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Biomass woodchipper

cowboysupper

Member
Mixed Farmer
Hoping that someone with more wisdom than I can help point me in the right direction with small scale biomass wood chippers.

We have a biomass boiler installed but would now like to make better use of woodland available on the farm, so we're considering the purchase of small scale chipper which will produce a decent quality chip for burning in our boiler.

Suggested options so far include the Farmi CH180 F and the TP200. Has anyone experience with these or similar?

Have been quoted locally (NI) £11,500 for a new Farmi CH180 F.

Does anyone reckon there are better value chippers available on the market as £12k max is the budget and ideally would like to spend a fair bit less.
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
What spec are you working to. ie G30 G50. Not confident either of those chippers will meet that spec. A lot of people including myself use a Heizohack but you will do well to find one within your budget. You will also need min 100hp and 1000 pto.
 

agrimax

Member
Location
Co Down
That TP 200 is a very good machine. Twin feed rollers unlike the Farmi with only one. Don't consider a single feed roller.It'll break your heart jamming and not pulling stuff in,especially forked and twisty branches.50 hp is ample to drive the TP as well.Would have thought you might be able to pick up a Schliesing MX220 within your budget,which is a serious machine too.Both the TP and Schl' give a very good quality chip but I don't know what is required for burners.I would also say to go for the biggest capacity chipper that your budget allows but that's maybe just me that has in the past been used feeding them with a digger and grab!
These guys would know about chippers.........http://www.jaspwilson.co.uk/en/product-catalogue/mascus_category/woodchippers
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
TP200 is rubbish for biomass boilers as it produces slithers that jam the auger mechanism which feeds the chip into the boiler. The slithers are very difficult to screen out.
 
i believe for your budget you will find it pretty much impossible to find a chipper that will make chip to the quality a biomass boiler needs. As @renewablejohn points out, the chip is required to meet certain size requirements for the biomass equipment to be able to cope with.
I have spoken to large boiler operators who have told me of the horrors that blocked feed mechanisms are whilst buried under full chip stores. i was advised no NEVER use out of spec chip.

To utilize your own wood supply, harvest it and store it, then periodically get a chipping contractor in to chip all your timber in a batch.
 
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Zero Homes

Member
Location
North Wales
tp200 here.. Very Good Machine.. We use the chip through our froling tx150 and the slithers in the chip never jam the augers up..

We might just be lucky though but been over 3 years now...
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
tp200 here.. Very Good Machine.. We use the chip through our froling tx150 and the slithers in the chip never jam the augers up..

We might just be lucky though but been over 3 years now...

Thats more to do with the ability of the Froling rather than the quality of the TP200. The fact that you recognize the machine is producing slithers means its not producing chip to G30 or G50 spec.
 

Zero Homes

Member
Location
North Wales
It depends a lot what you put through our tp200, if its hedgerow or small branches it tends to produce more of a strand and slithers of chip.But in general as a all round farm/campsite ect machine its done well for the price. Works well on a small tractor (90hp) its just nice to be able to clear a lot of wood waste and branches around the place to tidy up for a machine that cost us £5000 years ago.
 

cowboysupper

Member
Mixed Farmer
What spec are you working to. ie G30 G50. Not confident either of those chippers will meet that spec. A lot of people including myself use a Heizohack but you will do well to find one within your budget. You will also need min 100hp and 1000 pto.

Our KWB boiler takes either G30 or G50, but generally find slightly better performance off G50. Heizohack would be ideal but they’re out of my price range unfortunately.

In an ideal world I would be able to hire a Heizohack but they’re non existent for hire over here that I can find. Only chippers for hire over here seem to be shredders.

I can get a contractor with a Heizohack but he says he needs 60t to make the trip worthwhile. I would prefer to process less mainly to suit storage arrangements (most of which is tied up with grain storage through the winter).
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
Our KWB boiler takes either G30 or G50, but generally find slightly better performance off G50. Heizohack would be ideal but they’re out of my price range unfortunately.

In an ideal world I would be able to hire a Heizohack but they’re non existent for hire over here that I can find. Only chippers for hire over here seem to be shredders.

I can get a contractor with a Heizohack but he says he needs 60t to make the trip worthwhile. I would prefer to process less mainly to suit storage arrangements (most of which is tied up with grain storage through the winter).

Couple of old bulk artic trailers with wagon sheets would sort out your storage problem. Could even put extension boards on to increase the volume. Just leave on a slight tip so the sheets dont create a pond.
 

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Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

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On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

Farming and Countryside Programme Director, Janet Hughes will be joined by policy leads working on SFI, and colleagues from the Rural Payment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming.

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