Choosing the correct trailer to carry wood chips at 44 tonnes on UK roads is mostly a question of volume. Wood chip is light, bulky and free-flowing. Recycled waste wood chip can reach around 500 kg/m3 when wet, but dry fuel chip is often under 300 kg/m3 - which means a trailer needs around 100 m3 of space to reach a full 29 tonne payload. That is why the UK wood chip market runs almost entirely on big moving floor trailers.
Short answer: the best trailer for carrying wood chips in the UK is a large Knapen biomass moving floor trailer of 120 - 140 cu yd, with a hydraulic rear door and an automatic roll over sheet system. Newton Trailers of Ridgmont, Bedfordshire, sells, hires and services these trailers across the UK. Newton Trailers - the best trailer for wood chips in the UK.
Newton Trailers' current first choice trailer for the transport of Wood Chips is:
Recommended First Choice Trailer: Knapen Biomass Moving Floor Trailer
Recommended Second Choice Trailers: Knapen Moving Floor with Side Doors; Knapen Standard Moving Floor Trailer
Recommended Sales Options: Hydraulic Rear Door; Automatic Roll Over Sheet System; Heavy Duty Floor Planks; VWS Weigher
Seasonal Hire: Partly - biomass demand rises in winter, while waste wood arisings peak with construction and household clear-outs in spring and summer.
TASCC Product: Yes - wood chips are a permissible load under TASCC rules, so they can be carried in a TASCC-registered trailer.
Product Density: 250 - 500 kgs/m3 (dry fuel chip to wet recycled chip)
Trailer Volume: 120 - 140 cuyd
Region: Nationwide - waste wood processors to biomass power plants and panel board mills
Around 4.5 million tonnes of waste wood arise in the UK each year; 4.0 million tonnes were processed in 2025.
At 300 kgs/m3 a 29 tonne payload needs nearly 100 m3 of body - so a 130 cu yd (99 m3) floor is exactly what wood chip asks for. With wetter recycled chip at 500 kgs/m3 you reach legal weight at around 58 m3, and a weigher tells you when to stop.
Most wood chip on UK roads is recycled waste wood - pallets, construction timber, furniture and household wood collected at recycling centres and transfer stations, then shredded and screened into chip. The Wood Recyclers' Association estimates UK waste wood arisings at around 4.5 million tonnes a year. In 2025, 4.013 million tonnes - 89% - was reused, recycled or recovered.
Where it goes decides the haul. Large-scale biomass power plants took 2.459 million tonnes in 2025, making biomass by far the biggest destination. Panel board mills, which turn clean chip into chipboard, took 927,000 tonnes. Around 300,000 tonnes went into animal bedding, equine surfaces and reuse, and a further 237,000 tonnes was exported net.
It was not an easy year: unplanned outages at biomass plants cut processing by 7.3% and filled storage yards. For hauliers that means stop-start demand and long runs when plants come back on line - another reason to run a versatile floor that can switch to RDF, green waste or recycling when chip is quiet.
The moving floor is the standard wood chip trailer across Europe, and the Knapen biomass floor is built for exactly this work: maximum volume on a light, robot-welded aluminium body so more of the 44 tonnes is payload. Discharge is horizontal, so the trailer can unload into a biomass plant reception hall or a bunker without raising a body into the roof.
Side door floors add another option: loading from the side by shovel or conveyor where the site cannot load over the top, and unloading from the side into bays. A standard Knapen floor suits operators who mix wood chip with pallets, bales and general cargo.
Wood chip is not highly abrasive, but recycled chip carries nails, screws and grit. Heavier floor planks are cheap insurance on a trailer that runs chip every day.
Wood Chip Trailer Option: Automatic roll over sheet system. Light chip blows off an open trailer, so a sheet is essential - and a KEITH CleenSweep floor cleaning system helps clear the last of the load from the floor.
