Spring on Vancouver Island means one thing for property owners across the Cowichan Valley: it’s time to deal with the mess winter left behind. Fallen branches, storm debris, overgrown brush, and the remnants of last fall’s pruning are piling up — and hauling it all to the dump is expensive, time-consuming, and frankly unnecessary when you can rent a woodchipper and turn that debris into useful mulch right on your property.
Whether you’re a homeowner tackling a backyard cleanup, a hobby farmer clearing fence lines, or a contractor prepping a site for the building season, renting a woodchipper is one of the most efficient ways to handle brush and branch cleanup. Here’s everything you need to know about woodchipper rental in the Cowichan Valley and across Vancouver Island.
Why Rent a Woodchipper Instead of Hauling Debris?
If you’ve ever loaded a truck bed full of branches and driven to the transfer station, you already know the math doesn’t work. Between fuel, dump fees, and the sheer number of trips it takes to clear even a moderate property, hauling brush gets expensive fast. A single load of yard waste at a Vancouver Island transfer station can run $30 to $60, and most spring cleanups generate three to five loads — sometimes more.
Renting a woodchipper flips that equation entirely. Instead of paying to dispose of branches and brush, you process them on-site into wood chips that you can use as garden mulch, pathway cover, or erosion control around your property. It’s faster, cheaper, and you end up with a useful product instead of an empty wallet.
For Cowichan Valley properties specifically, this matters even more. Many rural and semi-rural lots have significant tree cover — Douglas fir, red alder, and big-leaf maple all shed heavily through winter storms. A weekend with a woodchipper can clear what would otherwise take a week of hauling trips.
The environmental angle is worth mentioning too. Chipping your brush on-site keeps organic material out of the landfill and returns it to your soil as mulch. It suppresses weeds, retains moisture through the dry summer months, and breaks down into nutrients over time. That’s a win for your property and for the Valley.
What Can You Chip? (And What You Shouldn’t)
Modern woodchippers are powerful machines, but knowing what to feed them — and what to keep out — makes the difference between a productive day and a frustrating one.
Good candidates for chipping:
- Tree branches and limbs (check the chipper’s maximum diameter rating)
- Brush and shrub trimmings
- Small logs and fallen wood
- Hedge clippings and woody garden waste
- Alder, maple, and fir prunings common across the Cowichan Valley
Keep these out of the chipper:
- Rocks, metal, or wire (these can damage blades and create dangerous projectiles)
- Treated or painted wood
- Root balls with soil attached
- Vines or rope-like material that can wrap around the mechanism
- Wet leaves and grass clippings (these clog rather than chip)
Most residential woodchippers handle branches up to 3 to 4 inches in diameter, while commercial-grade models can process material up to 6 inches or larger. When you’re booking your rental, have a rough idea of the largest branches you’ll be chipping — that way you get the right machine for the job and avoid wasting time cutting oversized material down by hand.
Spring Cleanup Projects Perfect for a Woodchipper
Spring is peak season for woodchipper rentals on Vancouver Island, and for good reason. Here are the most common projects Cowichan Valley property owners tackle with a rented chipper:
Storm damage cleanup: Vancouver Island winters bring wind, rain, and the occasional heavy snowfall. By March, most properties have accumulated fallen branches and debris that need clearing before the growing season kicks in. A woodchipper makes quick work of storm debris, turning a weekend of hauling into a few hours of chipping.
Fence line clearing: If you’re running livestock, maintaining your fence lines is essential. Overgrown brush along fences compromises their integrity and creates hiding spots for predators — a real concern if you’re running a backyard flock in one of our Hen Haven coops. Chipping the brush along your fence lines clears the area and gives you mulch to suppress regrowth.
Land clearing for spring projects: Planning a garden expansion, a new outbuilding, or a fence installation? Clearing brush is always step one, and a woodchipper handles it efficiently. Many of our customers rent a chipper alongside an excavator or skid steer to tackle the full site prep in a single weekend.
Trail and pathway maintenance: Rural properties across the Valley often have trails and pathways that get overgrown through winter. Chip the encroaching brush and use the output to resurface the paths — fresh wood chips make excellent, low-cost trail surfacing that holds up through the wet months.
