Do you need to clean up excess waste after gardening and excavation projects? Then a wood chipper for tidying and disposing of garden waste is the perfect solution. Wood chippers are used by many arborists, gardeners and tree surgeons. But what is the correct way to use a wood chipper, and what is the best way to sharpen wood chipper blades?
In our guide below we will go into detail about how to use a wood whipper, how to keep safe while using a wood chipper, and how to correctly sharpen wood chipper blades.
If you need additional help with sharpening your wood chipper blades see our blade sharpening services.
What is a Wood Chipper?
A wood chipper is a heavy-duty machine used to reduce the wood into chippings and smaller parts so that they are easy to dispose of. Wood chippers also come in many shapes and sizes and are mounted on wheels to make them portable.
Wood chippers work using blades that rotate at high speeds to break them down. The excess is then ejected from the machine as sawdust.
How to Keep Safe Whilst Using a Wood Chipper
Wood Chippers are heavy-duty machines that can cause you serious harm if you don’t use the correct safety gear and PPE. It’s also important that you know the machine inside and out and take the correct steps to ensure you can use a wood chipper correctly and safely. Here is a list of actions to do before you start to use your wood chipper and the correct safest gear you will need whilst using a wood chipper.
Safety Gear
- Safety Glasses/Goggles
- Ear Muffs
- A Helmet
- Gloves
- Steel Toed Boots
- Steel Toed Boots
In addition to making sure you have the correct safety gear, you should always remember to inspect your machine before you use it, checking the hood, the chute, the pins and the guard. It is important to remember that wood chippers require two people to operate them, so someone can be near the kill switch in case anything goes wrong.
How to Properly Use a Wood Chipper
In the guide below we will give you step-by-step instructions on how to safely and properly use a wood chipper. See the steps below to use your wood chipper most efficiently and safely to grind down wood once you have all of your safety equipment.
Position the Wood Chipper on Level Ground
It’s essential that you place your wood chipper on level ground. This is because the wood chipper will have a wheel for portability and you want to make sure that it doesn’t move or tip whilst on.
Adjust the Settings on Your Wood Chipper
You will need to adjust the wood chipper to control the speed and direction you will send your wood chippings. This is to avoid creating a mess around the area you want to clean. Most wood chippers have a deflector and a chip chute that you can adjust. Make sure the chute is pointed away from people by adjusting the deflector.
Set the Brake on the Wood Chipper and Start It Up
If you have a wood chipper that is attached to the back of a truck or tractor, make sure the brake is on to keep it in place, this only applies to larger wood chippers in general. Finally, check the engine oil to make sure that there is enough to complete the job. If you have an electric wood chipper make sure the cord is long enough and not damaged. Now start up your wood chipper.
Use the Blunt End First
When you start to feed wood debris into the wood chipper, make sure that you begin at the blunt end of the chipper. This allows the wood to be fed into the machine consistently and with ease to avoid any blockages. As you start to insert wood into the wood chipper, use a stick to poke through any material that might be stuck or having difficulty getting through the chipper. Make sure you only insert material that is big enough for your machine to handle, so that it doesn’t throw any material back out of the machine that could cause injury.
Use Both Dry and Green Limbs
Make sure that you use a mix of green and dry wood material when feeding the wood chipper. If you only put dry leaves and wood into the wood chipper it can make it difficult to process all the material. The moisture from green leaves and the material added helps to naturally lubricate the wood chipper, allowing it to run smoothly. However, you always need a good balance of dry and green material, so the machine doesn’t become clogged.
Stand Away from the Machine
Whilst the wood chipper is in operation you should make sure you are out of harm’s way by standing at the side of the machine. When you feed material into the machine make sure you’re on the side of the chipper in case anything is spat back out of the machine. If you stand in front of it you could get hit by flying debris and cause a serious Injury.
Don’t Throw Away Your Chippings
When you are finally done chipping all of your wood, collect them all and you can put them to good use. You can use wood chippings for mulch, compost, hard beds and many other uses for gardening in general.
How to Sharpen Wood Chipper Blades
After a while wood chipper blades start to dull and become less effective from wear and tear. While having a spare set is advisable you can sharpen your wood chipper blades instead of simply replacing them when they become less effective at chipping down wood.
You should sharpen your wood chipper blades after 24 hours of use in total or when the wood starts to come out splintered and rough. The more you maintain your wood chipper blades the longer they will last.
Here is a step-by-step guide to how you can sharpen your wood chipper blades.
What Tools Will I Need?
Before you start sharpening your wood chipper blades you need to gather the right tools for the job. These will help you to keep safe whilst sharpening the blades and make the whole process easier and faster. Here is a list of tools you should use for removing and sharpening wood chipper blades.
- PPE (gloves and safety glasses)
- Socket wrench
- Torque wrench
- An impact driver
- Sander
- Grinder
- File
- Whetstone
Make Sure the Wood Chipper is Unplugged
For your safety, you must make sure that the wood chipper is completely turned off and could not accidentally start. Either unplug the cable to your wood chipper or disconnect the spark plug to prevent this from happening. Now you are ready to start.
The Top Hopper
To access the wood chipper blades, you first need to remove the top hopper from your wood chipper. This is the part of the machine where leaves are fed into the blades. Simply unscrew all the bolts that hold it in place and take it off of the machine to gain access to the chipper blades.
Remove the Casing
This will be the protective metal case that surrounds the blades on your wood chipper. Use your wrench to loosen the bolts around the casing. Slowly and carefully remove the casing from around the blades putting it to one side making sure all the bolts are accounted for.
Loosen the Bolts
Now that you have access to the blades, it’s time to keep loosening more bolts. The bolts around the rotor assembly might be difficult to loosen so make sure you use the correct size wrench with your bolts. This is the last step of disassembling your machine to gain access to the wood chipper blades.
Need a replacement? Explore our range of Wood Chipper Bolts with fast delivery in the UK.
Take Out the Blade
Please remember that even though your wood chipper blades may be dull they are still able to slip through your fingers so you must use safety goggles and gloves. Now the blade is loose, remove it from the machine safely and you will be ready to start sharpening.
Use the Disk Sander
To use a disc sander to sharpen your wood chipper blades you must first hold the blade tightly in place by using a vice. When you use the disk sander make sure you use it on the blunt part of the blade. Angle the blade and make quick short strokes across the surface. Keep repeating this process until the blade is sharpened.
Alternatively, we recommend you have a fresh set of sharpened wood chipper blades at the ready so that when your blades become blunt a freshly sharpened pair is ready to go.
Reassemble your wood chipper and you will be ready to go.
Alternate Methods to Sharpen Your Wood Chipper
While disc sanders are excellent tools for sharpening wood chipper blades, you can also use other tools as well depending on your personal preference.
Wet Wheel
A wet wheel is designed to specifically sharpen metal surfaces. Water is used to keep your metal cool while grinding, preventing overheating and preventing surface damage. You use a wet wheel in the same way as a disc sander using short quick strokes across the blade to sharpen the surface.
Belt Sander
A belt sander is a tool that is professionally used in many workshops and works very differently from a wet wheel or a disc sander. Since the sander is stationary, you must hold the blade in place and use short quick strokes across the belt to sharpen it.
Where to Buy Wood Chipper Parts and Accessories
At Rotatech we supply a range of wood chipper parts and accessories for you to purchase. We deliver high-quality parts at a cost-effective price ensuring you have all the parts you need for your wood chipper. See our wood chipper parts and accessories below:
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