Introduction to Wood Chippers
Wood chippers are used to turn whole wood pallets and waste wood into fuel-quality wood chip. When buying a wood chipper, many factors need to be considered, such as maintenance, power, and the type of chipper needed. Our wood chippers feature many robust elements to ensure your waste wood is converted into high-quality wood chip. They use an efficient cutting system with hardened teeth and grates to chop down the material, which is then converted into chip
Ideal for commercial use, wood chippers are increasingly important for biomass solutions, providing a more efficient and eco-friendly way to produce fuel. In this guide, we’ll talk you through the important factors that need to be considered when purchasing a wood chipper, whilst providing expert advice from our staff!
Types of Wood Chippers
At GlenFarrow, we offer two different types of chippers; a pallet chipper and an auto chipper. Both these machines serve the same purpose, however, they’re engineered for different capacities depending on your needs.
Pallet Chipper
The GF pallet chipper is ideal for factories and warehouses that need a solution for pallet removal. This machine operates by a manual process, which means the wood pallets need to be fed into the chute by hand. Then the chipper automatically pulls in pallets and waste wood. Due to the smaller chute size, the pallet chipper is ideal for smaller pieces of waste wood.
Once the pallet is inserted into the chute, the machine will then start chomping the wood down and is capable of chipping up to 40 pallets per hour. It also has a high throughput of material, further establishing its robust nature.
Auto Chipper
The auto chipper, as suggested by the name, is an automatic machine that self-feeds wood into the chipping area to create wood chip.
It features a large infeed chute, including a pneumatic ram with an automatic reverse and start function to ensure a constant feed of material. Furthermore, the total throughput of the auto chipper is an impressive 1500kg of wood chip per hour, making it the perfect solution for a bigger stack of waste wood for larger businesses or projects.
Key Features to Consider When Buying a Wood Chipper
Although they feature similar design elements, each chipper has slightly different features to consider — including size, power source and cutting capacity. Here are some of the features below:
Pallet Chipper
- Rotor Diameter: 270mm
- No pneumatics or hydraulics involved
- Standard 40-degree auger and frame
- Easy installation and maintenance
- Robust gearbox and 3-phase motor
Auto Chipper
- Rotor Diameter: 270mm
- Allows constant monitoring of load onto the rotor
- Optional screw compressor for continuous operation
- Large infeed chute to accommodate a variety of wood products and sizes
- Easy installation and maintenance
- Robust gearbox and 3-phase motor
Both chippers are customisable, enabling the components to be made bespoke for each customer. The chippers allow you to customize the teeth and grates to produce wood chips of different sizes, going beyond the standard G30 and G50. Similarly, you can also customize other elements like auger lengths or screen sizes, depending on your biomass needs.
Usage and Maintenance Tips
Surprisingly, despite the high functionality and components of our chippers, they are relatively easy to maintain and require minimal input, making them incredibly user-friendly. Here are some of the tips provided by our skilled engineers on how you can maintain our chippers:
- Grease the bearings for smooth operation.
- Check chipper teeth torque, and ensure teeth are secured — the teeth are easily removable.
- Check the compressor for the auto chipper. Empty water out of the compressor and service.
- We recommended yearly services on chippers to make sure they are operating efficiently.
Environmental Impact and Sustainability of Wood Chippers
Chippers are known for producing high-quality biomass fuel. The process of reducing large pieces of waste wood into smaller, more manageable wood chip reduces waste volume, enabling efficient disposal or reuse of wood in various commercial projects.
Wood chippers are extremely effective at producing a renewable energy source. At GlenFarrow, we also provide a range of high-capacity biomass boilers which can be used in conjunction with our chippers, providing a reliable and energy-efficient way to produce fuel.
Expert Insights from GlenFarrow
Our team is dedicated to continuously offering reliable and efficient biomass solutions. We have worked with multiple clients, providing them with a viable resolution to produce quality wood chip whilst cutting costs. For example, we helped Whaplode Manor Hotel free up valuable time by supplying a pallet chipper along with a GF auto-feed, which helped to reduce the amount of time the owner spent manually loading his GF biomass boiler. The pallet chipper helped to produce a continuous wood source for the system, which meant he no longer needed to outsource fuel.
Essentially, choosing the right wood chipper depends on the capacity of the wood chip you need to produce along with your business needs. Each of our components can be customised to manage your requirements and every piece of machinery you have needs to be maintained for optimal operation.
View our wood chippers for a high-performance solution to your fuel-producing needs at GlenFarrow. We have years of experience helping other properties choose better solutions, prioritising both sustainability and health and safety.
FAQs
How often should wood chippers be maintained?
As a general rule, wood chippers should undergo a thorough inspection and servicing at least once per year, though the specific maintenance schedule may vary depending on the frequency and intensity of use.
Can you put wet wood in a chipper​?
It is generally not recommended to use a wood chipper on wet wood. Wet or damp wood is harder to chip due to higher moisture content, which can clog the machine, reduce efficiency, and cause potential damage.
What are the safety precautions to take when using a wood chipper?
Operators must be extremely cautious when feeding material into the chipper. The machine should never be left unattended while running.
Can any type of wood be used in a wood chipper for biomass fuel?
While many types of wood can be used, it’s best to avoid treated wood, which may contain harmful chemicals. Hardwoods and softwoods both make good biomass fuel; however, the moisture content will affect combustion efficiency, so it’s ideal to use seasoned wood.
Are your chippers a financial benefit to me?
Yes. The main financial benefits is utilising waste wood and turning it into wood chip to sell or use in a biomass boiler for heat. This in turn lowers the cost of removing waste wood from the site (as they have less to remove).
