Wood chippers are a great way to make use of useless branches and brush that you would have otherwise reluctantly had to drive to the dump. The built-in knife set on these industrial tree eaters shreds just about anything you throw at it and spits out mulch, sawdust, or wood chips into a cube.

The mulch it produces can be used in your garden as a ground cover to spread around your plants to enrich the soil. It also locks in moisture under the mulch and improves plant growth by slowly releasing nitrogen into the soil. As the wood chips begin to break down, they release heat which regulates the temperature of the soil below the chips and keeps it warm. This protects the floor from scorching heat during the day and also keeps it warm at night. These wood chips produced by wood chippers also absorb water that is released very slowly on plants.

Wood chippers are very simple and easy to use and the average homeowner will have no problem operating one of them. This also saves you from having to drive up and down to the dumpster when cleaning your backyard and also gives you an endless supply of mulch and wood chips for your plans.

So now that you know how valuable having a wood-eating machine like this in your arsenal can be, the next question would be, is it better to buy or rent one? Most people don’t have the kind of money to spend on a 1 million rand machine, they won’t use more than one a month and that shouldn’t be said. But there are also smaller commercial machines you can buy that cost between R60,000 and R80,000 which would be perfect for cutting garden dirt debris.

Renting a machine is always a great way to test the waters first and once you see it’s worth it you can take the plunge and buy one. However, the benefit of renting a wood chipper is that you don’t have to store a monster machine like that in your backyard and you don’t need insurance either. Maintaining wood chippers can also be like owning a second car. Maintenance can be quite expensive and if you need to replace broken parts, it might be hard to come by if it’s an imported machine.

So yes, while using a wood chipper has myriad benefits, there are pros and cons to buying and renting one. The questions to ask yourself are how often you’re going to use it, what you’re going to use it for, and if it’s worth it to you.