Customer Reviews for Champion Power Equipment 3 in. 338 cc Gas-Powered Wood Chipper Shredder with Collection Bag

I am a mechanical engineer with 35+ years of experience and usually fix stuff around the house. This terrible piece of Made in China masterpiece is impossible to fix. To remove the spark plug of non-standard size, one needs to take apart more than half of this"device". The same goes for the carburetor. Just a piece of junk and constant grief. When it works, it's good, btw.

The instructiions were very clear; Champion expects me to treat the machine with respect. I have only had a chance to use it once; it chipped GREAT! Biggest stems were probably 2+ inches and with some twists-and-turns. It sucked them right in for the most part; the bigger, the better it sucked. Easy to finish putting together. Solid machine. Looking forward to more chipping.

I really love my Champion 3 inch chipper/shredder. I read some reviews and also watched a number of You Tube videos on folks who had been using this model. This is the 338 CC model. I cannot believe how fast it chips up the branches. If they are fairly straight and long it pulls them right in. I have put some pretty thick branches in and it just chews them up. I really haven't tried a 3 inch branch because that would be the smallest size we use in our woodstove. So far I really like the chipper part of this unit. The shredder part is okay, and works fine. I just don't care for the shreds it makes. I do use the shredder, but I really prefer the chipper. All in all I highly recommend this model of chipper. I could not find a cover for it made by Champion, so I bought an off brand cover and it does fit it. Looking forward to chipping many more bags full to use in our garden and our walking paths.

Was worried that it wouldn't be able to handle the size of branches it said it would - but I was wrong. As a gardener I love the shredding option and having my own mulch on hand. The wood chips also come in handy when gardening. Never knew chipping could be so much fun.

The product was easy to assemble. I used it for about 20 minutes. It works so far. I plan on using it more this summer.

Took less than an hour to assemble great instructions. Very simple to start for being 338 cc engine. Was able to feed sticks easily never had an issue feeding the chipper. Would recommend this chipper to anyone.

Works great for brush clean up! Good for smaller hobby farms

We looked at several brands of chippers before deciding on the Champion 338cc 3" model. Our deciding factor was that regardless of the review site, the Champion brand seemed to place at or near the top. I read countless reviews and the worst I could find was that this unit is hard to start. Every chipper shredder I have used has required a little muscle to get started. I actually think my champion is one of the easier machines to start. The hammers are tough and make easy work of yard debris. The shredder makes a good compost material of leaves and small twigs. All in all, I am a happy customer and, should the need for other machinery arise, would consider the Champion brand first.

Decent chipper. Top bin clogs easily - don't add too much at once. Any slight bend in branches causes problems on the branch feed; if you can get them in there, it chips nicely.

I have only used this chipper/shredder for a few hours but it works better than expected. It chipped all tree branches that fit and the shredder made quick work of smaller branches. Assembly was simple and all parts were included. The unit started up on the 2nd pull and the shredding work started. The bag works good to collect the chipped/shredded material. If there was 1 thing I would change it would be to have a chute to direct the chipped/shredded material onto a pile.

Just used heavily over the weekend for the first time (12+ hours) Chewed everything with no problem and a minimal bogging down on the large 3 inch. Some branches came out slightly bigger pieces/chunks that I just fed back thru. Overall very satisfied

I just purchased a new 201353 chipper shedder. Setup was smooth and when together just as advertised. Loaded the oil and gas two or three pulls and off and running. Ordered online through TSC Delivery was only a week. Up and running and good to go! Tom

shredder hopper gets plugged unless you cut all small branches off the main branch. shredder does not shred small enough and clogs the outlet. outlet too small. chipper will not handle 3' branches like advertised. overall very poor design

This chipper works great and seems well built. It's very easy to assemble and get to work.

I bought it online from Tractor Supply delivered to the store. It arrived on time and the store team helped me load it into the truck. When I got it home and started opening the box, I was surprised how sturdy it was built. Always starts on first pull, and the pull cord/handle are bigger size than a lawnmower's. It chips up branches great - I've done up to 2" so far. I get them started in the chute and they suck in by themselves. 1-1/2" cedar saplings will suck into the chute branches and all. I mostly bought it to shred leaves. My leaf cage had grown to 8' x 5' x 6' and in two afternoons I got it reduced to about 3' x 3' x 2'. I mixed wet leaves with the dry leaves and didn't have any trouble with it getting clogged. I would definitely recommend it.

