Horizontal grinders?

[dirthog28]

I was wondering if anybody has any experience at the grinding business, the do's and dont's. I've worked around other subcontractors that do this kind of work, one guy ran all bandit's, other guy ran peterson pacific grinder I see Vermeer and Morbark seem like decent machines. Is any of them better than the other one or just comes down to dealer. How hard is it to find paper mills or plants that burn wood chips for their boilers? Grindering reduces the amount of material, but still alot of trucking to get rid of them.

[bigblueox]

i like duratech machines. they have a much nicer fit and finish!

[australian pete]

I was wondering if anybody has any experience at the grinding business, the do's and dont's. I've worked around other subcontractors that do this kind of work, one guy ran all bandit's, other guy ran peterson pacific grinder I see Vermeer and Morbark seem like decent machines. Is any of them better than the other one or just comes down to dealer. How hard is it to find paper mills or plants that burn wood chips for their boilers? Grindering reduces the amount of material, but still alot of trucking to get rid of them.

hi dirthog, i run a vermeer TX6000, previously had a vermeer hg 525 on wheels, i find the vermeer a good machine the TX 6000 on tracks is a heaps better machine than the 525, productivity is around 50% higher and being on tracks makes it much easier to manouvreor around jobs, i have never owned other grinders however from what i hear they all have thier good and bad points.

[Iron Horse]

I too am interested in a radio remote grinder to follow my excavator with vertical tree extraction grab around . Problem is , the trees come out roots and all . Would the dirt on the roots do damage to the rotor and hammers ?

[bigblueox]

the dirt has an affect on the hammers and tips. the rocks are really what do them in though. it's my experience that if the stumps are moderatley clean you don't see excess wear, keeping in mind this is a consumable part . meaning it's not if they are going to be replaced its when.

[australian pete]

I too am interested in a radio remote grinder to follow my excavator with vertical tree extraction grab around . Problem is , the trees come out roots and all . Would the dirt on the roots do damage to the rotor and hammers ?
short answer is a little bit of dirt is not a worry, when we clear we push trees over stump, roots and all, if the tree breaks off we dig the stump out with a ripper fitted to the excavator,we then put all the trees in a windrow and then shear it in to pieces about 1 metre long, large stumps are sheared too, by that time most of the dirt has fallen off,trying to put whole trees and unsheared big stumps through a grinder is very slow, they need to be sheared, i use a tree recyclers hydraulic shear, the manual for my grinder says you can put material up to 42 inches in diamitar, however if you put stuff that large through it you get very low productivity, i find it cheaper to downsize the timber with an excavator worth around $100 per hour than trying to put large timber through a grinder with a 630 HP cat engine worth $500 per hour, grinder can use up tp 70 litres of fule per hour.

[Iron Horse]

How do you get people to pay that amount of money for the grinder . I'm having trouble getting $150ph for the excavator and grab . I do'nt know how i would get another $500ph .

[dirthog28]

So Pete, do you guys do the clearing also or just come in and grind. You mentioned that you have an excavator with shear go through and cut the stumps off, one guy I've seen before goes through with one excavator and clears and stacks it all, then second excavator goes through and grinds everthings up, but has a labor with chain saw to cut stumps, claims the mill he hauls chips to won't take it if he grinds stumps with them. Them shears aren't cheap somebody told me like $25,000 just for the attachment. Equipment cost for grinding equipment is so expensive I'd like to see what kind of ROI you get from all of it.

[dirthog28]

Also Ironhorse, what are you classifying as a vertical tree extraction grab? Maybe I've seen, just called something different.

[John C.]

I had quite a few customers in the grinding business a few years ago and most used the Diamond Z tub grinders. Now days they are using other machines also and only a few were using horizontal machines. I don't know what the difference in cost is between the horizontals and the tub grinders but I think the products are different.

Most of the horizontals I've been around are whole tree chippers that produce chips suitable for pulp. I know there are some horizontal units that are grinders. The tub grinders produce hog fuel which many times is just spread out on the land for binder so trucks can get through muddy spots. There are some places that burn it for fuel. The other way to get rid of it is to mix it with other material to manufacture top soil.

