Wood chippers are widely used not only for industrial, but also for private purposes, as they allow you to make the most of production waste and get additional profit from it. The use of a wood waste chipper in private estates helps to abandon fires, as well as provide yourself with fuel for boilers or fertilizer for the soil.

This article explains what crushers are, how to choose the most suitable option for each specific case, and how to make a crusher with your own hands.

Working with wood always involves a large amount of material waste that needs to be disposed of somehow. This can be done with crushers. They allow the material to be shredded into chips that can be used to make pulp or fibreboard. Most wood processing companies use industrial crushers to deal with a large amount of production waste and get cheap and high-quality raw materials from them.

Crushers can also be used in private homes. For example, if there is a garden on the territory of the site, it needs to be cut every year, and this creates mass. Some homeowners simply burn the cut branches, but this is harmful to the environment and is a violation of fire safety (especially during a special fire regime).

In addition to cut knots, other wood waste may also accumulate on the estate, requiring disposal - old furniture, remnants of boards after landscaping the house and site, etc.

The ideal solution to the problem would be to use a wood waste chopper. Such a unit will allow you to get a significant amount of useful fertilizer for the garden from cut branches. Sawdust is an excellent material for soil mulching, thanks to which the soil in the beds and under the trees remains moist and loose longer, providing the plants with the best conditions for development.

Only environmentally friendly wood waste can be used for fertilizing and mulching the soil. The remains of old furniture may contain additives harmful to garden plants, so it is strongly not recommended to use such chips in the garden after grinding.

The working principle of wood chippers

With the help of such equipment, wood can be chopped and pellets or chips of the same size can be obtained. If the granule size is 0.5 cm or more - this process is called crushing, if less - grinding.

Crushing or crushing of wood waste occurs in various ways:

  1. Bending followed by breaking.
  2. Trituration.
  3. Fracture after a strong blow.
  4. Fixation and further shift.
  5. Compression and then crushing.
  6. Splitting with a break.

The process of the crusher itself looks something like this:

  1. Two shafts with teeth rotating towards each other “absorb” a branch or a piece of board.
  2. The crushing process takes place inside the crusher.
  3. The wood chips are either conveyed to the machine through the outlet sleeve, or they are simply dumped to the side when it comes to small volumes.

Types of crushers

Wood shredders can be classified in different ways. Depending on the mechanism of work, they are:

  1. Autonomous.
  2. Electrical.

Autonomous crushers run on gasoline or diesel. This allows you to use them anywhere without being tied to a power source. Such equipment is used in large areas and far from residential areas.

The disadvantage of autonomous crushers is that they are quite noisy and emit toxic substances when the fuel is burned.

Electric shredders can operate almost silently and without harmful emissions. Also, due to the lack of need for refueling, such equipment is lighter. The price of electrical equipment is also lower. True, and the power of such crushers is usually less than that of fuel-powered ones.

When choosing a crusher, the type of knives is important. Cutting mechanisms can be as follows:

  1. Disc knife. This type of knife is used to crush small branches and bush waste up to 2 cm in size. This mechanism is simple and also produces high-quality chips.
  2. Milling mechanism. Suitable for thick branches. However, when raw material is processed, it can become clogged and require periodic cleaning.
  3. Milling turbine mechanism. This type of knives is universal, as such equipment allows you to crush both large and small branches.

You can see one of the sawdust crushers in action in the following video

The shredder crusher allows you to work with boards that may contain nails. However, the chips thus obtained can be large and not of very good quality. However, it is possible to continue working with such chips by passing them through a hammer mill. So, you can additionally grind the raw material and then use it in the production of fiberboard.

How to make a crusher with your own hands

To make a crusher at home, you need to choose the right engine, knife mechanism and body parts.

Engine selection

To choose an engine of suitable power, you need to know how much waste will need to be crushed.

IMPORTANT! If the power of the selected engine is about 3-4 kW, it will be possible to process branches up to 4 cm in diameter with it. An engine with a power of 6 kW or more will cope with chopping branches up to 15 cm in diameter.

Also, when choosing an engine, it is necessary to decide whether the crusher will run on gasoline or on electricity.

Choice of knives

When making a crusher with your own hands, simple mechanisms are usually used. For example, you can install a set of circular saws or a two-shaft mechanism with knives.

In order to avoid the need to constantly sharpen the blades during operation, it is necessary to use saws with carbide tips.

Case manufacturing

Sheet metal or galvanized steel can be used for the crusher body. Welded structures made of steel pipes are usually used for the supply of raw materials and the outlet sleeve.

