What are the Best PTO Wood Chippers for Small Farms and Homesteads?

Whether you want a PTO chipper or a gas-powered machine, Woodland Mills has the best equipment for landowners

Small hobby farm and homestead owners need to deal with their wood waste, and a small wood chipper that attaches to your tractor can be a great solution. 

Attaching to your tractor, a PTO-driven wood chipper can help deal with your brush piles and turn your wood waste into wood chips that can be used across your property. 

But what are the best wood chippers for small farms, especially if you don't own a large tractor? Let's get into it:

What are the best PTO wood chippers for compact or subcompact tractors?

Even small tractors with a low HP can be used to power PTO chippers. PTO stands for Power Take Off, and it uses a PTO shaft at the rear of your tractor to power heavy-duty equipment like wood chippers and stump grinders.

Here are a few things you want to check first before committing to a purchase of a wood chipper:

• • Tractor compatibility: Ensure the PTO wood chipper is compatible with the output of your tractor at the PTO (this may differ from your tractor's regular HP)

  • Rear Lift Capacity: Check to make sure your tractor has enough weight to lift a wood chipper via the 3-point hitch

  • Size: Be sure you're getting a wood chipper that's appropriate for the size of your tractor, but it's generally recommended to choose the largest wood chipper your tractor can handle

The best PTO wood chipper for your compact or subcompact tractor will be compatible with the PTO output, can easily be lifted and is a great size for the branches you plan on chipping. Models like the Woodland Mills TFG55 PTO or WC46 are often great for small tractor owners.

While a smaller wood chipper may be easier to transport across the rough terrain of your property, a larger one will more easily deal with larger branches, so that's also something to consider.

What should I look for in a PTO wood chipper before purchasing?

There are a few features you might be interested in while shopping for PTO wood chippers. While more feature-rich chippers add improvements that can make chipping easier, they also add to the cost, so consider that when budgeting out your decision.

Generally some of the features we recommend looking into include:

• • Hydraulic Infeed: Most Woodland Mills PTO wood chippers are equipped with hydraulic infeed systems, which helps pull branches into the flywheel and chip them. There are models though which have gravity-assist infeed systems, which uses a steep angled chute to feed material straight to the flywheel.

  • Twin Flywheel: This Woodland Mills patented technology utilizes two flywheels, one dedicated to chipping the material and the other to spins at 2x the speed to throw materials out faster and farther. This also significantly increases the air flow, which helps carry difficult lightweight, wet, leafy, and coniferous material smoothly through the chip stream, reducing potential build-up.

  • Chipping Diameter: This is what determines the diameter of material you can feed into a wood chipper. Bigger chippers can chip larger branches up to 8" diameter material while smaller ones can do up to 3".

What PTO wood chipper should I get for my small farm property?

When it comes to purchasing a wood chipper to deal with small brush piles or small trees, doing routine yard maintenance, there are some great options out there.

Woodland Mills TFG55 PTO Wood Chipper

A small wood chipper that's great for landowners with small tractors. There's even a gas-powered model for those who don't own a tractor but still want a small wood chipper.

The TFG55 PTO features a gravity-assist infeed system which uniquely combines a steep infeed chute angle with a 3-blade twin flywheel design, creating a steady and predictable infeed action, far superior to gravity alone.

This is a great option for landowners with limited space who are looking to do routine yard maintenance and seasonal chipping.

Specifications:

• • 5" chipping diameter

  • PTO HP range of 12-30

  • Gravity-assist infeed system

  • Patented Twin Flywheel Technology

Woodland Mills WC46 Wood Chipper

A smaller model of wood chipper, compatible with most compact and subcompact tractors. This is a great machine ideal for hobby farm and homestead owners who want to clean up fallen branches and other wood waste across their properties. It balances some of Woodland Mills' best technology with price and size.

Just attach the WC46 to your tractor and watch as it pulls in and chips away all your yard debris. Maintaining your land is a breeze when you put a hard working wood chipper to use.

Specifications:

• • 4" chipping diameter

  • PTO HP range of 15-30

  • Hydraulic Infeed System

Woodland Mills TF46 PRO Wood Chipper

The TF46 is an upgraded version of the WC46, coming with Twin Flywheel to improve chipping consistency. This makes the TF46 ideal for small property owners who want a smooth operation while chipping and want to speed up their chipping experience by not having to mix wet and dry materials.

The TF46 is ideal for those with smaller acreage but is also a great fit for those with a larger property size due to its chipping potential. Just feed in tree limbs and watch as this chipper turns them into small chips.

Specifications:

• • 4" chipping diameter

  • PTO HP range of 15-30

  • Hydraulic Infeed System

  • Patented Twin Flywheel Technology

Woodland Mills TF810 PRO Wood Chipper

When it comes to the ultimate wood chipping solution there's the TF810 PRO. The top-of-the-line wood chipping technology from Woodland Mills packed into the ultimate package. This is a model primarily designed for medium-to-large tractors, but it's one we recommend for any tractor with a compatible PTO due to its power and utility.

Capable of chipping small trees, and equipped with patented Twin Flywheel technology to ensure smooth chipping no matter what you're feeding it, this chipper is an investment to taking care of your property. This is great for landowners who want more power from their wood chipper by utilizing the full potential of their tractor's HP.

Specifications:

• • 8" chipping diameter

  • PTO HP range of 35-100+

  • Hydraulic Infeed System

  • Patented Twin Flywheel Technology

To Summarize: What's the best PTO chipper for a small farm?

PTO wood chippers can be a great tool for your small farm or homestead. Models like the TFG55 PTO are excellent for budget-conscious landowners, while larger models with more features like the TF46 PRO can be a more comprehensive chipping solution. For the ultimate PTO chipper, we recommend the TF810 PRO, though it is primarily compatible with medium to large tractors.