Where is Fargo’s wood chipper now?

For Milo Durben, buying the wood chipper after his work as a crewmember on Minnesota brothers Joel and Ethan Coen’s movie Fargo was a move prompted by practicality. The last thing he thought he was getting with the chipper was an iconic prop from a film that would become a worldwide phenomenon and earn the Coens and star Frances McDormand Academy Awards.

When he bought the chipper, it didn’t matter to him that Steve Buscemi’s faux leg was sticking out of the thing only days earlier. A dolly grip on the film, Durben thought he was just getting a good deal at the production’s prop sale.

“We had to finish shooting the movie in Grand Forks, N.D., because all of the snow melted here,” Durben recalls. “When I came back to the production offices in Minnesota with about a week left on the production, they started to sell some of the props, and the chipper was up for ‘$500 or best offer.’ Since I had $200 in per diem money in my pocket, I said, ‘Here, I’ll take it for this.’ After a little bargaining with them, I said, ‘$200 is my best offer,’ and they took it.”

The wood chipper makes only a brief appearance in the film—which celebrates its 15th anniversary April 5—but what a memorable appearance it turned out to be. It takes place in the climactic final act, after Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare)—tired of the verbal abuse from his fellow kidnapper, Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi)—decides to shut his partner-in-crime up permanently.

The next time we see Grimsrud, he’s trying to dispose of Showalter’s body in the chipper, but Brainerd Police Chief Marge Gunderson (McDormand) catches him red-handed.

Of course, when Durben originally bought the chipper, he didn’t know what kind of hot item he had on his hands. Surrounded by trees on his rural Delano farm, he bought the wood chipper to, well, chip wood.

“I used it for the first year for basically cleaning up—that’s what I wanted it for,” Durben says. “But then the day after the movie won the Oscars, I got a call from about five different radio stations wanting to talk about it. Since it’s become famous, it’s been in storage.”

While Durben never used the chipper (a Yard Shark with an 8-hp Briggs And Stratton engine) for its intended purpose again, it has earned its own sort of celebrity status in the rural Minnesota community.

“It was in the Delano 4th Of July parade the year the movie came out on home video and was displayed in a local video store in Delano,” Durben recalls. “I also used it for some other things to help promote Minnesota.”

The chipper even became immortalized as a grizzly piece of film memorabilia for the film’s special edition VHS release. Packed in with the tape for one of two collectible releases was a water globe that featured figurines of Gunderson, Grimsrud, and the chipper—with Showalter’s leg sticking out of it. Unlike other water globes, though, the white granules used to replicate snow were replaced with red specks to simulate blood splatter.

While interest in the chipper has waned over the years, Durben and the Coens celebrated its legacy in 2009 when Durben, who has worked on 38 films over the years, stopped by to see the brothers while they were filming A Serious Man in St. Louis Park. For old time’s sake, Durben even disconnected the exit chute from the chipper for his old filmmaking friends to see.

“I walked onto the set with the chute, and people who also worked with the Coens on Fargo all said hello to me, and I visited with the brothers for about an hour,” said Durben, who has also worked with such filmmakers as Sam Raimi, Alexander Payne, and Kevin Smith. “Before I left, both Joel and Ethan signed it for me.”

The visit was so memorable for the Coens that they brought up Durben and the wood chipper in a GQ magazine interview for A Serious Man later that year.

“They said I put the chipper in the Delano parade every year and I thought, ‘Oh, no, it was only once, guys,’” Durben says, laughing. “I thought it was great, though. Who else do you know who’s been mentioned in GQ?”

Wilson Webb, courtesy Milo Durben

Durben was asked by the Coens to work A Serious Man, but had to decline because of prior commitments with his own lighting and grip business. He’s happy, though, to have had the opportunity to work so closely with them on Fargo—an experience that provided far more memories than the chipper could ever bring.

“When you’re the dolly grip [the crew member who operates the camera dolly and positions the dolly track—ed.], you’re right there. You’re in the middle of the six or eight people that make the movie,” Durben explains. “It’s just the cameraman and his assistant, the dolly grip, the director and his assistant, the producer, and the script supervisor. It’s only a small core of people who are there on every scene.”

And of all his experiences, Durben is proud to say that his work on Fargo was one of the best, because the Coens treated him as an equal.

“The brothers were good to hang around with,” Durben says. “They communicated well with me, and we basically became friends. On a lot of films, the filmmakers don’t talk to you, and you’re just there to do the job. But for the Coens to ask me to do A Serious Man and work with them in the same capacity as Fargo meant a lot. They’re great guys.”

As for his future with the wood chipper, Durben feels that he can realistically see parting with it at some point.

“I’ve held onto it for so long,” Durben wonders aloud. “What more is it going to do for me?”