. Some of mine seep water for weeks after a good rain. This also tends to make them self-leveling and encourages grass growth in the sandy run-off soil.

Anything that's chipped up will decay faster than large solid pieces. Large solid pieces have the advantage of filling the holes quicker and decaying slower, but they will leave voids that will encourage burrowing rodents and pests, even larger critters like fox. Dunno if yellow jackets have a presence in Germany, but a hügelkultur is a haven for them because it's easy for them to burrow in the very same soil that promotes good growth. Keep that in mind. I do not encourage yellow jackets to do anything but die. I usually take out at least 3 nests every year.

Damaged knives are almost a foregone conclusion with a chipper. A very small quartzite rock (river rock) can do a ton of damage. For that reason, I try not to put anything that's been in the soil in my chipper. I never chip stumps or roots, and NEVER put raked up matter in my chipper. I have a flail shredder/chipper for that stuff if I don't decide to just rake it in on top of any logs that I haven't covered yet.. The shredder has a small chopper blade in the center that looks like an edger blade, but it's only for hacking bits off larger chunks. If it's too big for that, it gets laid in with the log bits.

Just start with the big stuff, and work your way down to grass clippings (if you don't treat your yard with pesticides). Clippings/leaves from a treated yard will likely be counterproductive in a hügelkultur.

 

[Raul-02]

Hügelkultur needs coarse grain wood species with low tannins and non-aromatic/non-volatile resins that will easily absorb water and rot. Pine/Cedar will tend to repel the very things (bacteria/insects) you want in that pile to break down the solids.

Of all the vids I've seen and web articles I've read; that painfully obvious information was never mentioned.
I've had the same experience with the internet when wanting to do a meaningful dive into a topic. The internet is plagued with large informational voids. I guess you really do get what you paid for.

 

[OldPaint]

Of all the vids I've seen and web articles I've read; that painfully obvious information was never mentioned.
I've had the same experience with the internet when wanting to do a meaningful dive into a topic. The internet is plagued with large informational voids. I guess you really do get what you paid for.

It really is a balancing act.

To your point, it's no wonder so many are confused or misinformed. They read a biased part of something on the internet and decide it MUST be true, and sadly, that's because they're too lazy to completely inform themselves. The first thing they read, especially if it fits their mantra, is the only "fact" they know. I'm still wondering whatever happened to common sense about free information. It's worth exactly what you pay for it. I rarely read something and assume it's fact. I normally try to read at least one opposing view about anything before making a decision. If I see something that makes me go "Hmmmm", I read a LOT more, pros and cons. I don't like making uninformed or rash decisions. They usually bite me on the butt. Maybe that's why I became an engineer a long time ago.

 

[arto98607]

Sure so many of "them" are misinformed, but not us - no way!

Yes Sir

 

[oosik]

Raul-02 No, I've never heard of hugelculture - until this thread. I had to look it up. When we had a garden we had raised beds. But nothing as extensive as used in hugelculture.

I don't garden any more. I hate weeding - I hate having half my garden eaten by the local wildlife. Let somebody else fight for their garden. I'll buy my produce from them.

However - I do have MANY extensive piles of pine chips - all over the property. I drive my JD riding mower up on a pile - lower the cutter - on with the blades - let the chips scour the underside clean.

Works like a champ.

 

[groundcover]

Friend of mine has a PTO chipper and when I sent him a pic of my Brush Bandit his comment was wow, mine won't even chip pipe !

 

[oosik]

It's rather frightening to see how those knives broke up. I think 5030 was correct - something was drastically wrong with the knives.

Somebody is very fortunate that they didn't stop a piece of those knives with a body or body part.

 

[Oz_Kioti]

I have a magnetic broom (old broom with powerful magnets taped all along the head) which I used to find one major fragment, the piece of steel rod, and lots of smaller chips, but I could not find the second major fragment.

It must have been ejected via the chute along with all the other bits, as nothing remained in the flywheel housing. I'll have to widen the search area, as I don't want it lying there to cause future mischief. I usually chip alone, and on the occasions when I do have a helper, nothing goes in while they're in the arc of the discharge.

And following 5030's caution, I had another close examination of the anvil mounts, and no sign of anything amiss or bent there. It is one tough and solidly made machine.

On this model chipper, while the PTO shaft utilises a shear pin, the flywheel is belt driven, so unlikely to do much damage if there were to be a major slowing down/stoppage of the flywheel. The geometry of the belts and pulleys also gives the flywheel it's high rotational speed which contributes to efficient discharge, and clogging of the outlet chute is rare. It also means, of course, that the missing fragment could have travelled some distance! I've heard anecdotally that smaller models with direct drive are more susceptible to clogging due to the slower flywheel RPM (540 vs 1100), however I have never seen or operated a smaller model.

Time to widen the search area...

 

[oosik]

I'm going to start blowing the chips into my farm wagon. Spread them on the driveway. They tend to cut down on dust. My mile long, gravel driveway has slowly been blanketed with wind blown dust and volcanic ash. Open areas being much more than the tree lined areas. Put them to some use as they decompose.