Although such a homemade crusher may not look very presentable, it will cost less than a factory one, will have easier control and will do its main task quite well.

Assembly of elements

The installation process begins with the assembly of a frame from a metal profile. Then the engine is installed inside. Behind it is a shield with a hole for the shaft. In this shaft it is necessary to install the assembled disk with fixed knives.

After that, you need to make a casing with a compartment for receiving branches and an outlet sleeve.

For the convenience of using such a crusher, you can weld a handle, as well as an axle on which wheels can be put on.

Output

A wood waste chipper is undoubtedly a useful unit for both industrial enterprises and in a private home. This mechanism allows you to utilize a fairly large amount of wood residues of any origin without harming the environment, and at the same time makes it possible to reuse the product obtained by grinding wood (sawdust or wood chips).

Shredding and processing of wood waste(branches, knots, croaker, stumps, etc.) is not a new thing and, at the same time, only in recent years has become accessible to the widest circle of the public. For example, today every gardener can afford a small electric chopper. The choice of installations for industrial and municipal purposes has also become much wider. Now they are not limited to stationary crushers.

Special equipment market offers mobile chippers, chippers, shredders, chippers and other similar equipment. Thanks to such a variety, it has become easier for woodworking enterprises, agricultural gardening and public utilities to choose the right machine. Moreover, both for performing universal and highly specialized tasks.

In this material, we focus your attention on professional equipment for shredding wood waste.

Firstly, it is indispensable in sanitary felling, tree pruning, landscaping and landscaping of city streets and parks, etc.

Secondly, it can be used to obtain raw materials (technological chips, crushed wood, shavings, sawdust, wood flour, wood dust, mulch), which are perfectly used in forestry, animal husbandry, arrangement of children's and sports grounds, but most importantly - in the production of furniture, Fiberboard, chipboard and plywood.

Types, principle of operation and device of shredders

Professional shredders, unlike household ones, work not only from the mains. They are equipped with gasoline or diesel engines and are designed for continuous operation in harsh conditions and heavy loads.

All crushing system It is made only from high-strength and wear-resistant materials that can cope with wood with a diameter of up to 150 mm. Loading and supply of raw materials can be both horizontal and inclined. The first option is more convenient, since the material is fed not under its own weight, but along the conveyor.

Now more about the types of cutting system. It can be disk, drum (knife, incisor or hammer) and rotary (shredders).

Disc chippers

Most often, these plants are used to produce good quality chips from slabs, slats and similar wood products. The chopping process is carried out at an angle to the wood fibers between the knives mounted on the disc and the counter knife. By adjusting the knife protrusions, you can change the length of the resulting chips.

Drum chippers

Depending on the design, the cutting knives are fixed on the drum (rotor) either inside it or outside. Its flow area up to 1000x1600 mm allows to produce only large chips (technological). Losing to disk models as a raw material, drum machines benefit from universalism. With their help, you can process the entire range of wood waste: round timber, trimming, slab, lath, trimmings, crooked and thin-sized, and even pre-crushed wood.

The purpose of these devices is to effectively dispose of wood waste (pallets, wooden containers, cable drums, sleepers, old furniture, etc.). The capture of the material is carried out by driven rollers, and further pushing occurs with the help of a hydraulic pusher. The grinding process is provided by rotor knives rotating towards the wood and knives fixed on the frame. The resulting wood chip fraction is used only for fuel.

A few words about stationary and mobile shredder device. The first ones are more productive, but quite voluminous and energy-intensive, which affects their cost. At the same time, they are distinguished by a long service life and simple maintenance. The advantage of the latter lies in the problem-free delivery of the plant to the place of processing of raw materials. They are less productive and often require repair, as they have their own drive. Some models, however, work from the power take-off shaft of the tractor transporting them. The system, I must say, is also not very reliable.

Overview of shredder models

In Russia, professional chippers for wood waste from the Czech company LASKI are the most popular. differs in affordable cost (from 80 to 200 thousand rubles), execution options (mobile autonomous machines and mobile installations powered by a power take-off shaft) and productivity (from 1 to 4 m 3 / hour).

There are many domestic installations on the market. Dozens of enterprises are engaged in their development. For example, an inexpensive (215 thousand rubles) stationary device DS-10 offers the company "Stankograd". A machine with a powerful 45 kilowatt the electric motor is capable of processing waste up to 10 cm in diameter. Productivity - up to 20 m 3 /hour.

