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13th July, 2021

How a Wood Chipper Can Improve Gardening Services

When planning a gardening job it's important you have the right equipment. A wood chipper is a great piece of machinery that has many uses, whether your business is gardening, landscaping, or tree work.


When planning a gardening job it’s important you have the right equipment as the tools you choose should make your job quicker and easier.

A wood chipper is a great piece of machinery that has many uses. Whether your business is gardening, landscaping, or tree work, a wood chipper is a valuable tool that can help turn garden waste into a valuable material.

Outdoor areas contain lots of leaves, branches, prunings, trees, and brushwood. Rather than throwing these things away, they can be turned into wood chippings which can be repurposed for other uses.

They also help speed up the cleaning process when removing debris and trimmings, as depending on the size of the wood chipper, you can feed it all into the machine.

What is a Wood Chipper?

A wood chipper is a large outdoor power tool that is designed to reduce the bulk of parks and garden waste and make disposal easy.

These tools are extremely useful for landscaping companies, commercial gardeners, and grounds maintenance companies. In lots of areas it is illegal to dispose of garden waste by landfill or open burning. Wood chippers turn garden waste into wood chippings, which is a very useful material that can be used across many applications. We’ll come onto the uses of this material later in the blog post.

Wood Chippers are often portable and come in a variety of different sizes and styles. At YardLink, we offer a range of landscaping equipment hire options from a petrol wood chipper to a road towable chipper. Take a look and see which of our products could benefit your project!

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What Does a Wood Chipper do?

Regardless of which wood chipper you chose, their function remains the same. Wood is fed into a chute and the blades inside break the wood down into smaller chunks that can be reused. The wood chippings are then ejected from the machine for you to use elsewhere. Some models are equipped with a bin to catch the wood chippings as they leave the chute.

Moreover, a wood chipper will work on both fresh and dried wood making it a versatile piece of machinery which can be used for different jobs.

The amount of branches and leaves that can be fed into the chute will depend on the size of the wood-chipper you choose and the type of components it has inside.

If you’re unsure what type of equipment you need for your project, give us a call and speak to a friendly member of the YardLink team!

What are the Benefits of Using a Wood Chipper?

For those working in commercial gardening there are lots of benefits to using a wood chipper.

Primarily, these large pieces of equipment reduce landscape trimmings down to a much more manageable size. The wood chippings can then be reused which provides another income stream for your business as you can put the unwanted wood to good use.

If you’re a landscape contractor, having this machine would be a huge benefit to your services as you can recycle debris on the spot and use it as ground cover.

Other benefits of a wood chipper include:

  • Quickly removes waste – If a tree has been cut down or the limbs have been trimmed, a wood chipper is a quick way to dispose of the waste with very little mess. It’s also a lot quicker than other disposal methods, and leaves you with wood chips to use for other purposes.
  • Hassle free – Hiring a wood chipper saves you time and energy when it comes to disposing of waste. Instead of making multiple trips to the dump to dispose of garden waste, you can easily chip the wood up into one neat pile. For any business, time is money, so having a tool which makes this process quicker is a huge advantage.
  • Environmentally friendly – Other methods of disposing waste are harmful to the environment and contribute to global warming. For example burning trees and branches releases pollutants into the atmosphere, which makes air unhealthy to breathe and kills wildlife.
  • Profitable – A wood chipper is capable of producing various materials for different applications. As previously mentioned, this creates another income stream for your business as you’re able to supply customers with wood chippings they can reuse.
  • Hiring options – If you don’t have the capacity to purchase and store a wood chipper then you can conveniently hire one. At YardLink, we offer a range of landscaping equipment hire options including a petrol wood chipper and a towable road chipper. With a nationwide network of trusted suppliers, you’re guaranteed the best service. Take a look at our range for yourself!
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What Can a Wood Chipper Be Used for?

Landscape gardeners and tree surgeons produce a lot of fresh wood chips from woodland maintenance meaning there are surplus amounts of chippings available to reuse.

As a versatile material, these small chunks of wood can be used across a variety of applications. Not only is this more environmentally friendly as you’re recycling waste instead of disposing it, but you’re also offering another service to customers.

Mulch for landscaping

Wood chippings can be used to make mulch for landscaping. These chunks of wood are quite large, and unlike mulch from the garden centre, they last several seasons. As well as being cost effective, using wood chips as mulch regulates soil temperature and moisture.

As wood chips absorb the rain, they help the ground stay cooler for longer which allows flowers to grow. Even when they dry out they still retain moisture and allow flowers to thrive.

Another benefit of using wood chippings as mulch is that weeds find it difficult to grow in the chippings. This is great news for any of your customers who are keen to improve the appearance of their garden.