Dirt and rocks are always to be avoided in grinders. Whole tree chippers have to produce a product of a specified dimension. Dulling the knives or chipping them really messes up the product. On the tub grinders it basically just slows down production and uses more fuel.

In our area we used hydraulic thumbs on excavators for feeding the grinders. Most of the chippers I've worked on had their own loader. I've seen operators beat the heck out of the stumps before feeding them in.

The cost of any grinder is astronomical just in the purchase price and gets even worse just keeping the thing running. Bits and grinder plates are extremely expensive. Most of the machines use engines of 600 horsepower and up. A couple of hundred gallons of fuel a day is not unheard of. Break one down for a belt or engine and you are in a hurt fast. Catching fire is not unheard of either.

At any rate there is a whole lot more to know when you get into the business and it is not for the faint of heart. With the bad housing market you can probably find a used machine pretty reasonable. Just remember, the self destruct switch is the same one worked by the key to start it.

[trainwreck]

i run a cbi grinder for a company here in oergon. i have ground alot of houses wiht it and the only thing i dont grind is the kitchen sink, bath tub,furnace and the foundation. this grinder is a beast it will take trees stumps dirt rock and all.
its big and heavy but in my opinion cbi makes the best grinder on the market.

[australian pete]

How do you get people to pay that amount of money for the grinder . I'm having trouble getting $150ph for the excavator and grab . I do'nt know how i would get another $500ph .
$500 per hr is nothing flash, grinders are expensive to buy and run, mine cost a bit over $600,000, they are now $800,000. running costs, fuel $100 plus per hr,the steel infeed belt and sprockets wear pads etc was $30,000, mine is half worn out at 500hrs,i ordered a new one 2 months ago, it has now arrived, because i ordered mine before the dollar crashed my cost is $30,000. vermeer guy told me same stuff is now $40,000. glad i ordered early.tips are up to $100 each depending what kind you run, hit small bits of steel and tips stuffed, hit big bits of steel and who knows what cost, i have heard of a grinder hitting a piece of railwal line, cost $30,000. if you grind stuff in tips you run a far bigger chance of hitting steel, i stick mostly to land clearing, subdivisions, commercial and industrial sites.

[australian pete]

So Pete, do you guys do the clearing also or just come in and grind. You mentioned that you have an excavator with shear go through and cut the stumps off, one guy I've seen before goes through with one excavator and clears and stacks it all, then second excavator goes through and grinds everthings up, but has a labor with chain saw to cut stumps, claims the mill he hauls chips to won't take it if he grinds stumps with them. Them shears aren't cheap somebody told me like $25,000 just for the attachment. Equipment cost for grinding equipment is so expensive I'd like to see what kind of ROI you get from all of it.
we sometimes grind piles of timber, greenwaste, pallets etc although we usually do the clearing and grinding,we push over the trees with an excavator and stack them in windrows, we then shear them with a hydraulic shear on the excavator, shear does an excellent job, (shear cost $35.000 aus dollars)we dont seperate the stumps, just shear them and grind with the rest of the tree,it all mixes up and looks the same, most times we leave the mulch on site and they lose it around the job, there is an over supply of mulch so you cant sell it, sometimes people will pick it up for free, if the client wants us to move it we charge to take it away, i take it to a soil yard however he does not pay for it. as for the ROI at present it is not great, not much work and lots of low prices, we are working cheap now, looking forward to the good times, dont know when that will be with the current financial turmoil, the world is crazy..

[australian pete]

I had quite a few customers in the grinding business a few years ago and most used the Diamond Z tub grinders. Now days they are using other machines also and only a few were using horizontal machines. I don't know what the difference in cost is between the horizontals and the tub grinders but I think the products are different.

Most of the horizontals I've been around are whole tree chippers that produce chips suitable for pulp. I know there are some horizontal units that are grinders. The tub grinders produce hog fuel which many times is just spread out on the land for binder so trucks can get through muddy spots. There are some places that burn it for fuel. The other way to get rid of it is to mix it with other material to manufacture top soil.

Dirt and rocks are always to be avoided in grinders. Whole tree chippers have to produce a product of a specified dimension. Dulling the knives or chipping them really messes up the product. On the tub grinders it basically just slows down production and uses more fuel.