There are even more powerful Russian installations. Thus, the production and commercial company "BMP" offers a series of PPM models with a maximum processing size of wood material - 15 cm and an output chip size - from 5 to 30 mm. The device can be configured for any faction. Productivity - up to 20 m 3 /hour. The series of these machines is distinguished by its versatility: it operates from a 1500 or 3000-watt electric motor, or from a tractor power take-off shaft, or from an internal combustion engine. The units are not heavy, easy to transport and very reliable in operation.

Finally, the most productive machines for shredding wood waste are produced abroad. One of the most
well-known manufacturers WEIMA(Germany). Stationary plants capable of crushing almost everything are represented by the series: EcoLine, FineCut, PowerLine and PreCut. The power of the electric motor of the largest apparatus is 1500 watts. The machines are equipped with a control system, excellent hydraulics, anti-vibration mounts and many other useful solutions.

Processing and disposal of wood waste is a headache for enterprises whose activities are related to the harvesting and processing of wood, but not only them.

Owners of suburban real estate also regularly face the problem of removing branches left after clearing the garden, uprooted stumps, and wood construction waste. A simple and useful device - a wood chipper - will help to solve all these problems, and possibly even make money.

What is a crusher and what is it for?

During the planned deforestation and removal of round timber, a huge number of branches of all sizes remain in the cleared area.

Burning them on the spot is dangerous and irrational. It is expensive and inconvenient to export in its natural form - having a sufficiently small mass, they occupy an unreasonably large volume.

It is also impossible to leave them: the tree, rotting, turns into a breeding ground for forest pests.

Do not forget that wood in any form is a valuable source of cellulose. Each recycled branch, each knot is a new newspaper, a book page, a notebook for a schoolboy.

A crusher will help to significantly facilitate the processing of wood processing waste. Wood shredded directly at the felling site takes up little space, it is easy to transport, it is completely ready for further processing.

Kinds

The industry offers wood chippers of various designs. The choice of one or another model directly depends on the scope of the proposed work. Large logging companies prefer stand-alone devices that are mounted on tractors and are guaranteed to handle any amount of waste. For a country house or cottage, it is rational to purchase a portable electric crusher.

There are several main types of wood chippers, each of them has its own characteristics:

  • disc crusher;
  • drum grinder;
  • rotary unit with vertical or horizontal shaft;
  • hammer crushers of various designs.

Disc chippers and drum chippers are great for the woodworking industry. These units easily cope with thick branches, and if necessary, they will break solid trunks into chips. The quality of the chips, which is obtained at the exit, allows it to be used for the manufacture of wood-based panels, bypassing the stage of additional processing.

Rotary aggregates, or shredders, are ideal for processing construction waste wood. Wooden beams extracted from demolished dilapidated buildings, boards used as formwork, as a rule, are replete with various metal objects, these are self-tapping screws, staples, nails. These devices allow you to grind wood and separate it from metal.

A hammer mill for wood is great for crushing finished wood chips, to bring them to the desired size. The main part of the device is metal hammers on a pendulum suspension.

For home and garden

For home use, a too powerful unit is unlikely to be required. An electric shredder with average characteristics can easily cope with the work on the disposal of gardening waste.

This useful device, installed in the country, will help solve a number of problems. Among other things:

  • get rid of constantly accumulating debris in the form of branches and uprooted stumps;
  • will significantly save money, wood chips are an excellent fuel that can replace the usual coal, firewood, gas;
  • will produce sawdust, which is one of the best materials for mulching plants;
  • will help to earn on the chips obtained as a result of crushing, because this is an excellent material for creating wood-based panels and paper production.

Even if the amount of recycled wood is not too large, the crusher is guaranteed to pay for itself, since waste that was previously burned or rotted can be recycled, thereby contributing to the preservation of the planet's ecology.

DIY manufacturing

You can buy a wood chipper at any hardware store. The industry offers devices of any power, for every taste. Of course, if you have the skills to work with metal, you can make a full-fledged wood waste chipper with your own hands. It is unlikely to reach industrial volumes, but it will definitely cope with work in the country.

Device scheme selection

There are different types of wood chippers, each with its own pros and cons. In principle, with the proper experience, tools and material at home, you can make any of them. It is important to soberly assess your strengths and proceed from the amount of work that will be performed by the crusher. The best option for the home can be considered a disc chipper for wood. On the one hand, it is easy to manufacture, on the other hand, it has sufficient performance.

The working part of a homemade crusher is a disk with knives mounted on it. Through a belt drive, rotation is transmitted to it. The disk rotates, the knives bite into the tree, chipping wood chips from it. The shredded wood is thrown out, stored near the crusher or filled into bags.

