FOREST MASTER ELECTRIC WOOD CHIPPER 4HP DIRECT DRIVE
The FM4DDE is a patented GB2008049.5 compact electric wood chipper capable of chipping wood up to 50mm (2 inches) in diameter. The FM4DDE’s 4hp 2800-watt electric motor can rotate the chipper drum at a maximum of 2800 rpm. This enables it to easily chip all kinds of freshly cut wood from hard to soft. It is a direct drive for better performance and this also means that there are no belts that you have to keep adjusting. Although it is a powerful 2800-watt electric motor, it still runs off standard 240v household mains electricity. The UK model of the wood chipper is fitted with a UK 3-pin plug and the EU model arrives fitted with an EU Plug.
The FM4DDE has twin reversible blades so that when one side becomes worn from use the blades can simply be turned around to use the second side. This saves the need for constant resharpening and effectively doubles the life of the blades. The lightweight and compact size of the chipper enables it to be extremely manoeuvrable and easy to store. Both the feed hopper and the discharge chute have a hinged chute design, enabling the user to access the drum for quick maintenance easily. The end of the FM4DDE’s discharge chute can be angled to direct the chips.
The entrance leading directly to the cutter (hopper chute) is 95mm x 95mm. The upper section has a CE plate fitted. This safety plate is not required for USA or Canada.
View the Frequently Asked Questions page to explore all the commonly asked questions regarding the Electric Wood Chipper.
- Direct Drive, no belts to adjust
- Reversible blades for longer life
- Chips wood up to 50mm (2″) in diameter
- Lightweight only 38kg*
- Compact for easy storage
- Hinged hopper and chute
- Runs off standard household mains
- 2-pin adapter supplied for Europe
- 1 Year Warranty
- Some minor assembly is required
- European Design 008171813
- Internationally Protected (PCT/IB2021/054494)
- Wood older than three days may produce sawdust
Intending to use this wood chipper with an extension lead spanning over 10 meters long? Get in contact first via phone, email or live chat.
Andrew (verified owner) –
This is a really good quality chipper. If you want a powerful electric chipper, this FM4DDE model is probably one of the best you can buy, certainly the best I could find.
It meets my needs perfectly, I have reasonable (medium?) sized garden, about a third of an acre, with lots of rhododendrons which grow fast and need regular cutting back. My previous chipper, admittedly second hand, was a standard £130 garden chipper. This was much noisier than this model, and kept jamming, and eventually broke. Since then I have been letting the branches dry and burning them. However, I live in an urban area and although the neighbours are great about it, it is a little antisocial to be burning them. Much better to chip them and use the chippings as mulch on the flower beds. I was looking for an electric model, because I don’t want the hassle of maintaining a petrol engine. However, I wanted the most powerful model that works off a standard 13A socket. This was the only one I could find that fits that requirement. The branches I need to chip are mostly less than 30mm, but I wanted a machine that copes with more than this, to reduce the amount of jamming, which is a huge time waster and extends the length of the job. The maximum branch size on this machine of 50mm is not a significant limitation, as any more than that I would not chip, but use for firewood. Assembling the 4 parts of the chipper was straightforward just needing an adjustable spanner. Although it is a lot more powerful that my last model, it takes up about the same size, i.e. really compact. Whilst assembling I could see the parts are really solid and well engineered to a high quality. Although quite heavy, due to the power of the motor, the wheels make it very easy to move around. That said, it is no heavier than my previous model. It is relatively easy to unscrew the hopper and exit chute for clearing any jams. Although this model is not cheap, at over £400 it is three times the price of standard garden chippers, you are getting something completely different – a well engineered, robust and higher capacity chipper that is much less likely to keep jamming, and is likely to last a good deal longer. For what you get I think it is good value. My experience is it’s always worth going for the best quality you can afford where garden machinery is concerned.
Customer service really helpful too.
Adam Blood (verified owner) –
The machine is great. Fast, stable, chops branches very well – I am very impressed. Something fantastic. I highly recommend all gardeners really useful equipment. Fast, trouble-free shipment.
A random purchase, but it hit the nail on the head.
The machine went to Poland Lutomiersk.
Great respect.
sebastien (verified owner) –
Product received yesterday. I tested it during 1 hour, and I found it amazing : easy to move, easy to start. The cutting is perfect (parts are between 1 and 2 cm), very fast, motor is strong (enough for wood under 50 mm) and very silent (when you’re not cutting)
I have used a cheaper model (150€) during years before, with a similar power, but the gap between the 2 model is hudge
I found the price is a little high for a so simple machine, but for me it’s almost the perfect tool.
