Biomass handling: Forestry's Journal's buyer's guide

In this month’s Buyer’s Guide, Forestry Journal does just that. 

FUELWOOD 
HEIZOHACK/HEIZOMAT

OVER recent years, Fuelwood has become synonymous with being one of the UK’s leading suppliers of machinery and equipment for use within the biomass sector. 

From the Heizohack range of biomass woodchippers and pallet shredders that produce the woodfuel itself, to the GROS range of augers, troughs and blowers for moving the chip to the boiler, Fuelwood offers biomass handling solutions to suit most biomass installations. 

Fuelwood runs its own 500 kW Heizomat biomass boiler to heat all of their business’s buildings, offices and workshops – as well as the family home at its yard in Warwickshire. 

So, understanding the requirements of a biomass heating system and producing their own fuel is something they understand on a first-hand basis.

With a network of sub-dealers strategically located around the UK in Devon, Northumberland and the Scottish Highlands, and Fuelwood Scotland itself being located in the Scottish Borders, the service and support that can be offered for all of the Forestry and Firewood machinery across the Fuelwood range is exceptional. 

Heizohack chippers are widely regarded as the woodchipper that produces the best quality biomass-grade woodchip on the market. These chippers also have an impressive appetite, the larger models within the range capable of producing in excess of 50 tonnes of perfect-grade biomass woodchip per hour. GROS woodchip blowers can move the woodchip fuel tipped from trailers, up to 20 metres vertically, to the point of burning.

For more information on some of the best biomass production and handling machinery available in the UK, finance solutions, comprehensive spare parts inventory and our fleet of service engineers visit www.fuelwood.co.uk or call 01926 484673. 

GLOBAL RECYCLING SOLUTIONS
The BEAST, BANDIT

IN 1983, the very first Bandit chipper was built in a 6,000-square-foot converted repair shop, with the assistance of just six employees. Fast-forward to the present day and Bandit’s complete product line offers more than 50 different machines to choose from, each including the reliability, durability, efficiency and production that have made Bandit hand-fed chippers world famous.

The Beast horizontal grinder range consists of six models and represents the largest of the Bandit line. The Beast 2680 has a strong presence in the UK and it’s not hard to see why this machine is called ‘the showstopper’.

The Beast has gained a global fanbase, being in demand in 56 countries. Serving mulch and biomass needs by processing everything from switch grass to brush, trees and wood chips, the Beast is also used to recycle a number of difficult-to-process materials. The unique set-up and design have secured this machine’s place in the recycling world by ensuring every run produces top-of-the-range, high-quality product.

The Beast horizontal grinders are able to process an amazing array of materials, turning them into valuable products. These horizontal grinders process stumps, logs, brush, wet leaves, whole trees, landscape waste, pallets, railroad ties, telephone poles, sawmill waste, stubborn chunk wood, chip-mill and paper-mill waste, agricultural waste such as hay and straw, shingles, plastics and more.

With the growth in the biomass sector over recent years, producers have been searching for a machine that can offer not only reliability in running but also reliability in product production and control. The Beast has been the machine of choice for many as it produces a wide range of high-quality, screened ground material and woodchips for virtually any fuelwood market. This includes direct-fire boilers, co-fire boilers with coal, and microchips for wood pellet production.

As well as successfully clearing forest residue, the Beast is also known for turning green waste, sawmill, pallet and logging residues into mulch. It absolutely dominates all other machines in these markets. The patented cutter mill cuts, splits and chips material apart, creating a more uniform, higher-value mulch product. A range of tooth and screen options allow companies to make different types of mulch for different markets, whether performing multiple grinds or producing a top-quality mulch in a single pass.

The tailoring of tooth and screen options for each individual customer offers a bespoke service where the machine can be set up as if it had been custom made for the desired end product.

The key to the Beast’s success is its unique cutter mill. Using a spiral pattern with a series of teeth, cutter bodies and rakers, the cutter mill processes material using a cutting/splitting action versus other recyclers that attempt to bash material through hammering and grinding.

The mill in most rival horizontal grinders turns in an upward direction. The cutter mill in the Beast turns in a downward direction to work with the flow of material and gravity.

The downward cutting action is more aggressive and much less likely to discharge material back through the infeed.

