wood chipper
A tree chipper or wood chipper is a machine used for reducing wood (generally tree limbs or trunks) and brush to wood chips. They are often portable, being mounted on wheels on frames suitable for towing behind a truck or van.
Tree chippers are typically made of a hopper with a collar, the chipper mechanism itself, and an optional collection bin for the chips. A tree limb is inserted into the hopper (the collar serving as a partial safety mechanism to keep human body parts away from the chipping blades) and started into the chipping mechanism. The chips exit through a chute and can be directed into a truck-mounted container or onto the ground.
This might be stating the obvious, but one thing a chipper ought never be is blunt. Two weeks ago my husband came home with badly swollen hands, and a grumpy disposition.Why? Because an equipment retailer, who shall remain anonymous, rented him a blunt chipper. And this was just ono of it's undesirable characteristics. It apparently had an opening the size of tennis ball in which to insert branches. And it was loud enough to be seriously hazardous to the inner ear of it's operators.After an entire day of having to jam twigs into the machine, and wrestle the measly specimens all the way through the hole, the only thing to show for it was a pile of wood chips that would barely be able to fill a small grocery bag. From what I have been told, that is just plain wrong. Upon returning the offending "chipper" to its nameless retailer, we were compensated most richly: 15% off the rental price.
Today was an entirely different experience. A friend of ours generously offered us the use of his own chipper for the day. Sharp blades AND a self-feeding mechanism. Aidan came home triumphant. "Now that was a good days work," he said. Mulch anyone?
