Who makes a good wood/pallet grinder.

markct · Nov 5, 2004

( Do you put mulch on the roads where you live ??
)
no but most people move it with machinery that has rubber tires, most of the time it is spread with rubber tired machines, including wheelbarows, and it is often next to driveways and lawns, both of which get traffic from rubber tires, you can bet if i was gona buy mulch it wouldnt be mulch that was full of nails, what happens when one of your kids runs barefoot across the lawn and steps into the flowerbed or landscaping and gets a rusty pallet nail in there foot, and after a while you can bet nails would work there way into the lawn just as mulch always does.

( You can shred the mulch and screen it and not have any chunks)

its not the chunks im worried about, its the fact that nails would be embedded in them, as well as loose in the mix

Tractors4u · Nov 5, 2004

I have to agree with markct on this one. Most pallets I have seen are oak or some other type of HARD wood. Most mulch I bought was either pine or cyprus. Pallet mulch would probably last a loooooooooooooooooong time though.

rdln · Nov 5, 2004

The mulch that is dyed red, black, blue etc is made from pallets. They use magnets to clean.

There is a company in Michigan named Morbark that make tub grinders, but as suggested they are not cheap <$100k

eee · Nov 5, 2004

They make a lot of mulch out of pallets,there is tub grinders that can handle it and do it on a regular basis,these things can eat trees,railroad ties,tires just about anything you want to feed it.
Pallets and nails is not an issue if you have the right equipment.

markct · Nov 5, 2004

hmm, around here i just have never seen it done, all the mulch for sale is usualy softwood, scraps such as tree tops and that sorta thing are ground up, i have just never come across hardwood mulch, probably would last pretty good tho, i just cant picture how they possibly get all the nails out, not saying it cant be done just wondering what the "proper equipment" as you say is, and as for making mulch outa railroad ties, what about the creosote? its considered hazardous in alot of areas, so not something i would wanna spread on my flowerbeds, especialy when ground up, its one thing when its in a weathered railroad tie and all the volitile stuff has disapated on the outside, but once ya grind it up ya open a whole bunch of fresh stuff up

beenthere · Nov 5, 2004

Do you know about creosote? or are you imagining what might be coming out of a fresh cut? Lots of hype put out about treated wood, and I am just wondering where your facts come from. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My recollection of creosote treated wood is that everything grows well around it, but not on it (like mushrooms and things).

ScottAR · Nov 5, 2004

A thought occured to me as I went to the mail box just now... Lawn services and aborist type folks generate a lot of waste every day. I presume they get rid of it somewhere.

To start out, one might contact a few of these businesses and see if they'd get rid of it where you could use it... Make some compost windrows, turn it with the tractor every few days. Expenses would be some time and a little fuel. During this period, one could find some markets and guage demand and so on... Just an Idea.

eee · Nov 5, 2004

( as for making mulch outa railroad ties, what about the creosote? its considered hazardous in alot of areas )

I did not say they made mulch out of the railroad ties,just that a tub grinder can grind them up. They have different tub grinders for different uses.

markct · Nov 5, 2004

( Do you know about creosote? or are you imagining what might be coming out of a fresh cut? Lots of hype put out about treated wood, and I am just wondering where your facts come from.
)

well as for my info on creosote, i am by no means an expert on wood treatment, my info is just from what i have read in different trade publications and such, the usual concensous is that creosote once the initial amout of toxins have been weathered from the outside then it doesnt continue to leach out any more noticable amounts of stuff over time, like if you have ever seen when they drive in creosoted pilings for docks there is usualy an oild film on the water around them for a few weeks then that no longer appears. what i was saying in my previous post was simply that i thought it might be the same effect by opening up new surfaces of creosoted wood, maybe not, i dont know, it was just a thought for him to consider, of course now he says that he wouldnt make mulch from railroad ties, just that he meant they could be ground up, well thats nice, i thought we were disscusing what could be ground into mulch, not just what could be ground up, for that matter then yea steel scrap can be ground up too, but i wouldnt recomend it for mulch either, unless ya knew some plantings that went well with the red oxide color