We've got a couple of small trees that 'shed' a bit..and the neighbor behind us has fairly large black walnut trees that drop up to 2 or 3" branches regularly (however, she's an 80 y.o. lady...so I'm not going to just throw them back into her yard...).

Instead of letting them pile up and waiting for the township to come through once a year for yard waste or borrowing a pickup truck and taking them somewhere, I'm thinking of getting a chipper.

The larger stuff (2" and trunks from small trees if needed) can be cut up and put aside as firewood for an eventual outdoor fire pit)...but getting rid of the smaller stuff is what I'll need it for.   Figure 2" max on those branches.

Will an electric do well enough for that?

If not, what's a reasonable gas powered for light duty home use?

Thanks!

electric wood chipper??? is there even such a thing? would anyone ever BUY one? doh never mind

Don't have a fire pit?

I have a 5.5 HP gasoline-powered chipper/shredder from Harbor Freight.  With fresh gasoline it handles up to 1.25" except for very hard woods.





They're advertising a 6.5 HP model now for about $450.  The electric ones seem pretty weak.

 

Cheap metal one for now.    Going to do something with the back yard area...probably pavers with a built in pit in the middle...there's an area where a tree went down (surrounded by river stones) that would make a nice patio area...

I'm also looking at used (on Craigslist)...not too many nearby right now.....

My view on electric is that it never matches gasoline equipment.  Go gas or go home and if that is too costly,  burn even the small stuff in your fire pit.

I have a Vermeer 600XL.  It is the sort favored by rental companies.  It's the size you want, but more expensive than the HF model.  I'm not a big fan of renting, but for what you want, I would rent one like mine.

You'll usually find a ton of the little gas ones with 5hp engines or whatever they are and electric ones on Craigslist. This is because they're junk and don't work worth a damn. You need a burn barrel.

All the homeowner style chippers I've seen, basically suck. They are just something for guys to have fun with in the spring while cleaning up blow downs.

Even the smaller commercial units that you can rent get bogged down pretty easy with hard woods.

I just put all mine in a huge pile, and the first day it rains I light that sucker up.

I got it.

Just put together a charcoal maker, burn the small stuff to turn the larger stuff into charcoal, then have a pig roast.

Pick up a used, good-condition, Troy-built Tomahawk with 8HP Briggs and Stratton for ~$400

They don't make them anymore because of lawsuits, but they are built like tanks and can handle all you have stated.

http://www.permies.com/t/44732/a/33230/thumb-image.jpg