2 points that can be enhanced :
– 500W more of power to allow cutting over 50mm wood
– the 4 bolts for the engine are very (very) long, I replace it with shorter.
Antony Hoare (verified owner) –
Superior chipper
I’ve already used the chipper very successfully and it’s chomped through a large quantity of apple, elder, rose, hazel and rowan prunings producing 5 heaped barrow loads. An excellent bit of kit, very strong and well engineered as one would expect from Forest Master (I already have a well used Log splitter).
I’ve found that if you can’t easily insert the branch into the hopper, it’s best to lop it into straightish lengths as it might get jammed. If you try to push an awkward shape through the hopper into the blades, the machine stops and cannot be restarted until the hopper is swivelled up and the blades are checked/cleared. That’s relatively quick and easy to do and I would recommend permanently keeping a pair of 9mm and 13mm spanners handy.
I’d give it 5 stars other than it’s not the easiest thing to move around more than a few yards and could do with an exterior handle to pull it with. I might see if I can fit one myself with self tapping screws. Having said that I can lift it into a barrow but it’s very heavy.
The delivery was very quick (next day), assembly easy (other than the ridiculously long bolts to attach the motor) and I’ve always found Forest Master personnel very helpful when phoned.
David Urie (verified owner) –
I don’t often write reviews online but I feel I have to write one for this excellent bit of kit. Ordered on Wednesday afternoon, delivered lunchtime on the Friday. Straightforward to put together and a joy to use. I’m sure the petrol one has a bit more power for some big branches, but I’ve no complaints about how this electric one makes quick work of by tree cuttings.
I would suggest that a bit of prep before you start chipping will help. Make sure that your branches don’t have stems growing out of them along the branch that will make it difficult to fit the point where the come from to fit through the guide into the machine. A couple of minutes to just trim off offending side shoots will make the whole process so much smoother and the side shoots can then be quickly gobbled up by the machine after that.
Really pleased with this machine. Wish I had got one years ago.
Paul Howse (verified owner) –
Great machine, does a great job – could do with a handle to help move/wheel it around. Fast delivery!
Kenneth Graham (verified owner) –
fast delivery. Used once till now and found it very good indeed. Got rain for next 11 days (forecast) so will get back to chipping rest of tree branches and bushes lying in back garden. Bought electric as i dont like petrol. Dont have anything thicker than 1″ diameter so it is perfect for my needs. Thanks to Forrest Master.
Gunther O. (verified owner) –
The service from you was good.
However,
1) the afterthought of the two 2mm safety bolts in the end of the chipper exit shute causes backfill with chippings which jam the rotor blade drum! Take them out.
2) the bolt which releases the hinged hopper and engages with a safety microswitch to enable the blocked hopper and rotor cutting blades to be cleared is very time consuming to remove and replace. Chipping dust falls into the bolt hole! Fit a wing nut etc.
3) It requires more than finger effort with the supplied box spanner to rotate the blocked rotor backwards in order to clear it!
4) It is not easy to move the chipper any distance on its wheels without a retractable handle installed. I fitted one which does not interfere with access to the power switch and the hopper’s feed shute.
Apart from the above, the chipper works well.
Tobias G. (verified owner) –
Jörg (verified owner) –
perfect delivery; great machine; she also easily chops olives and almond wood so we are very satisfied; (Improvement: a handle for easier transort would be even better)
Steven G. (verified owner) –
Really impressed with my new chipper. Has torn through the waste I’d accumulated over the summer and every faith it wil make short work of the hedgrows and trees I’ll be tackling this autumn.
Ian Younghusband (verified owner) –
Delivery time was excellent, easy to assemble, it does what it says it chips wood really well.
Richard Price (verified owner) –
It arrived promptly and in good condition. It is robust and works well. I agree that the motor bolts are a bit long and a handle would help but it would be a lot better to use without the restrictor plate in the feed hopper. This must be for safety, to catch flying blades or loose blade bolts, or to stop people doing silly things. Other manufacturers do the same thing. I am pleased with this purchase. Thanks
Louise (verified owner) –
Great chipper, made short work of 3cm tree branches. Used for about 40 mins, so far so good.
