A wood chipper for hire is the quick way to deal with a big pile of branches after a pruning or felling job. Instead of loading bakkie after bakkie for the garden site, you chip it all in a day and keep the mulch. Most hire chippers are towed behind a vehicle, so you need to know what you can tow, how thick your branches are and whether you want an operator. This page walks through the day rates, towing, capacity and safety. Send one request and hire yards near you send free quotes, with no obligation.
Can you tow it?
Most hire chippers are on a single or double axle trailer. Before you book, check:
- That your bakkie or car has a tow bar with the right ball and a working light plug
- The chipper's weight against your vehicle's towing limit
- Whether your licence covers the trailer weight; ask the hire yard
- Whether the gate and driveway are wide enough to reverse it in
If you cannot tow it, many yards deliver and collect for a fee.
Match the capacity to the pile
Measure the thickest branches. A small hire chipper may take about 10 cm, a common towed one about 15 cm and big contractor units more. Wood thicker than the chipper's limit should be cut with a saw into logs or firewood rather than forced through. Leafy brush is bulky but chips fast; a pile the size of a bakkie load often goes through in well under an hour on a towed machine.
With or without an operator
Some hire yards insist on sending an operator with large chippers, others give a handover and let you run it. An operator costs more per day but works faster and takes responsibility for the machine. If the pile is the result of a felling job, it is often cheaper to ask the tree fellers to chip on site as part of their quote, or to book wood chipping as a service.
Safe chipping
Read the stop bar and feed control before you start. Feed branches butt first from the side of the hopper and let go early; the rollers pull hard. Keep gloves tight at the cuff, no loose sleeves, scarves or lanyards. Wear eye protection and ear muffs. Never push wood in with your hand or foot; use the next branch. Keep children and pets well back, point the chute away from cars, windows and the road, and switch off before you clear a blockage.
What to include in your request
- Date and number of days
- Thickest branch to be chipped
- Rough size of the pile
- Towing it yourself or delivered
- With or without an operator
Wood Chipper Hire for different clients
- Homeowners: chipping a big pile of prunings after the jacaranda or plane tree is cut back
- Estates, complexes and body corporates: a day or two of chipping after the complex's annual tree trimming
- Farms, smallholdings and plantations: clearing wattle and windbreak branches into chips over a long weekend
- Businesses and commercial property: chipping on site after trees on an office park or parking lot are pruned
- Schools, churches and municipalities: parks, schools and churches clearing storm branches without truck loads
- Developers and building sites: chipping brush from a stand being cleared before building starts
- Servitudes and fire breaks: chipping servitude cuttings along a line or fire break in place
- Tree fellers, landscapers and garden services: garden services hiring a bigger chipper for a one-off large job
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to hire a wood chipper?
Can I rent a wood chipper for half a day?
What do I do with all the wood chips?
Do you have chippers to rent?
Wood Chipper Hire by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg