Chipper Chat!

[Ell]

Hi Guys

Haven't posted on here for some time but i was speaking to a friend today and he mentioned something about chipping dead or 'brown' wood.

To cut the back story he has works for the national trust, had a trianer come in to teach some staff how to use a chipper and he said that a chipper should only be used to chip green timber 🤷

The chipper in question is 6" Timberwolf Tracky.

Never heard this before and i was wondering what peoples thought were.

I expect well seasoned chunky stems will put more strain on the chipper but always assumed that this was withon tolerance and should be fine for a chipper to handle.

Anyone else heard this green timber only rule or is the guy talking shite?

 

Cheers!

Edited August 28, 2022 by Ell

[htb]

If its in its gone, only applies for wood, not concrete, steel or stone.

He's talking shite

[trigger_andy]

35 minutes ago, Ell said:

Hi Guys

Haven't posted on here for some time but i was speaking to a friend today and he mentioned something about chipping dead or 'brown' wood.

To cut the back story he has works for the national trust, had a trianer come in to teach some staff how to use a chipper and he said that a chipper should only be used to chip green timber 🤷

The chipper in question is 6" Timberwolf Tracky.

Never heard this before and i was wondering what peoples thought were.

I expect well seasoned chunky stems will put more strain on the chipper but always assumed that this was withon tolerance and should be fine for a chipper to handle.

Anyone else heard this green timber only rule or is the guy talking shite?

 

Cheers!

From a Milling perspective Green Oak verses seasoned oak is night and day. Same goes for other hardwoods such as a beech and Ash. They go as hard as iron. 
 

I tried to mill some 7 year seasoned Oak with an 084 and it killed the chain on a 55” Bar within minutes, repeatedly. 
 

How this translates to chipping I don’t know, but its food for thought. 
 

Id also consider asking the folk that actually make  the machine. 

[Mick Dempsey]

He’s talking bollocks, of course it’s a bit harder, but it chips fine.

[spuddog0507]

If it was for the National trust i would think it would be a NPTC assessment and yes he would of been told that you dont chip dead wood, dead wood reacts very differently to green wood in many situations, my chipper dont like dead wood at all and with a few Ash die back jobs of late the amount of times a piece or chunk of wood has come flying out the in feed skip is unreal compared to green wood and if your stood in the wrong place they can hurt, we felled a woodland a few year back that was all dead Sycamore and to be honest i did not enjoy it one bit as when they hit the deck they just explode and limbs seem to fly every where,,

[Dan Maynard]

Depends on the wood, I always say beech is used for chopping blocks so you wouldn't want to put hard 6 inch beech in a 6 inch chipper. Much better to log it and take it home.

 

Half rotten lime from deadwooding, chip fine except as said can shatter.

[Mick Dempsey]

The hardest wood is stone dead Acacia, a bastard to grind, chip and cut, but I grind, chip and cut it.

 

It’s not going to ruin your blades, they may lose an edge slightly faster, but no big deal.

[Ell]

1 hour ago, spuddog0507 said:

If it was for the National trust i would think it would be a NPTC assessment and yes he would of been told that you dont chip dead wood, dead wood reacts very differently to green wood in many situations, my chipper dont like dead wood at all and with a few Ash die back jobs of late the amount of times a piece or chunk of wood has come flying out the in feed skip is unreal compared to green wood and if your stood in the wrong place they can hurt, we felled a woodland a few year back that was all dead Sycamore and to be honest i did not enjoy it one bit as when they hit the deck they just explode and limbs seem to fly every where,,

Cheers for the responses. I definitely think the guy was coming from a H&S perspective rather than what the machine can actually do. Which, imho, is a daft thing to do cause its better to be aware that you can chip dead but extra precautions need to be taken rather than not to chip at all. These guys were worried the couldn't chip some dead birch without it shagging up their machine.

[trigger_andy]

5 minutes ago, Ell said:

Cheers for the responses. I definitely think the guy was coming from a H&S perspective rather than what the machine can actually do. Which, imho, is a daft thing to do cause its better to be aware that you can chip dead but extra precautions need to be taken rather than not to chip at all. These guys were worried the couldn't chip some dead birch without it shagging up their machine.

Let’s not forget 90% of those in Arb are paid from the neck down so it’s worth listening to what you’re being told and consult the manufacturer for a definite response. 🙄

[Dan Maynard]

1 hour ago, Mick Dempsey said:

The hardest wood is stone dead Acacia, a bastard to grind, chip and cut, but I grind, chip and cut it.

 

It’s not going to ruin your blades, they may lose an edge slightly faster, but no big deal.

Depends on the chipper too, timberwolf blade angle is about 60 degrees so it's strong, on my gravity chipper the edge is much thinner. I've smashed blades on dead elm, so never chip it now.