Richard W. (verified owner) –
This is a well made product which I expect to last for years. Easy to fix together when following the excellent instructions supplied in the box. And once switched on, the chipper performed better than I expected.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Really good. Thanks.
Derrick F. (verified owner) –
It dose what it say’s it good with branches but hard to get twigs and smaller wood in but it works well very pleased with it
James Watson (verified owner) –
Excellent product and service
George B. (verified owner) –
Easy to assemble and use once you get used to it.
Leonard Esakowitz (verified owner) –
Only problem was the loading chute didn’t fit until I enlarged the holding screw hole a bit – the single long screw not the not the one that acts like a mini axle.
Patrick (verified owner) –
Good afternoon,
After speaking with Michael,
Please find some of my comments.
You have recently delivered the “Compact Electric Wood Chipper 4hp Direct Drive FM4DDE” and after a couple of minutes I already started to have problems.
The reason I bought the Wood Chipper from your company is that I wanted a product that is reliable and working. But that wasn’t the case.
Electric issues
Jamming issues
I tried multiple solution to resolve the electric issues, but it worked for a short time then it stopped.
Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.
Sometimes I need to wait 5 mn and then it works again.
• Long electric extension (Stopped to work after 5 minutes)
• Short extension (Stopped to work after 5 minutes)
• Direct to the source (Stopped to work after 5 minutes)
AS we speak it doesn’t work at all. ( I only used it 2 time and less than 1 hour in total)
The extension cable are all broken I suspect the fuse has exploded.
Jamming issue,
Putting small branches jammed the machine after 5 mn
I then cleaned it and it worked again.
Doing it once is ok but doing it all the time becomes a problem.
It is a new machine and I’m very disappointed having so many problems.
Regards,
Patrick
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Good product; does what it says
Robert S. (verified owner) –
Sturdy, well built, efficient and effective. Ideal for shredding tree pruning’s.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Good little garden machine. Assembly easy. Business service and delivery very good. Unfortunately the chipper to start with kept blowing 13amp fuses. I got through 4 before it started working. Power cable way too short and needs to be 1m longer. Blades only lasted 4 wheel barrow loads before blunt. It’s a great unit but I would not expect the blades to be so weak and it should be better.
David Mangham (verified owner) –
Delivered the next day ,used for chipping apple tree branches did the job, very pleased with the purchase.
Went for electric as for infrequent use to avoid petrol motor problems.
William (verified owner) –
Fast delivery, easily assembled, looks very sturdy and could do with a handle to help move around but stable in use and has chipped everything without jamming – result!
Sue S. (verified owner) –
A really good electric chipper! Cuts very nice small chippings. Easy to use, and overall is a professional piece, lesser electric ones are not worth the money. Very compact, and can carry around/move. Take the time to trim material ready in long lengths. Would say it goes up to 35mm dia. max. 10meter max extension lead length is its only downfall, but if you can make that work, it is an excellent piece of kit!
Mark Elliot-Smith (verified owner) –
Extremely dissatisfied with this wood-chipper which in my view is a design failure which simply does not work properly. More important the machine is missold because no pre-sale warning is given that this machine has to have a very specialised and restricting extension lead. Namely no more than 10 metres of 2.5 squared cord. Most electric chippers I’ve used previously can use 20 or 30 metre extension leads without difficulty. But the most worrying feature in use is that the cutting blocks at the most insignificant material then blows its fuse every single time. It’s a complete waste of time. I’ve got a 10 year B & Q chipper would knock spots of this one at a third of the price. My advice don’t touch this machine with a barge pole.
Graham (verified owner) –
Perhaps a little noisy but then it is a chipper and a bit awkward to move up slopes but that should not be seen a s a criticism. Some sort of handle would help. However, very effective at pulling the branches through with no effort needed provided they are fairly free of side stems. This is my third chipper and without a doubt the most efficient and the one requiring the least amount of effort. Very pleased with this purchase.
craig (verified owner) –
Good little machine
Don’t put in anything bigger than 30mm
This is on another level to standard shredders you would find in b&q
Chris Fleetwood –
Well reading some comments I’m surprised by what some people say I’ve run this chipper on a 50 mtr extension lead and I’ve had no problems whts so ever I’m still on the same pair of blades fitted to the machine and I purchased last year and have used it as part of my business I’m so tempted to purchase the petrol version
N Birch (verified owner) –
Delivered on time. Easy to put together with clear instructions. Runs well. All in all ForestMaster have done an excellent job.
Gince Antony (verified owner) –
I brought the item on 3/12/2021,but after using it for one hour the machine stopped working.When I contact the customer service ,Micheal asked me to check the trouble shooting in the manual.He cannot figure out the issues ,I think probably the fuse went off. He suggest to replace the same.The company will not bear the cost of the product return when I inquired about my statutory right to return the product .
Ronald F. (verified owner) –
Thanx for the superfast shipping to italy!!
Nicolas Rabaté (verified owner) –
Goods arrived quickly despite Brexit. Two defects, without consequence, due to transportation have been reported to Forest Master that reacted promptly; replacement parts are on there way. Woodchipper has been assembled without any difficulties and tested right away. This is definitely a serious gear, very powerful and efficient. However I’ve got a little disappointment. If you want to chip 4 or 5 cm branches, it has to be very regular. Any small side piece on will prevent the system to swallow the piece. Somehow I should have bought the most power machine, which is indeed much more expensive but it seems to be more in line with my needs.
Andrew Davidson (verified owner) –
Cameron W. (verified owner) –
Quick delivery, and the machine itself is great. Makes short work of anything within the size guides. Had an issue with the courier damaging a part but I was sent a replacement part for free with absolutely no hassle at all. Great product and after sales from what I’ve experienced!
Emmanuel H. (verified owner) –
Christine (verified owner) –
Problem to start with but dealt with immediately, could not fault the service. Only used the machine once but very impressed.
Barry –
I bought the chipper a year ago and I have used it a lot there is no comparison with other chippers of which I have two this machine is easy to use and fast it doesnt jam up like other chippers where you spend halve the time unjamming them admittedly it is more expensive than other home chippers but it more than makes up for it with the speed and lack of aggro that you get when you use it.
Mandy Jackson (verified owner) –
Excellent service
George Marsden (verified owner) –
The wood chipper arrived the day after I ordered it. Assembly was straight forward and the performance was exceptional, coping with a huge pile of leylandii branches without batting an eyelid.
Brian T. (verified owner) –
The chipper arrived the day after I ordered it, as advised. I have only used it once but found assembly easy, although I do question why the bolts holding the motor to the stand need to be so long? Not an issue now it is assembled. It has reasonably big wheels but no handle for pushing/pulling it around the garden. The hopper isn’t easy to hold on for movement so a handle would be appreciated. Chipping performance is good, any pruning that fit through the guard in the hopper are quickly reduced for spreading. The supply cable is laughably short for a garden machine!
Jamie L. (verified owner) –
The size on is perfect for what I was looking for my garden and it does all the jobs that I couldn’t do with my old one so I highly recommend this product to everyone
Wilhelmus Adams (verified owner) –
The wood chipper is performing as expected
Clive K. (verified owner) –
Its a great little Chipper which is surprisingly good for its size
Andy F. (verified owner) –
Machine great, delivery from Tuffnels poor, emailed on 3 days to say it was being delivered and to stay in and sign for it
Came on the 3rd day, send a tracker, but no good at all, tells you nothing
Ann Heaps (verified owner) –
This is my son in law’s belated birthday present. He is over the moon & can’t wait to spend the weekend chewing up leftover bits of timber. They have a huge garden. Daughter & grandsons are going to be kept busy helping!
pat murphy (verified owner) –
Great piece of kit and great delivery thank you
Carsten (verified owner) –
Prompt and uncomplicated delivery to CH, and what a wonderful machine, chipping down small trees in seconds!
Peter Clarke (verified owner) –
I am returning the chipper as it did not perform as anticipated. Far from easing the process of disposal of garden waste it made it more difficult and time consuming. Branches had to be stripped of all greenery to avoid clogging up the drum blade and the machine was unable to cope with branches even two thirds of the size advertised. The self feed mechanism did not work well on larger branches causing the feed hopper to jam. With no reverse on the motor, freeing jams meant unplugging the machine and taking off one or other of the hoppers, consuming more time. Additionally jams tended to cause the motor to blow the fuse in the plug which also then needed to be replaced. NOT A HAPPY EXPERIENCE as having assembled the machine I now need to disassemble it for return.
