I've operated a good quality consumer one. It is a lot harder work and harder on the body than I had expected. It is very loud. There is a whole lot of vibration and jerking around. I don't normally wear work gloves, but you need them for this. The limbs and crap get ripped out of your hands and stuff is flying everywhere.

Wood chips sound way cooler and easier until you try to make your own. I'm guessing one of the really big industrial kinds are a lot easier to use, but they are really expensive and even renting them adds up.

With that said... a lot of people will contact a nearby tree limber and you can often get them to dump a truck load of wood chips at your place for free if you are near enough. But you'll need to figure out a way to protect them from rain and circulate them enough so they will be dry enough instead of sitting there and rotting.