Wood Chipper Knife Maintenance

Chipper Shredder Care and Repair Information

The single best thing you can do to ensure a long life for your Patriot Chipper is to keep your chipping knives sharp.  A sharp knife slices the material and a dull knife chops the material.  The chopping of the material with a dull knife creates vibration.  Vibration is the enemy of all mechanical equipment.  Excessive vibration can cause metal fatigue.   This fatigue normally shows up at a bend in the metal or a weld.

The knives should be sharpened every six to eight hours of “chipping time”.  Processing old dried branches may require you to sharpen the knives more frequently.  Another sign that the knives are getting dull is when the chipper loses its self feeding action.

The model CSV-2515 electric chipper, CSV-2540H and the new CSV-2450B all have one knife.  All of our other current and past gas model chippers as well as all CBV lawn vac models have two chipping knives.

The chipping knives can be removed from your machine without disassembling the housing.  You can find instruction in your owners manual.  You can down load a manual for free in the wood chipper and leaf vac product support section of our web page. Simply remove the chipping cone to expose the rotor.  Gently spin the rotor until the knife aligns with the opening.  Each knife can be removed by using a 3/16 Allen wrench to remove the screws.  For damaged or hard to remove screws you can get tips for removal in the product support section of our web page.

Hot Tip: If you have trouble removing the screw with a 3/16 Allen wrench, purchase a 3/16 Allen head socket for your socket set. The socket set wrench will allow you to get much better leverage.

The knife can be sharpened using a wet stone, file or grinding wheel. Sharpen the knives evenly at a 30 degree angle. A homeowners bench grinder with a fine grit stone will work, but because the knives are specially treated, too much heat will make them brittle.  Grind only a little bit at a time and allow them to cool.  Slow-speed, water cooled grinding is preferred. For best results, see your local machine shop specialist or lawn mower repair outlet.

Sharp chipping knives allow you to chip smoother and with greater efficiency.  You can purchase replacement knives on our web page in the accessories section of our web page.