Grinding chips twice through the same type of chipper; small farm

CrookedClove

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Hello all,

I own a small garlic farm in CO and have a very large pile of wood chips to my disposal that I'd like to use to mulch my garlic.
The chips come from a few local trimming outfits and vary a bit in size. On average I'd say the smallest 80% of the chips are small enough for my mulching needs but the largest 20% is too coarse and can be quite random with large chunks as I'm sure you all know.

I need to process about 300 yards of this material per year. Not enough for a drum grinder (I've been quoted a minimum of $2500 after calling a dozen places and that guy never even showed up!).

So here's the idea;
What's to stop me from buying an older chipper like the ones you guys haul behind your trucks, adding a small conveyor belt to feed it from a pile (modified bale lift perhaps), then manually feeding the machine using the feed bar while also controlling the speed of my conveyor/input? I'd probably need to modify the feed shoot to the chipper as well so the chips slowly slide down into the chipper.
REMEMBER; if the smallest 80% of the chips just go right through, that's fine, so long this process reduces most of the largest 20% of the material into something a good bit more consistent.
If it actually reduces the average material size as a whole, that's fine too.

Would this work? Would a drum style chipper be better or a disk style?

I've heard that some chippers tend to be known for the consistency of material they put out over others?

Thanks all! Great forum!
 
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  • #2
OH, and for what it's worth, if there's anybody out there who is willing to demonstrate the outcome of this process using a few buckets of chips and a video or some good pictures of before and after, I'd be grateful enough to send you garlic in exchange or give you a gift code to my website for $50!
My other option is to rent a chipper from HD to try it myself of course.
Cheers!
 
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  • #3
Oh, one more thing. What actually allows the bigger chunks to get past chipper anyway? You'd think the machine would only let the smaller material pass, but apparently not...
 
Welcome! I'm no expert but closing the spaces between the knives and anvil would be the ticket, or a refeed setup. Just speaking out of my butt, but would a good prewash of the chips be a helpful first step?
 
on a side note, maybe you know, some tree types can be every detrimental to garden health. once know a lady who mulched her garden with cedar chips, not much would grow after that.
 
Intriguing idea...will be interesting to see what evolves.

Be ready for significant derails from this crowd!!
 
If you are hoping to use wood chips for vegetables, check out this film, Back To Eden. It blew my mind. I am in the process of converting all my gardens to chips. I got 23 big pumpkins last year from a single seed that self-germinated in a pile of wood chips behind the barn. And trust me, that's a big deal - I live beside a pumpkin patch. That farmer is lucky to get 3 pumpkins from a single plant. This works.

https://youtu.be/6rPPUmStKQ4

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6rPPUmStKQ4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I don't think that the treeman's chipper can do a good job for you. It is just not made for that. The properties of the material to be shredded plays an essential part in the conception of a machine.
The limbs and logs hold themselves in front of the knifes, allowing the small bits to be cut off. When the piece of wood becomes too short or too thin, nothing hold it anymore and it is directly shallowed. Not necessarily in a pretty shape, but still, it goes throw. Some shredders have a screen between the rotor and the exhaust chute to limit that.

If the big or long chunks found their way through the chipper the first time, there is a great chance that a good bunch of them will do it again the second time.
Beside of that, the small bits already cut to size will go through too, barely untouched (good thing for your project), but by an enormous quantity at the same time, so the expeller system is overflowed and the chute is clogged (often, it's just an fan-like system on our machines, sending an air flow to push out the chips).
Even if you can adjust optimally the flow rate of the raw chips at the entrance, in fact you will spend a big amount of fuel for too small of a gain at the end.

I agree with MrMoon5shine, first I'd pass the chips pile by a screener to sort out the "good" chips. I think that would be the most cost effective, due to the high percentage of material usable as is. Then, you can find what to do with the refusal : regrind (but it's even more hard to find an economical solution), rot, burn, horse litter (maybe)...
An other advantage of the screener, it allows you to not be too worried with the foreign materials in the chips, contrary to the delicate edges of the chipper
 
I'd screen for size, also. I've tried double-chipping a bit. Just fabricate a screen that works with your existing tractor/ equipment.

Could you use the larger pieces another way, or just let them compost until screen-able?
 
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  • #15
Welcome! I'm no expert but closing the spaces between the knives and anvil would be the ticket, or a refeed setup. Just speaking out of my butt, but would a good prewash of the chips be a helpful first step?

Ah, I can't picture that on a chipper but I understand the concept and figured there should be a way to weld in a restriction to prevent the larger chunks from escaping!
 
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  • #16
I would suggest building a screening deck to separate the chips by size, one small enough to use atm and the rest through in a pile to rot for a few years first.

I thought about his too, but the cost would actually be more than buying a chipper and still leave me with a large pile of waste, and I'd have to move it constantly or clean out from under it which is a slow process. It's a backup consideration however!
 
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  • #17
on a side note, maybe you know, some tree types can be every detrimental to garden health. once know a lady who mulched her garden with cedar chips, not much would grow after that.

Thanks MrMoon5Shine! That's been largely disproven! There ARE tree types that can be detrimental but they're rare and cedar, thought it doesn't break down fast, has been proven not to be one of them surprisingly. I had to research this myself. Most of what grows around here is no problem and I've done this in my garden for quite some time! Cheers!
 
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  • #18
If you are hoping to use wood chips for vegetables, check out this film, Back To Eden. It blew my mind. I am in the process of converting all my gardens to chips. I got 23 big pumpkins last year from a single seed that self-germinated in a pile of wood chips behind the barn. And trust me, that's a big deal - I live beside a pumpkin patch. That farmer is lucky to get 3 pumpkins from a single plant. This works.

https://youtu.be/6rPPUmStKQ4

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6rPPUmStKQ4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That's exactly what I'm doing on an acre at a time treemuggs! Soil here is relatively poor and we don't get a ton of rain... Back to Eden is the ticket but difficult on a large scale! At this time we try and take out all the chunks by hand or just live with them, but being able to reduce the mulch size without spending an absolute arm and a leg would be awesome! Smaller chips is quicker breakdown time too!
 
Its possible some of the coarse chip is a result of timber being fed with the grain parallel to the knives, this will always result in coarse chip. Depending on your situation you may be able to stipulate and be selective about what you will and will not accept delivery of.
 
Hi crooked clove. I don't have a good solution for you however I am curious as to where you are located? I live in Longmont.
 
I put a bunch of cottonwood chips in my garden a few years ago, the bird's nest fungus wreaked havoc on my squash and pumpkins.
 
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  • #22
Marc-Antoine, thanks for the feedback... not terribly encouraging but very helpful!
 
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  • #23
Hi crooked clove. I don't have a good solution for you however I am curious as to where you are located? I live in Longmont.

Levi, I'm in Larkspur, just about 10 SW of Castle Rock right on the foothills.
 
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