The 7 Best Wood Chippers for Faster Yard and Storm Cleanup

If you’ve been putting off yard cleanup, the calendar is going to force your hand. With various fall weather events occurring randomly and temperatures dropping and winter approaching, you probably want to get your yard in order while there’s still a vague idea of warmth outside. A wood chipper won’t stop the next storm from knocking limbs off your trees, but it will make cleaning up afterward a whole lot easier.

Like a generator or a snowblower, the time to buy one of these isn’t after the event has happened, but before, when items are still well-stocked. It’s also the best time to think about what to do with all of that woody debris once it drops. Instead of dragging branches to the curb, a quality wood chipper can turn those into useful mulch while saving you time, money, and annoying trips across the yard.

Powered by either a gas or electric motors, wood chippers use a set of blades that shred just about anything that falls from a tree to your lawn, from dead leaves to thick branches, into bite-sized pieces that you can use as mulch, which helps fertilize the soil and block weeds from growing in your landscaping.

While many of us think of wood chippers as industrial-strength tools for tree removal companies, there are smaller models suitable for homeowners with wooded properties and sustainable lawn care goals. These wood chippers are fairly portable. In fact, many come on wheels so you can bring them out from your shed or garage without a hassle. And I would know: I’ve tested some of the most promising wood chippers out there to find the best ones that are recommended here. Read on to decide which one is right for you.

• Best Overall Wood Chipper: Champion Power Equipment 3-Inch Portable Gas Wood Chipper​
• Best Value Gas Chipper: SuperHandy Mini Gas Wood Chipper​
• Best for Making Mulch: Earthquake K32 Gas Wood Chipper​
• Best Electric for Heavy-Duty Chipping: Patriot Products 5-hp Corded Electric Wood Chipper​
• Best for Small Pruning Jobs: Sun Joe CJ603E Electric Wood Chipper​
• Best for Large Properties: DK2 Manual 7-hp DK2 POWER Gas Wood Chipper​
• Best for Spreading Wood Chips: Landworks Manual 7-HP Gas Wood Chipper​

Tony Carrick lives on a partially wooded lot in North Carolina, so he’s used to trees dumping branches, twigs, leaves, and other debris on his property. For this round of wood chipper testing, he tested four new models and found them all worthwhile to recommend.

Carrick selected these chippers for testing based on previous chipper tests performed by the Popular Mechanics test team as well as his own past wood chipping experience. He used each machine to break down dry branches of varying sizes, up to 3 inches thick, and evaluated how they handled thicker branches without stalling out or clogging. He also used each model’s mulching function to break down twigs and dead leaves.

Wood chippers usually deposit their chopped-up wood into a collection bag, so Carrick measured each chipper’s bag capacity and assessed how easy it was to unload and reset after the job was done. He also evaluated the chips themselves, checking each model’s ability to break down material into small pieces for mulching.

After testing for each machine was complete, Carrick weighed each model’s performance with its price tag to determine value. He made sure to highlight both small electric wood chippers for lighter-duty needs and larger gas models for more heavily wooded properties, so there’s a great option for every homeowner who needs one.

Champion’s 3-inch portable wood chipper strikes a good balance between size, chipping capacity, and price, which is why it’s our pick for best all-around wood chipper for homeowners.

For starters, the Champion’s compact size lends itself to homeowner use. Large wheels and wide handlebars made it easy to wheel from the garage, around the house, through a gate, and into the backyard. We do wonder how well the plastic wheels will stand up to the test of time, though that concern is as of now unfounded.

Despite its smaller size, the Champion has just as much cutting capacity as larger options. It chewed through 3-inch-diameter branches without clogging or stalling, whether cramming it with soft pine or harder maple branches. After a heavy day of rain, the material running through the Champion was saturated. Wet wood typically makes for tough sledding for a wood chipper, but this chipper was unfazed, grinding through soaked branches with ease.

As with the other wood chippers we tested, the Champion portable wood chipper features dual intakes—along with a chute for branches, there’s also a hopper on the top for leaves and twigs.

If there’s a gripe to be had with the wood chipping function on the Champion, it’s with the stiff rubber gasket that covers the chute opening, which created some resistance when feeding branches. These were small issues that didn’t really impact performance in testing, but we could see them slowing things down if a large stack of branches was fed into the chipper.

Champion’s 3-inch chipper is, above all else, a well-balanced option. It isn’t the most powerful chipper you can buy, but it’s a strong performer for what we’d call an average workload. When you factor that in with a lower price tag than those of other comparable models, it’s the right move for homeowners who need a chipper to break down yard waste from trees periodically and help with leaf cleanup in the fall.