Gaz1892a –
I was pleasantly surprised by how good this little machine is. The only issue I’ve had is after using a couple of times and putting it through its paces was when I come to use it for the 3rd time, at first it wouldn’t start, checked fuses and It had blew the 13amp plug fuse. Replaced fuse and made sure everything was clear around the blades. Stared it again and blew another fuse, it kept doing this for a while, popping the cut out fuse and then blowing more plug fuses. This was plugged direct into a socket although despite the reviews and advice below re running on extension cables, I had not issues at all running off a 25m cable. Anyway, the motor would turn slightly and then cut out, as though the rotation of the motor was somehow compromised, yet again checked the rotation of the motor and blades and everything seemed fine. Still blew fuses and cut out.
Remedy, I removed the plastic dust cap to the right of the motor and sprayed some lubricating oil on the bearings and hey presto, it worked first time, so my advice would be to keep this bad boy lubed up!
Other than that this was one of the best purchases for my garden I’ve bought, smashing it!!
Gareth Bennett –
I was pleasantly surprised by how good this little machine is. The only issue I’ve had is after using a couple of times and putting it through its paces was when I come to use it for the 3rd time, at first it wouldn’t start, checked fuses and It had blew the 13amp plug fuse. Replaced fuse and made sure everything was clear around the blades. Started it again and blew another fuse, it kept doing this for a
while, popping the cut out fuse and then blowing more plug fuses. This was plugged direct into a socket although despite the reviews and advice below regarding running on extension cables, I had no issues at all running off a 25m cable.
Anyway, the motor would turn slightly and then cut out, as though the rotation of the motor was somehow compromised, yet again checked the rotation of the motor blades and everything seemed fine. Still blew fuses and cut out.
Remedy, I removed the plastic dust cap to the right of the motor and sprayed some lubricating oil on the bearings and hey presto, it worked first time, so my advice would be to keep this bad boy lubed up!
Other than that this was one of the best purchases for my garden I’ve bought, smashing it!!
Gareth (verified owner) –
Really happy with the machine,arrived next day and went together easily. Worked as described,can’t grumble.
John Barrett (verified owner) –
Fast efficient service. The machine is a proper beast. It was a bit tricky to get it started. But after sorting out the fuse problem is worked fantastically. As with any new tool it takes a little while to know what you can and can’t do with it. Highly reconmended
Paul Townley (verified owner) –
Very good machine, capable of chipping most/all of what a normal house will produce and giving a smallish chipped mulch, great for spreading on borders. I didn’t suffer from the problem noted by others about the type/rating of the extension, I used a 30m heavy duty. My only criticism is the guard. It works well with bigger branches but when you are wanting to get rid of the smaller stuff it is difficult to feed the pieces in. It may be an idea to have an alternative funnel, one with deflectors top and bottom to stop a hand or arm going through but that allows flexible and/or smaller newly cut wood to be fed in. Do not use it without the guard!
YVES DELAFONTAINE (verified owner) –
Thank you for sending the Invoice
order 26764
Jane A. (verified owner) –
Excellent service, excellent produce.
Martin K. (verified owner) –
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Excellent for a small garden
Martti Palomäki (verified owner) –
The exhaust chute (34) gets blocked quite easily when there are a lot of leaves on the branches (fresh wood). I have replaced mounting screws (50) of the exhaust chute (34) with a spring. Now opening is easy to do.
bruce (verified owner) –
Great service and i must say its a really good piece of equipment well built and robust .
Hervé (verified owner) –
bien
Daren Swift (verified owner) –
Philip B. (verified owner) –
An excellent addition to our garden tools
David M. (verified owner) –
Did not work well with yew trees. Works ok with 20mm branches, not 50mm. Noise level is very low.
Mervyn Coleman (verified owner) –
Very good product and sevice
Geoff (verified owner) –
Build quality feels good and delivery was good, the blades cut well even on thick branches. However, it Regularly blocks, the safety switch on the input chute broke. Every time it blocks the fuse in the plug blows.
john mair (verified owner) –
unable to use as arrived damaged
Tony T. (verified owner) –
Very effective with small / medium branches but trips with those near the 2” maximum
Robert B. (verified owner) –
Website is great – good pictures and clear description – plus the communication on delivery timeframe was prompt.
Robert Yates (verified owner) –
Brilliant little chipper. Amazing what it’s capable of, and so compact. Excellent value for money.
Paul M. (verified owner) –
I’m pleased at how good this chipper is at tackling large shrub material. Well worth the money.
Peter B. (verified owner) –
Peter L. (verified owner) –