Questions about small tub grinder or chipper for yard waste recycling

[nnu2013]

Hello,

I am putting together a business plan for a university project and am looking for some information. Perhaps somebody on here might be able to help. My business plan involves collecting yard waste in Nampa, Idaho and then grinding/chipping it up to sell as landscaping and garden mulch. I'm looking to collect branches, small trees, leaves, and perhaps some grass clippings. My question involves what kind of equipment is best to use to turn the yard waste into mulch. I'm trying to keep things on a fairly small scale to start with (maximum of about $30,000 per machine).

Do I need a wood chipper a tub grinder or both? Do they do roughly the same things?

Would something like this machine handle all types of yard waste and turn it into decent mulch? It's looks like the closest thing I've found so far to what I am looking for.
Other x Horizontal Grinder for Sale | GrinderTrader.com

What type of screening system would I need to screen the mulch to sizes anywhere from 1/4" to an 1"?

Are mulch coloring systems able to be attached to these machines?

What does it cost to keep these types of small tub grinders, chippers, screening systems operating (fuel, maintenance, insurance, etc)?

If anybody has answers for these questions or any recommendations for me, I'd be glad to hear them.

 

[notrees]

in your project, it really depends on how much mulch you are attempting to make in a reasonable amount of time. If you are trying to make 30 yards in a day then you can achieve your goal with much smaller manual chippers that will be better on your budget and also more practical. There are many machines that produce very nice mulch and handle up to 8 inch material. These machines are fed by hand unlike the one in the link you posted. on the other hand if your trying to produce 150+ yards in a day then you would need a much larger machine. There are aftermarket coloring systems for tub and horizontal mass production grinders, but there are also colorants that can me mixed in pump sprayers and applied if your budget in more in the "home owner" range. im not sure about the screening part as i have not used any screening process, but im sure it can be researched easily after you decide the type of chipper you need. you will likely not need a screening process if you are using a drum style chipper and mostly clean wood as those style chipper have a tight anvil setting and produce a fine mulch anyway.. If you can give more info about the project then i think we can point you in the right direction. Also many options and prices of used and new chippers at Treetrader.com

 

[nnu2013]

I would say 30 cubic yards a day would be about the production volume that would be a good goal for starting out. The plan right now is to start on a small scale and work our way up to a bigger operation. Maybe something like 50 cubic yards a day. The way we would collect the raw materials is by having people bring there yard waste to our location. We would charge a small fee for them to dispose of it at our location, similar to how a dump charges for garbage. We would grind the yard waste up at our facility and then sell the mulch for somewhere between $25-30 per cubic yard to either nurseries or straight to customers. We are thinking that delivery will also be an option for the customer for an additional fee. Right now the equipment we are looking at includes: some type of chipper, a small tractor loader, pickup, trailer, and perhaps a screening machine.

For the tractor loader I was thinking something like the Kubota BX 2200 might work, but I am not sure if it would be the right size.
TractorData.com Kubota BX2200 tractor information

About the only screening system I have found so far might be a little on the large/expensive side, but it looks like it would the job.
EZ-SCREEN 550 | EZ-Screen

As for chippers, I'll take a look at the TreeTrader site and see what I can find for a reasonable price.


We are looking to start with maybe 2-3 employees who would receive the materials and run the equipment. Not really sure exactly how much mulch 2-3 guys could make in a day. Can regular hand fed wood chippers process things like raked leaves and grass clippings or are they strictly for branches and woody material? I'm also having a hard time finding how much fuel and maintenance costs would be in some of these machines?

Thanks for the advice so far. It is much appreciated.

 

[notrees]

ok so this is actually something that you are considering doing, not just a project type research paper... got it.. in that case, the business of owning the type of equipment to mulch trees at a commercial rate is very expensive, and the maintenance is imperative. When people dump at your site they arent going to want to dump just small stuff, they will want you to take what is on the truck. and that could be just brush, but could also be cut stumps and logs. If this is the case then you must be able to chip it. in order to sell mulch commercially at the 25 dollar rate it will have to be very clean. buying a machine that will chip logs with your brush will make your mulch much more marketable and less stringy. the problem is that these machines burn 100 gallons of fuel if they run 5 to 6 hours a day and are many times in excess of 250 to 300hp at the lower end of the spectrum. if your plan is to get into this with 100k or less i dont think it is practical if you want to own quality and relaiable equipment that will mulch efficiently. Also a used skid steer with a grapple bucket may be a better loader, seperator, and feeding tool for this project. They will be much faster than a conventional tractor in this application. Rayco Manufacturing This is the type of machine you would need to be looking for imo. you would probably eliminate the need for a screener with a machine similar to this. grass usually has dirt in it, which dulls knives, so grass is probably the only thing you mentioned that should be taken off of you list of debris to process. Hope that helps

 

[QwikDraw]

brush and small trees could be turned in to mulch. The leaves and grass clipping would not. These types of things would be good for composting. A chipper would be useless in a mulch operation. Grinder makes mulch, chippers make chips. Brush and chunks would have to be ground twice for a finished product.

 

[nnu2013]

Thanks guys for the information. You guys brought up some important points I hadn't thought of. I'll take your advice into consideration for the business plan.