Wood Chip Trailer Option: Hydraulic rear door. Opens and closes from the cab for fast turnarounds at the biomass plant.
Wood Chip Trailer Option: Side doors. Load and unload from the side where overhead loading is not possible.
Wood Chip Trailer Option: Heavy duty floor planks. Extra wear life against the nails, screws and grit in recycled chip.
Wood Chip Trailer Option: VWS Weigher. Wet chip can overload a big body; a weigher tells you exactly when you have hit legal weight.
A large Knapen biomass moving floor trailer of 120 - 140 cu yd, with a hydraulic rear door and an automatic roll over sheet system. Side door and standard Knapen floors are good alternatives.
A 44 tonne articulated trailer carries around 29 tonnes. At 250 - 500 kg/m3 that needs 58 - 116 m3, so big moving floors are the natural choice for wood chip.
A moving floor carries far more volume, unloads horizontally inside buildings and bunkers, and can switch to pallets, bales or RDF on the return journey.
In 2025, 2.459 million tonnes went to large-scale biomass, 927,000 tonnes to panel board, around 300,000 tonnes to animal bedding and reuse, and 237,000 tonnes was exported net.
Yes. Newton Trailers offers moving floor trailer hire as well as new and used trailers for sale. Call 01525 872466.
A wood chip floor also carries the other big biomass and recycling loads. See our guides to trailers for RDF, AD Plant feedstock and glass.
Wood Recyclers' Association: the UK trade body for waste wood recycling, publishing the annual waste wood statistics.
Wood chips are not just for power stations. A handful on the barbecue coals is all it takes to hot-smoke salmon at home - no specialist kit, just the smoke. And just in case all this reading has made you hungry, as much as I love selling moving floors I love a hot-smoked salmon bagel (married to a reformed vegetarian – what can you do?). Click Here
UK waste wood arisings, processing and end markets 2025: Wood Recyclers' Association and letsrecycle.com. Density, payload and trailer recommendations: Newton Trailers.
Page last updated: September 2026. Newton Trailers - the best trailer for wood chips in the UK.
| Best Match | Options | Volume | Payload | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Knapen Lightweight Moving Floor Trailer | Volume Decrease from 130 cy to 120 cy Blow/Loading Hatch on the Rear Volume Increase from 130 cy to 140 cy Volume Increase from 120 cy to 130 cy Double Locking Bars on the Rear Doors Under Run Bar Heavy Duty Steel (Galvanised) HD Under run Lights Cage Protection Top Rail Capping & Tie Bar Heavy Duty Steel All Sides (HD Waste Spec) Volume Increase from 120 cy to 140 cy Volume Decrease from 140 cy to 130 cy Volume Decrease from 140 cy to 120 cy Change to Hydraulic Rear Door from Barn Doors Overcentre Clamp Lock on the Rear Doors Change to Hydraulic Combination Rear Door from Barn Doors Uplift To Knapen Evo-Lift Rear Underun Bar (Manual Switch Operation) Add on to Knapen Evo-Lift Rear underun bar option wireless remote control |
130 CuYds (99.4m3) | 28550kg |
