How fine can you get trees through a chipper?

[clovergamecock]

I have suce a mess of trees that is it going to take years to burn it all. I know I have an option of burying it but I am trying to think of a way to actually use it. I am building my wife a round ring for training our horses. The typical base is a mix of sand and saw dust. I am betting I have enough trees to take care of the entire ring but need to be able to get it very fine. Is there a chipper that I can rent that would get it fine enough?

Thanks
Wade

 

[radioman]

what you need is a wood chipper and hammer mill. A wood chipper to make chips aout of branches and then feed into the hammermill to fine grind the wood chip to smaller pieces for horses bedding , etc.

 

[Carl_NH]

Wade,

I have seen chippers do 1/2" size chips and finer but depends on the feedrate. Larger hyd auto feed chippers can make bigger chips1/2- 1" or size.

Another option is to chip them normal size 1/2" or so into a pile and let them decompose for a while and then mix them in.

Or till up the ring and put these larger chips as a base and mix them in. roll it, then top dress with sawdust and some more dirt and drag level.

 

[clovergamecock]

Thanks guys! I think the first thing I need to do is rent a chipper. Saw one at Sunbelt for $275 a week.

 

[notrees]

depending on the model of chipper you get, and whether it is a disc or a drum style chipper, you can ask them to adjust the anvil setting to the minimum clearance and this will give you the smallest chips possible from that particular machine.. they should have those settings. Then as long as the knives are sharp you should be ok

 

[grsthegreat]

the chippers dont really make them small enough for the fill your looking for. my wife thought she would use some for our stalls/arena. then again, the horses try to eat it due to the sap giving off a small and taste they like.

Here are some pick of stuff i chipped last season. We ended up using them as mulch for front garden.

still way better then burning the stuff. Were allowed to burn it, but the smell really hangs around and pisses off the neighbors.

 

[CliffordK]

You might get away with coarser chips in the arena.

For the stalls, many people like rubber on concrete, which doesn't need to be replenished on a daily basis. And, your waste is very clean.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

I use a 20" drum chipper. If the logs are big and soft woods, the chips can be 1/4"-1/2". Even if my anvil tolerance is close, occasional larger pieces get spit out especially on stringy wood.
We often put down coarse chips for horses over rocky areas. As far as eating them, I'm not sure what to say about that. My horse ate whatever he wanted when he was in the mood.. wood, steering wheels, weeds, cow food, you name it.

 

[hosspuller]

Chips will eventually breakdown and create compost. When it gets wet, it'll be a mess to ride in.

 

[grsthegreat]

Im personally not a fan to synthetic or rubber bedding in an arena. I had a QH mare that was left in such an arena to cool down after a workout. she started to eat the bedding (didnt say she was a smart QH), and ended up getting an ulcer in her stomach 2 days later.

$1,000+ later she was all better......and never entered that arena again