We’re becoming more and more aware of our role as guardians of our land these days, so ensuring our garden waste is properly recycled is one of the most important things we can do to take care of our soil, as well as our wider environment. In this article, we’re going to talk about wood chippers, how, and why they help in that endeavour.
Later, I’ll talk about the differences between wood chippers and garden shredders, and why it’s important to mulch plants back with their own clippings where possible, but most importantly, we’ve got a comprehensive guide to the best wood chippers you can buy online right now.
More...
Top Pick
Best Value
Best Garden Mulchers, Wood Chippers & Shredders in Australia
Product | Our Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Michigan Raptor 950 Wood Chipper & Garden Shredder |  | | |
2. Michigan 2500W Electric Impact Garden Shredder |  | | |
3. Michigan Ravenger Petrol Wood Chipper Mulcher |  |
Wood Chippers Buyer's Guide
What is a Wood Chipper?
Wood chippers are large, free-standing, power tools that process timber into mulch by crushing or shredding branches into mixed sized garden clippings.
Do You Need a Wood Chipper?
Wood chippers reduce garden waste by creating mulch which can be used all over the garden to help retain moisture in the soil, and improve soil structure over time.
By breaking down trees and shrub cuttings as often as possible you reduce your council waste collections, improve your own personal impact on the environment. By not having to drive to dispose of your timber, or burn it, you create a much more circular environment in your garden too.
For shrubs like Camelia and rhododendrons, they love being mulched with their own leaf and wood mulches so by creating your own mulch you are improving the health of your own plants too.
Different Types of Wood Chippers
Wood chippers are often sold as wood chippers, mulchers, or garden shredders, but there is a slight difference with each. While mulcher is a general term, it usually refers to a shredder, which breaks down materials as small as possible so they break down faster, while a chipper is designed to crush timber.
The two main types of wood chippers are explained in more detail here:
What is a Wood Chipper for?
Wood chippers are for breaking down branches as quickly and efficiently as possible. The more expensive the wood chipper, usually, the bigger the branches it can handle.
You should never put general garden waste in a wood chipper as they are not designed for shredding, and have blunt blades designed to rip and crush timber rather than neatly cut it into pieces, and the blunt blades can easily be clogged by soft fibrous materials.
What is a Garden Shredder for?
Garden shredders are great for small branches, softwood, and leaf litter, and can even help break down grass clippings so they compost even quicker.
Garden shredders should never be used to break down large branches though as they will quickly have their blades blunted by hardwood, or timber too thick for their blades.
What to Look For When Buying a Wood Chipper
When you’re looking for the best wood chipper for your garden there are a few basics to consider that will help you with your decision. Firstly, how often are you planning on using it?
Don’t spend thousands of dollars on something you only need once, when you can rent a wood chipper. Second, how big is the tree you need to break down?
Get Your Free Guide:
Master Growing Australian Natives eBook
A Must Have Complete Guide for Every Australian Garden
Get Your Free Guide:
Master Growing Australian Natives eBook
A Must Have Complete Guide for Every Australian Garden
If you’re just buying a wood chipper for general garden maintenance, a good quality shredder might be enough. And lastly, what fuel do you need?
If your garden is huge there’s no point carting around an extension lead every time you use a wood chipper, so it's probably best to invest in a petrol wood chipper.
Capacity of Wood Chippers Explained
When you’re looking for the best wood chipper or even a basic garden mulcher, you’ll come across a figure called ‘feed capacity’ or sometimes just ‘capacity’. All this means is the width of the branch your chipper can handle.
Most garden shredders can handle branches up to 40mm wide, but only the best wood chippers can break down branches over 100mm, so for professional tree surgeons you should be looking at wood chippers with a capacity of at least 100mm, and ideally, 120mm if you can find it.
Wood Chippers Safety Guide
There are some pretty obvious health and safety considerations for using a wood chipper or garden shredder. First and foremost, never put your hand anywhere near the blades.
Some shredders are self-feeding, meaning they will continue to pull whatever they are cutting further in. Some shredders come with automatic shut-downs so when you let go of the switch they turn off, and others do not.
Get to know your machine before using it to make sure you know what to do in an emergency.
- Always wear goggles
- Always wear thick gloves
- Feed slowly, one branch at a time to prevent clogging
- Wear a mask when cutting down any timber (wet or dry) to prevent dust inhalation
Mulcher, Garden Shredder, & Wood Chipper Reviews
1. Michigan Raptor 950 2-in-1 Portable Wood Chipper & Garden Shredder
This is the professional choice. You will not find a better wood chipper, shredder or mulcher online for this price.
