Turning slabs into animal bedding

[Rick Alger]

Has anyone found a way to make bedding economically from slabs? My operation produces around 10 cords of slabs a year.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I have a customer that buys my Cedar slabs and makes bedding for his horses. He has a grinder to grind them up. But Cedar Slabs only.

[shelbycharger400]

those big high speed grinders are expensive.  I talked to an operator at the local compost site. He told me the cost of the bowl style and the trailer style.
I think if your only producing 10 chords a year, it might be cheaper to have an operator come out and chip it.   those things are expensive to maintain from what I understand

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

You can rent a chipper from a rental company for a whole lot less. The guy I sell cedar slabs to, saves his slabs until he has enough to chip for 8 hours. Then he rents a chipper. He rents it on Saturday after lunch for 8 hours and does not have to bring it back until Monday morning.

[bill m]

Chippers and tub grinders don't make very good bedding. You need a shaving mill and they are expensive. I don't know of anyone who will come to your place with one or anyplace that rents one but there might be somebody somewhere.

[beenthere]

Has anyone found a way to make bedding economically from slabs? My operation produces around 10 cords of slabs a year.

What form and size of wood makes the kind of "bedding" that you want to sell? There are shredders, grinders, shavers, chippers, etc.  Any of these meet your needs?
What moisture content do you need to meet to store and sell as bedding?
What species are most of your slabs?

[Rick Alger]

Thanks for the comments.

Most of the slabs are spruce/fir. Moisture content isn't a sale issue, but size of the particles is. Sawdust is preferred with shavings a close second. Chips from a commercial chipper wont sell because they are not absorbent enough.

A shaving mill would be great but they are way over budget.

Has anyone tried chipping and then shredding?

[bandmiller2]

Rick,is this for your own use or are you planning to sell it.Sawdust wile not the greatest is passible if its dry.Don't think theirs a economical way to make a small amount of shavings.Possibly if you found an old commercial plainer on the way to the scrap yard and fed it your slabs. Frank C.

[mikeb1079]

yeah perhaps an older 220v planer?  just keep it outside and shoot the shavings into a pile. i have an older grizzly that i paid around 500 for and can fill up a 55 gallon drum pretty quick.    certainly not ideal but low budget and simple.  got any kids or neighbors to put to work?   :D

[Ron Wenrich]

10 cords of annual production won't be enough to justify the purchase of the equipment.  That will hardly be economical, which is the basis of what you want.  Your cheapest method of getting rid of them is to give them away or burn them. 

I know of companies that do buy chips then use a wood hog to reduce them to a shredded bedding.  You may be able to rent a chipper, but how do you move the chips from point A to B? 

[bandmiller2]

Anouther problem with wood chip bedding is storing them and as Ron said transporting them.You almost have to have a bailer to compact them into bags. Frank C.

[Rick Alger]

Thanks again for the replies. It is starting to look unlikely.

The transportation plan is to blow the bedding directly into an old horse trailer until loaded and then either use or sell.

So far an old planer seems the best option, but I've got no help to feed it.

[Cedarman]

Any dirt on the slabs will dull the planer knives quickly.
If the slabs are green, then the shavings will start to mold when weather is warm.

[thecfarm]

Don't the slabs have to be de-barked too? I use to buy shavings from a sawmill,very little,if any bark in it.
I have no idea where you live, but burning is not an option? Maybe make small piles and burn away so often. I burned mine right at the sawmill. But that was with snow on the ground too.

[Okrafarmer]

I wouldn't bother trying to make shavings or bedding. Instead, chip them up with a chipper and use it for flower bed mulch or other uses. That is, if you can't get anyone to take it away as firewood / kindling, etc.

[Cedarman]

Rick, just to be funny, your parade is getting heavily rained on.
But, from this thread you might find that kernal of an idea that will lead you to a solution that fits your operation.
Plus, you will have more confidence in your final decision.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

One problem with sawdust is that the fine dust can cause problems with the animals' lungs.  In general sawdust does not compost well and mats togethEr, so is not a good mulch either.

Dry wood is much more absorbent than wet.  The mold in wet wood can cause health issues for animals.

Once the bedding is used, the animals will have added nitrogen, so it can be composted easily and used for soil amendment and compost.

Do not store wet wood chips or wet sawdust in a pile without thoroughly stirring the pile every day or so.  If not stirred, decomposition will be anaerobic and the byproducts are not healthy for animals or plants.

I seem to recall that walnut is not good for horses' feet.

Your county ag extension agent should be able to provide guidance.

[Okrafarmer]

Funny, I just got a call today from somebody who wants cedar chips for outdoor dog runs in a kennel. He wants chips, not sawdust or shavings. I told him I can fix him up. 

[bandmiller2]

Rick,slabs are hard to work with for shavings due to their bark,nubs,and varying thickness.If you cut your mill boards thicker dried them and planed them you would have a better product to use/sell and copious amounts of shavings all dried and clean. Frank C.

[Leigh Family Farm]

Would it possible to slice the slabs into smaller sticks, like 2"x2" ones? Just thinking that you could do it pretty simply in the same way that you would edge slabs on a portable mill. And then take those sticks and run them through a much finer chipper to get better grade bedding material? I would think that it would take you one 10 hour day to make the sticks and another 10 hour day to run it all through a chipper, provided there are no breakdowns.

Have you ever though about pelletizing the chips? You could then mix in your sawdust, chips, and other wood waste all into one useable product. I know a pellet maker can only use 1/4" size material. I would just think that for a few thousand dollars ($6,000-9,000) you could use your slabs and sell the pellets for bedding and fuel.

[irvi00]

Hi all, new to the forum here. Thought I might chime in since this is my specialty. Your best and cheapest route, (besides burning), is landscape mulch. Save up your slabs until you have enough for a days chipping then rent a chipper. Spring will be the time, you shouldnt have a problem selling the chips and covering the cost of the rental. I use the chips off of our mill to make color enhanced mulch, and I never have enough to cover demand.

[thecfarm]

Good idea. May need to age them for a year. I would and do use them fresh from a mill up the road. But others think they need them weathered.
irvi00,welcome to the forum. What have you got for a mill? Must be sawing for others? Have a chipper?

[Okrafarmer]

Welcome, irvi00. Do you have a Frck mill?

[Leigh Family Farm]

Welcome irvi00! How hard would it be to color add to mulch? Seems like renting a chipper for a day os the way to go, but I like the idea of offering black mulch or that deep red stuff used in a lot of developments. Might even be able to secure a contract with a home owners association to sell the whole lot to  ???

[irvi00]

Thanks for the welcome! We run an Edmiston full hydraulic mill, miner edger and a 54 inch bush chipper. We run high production and employ 4 hands. We also have a newman planer. My business is on the waste end. All chips are run through my Rotochopper CP 118 to be ground up and colorant applied. I produce around 10k cubic yards of mulch per year.