Tree chipper
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A tree chipper (sometimes, wood chipper) is a machine used for reducing wood (generally tree limbs or trunks) to chips. They are often portable, being mounted on wheels on frames suitable for towing behind a truck or van. Power is generally provided by a gasoline engine from 3 to 20 horsepower (2 to 15 kW).
They are typically made of a hopper with a collar, the chipper mechanism itself, and a collection bin for the chips. A downed tree limb is inserted into the hopper (the collar serving as a partial safety mechanism to keep human body parts away from the chipping blades) and started into the chipping mechanism. This usually is designed to pull the remainder of the limb into the chipper. Typical output is chips on the order of 3 or 4 inches (75 to 100 mm) in size. The chipping mechanism is usually a rotating flail type with several sharp metal blades.
A famous (or infamous, depending on one's perspective) use of a tree chipper is the scene in the Joel and Ethan Coen movie Fargo in which a tree chipper is used to dispose of a body. The movie is dramatic, but tree chippers are actually quite dangerous. They should be used only by careful adults who have been thoroughly checked out on their safe use.
The resulting wood chips have various uses such as being spread as a ground cover or being fed into a digester during papermaking.
Shredders in films
- Fargo (1996) "Wood chipper. Unauthorized use" - The four-word film review (http://www.fwfr.com/default.asp)