A worked timeline for the VOER 150A wood chipper — a 90 kg machine rated to a 6 cm branch diameter and 0.8–1 t/h, clearing one fallen tree with one operator, half an hour at a time.

The three hours after a tree comes down decide most of what that tree costs. Material reduced where it lies is handled once. Material dragged, stacked and carted away whole is handled three times, and every one of those handlings is labour. This is the case for a 6 cm chipper in the 90 kg class: not that it can reduce the largest tree on the site, but that it can be on the material within minutes and turn it into something that moves in one load.

What follows is a reference plan for one specific scenario: a mature tree down across a garden access path after a storm, roughly 3 to 4 m³ of mixed green material, one operator working alone, hard standing within 15 m of the pile, timber dry to damp. It runs to three hours. The machine figures are fixed; the timeline shifts with the material, and the table further down sets out what moves it.

The timeline is a reference plan built on that scenario, not a report of one specific job.

The machine in five figures

01 · 0:00–0:30  —  Sort the material before starting the machine

The first half hour does not involve the chipper. It is spent deciding which of the fallen material the machine can accept, because the 150A is rated to a maximum crushing branch diameter of 6 cm and that figure is a limit rather than a suggestion. Anything heavier than 6 cm is not a chipper problem — it is firewood or a saw log, and separating it before the engine starts is what keeps the next hour continuous instead of stopping and starting.

• Clear the working area and establish one feed path to where the machine will stand.

• Cut the crown into lengths that suit the feed opening rather than following the shape of the tree.

• Separate at 6 cm: below it goes to the chipper, above it goes to the log pile. Do this once, at the tree.

• Bring the machine to the pile rather than the pile to the machine. At 90 kg net, one operator can wheel it into position.

What it decides: whether the next hour is continuous chipping or a sequence of stoppages.

02 · 0:30–1:30  —  Feeding: the hour the throughput figure describes

The middle hour is the one production capacity describes. At 0.8 to 1 tonne per hour, a machine in this class is not limited by its blades on pruning-size material — it is limited by how continuously it is fed. The 150 mm blade set, two double-edged blades and one static blade, turns at a main shaft speed of 2,800 r/min from a Rato 7.5 hp gasoline engine with manual start and a 3.6 L fuel tank, and on limbs mostly between 3 and 6 cm the machine sits at the top of its range.

• Feed at a steady rate and let the blades take the material rather than pushing it through.

• Alternate thin and thick pieces to keep the engine evenly loaded instead of surging.

• Keep the discharge pointed away from the working area and downwind of the operator.

• Work in stretches and clear the chip pile before it reaches the machine's feet or blocks the feed path.

What it decides: whether the hour yields close to a tonne of chip or appreciably less.

03 · 1:30–2:00  —  The jam, and the half hour that protects the rest of the day

A jam in green-waste chipping is a normal event rather than a fault, and it is almost always the same cause: wet, leafy material bridging the feed opening faster than the blades clear it. Cutting back the proportion of soft green material in the next batch is what prevents the second jam. The rule that matters is the one about the engine: it stops before anything is cleared.

• Stop the engine before clearing anything from the feed opening or reaching into the cutting chamber.

• Clear the opening itself, never the area around the blades.

• Reduce the share of wet leaf material in the following batch.

• Restart and feed the first few pieces slowly before returning to the normal rate.

What it decides: whether a jam costs five minutes or the rest of the afternoon.

04 · 2:00–3:00  —  Chip, clear, and load out

The final hour is the one that settles the economics of the first two. A pile of limbs occupies real volume on the ground; the same material leaves as a fraction of that volume in chip, and the difference is the number of trips it takes to move it. The 3.6 L tank covers a session of this length without refuelling. At 90 kg net and 100 kg gross the machine packs to 980 × 570 × 980 mm, so it loads into a van or onto a small trailer by hand rather than by lifting equipment.

• Decide the destination of the chip before the session starts: mulch on site, compost, or removal.

• Clear the ground to a standard that does not need a second visit.

• Load the machine for transport; move it by hand around the site, not over distance.

