Indeed this sounds like a good idea and I too would like
to move in the direction of shedding and chipping waste forest
products.
I wish I had more experience with chippers, but I don't really even
know what type of knives they use, I never had to sharpen them, never
really even looked inside one. I've been in the service industry for
30 years, mechanic, electronician, computers, always working on
machines, so this a very interesting but still a little scary, anyway
thanks and be careful.
Currently we compost pine needles, wood chips and bark from firewood
splitting and since I've been making biodiesel for the last 4 warm
seasons I add a little glycerol as a bacteria accelerator, seems to
help the needles break down quicker, but so far we have done only
small piles and I haven't checked the temperature inside to see if it
is getting hot enough