Horizontal grinder vs chipper

[QwikDraw]

Looking at one of the two for land clearing purposes.

What are the benifits of each?  Which one produces a more "sellable" product?  Can grindings be sold to a biomass plant?

Thanks.

[bill m]

Does the horizontal grinder use teeth/hammers of knives? As for maintenance the knives work better in clean wood and teeth/hammers for dirty or rotten wood. Don't know about what the biomass plants will accept.

[kiko]

mills in georgia have taken grinding for fuel wood. However, if the product has a lot of dirt or "stringers" they will not accept it. They like the product from the horizonal chipper for fuel wood. The dirt makes glass in the burner and the stringers stop up the chute. You have to consider how the mills will unload your chip wagon, you may need a live bottom trailer, and that means wet line kit on the truck. Also consider the cost of the "stumpage". Sometimes land owners see that there is value in ther debree and want a cut.

[Black_Bear]

Also consider the cost of the "stumpage". Sometimes land owners see that there is value in ther debree and want a cut.

Generally, land clearing isn't a stumpage sale, but rather is sold per acre, per hour, etc. But, it depends on where you are, I guess, and there are many different ways to do it. But why shouldn't a landowner be entitled to stumpage, or payment of some form, on all products, including biomass grindings sold to a mill? A properly written contract will address what products the logger is buying and the compensation owed the landowner. The monetary return to the logger and landowner from debris often isn't much, but it pays more than the alternative of dozing it over the bank.

The mills we deal with buy grindings (hammer mill - horizontal grinder) and chips (not paper grade), mainly for the production of electricity. Which one is more "sellable" depends on the mills you have available to sell to. I would definitely talk directly to the mills and establish a relationship before such a big decision is made. The advice given below about the knives and trailers definitely also needs to be considered.

Generally, a chipper will produce paper grade and biomass chips, depending on the type and condition of raw material. A hammer mill grinder will generally only produce one grade of grindings, but there are markets that will accept the dirty material, particularly in the spring when mulch is in demand. For the most part, mills tend to be more particular when they have ample raw material. They tend to reject material or whine about grade when the product is readily available. When the product isn't readily available they tend to relax specs. Either way, I'd speak to the mills and see what they had to say. Maybe they'd be willing to help with the financing if you agree to sell the bulk of your product to them?? Maybe the market is saturated and they aren't willing to pay much or aren't willing to buy at all? It's all about establishing a relationship and playing the markets. And if the markets aren't there, it doesn't matter what machine you have.

If you want to take a trip north and watch a variety of different chippers/grinders send me an e-mail. You could also talk to the owners and ask them questions. 

Ed

[kiko]

That why stumpage is in quotation marks in  my ealier post. And yes I agree the land owner is entitled to their cut, I was only making the point that this cost must be factored in. I personally do not deal with fuel wood nor do i know the market, I simply repair the grinders and chippers.l My customers claim with all the expenses, (trucks, equipment, fuel , labor, ect...) having to pay for the debree makes the difference between profit and loss. Most of them that I know that have been successful are cleaning behind the logging or clean chip operation. In town(metro atlanta) burning cleared debree is banned, but know very little about that market, guess that is what you were speaking of on a per acre basis.