In our area we used hydraulic thumbs on excavators for feeding the grinders. Most of the chippers I've worked on had their own loader. I've seen operators beat the heck out of the stumps before feeding them in.

The cost of any grinder is astronomical just in the purchase price and gets even worse just keeping the thing running. Bits and grinder plates are extremely expensive. Most of the machines use engines of 600 horsepower and up. A couple of hundred gallons of fuel a day is not unheard of. Break one down for a belt or engine and you are in a hurt fast. Catching fire is not unheard of either.

At any rate there is a whole lot more to know when you get into the business and it is not for the faint of heart. With the bad housing market you can probably find a used machine pretty reasonable. Just remember, the self destruct switch is the same one worked by the key to start it.
i like your description of the self destruct switch, very true, every time i hear the sound of steel running around the mill i start shaking, although it can be a difficult business at times it can also be rewarding and it is very satisfying at the end of a good day to see the big piles of mulch on the ground.

[australian pete]

i run a cbi grinder for a company here in oergon. i have ground alot of houses wiht it and the only thing i dont grind is the kitchen sink, bath tub,furnace and the foundation. this grinder is a beast it will take trees stumps dirt rock and all.
its big and heavy but in my opinion cbi makes the best grinder on the market.

i dont think there are any cbi grinders in australia, what horsepower are you running?

[australian pete]

How do you get people to pay that amount of money for the grinder . I'm having trouble getting $150ph for the excavator and grab . I do'nt know how i would get another $500ph .


this was the first job when new,

[australian pete]

How do you get people to pay that amount of money for the grinder . I'm having trouble getting $150ph for the excavator and grab . I do'nt know how i would get another $500ph .

grinding waste timber with plenty of dirt at canberra.

[trainwreck]

our grinder is 1050hp from the factory but it is turned up a bit so its about 1300-1500 hp now.

we also have a peterson pacific 4700b,it sits in a yard and never leaves they grind about 6 hours a day with it. they then spend the other 4 hours a day working on it.


here is the link to the brochure on our grinder they now call it the 8400
http://www.cbi-inc.com/library/pdfs/CBI_Magnum_Force_8400P_Brochure.pdf

[Iron Horse]

Also Ironhorse, what are you classifying as a vertical tree extraction grab? Maybe I've seen, just called something different.

This is the Vertical Tree Extraction Grab i use . I usually get more dirt off the rootball than this but i took the photo before i did . I would like a shredder that would follow me around so i could feed the trees in at the point of removal .

[Iron Horse]

$500 per hr is nothing flash, grinders are expensive to buy and run, mine cost a bit over $600,000, they are now $800,000. running costs, fuel $100 plus per hr,the steel infeed belt and sprockets wear pads etc was $30,000, mine is half worn out at 500hrs,i ordered a new one 2 months ago, it has now arrived, because i ordered mine before the dollar crashed my cost is $30,000. vermeer guy told me same stuff is now $40,000. glad i ordered early.tips are up to $100 each depending what kind you run, hit small bits of steel and tips stuffed, hit big bits of steel and who knows what cost, i have heard of a grinder hitting a piece of railwal line, cost $30,000. if you grind stuff in tips you run a far bigger chance of hitting steel, i stick mostly to land clearing, subdivisions, commercial and industrial sites.

Pete , i hope you did'nt think i was asking you too justify your charges , i was'nt . I know how much thing's cost , but trying to explain that too the public is a thing i'm having trouble with . Take for instance my flail mower and 100hp tractor . It cost $132,000 and i charge $100ph , it cuts 8' wide and marches through at a quick pace and because it has a grapple , i pick up everything and place in a pile . My opposition has a $1500 45hp tractor with a 5' slasher , mows around everything , takes 3 times as long and leaves the place looking like crap . But he gets heaps of work because he charges $60ph . The public only hear the $ph and can't be convinced . By the way , lovely gear you have .

