Wood chips anyone?

[avalancher]

Well, if cutting wood wasnt enough, I have been playing with an idea and wanted to know if anyone else is doing this.
A good bit of what I cut is hickory, and I have often wondered if all those branches that I toss into the gulley wouldnt make nice hickory chips. I happened to notice the other day at the grocery store they sell hickory chips, a 5 pound bag for 11.00. Are they joking? A quick conversation with the manager told me no, they are not kidding. I asked him if a guy was to come in here and sell him a 5 pound bag for a couple of bucks, would he be interested? He said absolutely!
Now, here is my question, anyone doing this? I looked at what it would cost for a chipper, looked at a cheap Troy Built chipper that would handle 3 inch branches, they want 600 bucks. Anyone got any other options or suggestions?I know that my wife would have a cow if I purposed any more funds being funneled to the woodcutting business, she finally agreed to a tractor the other day. I might swing 600, but anymore and I might be directed to the couch for a month........
Anyone?

 

[HUSKYMAN]

My buddy who owns a tree service says he can get rid of all the chips he wants to no problem. I am sure you could sell them, just find a few more buyers.

The Troy Built one is not designed to make a living off of, dont be surprised if it only lasts a year or two under heavy use. You need a real chipper

 

[mga]

would or does the buyer have a steady flow of customers buying the hickory chips? or, is it seasonal only?

if he can guarantee a steady buy from you, the wood chipper will pay for itself in no time.

 

[timberwolf tree]

i myself have bounced the idea around usually in mid season and i say to myself boy it ton of work for a few bucks

and then i dump it ,\\ makeing money is endless the question is do you have the time to play around

 

[czeigler]

We use Hickory in our Smokehouse. That might be an idea for you too. You wouldn't have to chip as much maybe!

 

[KsWoodsMan]

hmmmm, (carefully weighing new stuff, back and forth, against a month on the couch )
How bad can it really be again on the couch ? Any chance for an early reprieve ?

I 'd say go for the extra stuff. LOL I don't miss the wood wench or her cooking so much.

 

[Husky137]

Are these chips dried in some fashion? I would imagine that they have to be. Green woodchips in a 5 pound bag would make a pretty smelly mess.

 

[cjcocn]

Are these chips dried in some fashion? I would imagine that they have to be. Green woodchips in a 5 pound bag would make a pretty smelly mess.

That's an excellent point. You may also require a method to dry the chips and perhaps test their moisture content as well.

Further considerations that may be required are:

- Cleanliness of the chips. Can you guarantee clean chips? Does a food agency have to be involved since these chips could be used to smoke food? - I have no idea, just throwing it out there.

- Size of the chips. Do they have to be a uniform size? If so, does that require a certain type of chipper? What would be the cost of that chipper?

- Are there any licenses or permits that you are required to have before the manager can buy chips from you?

I am not trying to rain on your parade, but thought that I would throw these thoughts out there for your consideration.

HTH

 

[reaperman]

I know up here in the north country where the hickory tree is not found, there is a market for hickory chips, chunks, or hickory anything used in BBQ or smoker. Its ridiculous what people will pay for the stuff. My bro in law shelled out around $50 bucks for just a few pounds of hickory wood for his smoker. But he bought it from some fancy outdoor grilling store in Mpls, where high prices are the norm. Like they say, "there's one born every minute". Good luck if you can find a outlet. Too bad shipping would be expensive, otherwise I could sell a bunch around here for you.

 

[Deadman]

I have a DR Chipper thats mounted to my 30 HP Utility Tractor!
I chip up all my brush for mulch around my young trees and for landscaping. I can chip up a pick-up truck load in less than a half hour if the brush is already cut. My chipper takes 4 1/2 inch wood, so anything thats not firewood goes thru the chipper!
They are easy to dry, because the chips are small. You could take and spread them on your driveway on a hot sunny day and in a couple days they'd be totally dry. Then just sweep/shovel them up.

 

[Mike Van]

I don't think that Troy Built [or any other low price one] is a true chipper - They're more "grinder/mulcher" - swinging "hammers" that pound the stuff down through a grate. A real machine to make a wood chip has to have knives & a shear bar. If you stuff it all into plastic bags, it's gotta be really dry. If not, it'll heat up, turn moldy & stink like someone else said. No stinky wood chips are going to sell. I've seen piles of chips melt snow off them from the heat inside.

 

[avalancher]

Thanks for all the imput, you all brought up interesting points. As far as the business license, I have that covered, we(my wife and I) own a craft store and have a business license. I thought about that food thing, and according to the local health board that does inspections for the local restraunts wood chips dont fall under their terms for inspection, it is not used to handle food, nor is it consumed.
thanks for clarifying the wood chipper thing though, I know next to nothing about wood chippers and was not aware that the cheapoo chippers just mash the brush with hammers, not actually chip them. I had just considered buying a cheap one to see how the profit to work ratio would pan out, and didnt want to invest a ton of cash into a venture that wouldnt pay to fool with.
I also have the drying thing already covered, one thing that we sell in our store is beach glass, we buy it from brokers and then have to wash and dry it ourselves. We have a large 8X16 mesh table with large fans under it to dry the beach glass, I figured that I could lay the chips out on that in the summer, cover it with a piece of mesh so that they wouldnt just all blow away, and then turn the fan on high for the day. Should dry in one day during the hot summer months. I do have a moisture meter that I use for my lumber that I cut on my mill, and it should be easy to tell when the chips are dry enough to bag up. I also have the bagging thing covered as well, we have a bagging machine that bags and seals the bags, used for the beach glass.
If the chip thing may be more complicated, anyone got any ideas on cutting into small chunks? Wife suggested my table saw but I cant imagine that would be worth the time or effort.

 

[Deadman]

DR makes some homeowner models of chippers that are real chippers and are built very well. They come in various sizes and power levels.

Your chips WON'T Blow away, cuz they will be pretty heavy. The only thing you will need to know is that you will need ALOT of brush to chip up. Also, branches any smaller than your thump need to be removed because they turn into short-cut twigs instead of chips.
So you'll need wood that is like 4 inch to 1 inch. Maybe you could find an old logging area and clean out the decent wood and chip it.