• Note the material volume and the time taken, and price the next job on that figure rather than on an estimate.

What it decides: whether the tree is handled once or twice.

The three hours at a glance

What moves the three hours

Full specification

Who this walk-through describes

Safety Notes

• Read the operator's manual before the first start, and follow it for every operating session.

• Wear eye protection when feeding material, and hearing protection when working close to the machine.

• Keep all guards and the hopper shield fitted whenever the engine is running.

• Stop the engine before clearing a blockage, inspecting the cutting chamber or reaching anywhere near the feed opening, and never clear material while the machine is running.

• Keep hands, loose clothing and tools clear of the feed opening at all times.

• Feed material within the rated 6 cm diameter at a steady rate, and never force oversized pieces into the machine.

• Keep bystanders, children and animals clear of the feed opening and the discharge area, and never stand in line with the discharge.

• Do not leave the machine running unattended, and shut the engine down before moving, refuelling or storing the unit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What size branches can the VOER 150A chip?

The machine is rated for a maximum crushing branch diameter of 6 cm. Green wood, dry hardwood and dense knots behave differently in the cutting chamber, so feed material within the rated diameter at a steady rate rather than forcing oversized pieces.

Q. How long does a clean-up like this take?

In the scenario above — one operator, 3 to 4 m³ of mixed material, hard standing within 15 m — the work runs to three hours, of which one hour is chipping at 0.8–1 t/h. The sorting half hour at the start and the clearing hour at the end are the parts most often left out of an estimate.

Q. How much material does it process in an hour?

Production capacity is 0.8 to 1 tonne per hour. On limbs between 3 and 6 cm the machine sits at the top of that range; branch diameter, wood type, moisture content and how continuously it is fed move the figure within it.

Q. What causes a jam, and how is it cleared?

Jams come from wet, leafy material bridging the feed opening faster than the blades clear it, rather than from the blades themselves. Stop the engine, clear the feed opening, reduce the share of soft green material in the next batch, then restart and feed slowly for the first few pieces.

Q. Can one operator run the whole job?

Yes. At 90 kg net with manual start and a compact 1,560 × 530 × 1,040 mm body, the machine is designed for single-operator use and can be wheeled to wherever the material lies. On a large pile a second person loading keeps the chipper fed, which is the single biggest gain in output per hour.

Q. What happens to material above the 6 cm rating?

It goes to the log pile. The 6 cm figure is a limit, not an opening size: a piece that fits the feed opening but exceeds the rating loads the blade set, the belt and the engine at once. Sorting at the tree during the first half hour is what keeps the rest of the job moving.

Q. What engine does it run, and is there a diesel version?

The standard configuration is a Rato gasoline engine rated at 7.5 hp with manual start, driving the blade set at a main shaft speed of 2,800 r/min, with a 3.6 L fuel tank. A diesel version is also built and is quoted at 120 kg gross.

Q. How is the machine moved, transported and stored?

It moves around the site by hand at 90 kg net, and travels packed in a 980 × 570 × 980 mm case at 100 kg gross — van or small trailer, loaded by hand, no lifting equipment. The same footprint is what lets it be stored in a shed or a van between jobs.

Summary

The VOER 150A is a compact petrol wood chipper rated for a 6 cm maximum branch diameter and 0.8–1 t/h, with a 150 mm blade set — two double-edged blades and one static blade — running at 2,800 r/min from a Rato 7.5 hp gasoline engine with manual start and a 3.6 L fuel tank. A diesel version is built at 120 kg gross, and the model carries CE marking.

Worked through a single storm clean-up, the machine occupies one hour of a three-hour job: half an hour to sort the material at the 6 cm line and position a 90 kg chipper by hand, one hour of feeding at up to a tonne an hour, half an hour absorbed by a jam and its clearance, and one hour to chip out, clear the ground and load a 100 kg gross package. The figure that decides the cost of the job is not the purchase price — it is how many times the material has to be handled.

VOER supplies the 150A wood chipper and other compact machinery for landscaping, grounds care and material handling, serving contractors, farms, orchards, municipal crews, rental businesses and equipment dealer partners.