Tub and Horizontal
Wood Grinding
Tub & Horizontal Wood Grinding
Wood waste grinding is a huge part of what we do here at American Property Experts. We have two grinders (one horizontal grinder and one tub grinder) in operation here at APE, and we use them to recycle vegetative debris into a variety of different materials. In a sense, we give dead wood and vegetation new life as we recycle it into products that are not only useful but great for the environment as well!
What is Tub and/or Horizontal Wood Grinding?
Contrary to what you might think, tub grinding has nothing to do with bathtubs! It’s the process in which vegetative debris is placed in a large round tub, or on a feeding belt system for a horizontal grinder, and fed into a hammer mill that rotates at such high speeds that any and all material is pulverized and ground-up. It’s the single most efficient way to reduce large amounts of vegetative debris and piles of wood waste.
Tub and horizontal wood grinders were introduced in the early 1980s as a way to recycle lumber mill waste and reduce the ecological footprint of the lumber industry as a whole. It wasn’t long after their introduction that tub grinders became a popular way for other industries to reduce the volume of their wood and green waste while simultaneously cutting down on trucking, dumping, and tipping fees. Tub grinders also became an efficient way for those in the composting, landscaping, and gardening industries to create beautiful, recylced mulches in bulk.
How Wood Grinders Work
Horizontal and tub grinders come in many different sizes and horsepowers for handling a wide variety of applications. Grinders are typically divided into two sections. The top section contains the tub, and the bottom section contains the hammer mill.
Tub grinders rely on gravity to move material from the tub to the hammer mill. The walls of the tub also rotate to help debris fall into the mill. The hammer mill chips the wood into small pieces, depending on the setting, before spitting the material out onto a conveyor belt that can either deposit material into a large pile or some kind of container. Tub grinders are portable, so they can be taken to nearly any work site. They can also process hundreds of cubic yards of grinders per hour, making them extremely efficient.
What Are Wood Grinders Used For?
To put it simply, wood grinders take one kind of organic material and turn it into another kind of organic material. At American Property Experts, we used our grinders to break down things like trees, leaves, bark, brush, logs, stumps, and wood construction and demolition (C&D) material. Tub grinders are a common sight on construction sites as well as land clearing operations as a preferred method to open burning.
At American Property Experts, our topsoil is screened and offered to contractors, landscapers, and homeowners. Vegetative debris is turned into biomass fuel (a.k.a boiler or hog fuel) and fallen branches and felled trees are turned into pet-friendly and kid-safe mulches. We also offer complete land clearing, soil screening, and hauling services.
We do all this in the name of our commitment to protect the environment. Everything that crosses the gates of our two Wilmington, NC locations at 606 Sunnyvale Drive and 2831 N. Kerr Avenue is recycled, reused, or otherwise repurposed. If you need tub grinding or any of our other services for your next commercial project, give us a call at 910-793-1460.