[australian pete]

Pete , i hope you did'nt think i was asking you too justify your charges , i was'nt . I know how much thing's cost , but trying to explain that too the public is a thing i'm having trouble with . Take for instance my flail mower and 100hp tractor . It cost $132,000 and i charge $100ph , it cuts 8' wide and marches through at a quick pace and because it has a grapple , i pick up everything and place in a pile . My opposition has a $1500 45hp tractor with a 5' slasher , mows around everything , takes 3 times as long and leaves the place looking like crap . But he gets heaps of work because he charges $60ph . The public only hear the $ph and can't be convinced . By the way , lovely gear you have .

i know what you mean with people only thinking about the hourly rate, people who are not in the industry dont understand the cost of this stuff or how much more efficient a flail mower is compared to a grass slasher, we mostly qoute a fixed price for most of our jobs and do very little for joe public, occasionly people call who want a couple of trees removed, we are not competitive for small jobs like that

[australian pete]

our grinder is 1050hp from the factory but it is turned up a bit so its about 1300-1500 hp now.

we also have a peterson pacific 4700b,it sits in a yard and never leaves they grind about 6 hours a day with it. they then spend the other 4 hours a day working on it.


here is the link to the brochure on our grinder they now call it the 8400
http://www.cbi-inc.com/library/pdfs/CBI_Magnum_Force_8400P_Brochure.pdf


that is serious horsepower, mine is a 16 litre cat, 630 horsepower.

[trainwreck]

yeah it is a beast of a grinder. during the summer when everything is dry and light weight we can grind about 2,500-3,000 cubic yards of wood in a 9 hour shift.
that is running a mix of clean wood and land clearing brush and trees.

[dirthog28]

Ironhorse, that's a pretty interesting attachment you got, I've never seen one before, I assume you just push the tree around and pluck it out of the ground. Seems like it would work good for small trees, but big ones you'd need to dig around the root wad to loosen.

Your right about the cost, by the time you add all the support equipment for a grinder. That and the price to have one on tracks is outrages, but would definately beat dragging a towable one around especially through the mud. Seem's like around here you'd have to travel quite a bit to keep one busy.

I've seen some guys price by the acre to clear and grind and them some grind by the hour if somebody else clears. How do you do your pricing Pete?

[Iron Horse]

dirthog28 , The tree size pictured come straight out of the ground , but anything with Beetle damage at the base can break off . So i sometimes give the ground a bit of a rough up with the fixed tynes on the grab and then pull them out . I don't have a ripper and it would take too much time to remove the grab anyway . There is a knack to it though , the machine cannot just lift them out with the boom . Some trees are really tough and i need to grab them about 8' up and push them forward . This breaks the roots , then i grab them at the base and dipper in , crowd out and lift at the same time . This method pulls them through the soil as the grab twists up and the boom lifts them out . The root ball pictured is at this machines upper limits . They make a bigger grab for 30-40 ton machines .

[australian pete]

yeah it is a beast of a grinder. during the summer when everything is dry and light weight we can grind about 2,500-3,000 cubic yards of wood in a 9 hour shift.
that is running a mix of clean wood and land clearing brush and trees.

that is a lot of material, mine can do a little over 100 cubic matres per hr, i think that is about 120 yards per hr, where do you get all the timber to grind < what do you do with the mulch ?

[trainwreck]

most of our wood comes from 2 land fills here in the area we also do land clearing jobs, and the company owns 3 wood recycling yard where anyone can pay to dump wood and our site.

[australian pete]

Ironhorse, that's a pretty interesting attachment you got, I've never seen one before, I assume you just push the tree around and pluck it out of the ground. Seems like it would work good for small trees, but big ones you'd need to dig around the root wad to loosen.

Your right about the cost, by the time you add all the support equipment for a grinder. That and the price to have one on tracks is outrages, but would definately beat dragging a towable one around especially through the mud. Seem's like around here you'd have to travel quite a bit to keep one busy.

I've seen some guys price by the acre to clear and grind and them some grind by the hour if somebody else clears. How do you do your pricing Pete?

mostly we give a price to clear and grind, sometimes when it has been cleared we grind by the hour, not often though, usually a lump sum price.

[quantum500]

yeah it is a beast of a grinder. during the summer when everything is dry and light weight we can grind about 2,500-3,000 cubic yards of wood in a 9 hour shift.
that is running a mix of clean wood and land clearing brush and trees.

I think CBI and Diamond Z are the pinnacle of grinding. I saw a Diamond Z horizontal in arkansas doing 1000yds/hr in railroad ties. I don't care who you are that is cooking.