Ok, so it’s ten times the price of any other mulcher or chipper on review here, but that’s because this is a serious machine for professional tree surgeons, capable of shredding down branches up to 76mm so it’ll handle most semi-mature trees and shrubs.
The only word of caution with this is that it's designed for chipping timber, not mulching fibrous materials, so shouldn’t be used to break down general garden waste.
Pros
Cons
2. Michigan 2500W Electric Impact Garden Shredder
Michigan’s electric mulcher is ideal for domestic gardens, with a surprisingly generous 45mm capacity, meaning it can tackle most small branches from annual pruning, and creates a gorgeous fine mulch that can be directly applied onto gardens.
The quiet operation of this small machine makes it perfect for smaller gardeners without annoying the neighbours, and it’s incredibly easy to store too.
Pros
Cons
3. Michigan Ravenger Petrol Wood Chipper and Garden Mulcher
The Michigan commercial petrol wood chipper, the Michigan Ravenger, is capable of branches up to 120mm across, cutting them down with a twin blade system that makes even finer mulch than most domestic leaf chippers.
There is no world where a domestic gardener should need to buy a Michigan Ravenger, but they’re a great choice for rentals for big DIY jobs.
And for professional landscapers and tree surgeons these are pretty much the only choice for big jobs especially when used alongside a wood splitter to break down the bigger material first.
Pros
Cons
Best Value Wood Chipper
The best value wood chipper in 2024 is the MICHIGAN 2500W Electric Mulcher Crushing Garden Shredder Chipper. It's a small chipper, but it packs a big bite, with a 45mm capacity, meaning it can tackle most freshly pruned branches from fruit trees, or hedge thinnings without breaking a sweat.
The generous hopper underneath keeps everything compact and lightweight too, making it ideal for smaller spaces with limited storage space.
Wood Chipper Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a wood chipper and a garden shredder?
Wood chippers are designed to break down larger branches into mulch (usually 40mm+) while shredders are designed for branches under 40mm, leaves, and fibrous materials.
Wood chippers can often get clogged by fibrous materials and grasses so make sure you use the right tool for the job.
Can you put pallets in a wood chipper?
Most pallet timber is over 75mm across, so should only ever be fed into a professional wood chipper that can cope with at least 12mm.
It’s also incredibly important to take out any nails, screws or fittings from the pallet and no chipper is designed to work through metal fittings.
What is better, compost or mulch?
Compost is great for adding nutrients to your soil, while mulch serves one very simple purpose; moisture retention. By adding a wood chip mulch from a wood chipper, you can increase water retention in your soil and improve the overall soil health without affecting the pH or nutrition of your garden.
Can you put grass clippings in a wood chipper?
Grass, hay, and leaf litter are all fibrous materials and can quickly clog wood chippers. Garden shredders are better tools for breaking down general garden waste and will likely be more useful for most home gardeners.
For more gardening tool reviews related to tree and wood chopping, see our list below:
Get the Best Wood Chipper for 2024
Just before I sat down to write this article, I had to take down part of a conifer on the boundary of our garden. It’s a beautiful tree, but it needs training and controlling more than we had in the past, but did you know that conifer chippings are one of the best mulches you can have in the garden?
Conifer is ericaceous, so other than buying exceptionally expensive ericaceous soils there is little you can do to promote healthy growth of shrubs like hydrangeas, camellias and rhododendrons, or even ferns. That sort of work needs the best wood chipper to work through the sticky, sappy, timbers.
Published on August 4, 2022 by Gary Clarke
Last Updated on September 27, 2024
I have massive oak trees in my yard but I can’t find a shredder that will smash up the leaves and most have a very small entry point
I would prefer electric do you have any suggestions
Thanks
Hi Stuart,
It depends on the branches you’re shredding along with them. Are you planning on taking branches off the oak trees and mulching the branches and leaves all at once?
Most wood chippers just let the leaves pass through because they’re smaller than the grinding teeth. But, most small electric shredders like the Michigan 2500W Electric Impact Garden Shredder make a really fine mulch of leaves and small stems. The only issue there is that they can’t really cope with larger branches.
An even better option, if you’ve got very fine twigs and loads of leaf is something like the Rover 40mm (1.5″) Petrol Chipper Shredder Vacuum above, which is specifically designed to get shred the leaves. Plus, you’re not reliant on the opening, because its just sucking up the smaller material as you roll along.
I hope that’s helpful, but it depends on a few more specific factors.
Best regards,
Gary Clarke