Read the Full Review of the Champion Here »

The SuperHandy Mini feels affordable for what it offers: A powerful, gas-powered chipper that doesn’t take up too much space. Most gas wood chippers weigh more than 100 pounds, but the SuperHandy is significantly lighter—just 85 pounds. It’s also one of the only chippers we selected that sits on air-filled tires, which do a better job of absorbing bumps, making it easier to move over uneven ground. Those tires, along with the machine's compact build, make it far easier to wheel around the yard than most gas chippers.

And while it has a smaller 212-cc engine, it’s still capable of chipping branches up to 3 inches in diameter down to pieces that are small enough to mulch. It just takes longer to work through those thicker branches.

Keep in mind that this is just a wood chipper. There is no separate hopper for mulching leaves and twigs. If you want a wood chipper that can do both, look elsewhere. But, if you don’t mind separating your branches from your leaves and twigs, this is a reasonably priced and capable wood chipper.

We’ve tested both Earthquake’s K32 and K33 wood chippers, and both are impressive. While the K33 offers nominally better chipping ability, we’re partial to the K32, which still offers ample power but at a more homeowner-friendly price.

The K32 uses a high-performing gas engine that we found to be surprisingly easy to start, firing up after just a couple of pulls. Its 212-cc engine, though smaller than the K33’s 301-cc engine, is powerful enough to power the machine through branches up to 3 inches in diameter. We shoveled leaves and twigs into its hopper, all of which it quickly reduced into a fine mulch, though not without the need for a push stick to work it through its small opening. Its wood chipping performance was impressive as it chewed through 1- to 2-inch limbs faster than we could load them.

The K32 features a spacious top hopper, allowing you to easily dump armloads of dry leaves into it, making it an excellent companion for fall leaf cleanup. Its large collection bag is supported by a rod extending from the side of the chipper, which helps prevent clogging as the bag fills up.

Complementing its powerful chipping is a rock-solid build. It’s made from heavy-gauge steel and feels sturdy. Like all chippers, it’s pretty hefty at 118 pounds, but it sits on large 11-inch wheels and has a large sturdy handle that makes maneuvering it around manageable. It’s an impressively built wood chipper for homeowners who deal with a larger amount of tree debris on their properties.

Read the Full Earthquake K32 Review Here

The Popular Mechanics test team recommends both Patriot’s smaller 1.5-hp electric chipper as well as its more powerful 5-hp model, which is sold exclusively on the company’s website. There is a significant power difference, but both wood chippers offer many of the same features. We got a chance to conduct a hands-on review of both models.

With the 5-hp motor model, it ripped through 3-inch-thick branches, snatching them quickly and gobbling them up with near-frightening speed. This beast tore through limbs faster than we could feed them into the intake, making every test go quickly.

Less thrilling was the hopper for leaves. The opening is large, but it funnels down to a tight space before reaching the cutting blades, which clogged when a pile of leaves was dumped into it. Using a stick to push them through worked, but the job was more of a chore than it should have been.

All of that power comes with a few trade-offs. For starters, this Patriot chipper is heavy, weighing 173 pounds (the 1.5-hp model is much lighter at 95 pounds). It’s fairly compact, though. And while we wouldn’t say it was easy to move, having large 10-inch wheels and never-flat rubber tires made rolling it from garage to backyard surprisingly manageable.

The biggest issue, though, for the 5-hp model is that it requires a 240-volt outlet to power it—the same electric hookup you’d use for a dryer or electric stove, or that can be found on some generators. I hooked it up by connecting a long extension cord to our dryer outlet for testing, which was fine at the time, but is less than ideal for regular use. That inconvenience, combined with the chipper’s substantial price tag, makes it a niche pickup: It’s a superpowered electric chipper, so it’s low-maintenance and quieter than a similarly powerful gas alternative. If those two things are priorities for you, this may be a good fit.

If you don’t need a chipper with as much power, Patriot’s smaller 1.5-hp model, which impressed us during testing, is also a decent option. Plus, it runs on a standard 120-volt outlet, which makes things easier. It may not be as fast as the 5-hp version, but it’s reliable and half the cost.

The latest generation of Sun Joe’s lightweight wood chipper is a robust electric option for folks with only one or two trees in the yard. We were pleased with how the brand’s previous model handled twigs and small branches when tested a couple of years back, but the CJ603E is a step up. It features a pressure plate that pushes branches up against a rotary blade for better cutting. As a result, it can handle larger branches of up to about 1.73 inches, compared to the 1.5-inch max of its predecessor.

The effects of that upgrade were apparent in testing, with this model handling sticks and twigs up to its max capacity quickly. Also impressive is how it actually pulls material into it, eliminating the need to manually feed branches into the blade. In fact, at one point, we were able to continuously load sticks, one after the other, without the Sun Joe missing a beat.

