Finally figured out a better way to chip palm fronds after 8 years

I used to just feed palm fronds straight into the chipper one at a time. It would jam up constantly, especially with those big Phoenix palms that have thick stems. Last month a guy from Orlando showed me to trim the fronds down to 3 foot lengths first and stack them in bundles. Now I can run through a full truckload in about 20 minutes with zero jams. Anyone else got a trick that sped up their cleanup work?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_patel2716d agoMost Upvoted

That bundling trick is solid... I started doing something similar but I cut mine to 2 foot lengths instead of 3. It keeps the chipper from grabbing multiple fronds at once and feeding them sideways. Really cuts down on that clogging problem you mentioned with the thick stems.

gonzalez.reese16d ago

Seriously how often are you really clogging a chipper that this is a major concern?

emmaj3312d ago

My backyard's got this monster queen palm that drops fronds like clockwork, and I swear those 2-foot sections are a lifesaver on the thick stuff. I tried 3 feet once and the chipper just grabbed the ends and tried to pull the whole bundle in sideways, jamming up every single time. Now I stack them in short bundles of 5 or 6, and I keep a little pile going to feed in steady rather than all at once. It's annoying to cut them down more but the chipper runs way smoother and I'm not wrestling with it every 10 minutes.