Preparation of tools and materials

Before undertaking the manufacture of the device, you should prepare the tool. For work you will need:

  • welding machine;
  • Bulgarian;
  • a drilling machine or an electric drill, you can get by with a mini-machine, a drill mounted on a frame that provides an accurate drilling angle;
  • a set of tools (keys, screwdrivers);
  • brush and paint.

For the manufacture of the working part of the crusher, a steel disk with a diameter of about 30 cm is required. The thickness of the metal must be at least 16 mm. This disk, in addition to fixing the knives, performs the functions of a flywheel, therefore, the greater its mass, the larger branches the unit will handle.

Cutting tool - knives. They can be purchased by selecting the size, or made independently from a plate of hard grades of steel with a thickness of about 7 mm. Blades are bolted on.

The motor power for this device should be about 3000 watts. This capacity is enough to handle the volume of waste generated in a standard garden plot. The shaft is made of a steel bar, bearings are selected according to its diameter. A drive pulley is also installed on it.

Among other things, you will need sheet steel for the manufacture of the casing, a square for the ejector blades and mounting brackets.

Assembly

It is better to start work by creating a drawing. It is not at all necessary to produce full-fledged project documentation, a sketch indicating the main dimensions of the wood chipper is enough.

The work starts directly from the disk. A hole is drilled in its center. The hole diameter must match the shaft diameter. To fix the disc, a key cut is made; instead of a key connection, a suitable flange for bolts can be used.

With the help of a grinder, grooves are made in the disk for knives. Their optimal number is 4. Holes with a diameter of 8-10 mm are drilled along the edges of the grooves, with their help knives and ejector blades are attached to the bolts. It is convenient to use a square as blades, the shelf of which is placed under the knife.

The case is made of sheet steel with a thickness of about 5 mm. It consists of two identical sidewalls, between which a side of steel tape is laid. One part of it is welded to the sidewall, bolts are used to fasten it to the second.

A wood chipper is a machine that is used in the processing industry, woodworking enterprises and service industries. With the help of such equipment, wood waste is crushed into technological chips and prepared as raw materials for use in the production process of the enterprise.

The technical stage of wood chipping includes:

  • transportation of raw materials to the main production;
  • grinding of raw materials in the machine;
  • formation of the obtained raw materials by fractions, with the removal of pieces that do not correspond to technological parameters;
  • shipment of finished products to buyers after formation.

A pressed board, paper or cardboard, briquettes and much more can be made from technological chips. Service industries shred wood for subsequent disposal.

Often, this type of device, but in a lightweight version, is used on subsidiary farms in order to grind garbage after cutting trees, branches, or to obtain material that is applied under plants to retain moisture and slow down the growth of weeds.

Types of wood crushers

There are crushers:

  • standard;
  • universal.

Standard ones process a tree from one meter in length, and universal ones are used for processing small branches, bars.

According to the type of crusher motor, there are:

  • electrical;
  • autonomous (diesel or petrol).

Electric ones, as a rule, have a small weight, they work at a low rated power, two kilowatts are enough, but maybe more. In such models, a person lays wood into the equipment on his own, and the main element that is used in the operation of the mechanism is a cutting disc.

Semi-professional and professional wood chippers operate, as a rule, on liquid fuel, although among the professional ones there are machines with an electric motor. They have large dimensions and weight, cutting speed.

Classification

Crushers are classified according to crushing/crushing technology:

Wood chipper can be classified according to the size of wood crushing:

Technical characteristics of the mechanism

Feature of a market economy is a wide range of offers of such equipment by foreign and domestic manufacturers, so the buyer must know the main technical characteristics of the mechanism, which he should pay attention to when buying:

If we dwell on the manufacturers of such industrial equipment as crushers, one of the leading places is occupied by:

  • German firms "Pallman", "Hombak", "Maier";
  • Chinese "Kefid";
  • Russian firms RubMaster and BioSphere.

Care

Before using the equipment, it is necessary to carefully study the technical documentation so as not to damage the mechanism through ignorance. You should pay attention to such points:

Safety

When operating a crusher, follow the rules of labor protection, so as not to get injured. In the process of crushing raw materials, chips can involuntarily scatter in different directions, so it is necessary to work in a mask, special goggles and a headgear. Dress in such a way that pieces of clothing cannot get into the grinder. On the hands must be gloves that do not slip off the hands. The main thing is that in no case should you correct, get objects stuck in a working mechanism.