Excellent mulcher. 338 Cc engine is a workhorse for mulching limbs. Easy to start and safe to operate to clear my brush pile. It takes time to prepare branches but mulches easily.

What a beast. Easy to start all you have to do is pull the cord with no effort, starts right up and is hungry. I started off with some little stuff and moved to thicker and it ate it up like nothing. I would recommend this to anyone.

The 338cc engine fires right up in one pull or maybe two. Has plenty of power to chip even the 3" branches i put throught it. One minor complaint is the "handle" just being a few holes cut in the shredder hopper, but does not affect the power and performance what so ever. 5 star machine, would definitely recommend!

This is absolutely a great chipper. I was trying to decide between this model and another manufacturer's chipper that was top rated. I sure am glad that I picked this one. It is heavy duty. Other reviews say the protective flaps on the chipper are too stiff and that it is hard to load. I have not had a problem loading into the chipper. Other chipper I've seen has thin protective flaps over the chipper chute, but these are thick and heavy duty, a great safety measure to keep projectiles from coming out of the chipper. Started on the first pull when used the first time. The chipper has taken anything I have put into the chipper chute without any engine hesitation. The shredder hopper also works great. The hopper is taller than the other model's hopper I was deciding between, which I decided was a good safety feature. The chipper function does better with larger material while twigs do better in the Shredder Hopper. Moving the unit around is easy. I have had no problems with the bag coming off. Shipping was great. I ordered the unit at noon on a Wednesday, and it was delivered at noon two days later. Original order stated it would be thirteen days before I received it. The unit was well secured to a small pallet and shipped by XPO shipping. I received a phone call before delivery. I was even advised to inspect product before signing for receipt and found it to be in perfect condition. The only assembly necessary was the Chipper Hopper and Chute Deflector. I would definitely buy this product again!

Got this chipper shredder primarily for mulching leaves and small limbs for the garden. After watching video reviews of several brands and models, I opted for this particular Champion model, because it has a larger engine than most. More torque should equate to more chipper capability for the larger diameter limbs. The good: Very little assembly/prep was required (takes about 20 minutes). The engine cranked on the first pull. Also, the chipper side works great and makes easy work of limbs up to 3" in diameter (as advertised). Note - for an actual 3" diameter limb to feed through the chipper, the limb needs to be fairly straight. Otherwise, it will bind in the entrance, because the passageway isn't much larger than 3 inches. The not so good: I'm all about safety, and I know manufacturers must include safety guards on equipment, but it was nearly impossible to shred large oak leaves in the hopper. The rubber "fingers" that guard the entrance to the hopper are very rigid, and you must push the leaves past the rubber fingers in order for the shredder to do its part. But even after you manipulate the leaves past the rubber fingers, they still have a tendency to jam the entrance to the shredder, right where the hopper funnels down to its narrowest point. My solution (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) was to remove the safety guard that has the rubber fingers on it. Once the safety guard is removed, large oak leaves shred well, but you still can't just cram piles of leaves in the hopper and expect it to work flawlessly. You must load the leaves gradually, so they don't pack together and block the narrow entrance to the mulching teeth. I don't think there's a remedy to this (no matter the manufacturer), other than remove the safety guard. Bottom line though - I'd still buy this again, because it's the best economical option for mulching limbs and leaves for the garden.

