Chippers

A chipper cuts branches and woody material into chips using knives, handling limbs up to its rated diameter. A shredder pulps softer green waste, leaves, and prunings with flails or hammers into finer mulch. Chipper-shredder combination units do both through separate intakes, which is what most landscape and grounds crews actually need.

Each machine has a maximum cutting diameter, and feeding wood larger than the rating stalls or damages the unit. Match the machine to your typical material: light pruning waste needs far less capacity than storm cleanup or removals. When sizing, base the decision on the largest limbs you process regularly, not the rare oversized piece.

PTO-driven units run off a tractor and suit operations that already own one. Towable engine-powered chippers move between job sites behind a truck and are the landscape standard. Self-powered walk-behind shredders fit fixed locations like nurseries. Match the power source to how and where the crew works.

Sharp knives produce clean chips with less engine strain; dull blades tear wood, vibrate, and overheat the machine. Inspect and rotate or sharpen blades on a regular schedule based on hours of use, and keep a spare set on hand. Never feed dirty or gritty material, which dulls edges fast.

Feed with the flat of your hand or a push paddle, never reaching into the hopper, and stand to the side of the feed chute, not directly in line with it. Required PPE includes eye and hearing protection, snug clothing with no dangling drawstrings, and gloves chosen to release rather than grab. Keep the kill bar within reach at all times.

Fresh wood chips work well as path and bed mulch and decompose into soil over time. For planting beds, many growers age chips briefly so the initial decomposition does not pull nitrogen from the root zone. Shredded green waste breaks down faster and blends into compost readily.