Composter uses small chipper on free wood chips and cuts breakdown time from years to months

A simple Reddit composting hack can make a free garden resource become much more useful and quicker to boot. 

One home composter took to the r/composting subreddit to reveal how rechipping oversized wood chips can cut breakdown time from as long as a few years to around six months.

What happened?

For composters getting free wood chips from ChipDrop or nearby arborists, the biggest issue can be that large pieces tend to break down slowly in a compost pile.

"I get tons of free wood chips from ChipDrop and local arborists but they come out pretty chunky," the original poster explained in their post.

They then shared a cheap fix, saying they run small batches through their own chipper/shredder a second time to make the material finer.

They added that they put them "in the top hopper, feeding small amounts at a time with a pitchfork so it doesn't jam up."

"The result is much finer pieces that work way better as browns in my compost," they revealed

Why does it matter?

One of the biggest benefits of this hack is cost savings. If wood chips are available for free, processing them a second time could reduce the need to buy other "brown" compost materials, such as straw. 

On that note, the OP described it as "super helpful when I'm low on straw or leaves."

While coarse wood chips can work well for pathways or mulch, they often take much longer to break down in compost. As the OP added, smaller pieces create more surface area, giving microbes more room to work and helping speed decomposition. 

That could let gardeners produce usable compost more quickly for flower beds, vegetable gardens, and containers.

Faster decomposition can also free up space in backyard bins and piles, while better-balanced compost can support healthier soil and reduce the need for extra soil amendments.

What are people saying?

The OP wasn't wed to their method, and said they wanted to hear the community's thoughts on it. Most of the community was receptive, but many said that ChipDrop broke down so quickly for them, it wasn't needed in their situations.

"If you can get [ChipDrop] along with a lot of greens, you can have an active compost pile without any additional effort," a user wrote. "If you add untreated sawdust to a pile that will go faster than sticks and branches."

That user added they assumed the OP's idea "would work well," but said their idea was a "remarkably easy way to get into composting."

"I can't even get my chip drops cleared before they are breaking down and by the time I'm done with one pile the bottom is so broken down I shovel it instead of using a big pitch fork," another user shared.

The OP also explained the science behind it: "Finer pieces break down so much faster because of the extra surface area."

They also described the difference in timing: "Coarse chips seems to take 1-3 years when composting with them but Re-chipped Seems to be ~6 months."

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