Fire risk reduction: With Vancouver Island’s increasingly dry summers, reducing combustible brush around structures is smart property management. The BC FireSmart program recommends maintaining a defensible space around your home, and chipping accumulated brush is one of the most effective ways to reduce fire risk on your property.
Safety Tips for First-Time Woodchipper Users
Woodchippers are serious machines that deserve respect. If you haven’t operated one before, don’t worry — WC Supplies provides hands-on safety training with every rental so you know exactly what you’re doing before you leave. But here are the essentials to keep in mind:
Personal protective equipment is non-negotiable. Wear safety glasses or a face shield, hearing protection, work gloves, steel-toed boots, and close-fitting clothing. Loose sleeves, scarves, and long hair are serious hazards around any machine with a feed mechanism.
Set up on level ground. Position the chipper on stable, flat ground with the discharge chute pointed away from people, vehicles, windows, and anything else you don’t want hit by flying wood chips. Chips can travel surprisingly far.
Feed material butt-end first. Always feed branches into the chipper with the thicker end going in first. This lets the feed mechanism grab the material more effectively and reduces the chance of kickback. Stand to the side of the feed chute — never directly behind it.
Never force material. If something jams, shut the machine down completely before attempting to clear it. Use a push stick or clearing tool, never your hands. Most modern chippers have a reverse function to help clear jams safely.
Keep a clear work zone. Maintain at least a 10-foot radius around the chipper where only the operator should be. Keep children, pets, and bystanders well back. The noise alone makes communication difficult, which is why a clear zone matters.
Inspect your material before feeding. Check branches for hidden wire, nails, or other metal before they go in. On older Cowichan Valley properties especially, it’s common to find old fencing wire grown into trees and brush.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Rental
Renting a woodchipper by the day or weekend means you want to maximize your productive time. A little preparation goes a long way:
Pre-sort your material. Before your rental period starts, spend a couple of hours gathering and sorting brush into piles near where you’ll set up the chipper. Separate oversized material that needs cutting down, and remove any debris that shouldn’t go through the machine. This prep work means you spend your rental time actually chipping instead of dragging branches across the yard.
Stage your chip piles strategically. Think about where you want the wood chips to end up. Position the chipper’s discharge toward garden beds, pathways, or a central collection point. Moving chips after the fact is extra work you can avoid with a few minutes of planning.
Work with a partner. Woodchipper work goes dramatically faster with two people — one feeding while the other stages the next batch of material. It’s also safer, as your partner can keep the work zone clear and help with any issues.
Plan for disposal of unchippable material. Some material — root balls, oversized logs, or contaminated wood — won’t go through the chipper. Have a plan for these items, whether that’s a separate haul to the transfer station or setting aside logs for firewood splitting.
Book early in the season. Woodchippers are one of the most popular spring rentals across Vancouver Island. If you’re planning a March or April cleanup, book your rental early to get the dates you want. Weekend availability fills up fast once the weather breaks.
Pair Your Woodchipper with Other Equipment
For larger cleanup projects, a woodchipper alone might not be enough. Many Cowichan Valley property owners combine their chipper rental with other equipment to knock out their entire spring property prep in one shot.
An excavator handles the heavy lifting — removing stumps, grading uneven ground, digging drainage, and moving large debris that’s too big for the chipper. A skid steer is perfect for pushing brush piles together and moving chips to where you need them. And if you’re clearing a larger area, our land clearing services can handle the heavy-duty work while you focus on the detail cleanup with the chipper.
WC Supplies carries the full range of equipment you need for spring property work — from excavators and skid steers to trailers, wood splitters, and of course woodchippers. Everything is available for daily or weekly rental, and Brad can help you figure out exactly what combination of equipment makes sense for your specific project.
Ready to Tackle Your Spring Cleanup?
Spring is here, and there’s no better time to clear the winter debris, clean up your property, and get ready for the season ahead. A woodchipper rental turns what could be a week-long chore into a single productive day — and you get free mulch out of it.
Give Brad a call at 250-532-0090 or email brad@wcsupplies.com to book your woodchipper rental and any other equipment you need for your spring project. WC Supplies serves the entire Cowichan Valley — Duncan, Lake Cowichan, Shawnigan Lake, Cobble Hill, Mill Bay, and all points in between. Local pickup, local knowledge, and the right equipment for your job.