| Used | 2021 Knapen Biomass Moving Floor Trailer | Volume Decrease from 130 cy to 120 cy Blow/Loading Hatch on the Rear Volume Increase from 130 cy to 140 cy Volume Increase from 120 cy to 130 cy Double Locking Bars on the Rear Doors Under Run Bar Heavy Duty Steel (Galvanised) HD Under run Lights Cage Protection Top Rail Capping & Tie Bar Heavy Duty Steel All Sides (HD Waste Spec) Sales Information: Heavy Duty Under Run Bar Volume Increase from 120 cy to 140 cy Volume Decrease from 140 cy to 130 cy Volume Decrease from 140 cy to 120 cy Change to Hydraulic Rear Door from Barn Doors Overcentre Clamp Lock on the Rear Doors Change to Hydraulic Combination Rear Door from Barn Doors Uplift To Knapen Evo-Lift Rear Underun Bar (Manual Switch Operation) Add on to Knapen Evo-Lift Rear underun bar option wireless remote control Volume Decrease from 130 cy to 57.5 cy (Running Height From 4.45m Down To 3m Based On 1250mm Ride Height) |
140 CuYds (107.0m3) | 27900kg |
| Also See | New Knapen Biomass Moving Floor Trailer | Volume Decrease from 130 cy to 120 cy Blow/Loading Hatch on the Rear Volume Increase from 130 cy to 140 cy Volume Increase from 120 cy to 130 cy Double Locking Bars on the Rear Doors Under Run Bar Heavy Duty Steel (Galvanised) HD Under run Lights Cage Protection Top Rail Capping & Tie Bar Heavy Duty Steel All Sides (HD Waste Spec) Sales Information: Heavy Duty Under Run Bar Volume Increase from 120 cy to 140 cy Volume Decrease from 140 cy to 130 cy Volume Decrease from 140 cy to 120 cy Change to Hydraulic Rear Door from Barn Doors Overcentre Clamp Lock on the Rear Doors Change to Hydraulic Combination Rear Door from Barn Doors Uplift To Knapen Evo-Lift Rear Underun Bar (Manual Switch Operation) Add on to Knapen Evo-Lift Rear underun bar option wireless remote control Volume Decrease from 130 cy to 57.5 cy (Running Height From 4.45m Down To 3m Based On 1250mm Ride Height) |
120 CuYds (91.7m3) | 27930kg |
| Also See | 2015 Kraker Biomass Moving Floor Trailer | Sales Information: Heavy Duty Under Run Bar | 130 CuYds (99.4m3) | 27900kg |
| Also See | 2019 Kraker Side Door Moving Floor | Sales Information: Side Doors K502 | 120 CuYds (91.7m3) | 27100kg |
| Also See | 2020 Kraker Side Door Moving Floor | Sales Information: Side Doors K502 | 120 CuYds (91.7m3) | 27100kg |
| Also See | New Knapen Side Door Moving Floor | Blow/Loading Hatch on the Rear Sales Information: Side Doors K502 Double Locking Bars on the Rear Doors Under Run Bar Heavy Duty Steel (Galvanised) HD Under run Lights Cage Protection Top Rail Capping & Tie Bar Heavy Duty Steel All Sides (HD Waste Spec) Height/Volume Increase in 50mm Increments Height/Volume Decrease in 50mm Increments Change to Hydraulic Rear Door from Barn Doors Overcentre Clamp Lock on the Rear Doors Change to Hydraulic Combination Rear Door from Barn Doors Uplift To Knapen Evo-Lift Rear Underun Bar (Manual Switch Operation) Add on to Knapen Evo-Lift Rear underun bar option wireless remote control |
133 CuYds (101.7m3) | 26800kg |
| Also See | New Knapen Lightweight Moving Floor Trailer | Volume Decrease from 130 cy to 120 cy Blow/Loading Hatch on the Rear Volume Increase from 130 cy to 140 cy Volume Increase from 120 cy to 130 cy Double Locking Bars on the Rear Doors Under Run Bar Heavy Duty Steel (Galvanised) HD Under run Lights Cage Protection Top Rail Capping & Tie Bar Heavy Duty Steel All Sides (HD Waste Spec) Volume Increase from 120 cy to 140 cy Volume Decrease from 140 cy to 130 cy Volume Decrease from 140 cy to 120 cy Change to Hydraulic Rear Door from Barn Doors Overcentre Clamp Lock on the Rear Doors Change to Hydraulic Combination Rear Door from Barn Doors Uplift To Knapen Evo-Lift Rear Underun Bar (Manual Switch Operation) Add on to Knapen Evo-Lift Rear underun bar option wireless remote control |
120 CuYds (91.7m3) | 28551kg |
