wood chips and what used for

[JD_Kid]

Hi ya's
what uses for woodchips can ya's think of ?? there was some talk of roading and also heating/power plant's any others?? .A guy was asking me the other day about them anyone know rough running cost's ?
thanks
JD Kid

[Ron Scott]

chip board, waffle board, landscaping material, erosion control, trail threads, mulch, fuel wood, wood pulp.

$0.75 per ton on site for unmerchantable wood and top wood.

[JD_Kid]

Hi ya's
a guy i know was looking at setting up a chipper makeing hog fuel ,he was just looking at other uses if the deal goes south...on the matter of tub grinder/chippers/mulchers how many of them in your area's and how much work do they get ??there are changes in some local laws here regarding open fires and burning is that the same in some states there??if so what happens to off cut's etc etc
thanks
JD Kid

[Tom]

JD,
The land developers here in Florida are going mostly to tub grinders to get rid of the trees and stuff.  Open-burnng laws are making it difficult to get permits to burn piles.  Even controlled burns are getting long looks.

The State uses tub grinders for right of way clearing and most metro areas have a tub grinder at the Sanitary Land Fill.

Chips from land clearing are generally blown over the property but some is being sold if it can be created clean enough. Grindings from the right-of-way clearing is generally hauled to the land-fill.

The Land-fill grinds stumps and logs and composts the grindings. The compost is given to residents for free if they will load it.  Piles are kept at the entrance of the land-fill for citizens to use to fill their pick-ups, trailers or what-have-you.

Commercial ventures are allowed to purchase the compost and the land-fill will provide the loading for them.  I'm not sure what they get per yard for it.

Tub Grinders are a ready-made service company.  I don't think the State, county or the developers actually own one but hire someone to come do the work. A service company will usually show up with the grinder, a log loader and an articulated front-end loader with a root rake installed.   I think that all the trucking  (dump trucks) is leased out.

[Frank_Pender]

I see a lot of chips being bagged into union type sacks for use around construction jobs and along roadways or curb areas tohelp slow down water that may be carrying leaves silt, etc.  I have been told they sell for as much a $5.00 a bag.   :'(  I sell all that I can produce for ground cover and livestock feeding areas.  Some, like what was mentioned, have purchased the chips for trails and erosion control.  the best thing I have found for hevily used trails here on my Tree Farm has been Filbert shells.   Some areas have lasted up to 4 years or better.

[Ron Wenrich]

We sell our chips to a company that reduces them down even more.  They use a wood hog.

Hogged material can be used for mulch and animal bedding.  Horse, cattle, and chicken houses use a lot of that material.

There also is a use in sewage sludge.  I think the method is to dry the sewage on wood chips, then process it.  The chips are reused until they disappear in the process.  I know of one whole-tree chipper that sells several trailerloads a week for this method.