Chipper Vs. Tub grinder?

[treeman82]

I was thinking about the logistics of something for a while. I was wondering what you guys thought of my idea. You get a bunch of logs which are no good for pulp wood, lumber, firewood, etc. My idea is to stock pile the logs in long lengths. Then on days when its raining, take those logs into a lean to and slice them up into chippable sized pieces. Run the pieces through the machine. Send the chips off into clients' woods and spread them out for a fee. Keep a good metal detector around for picking up on nails, cables, etc.

The pros I see to this are:
1) keeps your guys busy on rain days
2) cuts back on disposal fees
3) keeps you from having to make a trip to the tub grinding place or dump

The cons:
1) a tub grinder is a lot faster than a 12" chipper
2) a tub grinder requires a lot less labor

 

[Stumper]

Is your labor worth less than disposal fees? Plus storage of the junk and wear and tear on equipment!

 

[Newfie]

It also assumes that you have the space to store the logs, which can be mucho denaro in an urban area.

 

[Yellowdog]

HOwdy,

Let me tell you what I know. Tub grinders are really, really expensive. Chippers that handle big logs are really expensive. If you can make money chipping them at least at $100 per hour, then you should consider chipping large logs.
I use a BC2000 and it will chip 20+ inch live oak trunks. I utilize the grapple loader which will pull in a 3000 lb log, but the chipper, though it doesn't bog down on me, vibrates excessively on large, dry oak. With that said, I can chip a 20" soft wood, green or dry in literally seconds but the oak is a different story. Hard wood and chipper blades don't go well together. Nails are soft, as I have found out and rarely do much damage to knives but I found that things like wire, rocks, etc. embedded in a log can hurt the knives. You will be doing a lot of knife maintenance when chipping large logs. Oh, and if you plan on chipping in the rain, think about all the crud that gets stuck to a wet log (rocks, mud, etc.) Abrasive mud dulls knives too.

I haven't found many people interested in paying to spread chips out though I am working on that. I literally get mountains of chips because I clear lots and clean up after other tree companies and most people don't want the chips because it's hard work spreading chips wet or dry.

If you can make money disposing of those logs do it. If you look around, maybe you will find a secondary use for the chips like fuel wood for boilers or composting yards..

That's all I know.

 

[Pacific]

You take a excavator (track hoe) and pile the stuff as high as the machine can reach then start a big fire and burn the stuff.

 

[treeman82]

Pacific, around here your way would result in one or two things.

1) LARGE fines

2) Getting locked up

Permits around here are EXTREMELY hard to come by. They don't allow open fires anymore. I know one guy who got in a bunch of trouble for just having a wood fire in a steel barrell to keep his guys warm in the cold weather.

 

[Pacific]

Around here I live in B.C. Canada you can have a slash pile fire it could be stacked 20' in the air usually its how ever high a 235 Cat excavator sized machine can pile it. All the land clearing in this are requires burning if there is no area to burn on the lot then it gets hauled to the landfill and charged 40 dollars per ton.

There were a couple companies here with tub grinders they got rid of them or rarely use them because they are too expensive to run. You end up with a boulder stuck in the stumps being chewed up your busting up the hammers on the drum.