[Forestry] How To Produce Wood Chips

Welcome to the next lesson in the Farming Simulator Academy. In this tutorial, we explain the production of wood chips.

What Are Wood Chips (Used For)?

Wood chips are shredded wood that is usually used as a heating fuel. But since you don't need to heat in the game, you sell wood chips either to the biomass energy plant or to the Farmers Market for profit.

What Are Wood Chips Made From?

The extraction of wood chips is profitable, especially in the case of (deciduous) trees, as their odd-shaped trunks yield less when sold. Theoretically, however, the processing of other tree species is also possible to produce wood chips.

More about the different tree species

Wood chips are also a by-product of wood processing, and you will receive a small batch of wood chips when you process wood or boards in the carpenter's workshop, for example. The yield of wood chips is of course not as high as when you produce wood chips directly.  

Machines Used For Wood Chip Production

• You need a tractor to use the wood chipper and to transport the wood chips later in the trailer.
• You need a wood chipping machine or a self-propelled wood chipper* to process tree trunks into wood chips. You can find both of them under "forestry equipment", either in the equipment or the vehicle section. 
• You will need a trailer to transport the wood chips to the point of sale.

Wood Chipper Machine or Self-Propelled Wood Chipper? 

You can choose between a wood chip machine and a self-propelled wood chipper. The wood chipper machine is cheaper, and comes with a small tank suitable for smaller trees. You attach it to your tractor. If you only produce wood chips once in a while, this machine is sufficient. 

A self-propelled wood chipper is an autonomous vehicle and doesn't require a tractor. Therefore, it is way more expensive, but is recommended if you plan for large-scale wood chipping and focus on running a forestry operation. It's also more suitable for large trees.

Machine Selection (Recommendation)

We picked the following equipment. Of course, you can make your own decisions and choose, for example, another tractor. Mind the power requirements of the tools!

• Tractor: CLAAS Axion 800
• Wood Chipper Machine: Heizomat HM 8–400 KLC
• Trailer: CLAAS CARAT 140TD (with extension)

How To Use A Wood Chipper

Step 1: Prepare wood and machines

First, you need the raw material in the form of felled tree trunks. Since deciduous trees are best suited for processing into wood chips, you can learn how to cut down deciduous trees professionally in our corresponding tutorial. It is best to cut them into smaller pieces first.

Go to tutorial "Felling Deciduous Trees"

Once you have done this, you can continue with the above-mentioned machine selection for wood chip production: Place the tractor in front of the wood chip machine. Connect the machine and go to the logs or deliver them to a collection point beforehand. You can also find tips on transport in a separate tutorial.

Go to tutorial "Transporting Wood & Wood Chips"

Step 2: Insert logs into the wood chipper

Unfold the wood chip machine and turn it on. You must now use the crane to pick up the pieces of wood on the ground and lift them onto the conveyor belt. When the wood is properly placed on the conveyor belt, it will be pulled into the machine and turned into chips.

If you have cut logs into smaller pieces, you can also place them on the conveyor belt by hand - but this can take a little longer.

Step 3: Overloading wood chips

When the tank of the wood chip machine is full, you fill the wood chips into a trailer. But make sure that the trailer is not too high. Otherwise, the wood chips cannot be overloaded.

Place yourself with the left side of the chipper right next to the trailer - you have to stand really close to it until the "Start overloading" indicator appears - then press the appropriate button to start the overloading process. The trailer will be automatically filled until it is either full or the chipper is empty. 

Caution: If you are not close enough to the trailer and the overloading prompt does not appear, you will dump the wood chips on the ground if you start the overloading process anyway. Then, you will need a front loader with a shovel, for example, to collect them again.

Step 4: Selling wood chips

When you have loaded the wood chips, open the prices overview in the menu. Find the most advantageous selling point for you and drive to the respective dealer. 

Well Done!

Congratulations, you have successfully finished another lesson and now know how to produce wood chips! Keep at it, and you'll be a top-notch virtual farmer in no time with Farming Simulator Academy!