[Iron Horse]

That is cooking , and one of the toughest jobs around . Railroad ties/sleepers open up after a while and the cracks fill with brake dust , track swarf and ballast . Extremely abrasive , and i bet the odd metal plate or spike goes through as well .

[trainwreck]

tie plates are hell on wood grinders, but spikes are fine.

we have a different grinder we use for our tie grinding jobs.
http://www.komptech.com/en/products/crambo-mobile/introduction.htm

[australian pete]

I think CBI and Diamond Z are the pinnacle of grinding. I saw a Diamond Z horizontal in arkansas doing 1000yds/hr in railroad ties. I don't care who you are that is cooking.
wow, i did not think that was possible, what horsepower was it ?

[quantum500]

tie plates are hell on wood grinders, but spikes are fine.

we have a different grinder we use for our tie grinding jobs.
http://www.komptech.com/en/products/crambo-mobile/introduction.htm


I've seen those advertised what kind of production do you get out of it? I'm surprised the CBI can't handle the plates. This guy seems to think it is no problem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs366ZduuxI&feature=PlayList&p=539F54FB85E50C66&playnext=1&index=5

[quantum500]

wow, i did not think that was possible, what horsepower was it ?

I'm not sure on HP around a thousand though. The biggest advantage that diamond z has is it is a down swing mill and creates a pinch that grinds and sucks the material in at the same time this creates a huge advantage if you have the HP to use it. There are 2 of them with various HP outputs http://www.diamondz.com/index.php?id=52 You will notice that the 7000 series is rated over 1000yds/hr. I saw the little one doing that. In my experience we can usually double what a grinder is rated at with a few low buck mods. Although at 1000yds/hr I don't know how could keep up with it in the first place. Our little 1260 can run over 1000yds/hr in certain material and there is no way you can keep up with it at that pace. Just think about 2000yds/hr? There would be some very high dollar modification to the infeed to stuff that much material down its throat.

[trainwreck]

the reason our cbi can not handle the plates is due to the type of mill we have in it. They build a very heavy duty mill and a lighter duty mill we have the lighter unit.

here is a pic of the heavy one.Look at the 8th pic in the line up http://www.apolloequipment.net/equipment/2128mo_1998_cbi_4800.html

here is a pic of the light duty style we have pic number 11 in this line up http://www.apolloequipment.net/equipment/2142m_2001_cbi_4000.html

[trainwreck]

take a look at the link below and on the left side of the [age it shows the different types of mills. zoom in for a better look
http://www.cbi-inc.com/library/pdfs/CBI_Magnum_Force_8400P_Brochure.pdf

[Iron Horse]

No shame in a grinder that can't chew up a rail plate , those puppies are high tensile steel . Plus if they are still attached , they will also have two spikes to try and chew up at the same time . Everything has a limit and these machines are designed to proccess wood .

[Randy88]

Ok guys, here are a lot of questions, first I do what nobody else will do and thats been handling trees and do landclearing, the tree companys take care of the little tree jobs in town for a tree or two and the big guys take care of the larger scale jobs to go with their bid work on the entire project, that leaves the inbetween jobs for me too small for the big guys too big for the little guy, up till now we just grub it and burn it, most of the time anything of values been removed and sold for cash before I'm called, the problem is burning banned areas, are they worth messing with, its new to me I've avoided them so far but I get inquiries about doing them less than an acre up to 10 acres. I've talked to a half dozen companies that all did things different, most told me to stay away from tubs and horizontals and go disc or drum chippers and either haul off the stumps or else grind them in place with a stump grinder, theres no real close market for chips or mulch around me the closest is a 4hr drive one way and thats not looking feasable, others tell me there are more markets coming all the time for heating and cellulose ethanol, most of the jobs are 2plus hours from my home and hauling all the tops and brush home in trucks isn't going to be an option. What do you do with the stuff if you don't chip it and what do you do if you do chip it, the big tubs and horizontals aren't in my price range period and some of the whole tree chippers up to 18 inch might be an option, hiring someone hasn't worked out for me due to dependability in the past. Whats the difference between the product the chippers put out and the grinders put out whats the end product used for, I've watched horizontals, tubs and also disc and drum chippers work and understand how they work but nobody really says the pros and cons of each. The tree chippers look like they'd do the job for chipping up the tops and brush and smaller trunks, I can't see running stumps and all the dirt into a horizontal or tub, one contractor told me that the tubs were too expensive to chew up stumps and took too long it wasn't cost effective, he told me to haul those to a landfill by the semi load and its way cheaper. Some told me to chip it and blow it onto the ground and spread it when I'm done for erosion control. How many tons are on the average acre to grind if anything of value is gone already and just the junk is left, how does it condense when chipped, by half, three fourths, what. Thoughts and suggestions?

