There are many different chippers on the market for chipping various kinds of biomass for a range of purposes, and at a range of scales from small domestic units to high throughput whole tree chippers.

For many of them the principle aim is volume reduction and to assist handling and transport, and the quality of the chip produced is unimportant. For many biomass energy applications, however, components such as the chip transport/feed mechanism (especially smaller scale auger feeds and underfed stoker grates) there are certain physical requirements of the chips if smooth operation is to be ensured and blockages avoided.

As part of the upcoming CEN 335 European standard for solid biofuels, there are standards for wood chips, which include the distribution of chip dimensions for a given chip size.

If a chipper is to be used for woodfuel applications, it should be able to produce chips within this distribution.

Of possibly greatest importance for many applications is the absence of slivers within the output, as these long pieces can cause bridging within fuel feed systems, potentially causing a blockage.

Chippers may be powered by an internal diesel or petrol engine, may be electrically driven, or may be driven by an agricultural tractor power take off (PTO).

An internal drive increases cost and maintenance requirement, but makes for a more independent system.  It may also be more convenient if there is a necessity to transport it regularly on public roads rather than also needing to bring a tractor. 

The feed system may incorporate a no-stress mechanism that stops the infeed roller drive if the disk speed drops too low under loading.