Electric chippers?

[Roy Smith]

I'm looking for an electric chipper. I've got a small yard (50 x 100 lot) and mostly need to turn trimmings from about 150 linear feet of hedges into compostable material. Most of the woody stuff is under 1/2" diameter, and I'm not too worried if I won't be able to handle anything much bigger than that. The model I'm looking at is...

anybody have one of these? Is it worth getting for my light-duty needs? I figure the "chip limbs and branches up to 1.5" diameter" is probably just some marketing guy's fantasy, but I'll be happy if it'll handle half that without destroying itself.

I know most people say the gas powered ones are the way to go, but I'd really rather have electric.

The other unit I see advertised a lot is

's a lot more money, but the electric motor isn't any more powerful, so I suspect it really doesn't do any better job.

All the motors on the electric ones I see seem to be designed to work on a 20A 120V circuit, and that limits the power to about 1.5 HP. I've got

240V available outside, but nobody seems to make an electric unit that takes advantage of that. It seems like if I want more power, I need to get one of the gas powered ones.

[Bill Spohn]

Best advice on a chipper is get one that is more powerful than you'd ever thought you'd need - the low power ones (and that includes ALL electric units) are forever jamming and choking.

[the q]

I agree, says he with an electric sat in the garage because it's useless...

The Q

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[Phisherman]

[Beecrofter]

Run the stuff over with a lawn mower. You might need a piece of fence or plywood to keep the woody bits from going into low earth orbit but any gas powered mower will handle stuff like that.

[Roy Smith]

I don't own a gas powered mower. I use a push mower.

[Tom Jaszewski]

You're correct, that model is a wimp, as is my 5hp gas troy built.

BUT.....

I've got a Troy Built converted to a 220V 5hp that will eat most anything that will fit. ( a little more than $250 USD. Anyone near Las Vegas can haul it away for $250, the gas for $200....

Phish is right by implying they are more trouble than they are worth...

Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.

-- Aldo Leopold

[Richard Cline]

One of the problems with chippers / shredders is the difficuly in getting folage in the machine. If you have a bunch of leaves they will easily go into the machine. But they would also go directly into compost. If you have long slender branches they are OK as you feed them into the machine. But if you have brush with lots of small branches it is more work to get into the machine than it is worth. You need to cut it into little branches so that they will fit into the opening.

Dick

[Gardñ]

Roy Smith in news: [e-mail]:

you could use hedge shears to cut smaller pieces off as you prune the hedge. or continue cuting 'full size' pieces as now, but you could lay the 1/2" diam. pieces parallel in the pile. so, no need to shred.

[Garrapata]

as I can feed them in the side chute. It does have more problems with high volume soft stuff, I managed to clog it with a bunch of fern fronds but it comes apart fairly easily for cleaning. It is a small, lightweight chipper so if you have lot of stuff it is slow.

The one at your link is pretty expensive, I got it locally at Orchard Supply for $170 & no shipping.

Get it assembled if you can - it is a PITA to put together the bolts are hard to line up with the holes.

[Curly Sue]

I have that one also and it's just right for my needs. Initially, it was stalling quite often when I started it up again after pausing it, until I realized that hard wood chips were getting wedged in the chipper. So now I tilt it forward after I turn it off, until the blade stops turning and all of the remaining chips and debris have fallen out of the front.

Also, the first extension cord I used (my usual outdoors one for the lawnmower) didn't let enough juice through to run it; it would hum and the overload button would pop. It took a few phone calls to figure out the problem. I had to get a short, seriously heavy-duty cord and it works fine.

Definitely need two people to assemble, it's heavy and top-heavy. Be careful to put it together with the bottom and top facing the right way so you don't have to take it apart and deal with lining the bolts up a second time. Don't ask me how I know that :>

In theory you're supposed to be able to attach a bag to the out chute to catch the chips, however, I found that it just blew the bag off. So I found a cardboard box with the perfect size to fit under the chute.

Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

[Garrapata]

I use a collapsible can like the "Kangaroo" it tucks nicely around the spout.....

[Curly Sue]

to collapse it ! )

Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!