If you would like to witness the incredible power of the Beast range for yourself, Global Recycling Solutions have a Beast 2680T available for demo, with Kesla loading crane.

This exclusive crane version is the only one in the UK.

For further information, contact the Global Recycling Solutions sales office on 01476 568384, option 1, or visit www.globalrecycling.eu.

UFKES GREENTEC UK 
GREENTEC DRUM CHIPPERS

UFKES Greentec UK Ltd offers a range of three drum chipper models, varying from 45 to 65 cm infeed and available in a variety of combinations from PTO up to truck-mounted.

The Greentec 942, available with two or four rollers, has an infeed of 520 x 710 mm (max. infeed 450 x 710 mm) and has three knives distributed along the drum.

The Greentec 952MEGA, available with two or four rollers, has an infeed of 660 x 1,060 mm (max. infeed 550 x 1,060 mm) and is fitted with four knives distributed along the drum.

The Greentec 962, available with three or five rollers, has an infeed opening of 700 x 920 mm (max. infeed 650 mm x 920 mm) and six knives distributed along the drum, with blower blades on either side.

The drums on all models are fitted with a specially designed counterknife, with small branches being cut from a different angle, resulting in better chip quality. The upper two infeed rollers are internally driven by heavy, low-maintenance Poclain engines; therefore there are no open slits beside the infeed, preventing chips from scattering.

All machines are manufactured out of premium steel 355 (52-3), fully blasted and powder coated twice. This process results in a long-lasting machine with low maintenance costs and a high trade-in value. High-tech controls with pre-programmed applications process all different kinds of material (logs, branches, shrub and hardwood) to uniform chips.

For more information, please contact 01377 259105 or visit www.greentecuk.co.uk.

JAS P WILSON 
BOTEX 

WHETHER you’re working in forestry, firewood, arboriculture or site management, February and the surrounding months mark a very busy period in the year. When it comes to timber handling and the process of either timber extraction or feeding/loading timber-processing machinery, Botex machinery, a mainstay of the British and Irish forestry sector, has a number of solutions.

At the end of 2021, Jas P Wilson announced the Botex manufacturing factory in Dalbeattie, South West Scotland, would enter a new dawn, working within the business to align with broader plans for continual improvement. And now, in 2022, this is well underway with manufacturing equipment, processes and cutting-edge solutions in place to support ongoing developments.

One such area which has seen innovation in recent months is the control systems on offer for Jas P Wilson’s heavy-duty loaders – the latest being the new Botex xCrane control system, which was first launched in autumn of 2021.
The team set out to make “their most responsive, user-friendly and productive control system to date” and, as was mentioned in Forestry Journal last year, the feedback from operators more than backs this up.

This included feedback from users who operated their Botex roof-mounted loaders with this system. 

One such owner, Andy Hampson, of Elm House Tree Services, had this to say: “The xCrane is night and day in comparison to the trusted Parker Hydraulic Controls I have been using for over 10 years. 

“The xCrane is very smooth in operation and able to do multiple functions with ease and without loss of speed or function as you would expect with the old hydraulic valve bank.” 

The Botex xCrane control system is available on new Botex loaders and retrofittable onto a wide range of machines. Since launch, this system has been popular on a variety of products within the range, including on tractor- and trailer-mounted systems, but it’s found its primary application in the cab of a Valtra, working a roof-mounted set-up. A forestry-guarded Valtra with steel belly plate, fuel tank guarding, branch bars and cab/window guarding provides a robust tool for a wide range of tasks, and when combined with a powerful single- or double-extension Botex loader (reaching up to 8 m) it becomes a crucial and very versatile machine for many businesses, estates and contractors.

The roof-mount option is ideal for those who have other applications for the loader, in addition to loading timber trailers. The tractor loader unit can work independently of the trailer, allowing the tractor/loader set-up to run and feed PTO implements such as woodchippers and firewood processors or even to access sites where a trailer wouldn’t fit. These tractor-mounted set-ups are very popular across various sectors, but are particularly popular arb and forestry contracting settings.

Together with a range of trailer options, these new innovations allow customers to tailor their Botex package to suit their business, and the Jas P Wilson team is always on hand to help. Call 01556 612233 and ask for Ian Brown for full details. www.jaspwilson.co.uk.