Best setup for forestry and chipper work?

[Logun]

Hi all,

I am hoping to gain some knowledge and advice on the above. Anything you guys and girls can add to this thread would be really appreciated.

Basically I have been asked by a woodland owner who I currently already work for to look in to the possibility of chipping timber from his 200 acre woodland to create biomass chip to help run the 5 new boilers he has just installed to heat his chicken sheds. We are also looking at installing a small scale drying system so we can dry around 20 ton of chip a week.

My question is what is the best chipper/tractor setup for this operation. I have looked at TP chippers and the 10 inch model seems good value. And I have also looked at a Valtra 8150 to power it. Would this be a good setup? Ideally I would need to crane feed the chipper and I think the jake plate mounted crane seem the best as the tractor will also be used for forwarding and winching timber. This is a fairly vague overview I know but am trying to keep it as short as possible. Any ideas and questions greatly received thanks in advance.

[biggarlogs]

I would go for a roof mounted crane as opposed to a Jake plate.to maintain full use of three point linkage..front linkage and PTO also good for mounting winch and chipper with trailer on back.depends on budget as add one get expensive.if more than one tractor is available it makes it more flexible and cheaper but needs multi drivers!!

[MattyF]

The farmi 260 chipper is good probablycan be picked up a bit cheaper as well

[steve collins]

what size chip/ quality needed? what moisture content? there is a hell of lot more to it than just cut extract and chip. Maybe get a contract chipper in as could prove more efficient and less expensive

[growforest]

Contract chipper - give them the headache. Lots of variables - a few good contractors around depending on where you are. You may need to think about dry chip from elsewhere too to fill any supply gaps. Do all your supply maths carefully or get in a chip heat consultant.

[rovers90]

What spec chip does the boilers take, G30 or G50?? What moisture content does it have to be?? To produce quality chip of correct spec I think you would have to be spending serious money on a chipper such as a Heizorhack, Mus Max or Eurochipper,ie over £100k. Standard tree surgeon chippers do not produce chip of this quality.

 

I also doubt whether a "small scale drying system" would dry 20tons a week - probably about 5 or 6.

[Logun]

Thank you all very much for the replies so far they are all much appreciated.

[briquette_seller]

Thank you all very much for the replies so far they are all much appreciated.

 

Far aboots you based?

[theflyingscotsman]

We have a local small estate around 1500 acres has gone down the same route, even with lots of woodland he struggles to feed the beast and it's not even a chip boiler.

 

Suggest to him to get a burn anything boiler (ie: logs/bails etc)... As 200 acres will be bare in no time.

 

In my humble opinion you'll be buying in chip in no time so is not worth the expense in investing money in drying and extraction. Also a correct storage shed will be needed.

 

Another local big estate has about 2000-4000 tons of softwood laying beside there chip shed and get a 500hp chipper in three times odds a year.. The boiler maybe heats 8-10 houses and the big house. The scale is ridiculous and if the government wasn't paying him to do it - it simply wouldn't be viable.

 

200 acres of land is a small piece of land to run a biomass boiler from. Especially at 20 tons a week!!!

 

However I maybe wrong and have been may times before! Just my observations between the people I know that have big boilers.

[cornish wood burner]

5 boilers burning 20 tonnes per week means they will be very small. Therefore the chip delivery system will almost certainly be very sensitive to any out of spec chip. If you do buy a chipper you need to make sure it is absolutely top notch to provide this standard of chip. One of our boilers can burn more than 20 tonnes a day and overlength pieces can still stop it. As matter of interest why didn't your woodland owner go for a centralized system with one larger less sensitive boiler. Unless the houses are very large distances apart it must be the cheaper and certainly the more reliable way

RHI funded drying I presume.