Thinking about going bigger..

[yellowdogsvc]

I'm thinking about going bigger. Been operating a 20" capacity tree chipper with loader and a skid steer brush mulcher for almost 10 years. I'm thinking about getting a larger, dedicated mulcher (200 hp and up) or a small to medium horizontal grinder up to 275 hp similar to the Bandit 1680 or 2680.

I've been concentrating on 1-10 acre tracts but wanting to do larger ranches and rights of ways.

I would mostly be mulching juniper (cedar) in S. central Texas up to 20-22" and some mesquite. Cedar is relatively soft and brushy. I would also be tackling brush and limbs from oak trimmings (not too big) and breaking down brush piles. I thought about the horizontal grinder because I can load it with my skid steer or mini ex I'm interested in the secondary market of landscape quality mulch to sell and compost. Not worried about coloring it right now.

I already know what a large brush mulcher can do but not all the jobs I do need that and the there is a lot of them already working this area. So For some of you that have a big machine (200 hp and up) and a horizontal grinder, which would you say is a better choice to grow with? I would be hiring someone to transport either at least for the first couple of years.

Thank you for the ideas.

Yellow Dog

 

[tonyoz]

When I look at jobs that has mainly big timber on it I pass it on to a mate who has a CBI horizontal grinder because the client has a time factor that I can't compete with and also they want the mulch stockpiled to use latter or transported off site.
If this is the type of work you are wanting to get into then a grinder is the way to go IMHO:2cents:

 

[05rammer]

I would also like some more info on this topic

 

[palmettobrush]

Just went bigger gt25 is in route to South Carolina Should be here in the am

 

[DIRTROAD]

Just went bigger gt25 is in route to South Carolina Should be here in the am

That's Awesome Brannon!!! Post a couple of pics.

 

[cat 297c]

Congratulations

 

[yellowdogsvc]

still sitting on the fence over whether to get a small horizontal grinder or bigger forestry mower. I mulch and chip a lot of big brush piles. I do not bid many standing tree clearing jobs but rather I look for the ugly brush piles, dozed piles, etc. It can be very slow with a skid steer mulcher and tough to get the bottom of the piles. My chipper will self-load 20" limbs, trunks, and whole trees but if the pile wasn't set up for chipping or is dozed or dried out, I often need my Bobcat or small excavator to pull the pile apart. I'm also getting to where I don't like standing at the chipper's operating station for 10 hours in the Texas heat and thought that loading a horizontal grinder with a big bobcat or mini ex would be a lot more enjoyable.

Anyone running both a forestry mulcher and a horizontal grinder? Any thoughts?

 

[cat 297c]

Sounds like u need a big ol Bron 475

 

[fishfactor]

Are you selling the chips as mulch or bio-mass? You may want to look at a big gyro trac and a bio baler if selling as bio-mass. I ran one of them a few years ago at the plant. Instead of discharging the mulch like normal, it goes up a conveyor, through a cleaner, then through a chipper, then out the back in a bale similar to a round hay bale.

http://www.gyrotrac.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/BioEnergy-Baler.png

 

[yellowdogsvc]

not selling for biomass. Have a small market for wood chips from chipper and bigger market for shreds from grinder. Rocky here. Don't think chipper blades on mulcher would last.

 

[tonyoz]

If you are wanting to grind heaps that have been pushed up then a grinder is the way to go. Around here companies with chippers won't even look at them as there is to much dirt in the heaps and it wrecks the knives and they can't do anything with the stumps. If the heaps are mostly away from roads, buildings etc then a tub grinder is probably better cause they don't have have the electronics that consistently fail and are far more reliable. An older style tub grinder in good order could possibly be good buying if it is not going to be working full time.
Running a mulcher through heaps can be time consuming and I can't guarantee to get all the timber without the help of another machine to pull the heaps out which means the job runs into the cost of running a grinder anyway, and if there is any big timber burried in the heaps it can blow the budget big time if you are working on contract. :2cents:
Good luck with which ever way you go

 

[tift104]

Yellowdog, We have been considering this ourselves. I would think being able to fall in behind a logging crew and chipping the tops off of the loading deck would keep you busy. Are you able to market your chips to the lumber mill, sell them for mulch or do you have a pellet or Bio Diesel plant close by? From a land owner point of view this would be appealing leaving a clean deck with no piles to burn. Do you charge the landowner for the clean up or just keep the money made from the chips?

 

[yellowdogsvc]

No logging around here. What we do have is cedar choppers who clear for the wood but leave the tops and big stumps sticking up. This is done on tracts from 10-100 acres and up. The cedar choppers have a very bad reputation around here and often have been accused of using illegal labor. That's how they offer "free clearing."
I've tried getting clean up work but the typical landowner that hires those "gypsies" isn't interested in spending money. He just wants the cedar gone.

I make more chipping than I would harvesting logs but there isn't a huge market for wood chips here. No biomass. One company tried to start up and went bankrupt. Energy is fairly cheap in Texas.

I charge for everything from clearing to clean-up to loading, hauling, and delivering wood chips. A few years ago I gave them away but realized I worked to hard to deliver a load of chips to someone who asked. I still donate some on occasion but my time and fuel is worth more and more these days so I turn a lot of freebie stuff down. I get a lot of calls to donate this and that and quickly realized that a lot of people want something for nothing but when they want something that costs money, they plop it down.

 

[tift104]

Correct me if I'm wrong. I was told that there are two different typed of chips. Clean chips which comes from the saw mill and is used as boiler fuel and Dirty chips which comes straight out of the woods. It is my understanding that the clean chips are the most marketable for the lumber mills. The Dirty chips,I'm assuming, is sold as mulch for gadening, playgrounds and flower beds. We do have a pellet factory located about 60 miles from us and a Bio Diesel plant about the same distance. What type of chips do they require? I'm trying to pencil out the numbers to see if this venture would be worth getting into.
The way I'm looking at it is there is a possability of having 2 separate customers. The pellit company and Bio Diesel plant to sell the chips to and the landowner who wants the area cleared. My question is once you factor in your trucking rates to get the chips to where ever they go, equipment payment, and fuel cost would there be ant NET profit left?