Garden compost

Wood chips make great compost as they are 100% organic. As a natural material, this is exactly what nature needs for feeding new growth.

Before you spread the wood chips across a garden or outdoor park area make sure you remove all of the weeds first. You are then ready to spread the wood chips across the surface of the soil, making sure you create a layer which is around 2-3 inches thick.

This is a great way of reusing large amounts of branches that accumulate through pruning trees or trimming brushes. Instead of piling them into a bag or skip, you can easily feed them into a wood chipper and create a valuable resource.

Cushioning for a Playground

Wood chippings are a safe option for playground cushioning as they are versatile and flexible. They provide the most effective surface for averting injuries and are also less sensitive to extreme temperatures. This is a big advantage as it means they will protect children during summer and winter months.

Furthermore, compared to alternative materials, wood chippings have less expenses for long term maintenance. Even with occasional top-ups, playground wood chips are still the most cost-effective surfacing option.

As a playground base, wood chippings have the best aesthetic appeal. A playground should be fun and inviting for children to play which is only made possible through the way it looks. Instead of using gravel or concrete, wood chips provide a more visual experience.

Paths and Walkways

Using wood chips to make paths and walkways is a great way to repurpose large quantities of chippings from trees you have cut down. The chunks of wood can be laid down between raised planter beds to keep them neat and tidy in a garden or park area.

This material brings lots of advantages to pedestrians walking over the area as it protects their shoes from the muddy surface below. Another benefit of wood chippings is their flexibility as they can be curved round to make different shapes. Unlike gravel or paving stones, you are less restricted as you can freely lay the chips where you want them.

In addition, wood chips prevent weed growth which keeps any outdoor area tidy without the need for excess maintenance.

Soil Erosion

In areas of a garden where the soil is eroding from heavy rain and wind, wood chippings provide a great solution. They can be used to form a barrier to keep the soil in place. By tilling chips into the soil, the wood will absorb water and help keep the ground strong.

This is a temporary fix as the chippings will decompose over time. However, it provides an effective way of protecting soil from erosion until you find a more permanent solution. The wood chips can then be collected and added to a compost bin, meaning they are still being reused.

If you’re working on a landscaping project, and your customer is worried about their soil, this can be a great offering. There will already be large amounts of garden waste so it’s useful to know it can be recycled into a valuable means.

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How to Choose a Wood Chipper

The wood chipper you need depends on the work you’re doing and the size of the project. Choosing the right equipment is essential for any job and it’s important to understand the different options available.

But with so many commercial wood chippers on the market, it can be difficult to choose the right one for your business. You need to ensure that it is capable of handling heavy duty chipping and has the right capacity.

Similar considerations are required when choosing a skip, but we’ll leave for that now as we’ve already covered this in another blog post!

  • Feed capacity – This is the amount of wood the chute can take and break down. When choosing a wood chipper, you need to consider the size of the branches in comparison with the model you’ve chosen.
  • Power – When assessing the power of a wood chipper, you will be looking at the horsepower (HP) it is able to produce. It can be difficult to identify exactly what type of power you require as it depends on the amount and size of wood you will be chipping. At YardLink, our Petrol Wood Chipper is powered by a 13HP petrol engine and is designed to work all day, every day.
  • Manoeuvrability – This is particularly important for large scale projects as you will need a wood chipper which is easy to move around. If you’re cutting down a lot of trees you don’t want to be restricted as this will take the job longer to complete. Petrol powered wood chippers have great mobility and are ideal for heavy duty jobs.
  • Storage – As previously mentioned, wood chippers are large pieces of machinery that will need to be stored away at the end of the day. If you don’t have the premises or capacity to purchase your own wood chipper, then you might want to consider wood chipper rental. At YardLink, we have a range of landscaping equipment available for hire.

How a Wood Chipper Can Improve Gardening Services

When it comes to landscaping, having the best gardening tools is key. This helps you complete the job quickly and efficiently and ensures customer satisfaction.

A wood chipper is a very useful piece of equipment. Whether you work in landscaping, tree surgery or grounds maintenance, this tool helps turn large quantities of wood into a valuable resource.

When you’re clearing an outdoor space, you’re always left with piles of branches, trees, brushwood, and other types of garden waste. Instead of taking these things to the dump, wouldn’t it be better if there was an alternative?

With a wood chipper there is. Repurpose these unwanted chips into a compost heap, playground surface, or use them to make a new walkway. The options are endless. For your business, this adds another income stream as you can supply customers with wood chippings which can be used in various ways.

As we’ve discussed, this material is very versatile and there is no need for it to be thrown away. This brings benefits to your business and the environment, as you’re recycling waste instead of disposing of it.

If you’re wondering how a wood chipper can benefit your business, or want to know more about landscaping equipment hire, then give us a call today.

We’ll be more than happy to help!

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