This is absolutely a great chipper. I was trying to decide between this model and another manufacturer's chipper that was top rated. I sure am glad that I picked this one. It is heavy duty. Other reviews say the protective flaps on the chipper are too stiff and that it is hard to load. I have not had a problem loading into the chipper. Other chipper I've seen has thin protective flaps over the chipper chute, but these are thick and heavy duty, a great safety measure to keep projectiles from coming out of the chipper. Started on the first pull when used the first time. The chipper has taken anything I have put into the chipper chute without any engine hesitation. The shredder hopper also works great. The hopper is taller than the other model's hopper I was deciding between, which I decided was a good safety feature. The chipper function does better with larger material while twigs do better in the Shredder Hopper. Moving the unit around is easy. I have had no problems with the bag coming off. Shipping was great. I ordered the unit at noon on a Wednesday, and it was delivered at noon two days later. Original order stated it would be thirteen days before I received it. The unit was well secured to a small pallet and shipped by XPO shipping. I received a phone call before delivery. I was even advised to inspect product before signing for receipt and found it to be in perfect condition. The only assembly necessary was the Chipper Hopper and Chute Deflector. I would definitely buy this product again!

Great for chipping and shredding all types of yard debris.

Very sturdy and heavy. Does a great job on the larger limbs put through the bottom. Shredding of smaller stuff through top isn't quite as small. Starts easily. I would recommend this to my friends!

Was unsure this chipper would handle the ash trees we were taking down, I was surprised at how well it worked. I found I needed to slow down but it worked quite well

Givin er in the ol yard and had some yarding to do. Sun was shining and needed to shred the old twigs in the yard. Flannel on and tunes blazing and this thing gotter all cleaned up. She purred away as i fed her more twigs and such spat out the guts of a once twig now shavings. Turned er into organic fertilizer. Thanks again Champion

Easy to assemble, all parts and oil were included. You may want to use blue loctite on the few bolts you need to install to keep them from vibrating loose. Powerful engine and it takes 3 in logs with ease. I have shredded my limbs, cutting, leaves and corn cobs to make a nice mulch for our garden. I highly recommend this model.

We live on a large property with many mature trees, so needed a good chipper shredder to tackle the frequent clean-up needed from our mature oaks and pines dropping many large & small branches. We already owned the excellent Champion walk behind leaf blower, so were excited based on our experience with that other machine to buy this chipper/shredder. It's solidly built, and starts easily. But as others have mentioned, it is VERY hard to feed branches into the chipper chute as the rubber safety guard is very (VERY) firm - too firm in my opinion. Hoping it will soften over time and become easier. Currently, I have to use the flat side of a 2x4 to push most if not all branches in - and it's quite hard to do so even with the 2x4 pushing branches in. Instead, I find it necessary to use the 2x4 to push a branch in as far as it will go, pull it out, spin it around, push it back in..and repeat this process several times for most branches. Definitely not "gravity feed" whatsoever in my experience. The shredder hopper is no easier. Unless you literally THROW (somewhat violently) branches in, they just sit in the hopper against the rubber guards and often don't go all the way down into the shredder blades. (To that point, my experience is much different than Champion responded to in the Q&A regarding this as my machine doesn't just "pull" the branches from the shredder hopper at all). And even though the manual say not to, I wound up having to use a larger stick to push branches down through the rubber guards and into the shredder. But in most cases, you wind up not knowing if they went down all the way or not, and need to look to see. That's definitely very risky as the machine (like every other chipper shredder) can shoot bits of wood back out either the shredder hopper or chipper chute. I wear good eye protection, but it's still quite uncomfortable to constantly be pushing things into the hopper and then having to check to see if they actually went down. We also noticed that while the chipper produces somewhat fine wood chips, the shredder seems to sometimes pass big chunks of sticks through untouched - so when we empty the discharge bag, we have a lot of nice small chips and a pile of un-shredded small branch pieces. Even though I absolutely love our Champion walk-behind leaf blower (excellent machine!), I'm at this point disappointed in the chipper/shredder and am considering returning it to the retailer. I'll give it a little more time, but so far..not what I expected.

I use our chipper on cedar boughs and found that the rubber flapper on the chipper chute is far too stiff for its location in the chute making it difficult to feed in the material. I ended up removing the flapper which isn't great for safety. The rubber could be less stiff or located higher in the chute. It would be good to have a cover for the shredder to prevent rain getting to the chipper and a drain on the bottom

As long as you feed the hopper slow and only do one stick at a time, this chipper has enough power to chop anything you can fit down the shoot. Easy to start and small footprint for storage. Very pleased with product.