Any Uses For Wood Chips?

[RobertN]

Harv,
The issue isn't the size of the chipper, it's the size of chips the chipper makes. The rental yard over here has a nice 25hp chipper(at $20/hr) that will basically take a small tree if you try. But, it still makes nice size chips. We also had some tree work done here; the crew chipped the stuff, and it came out nice sized.

The stuff I got from the road and powerline crew was larger, like Bird mentioned. It does, however, still cook down pretty well. I have friends that get the same stuff, and have it placed off to the side, where they let it cook down for a season. By the time it's done, it's really nice; it just takes longer. In fact, I'm about ready to get another load.

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>The issue isn't the size of the chipper, it's the size of chips the chipper makes.</font color=blue>

Different size knives in the machine? Number of knives? Different RPM's? Different feed rates? Be nice if I could get sawdust to come out the other end. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Looks like this is yet another learning curve I have yet to climb.

When I get this project done, I'll see how many chips I can get into an envelope and make sure that Bird and Glenn get some.

 

[RobertN]

The typical home machine will have hammer or knives as part of the apparatus. These actually shred. The number of knives is usually driven by the HP and size of the machine. Typically, a 8hp home machine will have more knives or hammers than a 5hp machine; it simply has more power to spin them up.

Generally, the size of the chip is gauged by the distance from the front plate to the cutting wheel. The greater the distance, the bigger the chip.

The RPM is generally driven by the rating of the motor, and the size of the cutting wheel.

For feed rate, the smaller home machines have many variables; how big the material is, overall power of the unit, how wet the material is. The larger units have hydraulic feeds. They sense the rpm of the cutter, and adjust feed rate to maintian optimum cut/chipping.

I would arrange for the rental, AND a helper. Then, before you pick up the chipper, make sure to break up the piles loader. It's a pain to pull stuff from a tangled up pile. It's also a pain to work the machine alone at $20/hr.

 

[Bird]

Harv, I took that little 5 hp Craftsman apart, changed the knives, etc., but have never been into (or seen an exploded view of) any of the others, so I don't know, but the little Craftsman had 2 knives for chipping and 4 sets of 3 flails for shredding. It did a great job on small stuff, but anything over 2" was pretty tough. And I'm sure you know to stay out of the way of the discharge. The chute was angled down at the ground on the Craftsman, but I left it wide open so it would shoot the wood chips straight out horizontally way out in the garden and one day it sounded as if it had completely self destructed and I shut it down real quick. When I took it apart, I found that a roll pin had come out and it had thrown one set of 3 flails, so I went out in the garden and started hunting and found all the pieces, but some of those chunks of steel were 50' or more from where the machine had been.

 

[stovepoker]

Using chips for stove fuel isn't all that difficult. I separate the
bone-dry branches from the green stuff, and do the chipping
during dry weather to keep it that way. The dry chips are
screened to eliminate the sawdust and big chips. So the resulting
"pellet" fuel is sized to fit the stove. The chips can
be mixed with commercial pellet fuel but this is not necessary.
I don't pay attention to the species. A pound of hemlock chips
has the same fuel value as a pound of hickory chips. If you
are using multiple species, mixing them will give you a more
consistent burn. My contractor has a 20HP chipper that
produces smaller chips than the typical municipal chipper.

 

[Harv]

I was just thinkin' (it happens) -- although I never seem to leave myself enough time to try it, I've often toyed with the idea of taking some of the brushier stuff off my pile and just running over it a few times with my rotary cutter.

Anybody ever try this (and want to admit to it)?

 

[RobertN]

Been there, done that. It works, although it will throw stuff around quite a bit. If you do not care about where the chips are placed, or the size of the chip, it will work.

 

[dlabrie]

I heat my home with wood that I cut on my property. I have quite a few brush piles around. My wife wanted me to chip them, but I suggested that they were great habitats for the small animals. So they have set in place over the years. Now after reading all the posts on the value of wood chips, renting a chipper for a day might not be a bad idea. I remember hearing some where that green brush is easier to chip than dry brush. Is there any truth to that?
David

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>I remember hearing some where that green brush is easier to chip than dry brush. Is there any truth to that?</font color=blue>

Definitely true.

 

[GlennT]

Green wood does seem to be easier to chip than dry material. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe the cell walls in dry wood are actually harder. Or maybe the sap in fresh wood acts as a lubricant. A problem I've had is that leaves and needles in a brush pile start to mold and then it is easy to feed too fast and clog up the discharge chute of the chipper. All of this does motivate a person to get rid of that pile of brush before it dries out. This is one of those jobs that's easy to put off till later.