At the same time, keep in mind that the CJ603E is expressly designed as a light-duty wood chipper. It has a lower maximum capacity than our other recommendations, and chews through wood far more slowly. The chips also fall short of Sun Joe’s estimated reduction ratio: At 21:1, the chips should have been finer than what they actually produced. That makes sense, given that it’s a lower-wattage electric model, but it’s definitely worth keeping in mind. If you plan to use your mulch for compost, we recommend spending the extra money on a more powerful chipper.

In keeping with its light and easy design, this Sun Joe's construction is less durable than that of many of my favorite wood chippers, with more plastic parts than we’d normally like. While it’s nice to be able to rapidly load it with material, using it that way for too long might wear it out.

This Sun Joe is far more affordable than other wood chippers and weighs only 38 pounds. After lugging around many chippers weighing well above 100 pounds, wheeling this one into position felt like pulling a cloud. It also took up far less space in the garage. While it doesn’t match the shredding ability of our other recommendations, there are plenty of homes that would benefit from this model for light cleanup jobs.

If you have a larger property to manage and a riding mower or ATV at your disposal, then a towable wood chipper is the way to go. DK2’s smallest towable option offers excellent build quality at an affordable price. It sits on large 13.75-inch ATV-style wheels that make it easy to pull over uneven ground and roots over a larger property. It’s also built to bounce around off-road with its steel frame and hardened steel chipping blades.

Its 212-cc engine is comparable to the engine found on other 3-inch capacity wood chippers and it’s equipped with a larger top hopper, which is a benefit when dumping in armloads of leaves and smaller debris. There are also handy features like a quick-release latch that opens the swing chute, which simplifies clearing any jams, and an adjustable discharge chute so you can direct where the chips end up.

One knock on the DK2 is its 10:1 reduction ratio. This means that it produces chips that aren’t as fine as other wood chippers, something to note if you’re planning to use this wood chipper to create usable mulch. If you have a large wooded property to cover and an ATV or lawn tractor in the shed, then this towable DK2 wood chipper is a great option.

A gas wood chipper can be a beast to pull around the yard. The Landworks wood chipper is slightly lighter than other wood chippers, yet doesn’t compromise power or cutting capacity. At 96 pounds, it’s about 30 to 40 pounds lighter than other wood chippers with similar engine sizes and chipping capacity. This by no means makes it a lightweight tool, but it does make it far more manageable to wheel around your property than those heavier models. There is a compromise for that lightweight design and that’s in functionality. Whereas other models operate as a combination shredder and chipper, the Landworks is a dedicated chipper with no leaf hopper.

Unlike those combination models, however, the Landworks gas wood chipper has a long discharge chute that extends away from the machine. This prevents chips from piling up around it so you don't have to stop frequently to clear them or reposition the wood chipper. The discharge is also adjustable from 90 to 145 degrees, which allows you to direct where the wood chips go. This design makes it especially useful for spreading chips for ground cover. If you’re looking for a lightweight alternative to other wood chippers and don’t need a machine that can shred leaves, then the Landworks 7-HP wood chipper is a good choice.

Electric vs. Gas: Which Fuel Is Right for You?

Reduction Ratio and Power

The primary measurement of a wood chipper’s efficiency, the “reduction ratio,” gives you an estimate of how finely a chipper can break down branches and sticks. For example, a mulcher with a 10:1 ratio can reduce a branch down to about a tenth of its original size. The higher the ratio, the smaller the wood chips.

If you plan on using your wood chips for compost or mulch, you want your chipper to produce smaller pieces, so it’s important to look for a more powerful mulcher with a high ratio—at least 10:1.

We’ve found that manufacturers often exaggerate the mulching ratio of their machines on the spec sheet. If you want a more technical, grounded way of assessing a chipper, you should also take a look at the size of its motor or engine. Reduction ratio is dictated, in large part, by your chipper’s power. Looking for a larger electric motor or gas engine ensures that your chipper has the muscle to make finer mulch quickly and easily.

Capacity

The second important measurement on a wood chipper is its capacity, which tells you the largest branch size it can process. Capacity refers to the diameter of a branch, so we’re talking about thickness, not length.

Most electric wood chippers max out at around 1.5 inches, while more powerful gas chippers can chew through branches up to 3 inches thick. There are industrial-grade chippers that can grind up branches that are quite a bit larger than what our picks can handle, but most people don’t need that kind of power regularly. Keep in mind that hardness, moisture, forks in the wood, side branches, and blade conditions can also impact the wood chipper’s capacity.

Weight and Size

While a more powerful chipper sounds great on paper, keep in mind that a bigger engine makes for a larger, heavier wood chipper. Most electric wood chippers designed for homeowners typically weigh between 30 and 40 pounds, and tend to be relatively compact compared to gas-powered models, so they’re easier to store.

Gas wood chippers generally offer better reduction ratios and greater capacity, but they also weigh a lot—130 to 150 pounds or more. Given that, we’d urge you to bring home a chipper with just enough power to handle the kind of lawn debris you typically find lying around your yard.