Chipping

We have a bunch of branches and such that fell during a storm in the fall. They’ve been sitting in a pile since and are quite wet. Anyone know if the wetness will pose a problem for processing them through a chipper?

if your chipper is small like mine (1 hp) try to let things dry so you can get them through the machine dry (or if possible, alternating with dry stuff) to avoid clogs. When you're done, make sure the machine has no clogged stuff in there and let it dry thoroughly or you may find when you turn it on next that muck is dried up in there and it won't rotate (ask me how I learned that)....
if you have a monster chipper I imagine you won't have these problems.

Bethany Brown wrote:We have a bunch of branches and such that fell during a storm in the fall. They’ve been sitting in a pile since and are quite wet. Anyone know if the wetness will pose a problem for processing them through a chipper?

I have chipped wet material before and it's very hard on the chipper.  I would advise against it.  At one point, I clogged my tractor-driven PTO chipper that will chip 8" logs so badly I had to tear it apart to clear the clog.

Howdy

I also have a tractor pto driven chipper.  I try and do both, green and dry.  I am really trying to do woodland fuel reduction and got the chipper, chipping all green branches, instead of doing slash burning. I now keep my eyes on the exit chip chute. When I don't see chips coming out, I shut down and am able to reach down into the chute, usually before it clogs totally, and pull out debris. If it is really clogged, I have to open up and access the chipper blade etc.

I am saving to burn sometimes down to the 1 inch dia. I chip fir and pine also and they have a pitch content that also helps clog the chipper.  I do like my chipper, it took some gettng used to.

I think my chipper handles 3 or 4 inches. Green and wet branches are fine. In fact, the softer green wood goes through a lot easier than dry wood the same diameter. When i first got the chipper, I had a big pile of branches that I'd been accumulating  all year. Most of it was quite wet when I got to it, and it was fine, as long as the leaves had fallen off.  Wet branches and leaves are what clog mine up. My chipper has a hopper for little stuff, and I think it's practically useless. The hopper narrows down to the outlet at the bottom, and even dry leaves will clog up the narrow point unless you go reeeeaaally slowly. I found my little electric one was better for small stuff than this big one.

It probably does depend on the chipper. I used to have one with a max branch diameter or 4inches. Figure anything bigger would go to the wood stove.
Wet branches, with too many leaves may cause clogs. Drier branches seemed to be harder on the blades and caused some smoking.

I'd chip the stuff after a day or s of drying. Like mentioned above, if chips aren't coming out, then shut it done and unclog. It really is about getting to know your chipper.

I agree with Sena,

I have used chippers before, and sometimes the chipper hungrily eats the wood and throws out chips and other times it bogs down on the wood.  True, the moisture content matters, but I would say that what matters most is the quality of the bark.  About the worst chipper jams I have had have been when a long, green strip of bark gets wrapped around one of the axles in the chipping operation and the whole chipper bog down to a halt.  I then have to shut things down and go in and pull or cut out the strips of bark and clean it until it will spin freely.

Now I am talking about a fairly large rental unit.  I imagine a PTO unit would work much the same.  But I don't know about the little 3-4 inch home units.  That may be very susceptible to bogging down from loose material that does not exit the chute quickly, but truthfully, I am just don't know about the small units.

Eric