[Iron Horse]

This may suit you as well . In my next lifetime , i will buy one of these , a disc mulcher . That way i can remove the big trees , roots and all with the grab and mulch the rest in situ with the mulcher . Piggy bank keeps hiding behind the bed tho .:D

[australian pete]

that would be ideal for medium size jobs where getting a grinder in is too expensive, you can still take care of any big stuff including stumps.

[dieselsmokemake]

We run a bandit & it seems to do well. Would do better with some more HP. Only has a 450 Detroit/Deere powerplant. It did break the cutter head shaft at around 2200 hrs. My opinon on cause was a combination of the previous "ruff" operator's gawdey welding on the hammers to build them up. Causing the head to be VERY outta balance. Plus he ran a 4ft piece of railroad iron through it. Will post some better pics when I get them off my card.
http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv220/dieselsmokemakesmehorny/0507071253a.jpg

[australian pete]

was probably the rail line, i know of a guy who did around $30,000 damage to a vermeer 525 horsepower grinder with a piece of railway line.

[dieselsmokemake]

Thats what we thought as well, It ran for around 800 more hours after the iron went through it. Was amazed it held togther as long as it did. Esply considering how how much rust was on the face, where the shaft broke.

was probably the rail line, i know of a guy who did around $30,000 damage to a vermeer 525 horsepower grinder with a piece of railway line.

[npelzer]

This may suit you as well . In my next lifetime , i will buy one of these , a disc mulcher . That way i can remove the big trees , roots and all with the grab and mulch the rest in situ with the mulcher . Piggy bank keeps hiding behind the bed tho .:D


hey what brand is that big red mulcher?? Wouldnt mind exploring that a bit more!! Looks awesome let me know where u found it!

[Iron Horse]

hey what brand is that big red mulcher?? Wouldnt mind exploring that a bit more!! Looks awesome let me know where u found it!

Quadco is the brand . The half covers can be fitted to either side of the disc depending on which way you want to throw the chips , or they can be left off so it cuts in both directions .

[npelzer]

nice, ya we just finished building some brush cutters at work here and we used a ProMac rotary disk fairly similar, 2 door, with a 52" mulching disk

[Iron Horse]

I wanted to build my own as well , but trying to find where to buy the overhung bearing adaptor and what size/type motor to use was as hard as finding out who's in charge of the Illuminatti .

[Redbug]

Iron Horse, DieselSmoke, and the others...Just wondering, on some of the big clear cuts with a lot of debris, do you have some kind of skidder to bring the tops to the grinder? Or do you just move the grinder and trackhoe around the clear cut to the debris? What is the most efficient method? It seems moving the grinder around would not be as efficient, since the trucks to haul chips out need a track to get back into the new loading zones. What do you do?

[australian pete]

Iron Horse, DieselSmoke, and the others...Just wondering, on some of the big clear cuts with a lot of debris, do you have some kind of skidder to bring the tops to the grinder? Or do you just move the grinder and trackhoe around the clear cut to the debris? What is the most efficient method? It seems moving the grinder around would not be as efficient, since the trucks to haul chips out need a track to get back into the new loading zones. What do you do?
when we do clearing we stack the trees in windrows and gring along the windrows, my grinder is on tracks so this is easy, hauling trees to a central pile is costly as you have to double handle it.

