Splitting Branches too big for chipper

[Nate_Beres]

I recently purchased a 5hp chipper shredder for the home. Our 1/3 acre lot is mostly fir trees and LOTS of wood chips.
Between my and the 5 neighbor junction at the back of the property, there are plenty of downed branches to keep me busy.
That said, this a ...chip away at it...work.
Max diameter is 3" and many branches are at or bigger than that.
Has anyone ever split thick branches to fit in their chipper?
Seems like some kind of ground vise/clamp, some wedges and a hand sledge could do the trick. Maybe one of those hand drill spiral splitting things? (Look like a gimmick).
Chipper is old and needs a lot of work before i start so i dont want it running at max diameter too much.
Before anyone says >3" is firewood, our new place is gas, no fireplace.
Any advice on the quickest, easiest way to split 5-10' lenths of 3-6" in half would be great!

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[Del_]

Nobody splits branches to put in a chipper.

Especially a toy chipper like you've got.

 

[SweetMK]

You are better off leaving the big stuff for the town to pick up on trash days,,
and then use the money saved not having to repair the chipper on bags of chipped wood.

Realistically, some fights are not worth the battle,,
Why destroy your perfectly good small branch and brush chipper,, just to get rid of a few large branches??

 

[Brufab]

Take it there's no bonfires or brush pile burning allowed? I put tons of wood/branches out to the curb for lawn/leaf garbage day. They have to be 4' long and bundled with twine/rope/tape.

 

[arathol]

Put all the big branches in one pile, then rent a big chipper for a day...

 

[Bearcreek]

Using a 5 hp chipper for any size branches is a waste of time, but, if you've got tons of time and nothing better to do with it, you could cut branches in half long ways with a chain saw. Or, better yet, use a handsaw (since we're just burning time here).

 

[Del_]

Put all the big branches in one pile, then rent a big chipper for a day...

Or cut them to firewood, post a free ad for free firewood,

.... and save the chipper rental money for a rainy day!

 

[user 159780]

Even if retired with plenty of spare time I would not waste time with a 5hp chipper.
It's difficult enough even with a 25hp 6" rental machine.

As mentioned above collect all the debris and rent a chipper that will grind it up as is.
Maybe share the rental cost with your neighbors.

 

[Brufab]

I ran a mtd 8hp one and it was a long and difficult task. The video showed it doing all kinds of stuff, they must of had some sort of special grinding wheel in it because my results did not match the instructional video included.

 

[Brufab]

Probly just buy a 55 gallon drum and punch holes in it and the top and just burn. Most municipality let you burn in a closed type container

 

[grizz55chev]

3 nice Ponderosa bug kills, taken down last weekend, and run through a chipper then hand spread over a road improvement for erosion control! Win, win, not bad for 3 days work by an old man. My son did the felling and brought his chipper for the bigger stuff. That thing will eat anything you can lift into it! I filled my truck 5 times by hand and spread it myself.

 

[user 159780]

I ran a mtd 8hp one and it was a long and difficult task. The video showed it doing all kinds of stuff, they must of had some sort of special grinding wheel in it because my results did not match the instructional video included.

In the video, maybe chipping basswood. lol

 

[JimR]

I recently purchased a 5hp chipper shredder for the home. Our 1/3 acre lot is mostly fir trees and LOTS of wood chips.
Between my and the 5 neighbor junction at the back of the property, there are plenty of downed branches to keep me busy.
That said, this a ...chip away at it...work.
Max diameter is 3" and many branches are at or bigger than that.
Has anyone ever split thick branches to fit in their chipper?
Seems like some kind of ground vise/clamp, some wedges and a hand sledge could do the trick. Maybe one of those hand drill spiral splitting things? (Look like a gimmick).
Chipper is old and needs a lot of work before i start so i dont want it running at max diameter too much.
Before anyone says >3" is firewood, our new place is gas, no fireplace.
Any advice on the quickest, easiest way to split 5-10' lenths of 3-6" in half would be great!

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Give it away as firewood is what I would do instead of wasting my time dealing with it.

 

[fishdrivel]

I recently purchased a 5hp chipper shredder for the home. Our 1/3 acre lot is mostly fir trees and LOTS of wood chips.
Between my and the 5 neighbor junction at the back of the property, there are plenty of downed branches to keep me busy.
That said, this a ...chip away at it...work.
Max diameter is 3" and many branches are at or bigger than that.
Has anyone ever split thick branches to fit in their chipper?
Seems like some kind of ground vise/clamp, some wedges and a hand sledge could do the trick. Maybe one of those hand drill spiral splitting things? (Look like a gimmick).
Chipper is old and needs a lot of work before i start so i dont want it running at max diameter too much.
Before anyone says >3" is firewood, our new place is gas, no fireplace.
Any advice on the quickest, easiest way to split 5-10' lenths of 3-6" in half would be great!

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

I have a big chipper and a log splitter.
I still often give away firewood to people who want it for firepits, etc.
Ad on marketplace and huge piles are gone in a couple hours.
Don't delete ads on big piles until it's all gone, many will get tired of loading or get what they want.