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To Chip or Not TO Chip

Started by Dewey, July 18, 2017, 02:11:57 PM

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Dewey

 I need a little help deciding....  I saw Cedar and normally have a grinder come in to my Mill in the Spring to cleanup slabs.. Usually have around 20 Tractor Trailer loads.... this year I ran into a snag there seems to be a much bigger Cedar Mill in Canada that has flooded the Regional mulch market with their Cedar waste.. So now it appears I have to wait until another spring piling and taking space I don't have..
For a few years I have been getting more and more calls for Cedar chips for playground and camp grounds..
So I'm a thinking of doing it.... But I have no knowledge of chippers...  What kind to buy or size... I have tractor so a PTO chipper would be a possibility.
Not even sure if it would be best to chip as I saw or pile it up and make it a separate operation...
I know there is allot of you that chip  So I thought this would be a good place to start..

Cedarman

You might want to check and see if your chips must be certified before they can be used for playgrounds.
I am in the pink when sawing cedar.

Dewey

They don't have to be for the ones that have contacted me...

Davek603

I would look for a retired tree service chipper such as an Altec. I think I would work better than a pto driven one. Plus you can leave it set up and bring the slabs to it with the tractor.
Woodmizer LT50 and lots of iron to go with it

Kbeitz

In our area you can rent a chipper.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

nativewolf

Great question, I see chuck & duck asplundh (sp?) for a few thousand on craigslist not infrequently.  I think if you advertised chips on CL you'd do ok with them, even people taking for mulch would get out of your way.
Liking Walnut

TKehl

I mostly deal with firewood, but concepts are similar.  I'm assuming you have a loader and are willing to deal with customer.  Seems like people will pay if you can load, but often won't take it for free if they have to load.

I'd second a stand alone chipper.  They can be had for about the same $ (or less) as a PTO powered one and generally have better capacity.  Plus, without a special coupling or belts or..., the repeated impacts are hard on tractor drive trains.  Been looking into this myself.

You could also reach out to a local landscaper/tree service and see if you can work a deal.  They chip for ½ the mulch maybe?  Perhaps they'd pay something for the quantity?  Don't know if it would work, but phone calls are cheap.   ;D

Last thought.  You may want to make a rule you will only load trailers.  I'll make exceptions to this (pretty frequently too), but I'm not putting the first scratch or dent in a shiny new truck that cost more than my first (and second) house and only goes off road to spread the mulch in a flower bed.   ;)
In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent. Loretta Lynn

Dewey

I do have loaders n other equipment....  I assume a stand alone chipper is hand fed ????
If so how long would it take to do 10 yds or so if everything is set up right....

btulloh

Slabs are pretty easy.  Limbs are more work.  Especially hickory limbs.
HM126

moosehunter

I have a PTO chipper. My advice is to buy a large enough chipper to do what you need to. Mine is not big enough! I can do my edgings but not slabs. 40 hp tractor,  chipper throat is 6"×9".
"And the days that I keep my gratitude
Higher than my expectations
Well, I have really good days".    Ray Wylie Hubbard

Bruno of NH

Pete from the FF is the one to ask about chippers he has a big one that chips his waste.
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

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