[Iron Horse]

G'day Redbug , the way i clear timber is different to most . I pull the trees out with the Vertical Tree Extraction grab and lay them in neat rows . If they are long , i snap them in half with the grab . Then i get on my tractor with it's rake grapple and scoop them up and put them into piles . I do'nt have a grinder so i leave the owners with the task of burning the piles . I do'nt have piles more than a hundred foot apart so as to keep the cartage distance within reason . These are 3 shots of some small stuff i have been doing this week .

[australian pete]

have you been busy reg? we were up to last monday when we finished a job, have done nothing for a week and have nothing to go to. i think the global finacial crisis may have caught up.

[Iron Horse]

I'm a bit like you Pete , but at the death knock something always comes along . Still , i have been hessitant to borrow the 100K for a low loader . I own my gear and only have one loan to worry about . Anyone in big debt at the moment may be in big DooDoo soon . It's a good time to buy gear if you have the scratch . I have been doing a lot of swapping gear lately . Blokes with gear sitting , are keen to swap it for something that has a better chance of earning a dollar . Not everyone has cash , but nearly everyone has something they can swap .

[Redbug]

Thanks Australian, and Iron. That looks like a great piece of property you are thinning Iron.
A few hills interspersed with a creek or two. Great homesite potential.

Things over this way are at a crawl. Timber prices are way down and many people are having to sell their equipment. It is a good time to buy.

About the grinding operation...it seems like there would be a lot of waste when loading the chips onto the trucks using just a grab. A lot of stuff would be left behind, since a lot falls through. Do you use a loader to get the remains at the bottom of the pile? Seems like money lost if you got to leave small piles behind, scattered around. Also, it seems if the chips have a fair amount of dirt mixed in, it would not be good for pulpwood operations, (paper), or fuel use. Interesting topic...

[Iron Horse]

Now this was a nice block of land , 500 metres/yards river frontage , it was all scrub and Lantana when i got there . The owner asked me what would be the result of my work ? I said i will put 50K on it's value at auction . He doubled his asking price after seeing the finished product , and got it . He thinks i'm a good bloke now .

[australian pete]

I'm a bit like you Pete , but at the death knock something always comes along . Still , i have been hessitant to borrow the 100K for a low loader . I own my gear and only have one loan to worry about . Anyone in big debt at the moment may be in big DooDoo soon . It's a good time to buy gear if you have the scratch . I have been doing a lot of swapping gear lately . Blokes with gear sitting , are keen to swap it for something that has a better chance of earning a dollar . Not everyone has cash , but nearly everyone has something they can swap .

picked up 2 jobs today,around 5 days work, it all helps,after many years of hard work i fortunately have good gear and very small debt, i would be buggered if i had big commitments.i can understand you being unsure about the new low loader, i guess you have to keep looking at the various options till you feel confident about which direction to take, i saw a hyundai excavator with 350 hours ( looked a bit rough) sell at auction last wek for $53,000, i wanted to bid bit was scared to spend the money, dont need it now but would be good to have when economy improves. the mower head for the rayco is now ready, will pick that up in the next couple of days and beging the big job of bringing the rayco up to good cond.

[australian pete]

Thanks Australian, and Iron. That looks like a great piece of property you are thinning Iron.
A few hills interspersed with a creek or two. Great homesite potential.

Things over this way are at a crawl. Timber prices are way down and many people are having to sell their equipment. It is a good time to buy.

About the grinding operation...it seems like there would be a lot of waste when loading the chips onto the trucks using just a grab. A lot of stuff would be left behind, since a lot falls through. Do you use a loader to get the remains at the bottom of the pile? Seems like money lost if you got to leave small piles behind, scattered around. Also, it seems if the chips have a fair amount of dirt mixed in, it would not be good for pulpwood operations, (paper), or fuel use. Interesting topic...

with the grab we use you can pick up 98% of mulch, i do have a front end loader however the grab

is more efficient. there is no market around here for pulp wood or fuel use, on most clearing jobs we do the mulch is left on site and they lose it around the job for landscaping etc, it has no $ value, it is sometimes used to compost and mix with soil however there is an over supply of mulch so you cant usually get any moner for it, occasionally if some one needs some you can get a small amount of $ for it..

[Dash_Smashem]

I'm looking for a stump grinder with a limited budget around $6000 to $7000. Any suggestions? I've been checking ebay but there must be some auctions going on or someone that has one to sale. thx in advance