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Whether a homeowner with a modest plot of land, or a business owner with thousands of acres to oversee, wood chippers are invaluable pieces of machinery to have around. Whether demolishing an old barn, trimming a tree, or building a new garage, anyone with land is bound to generate some wood scraps. For many years during the start of the Industrial Revolution wood was used freely, with little thought given to where the wasted bits of timber would go after its useful life. Perhaps it was burned, or increasingly in the last century, it has been land filled.
With landfills becoming overfilled and their harmful effects on the environment becoming more well known, wood chippers are a boon to anyone looking to lower their waste stream. Instead of having to pay money to dispose of something, it is far more profitable to repurpose said “waste” into a useful commodity.
Wood chippers are an economic option for a variety of reasons, especially when considering alternatives. For instance, in larger scale industrial usages, often the energy and labor expended to haul away lumber waste could instead be used to feed the machine. This will end up resulting in a product that takes up far less space. The “green waste” in chipped form takes up roughly a third of the volume compared to its original form. This ultimately allows for fewer trips to be made in the operation, saving time and money. In effect, this amazing piece of machinery transforms an “economic bad” into an economic good. Indeed, if the finished product cannot be used directly on site, there is usually an accessible market in demand. Most owners of industrial wood chippers are able to offset the expense of maintaining the piece of equipment by selling their excess.
There are several unique applications of woodchips. Primarily, they are used in landscaping as mulch. The material is ideal for this purpose, as it conserves water through slow absorption, builds soil fertility, and controls weeds. In addition to gardening, the mulch can also be used in composting. In this context, mulch is a great supplement, adding an organic bulking agent to the mix.
Another relatively new application of the recycled organic material is as a biomass fuel. Oven-dry wood is highly combustible, and several previously coal-fired power plants have now been converted fully over to using this form of bio fuel. Lastly, there are many different miscellaneous and useful purposes for these well-known pellets. Because of the shock-absorbing nature of the material, they are commonly seen surrounding playgrounds and other children’s areas. For the same reasons, they are used frequently in farms as animal bedding.
Especially when dealing with a sizeable operation, it becomes clear that wood chippers are valuable machines that save time and money in the long run. When removing “green waste” from a construction or demolition site, they transform the scraps at hand into an easily transportable composition. This is clearly a much more efficient means of dealing with the mass. Secondly, the product created is an economic good with various market applications, and can help pay for the cost of the investment.
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