How often would chipper blades need to be sharpened, roughly in hours? For that matter, how often would you have to replace the blades? These questions are assuming normal use and not feeding any wire or rebar thru the chipper...
I watch the hour meter on my chipper and sharpen them around 40 hours. I have gone to 50-60 hours. That is getting a big too long as it is harder on the chipper. Also I rotate the anvil to have a good clean edge for the wood to be sheared when the knife comes down. Gap is another important thing.
I checked my log book and I had 40+ hours on the initial set. I will reverse them and send out when they are dull. Hopefully the new set will arrive next week.
10 or less usually. Whenever the chipper stops self feeding and starts "tearing" the wood instead of "shearing" the wood. Usually the bark starts peeling off the wood in strips too instead of being cut with the chips.