Anybody selling wood chips?

[dingeryote]

If any of you guys are lookin for a place to dump 'em, bring 'em on over, and I'll give you #'s for lots of guys looking to buy 'em from you.

No walnut though.

Mulching the crowns of Blueberry bushes is the latest rage, and around here the prices just keep going up because of demand.

I could use a couple hundred Tons myself. LOL!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[pdqdl]

Why wouldn't palm turn to compost?

1. It's organic.
2. Everything organic decomposes.

Perhaps it is so durable it takes too long to decompose?
Maybe it has never been introduced to the right conditions to make it compost?
Too much work to make it profitable?

 

[mikewhite85]

How many tons is in a 600 dollar load of palm fronds? That must be a huge truck. I pay 50 for my pickup but in Sun Valley there is a dump that lets you dump for free on Saturdays- even palms- but it has to be 6 yards or less.

 

[joesawer]

You guys down the hill in SoCal have a crazy situation.
Google Bradco Environmental They have a yard in Redlands now and maybe others that will accept from the public.
They will beet those numbers for dumping.
Jeff I think if you explore inland some you might find some where that would take chips more reasonable. Also contact CalFire they always seem to have some use for chips.
When I was working around Julien, ppl where always asking us for chips.

 

[joesawer]

Why wouldn't palm turn to compost?

1. It's organic.
2. Everything organic decomposes.

Perhaps it is so durable it takes too long to decompose?
Maybe it has never been introduced to the right conditions to make it compost?
Too much work to make it profitable?

Nothing much decomposes in SoCal. It does not spend enough time with enough moisture in it. It pretty much piles up till it burns.

 

[sgreanbeans]

We have the old CAT plant that is a businees park now, we can dump anything there, full logs if we can get them there, they have a tube grinder and us the materail to heat all the shops.

Jeff,
I used to work for Sutton in San Marcos, not very long, I was hired by Gothic, Sutton used to have a place that would take palms. I think they charged 25 a load, it was in Escondido.
Also, while at Gothic, They brought in a 40yd roll off dumpster, I could pack alot in one of those, had it changed every couple of weeks.
Call the Branch manager at The Brickman Group, his name is Mike, Tell em Scott from Iowa sent u (my old boss) He is the one that set up the dumpster, I believe it was around 300 a dump.

A proper usage for palm waste needs to be developed!

 

[outofmytree]

I guess things are different all over. In Perth we have zero market for fire wood but in Summer particularly, I get $220 per truckload (15m3) of mulch all day. I would average somewhere between $6000 to $8000 per year in mulch sales or more if you include the cash sales. (If you work for the Tax Department I was joking. Of course I declare all my income.)

As to the question of palms as mulch it is worth noting that different parts of palms decompose at different rates. We do more Cocos (Syagrus romanzoffiana) palms than anything else and the fronds take forever to decompose compared to almost any other material. The trunks on the other hand are highly acidic (tested a number of times between 4 and 4.5 pH) and make a great additive to hardwood mulch as they greatly increase the rate of decomposition.

If you are looking to sell mulch it would pay to spend a little time asking your clients what they want to do with it (control weeds, provide soil nutrition, save water, improve aesthetic appeal) and tailor the load to suit. I now plan my week so we have palms every Friday (no Catholic jokes please) and hardwoods Monday to Thursday. It is also vital to sharpen or rotate knives every week. Just by this simple maintenance and a little job planning my business has gone from spending $9000 per annum on tip fees to just $2500 and of course, adding another income stream as noted above.

If there are any enterprising folks out there with some computer skills maybe you should take a peek at Tim's website. The link is here. http://www.mulchnet.com/postcode.php?problem=2 just type in 6028 where it asks for postcode so you can look around. Check out his history. Its an interesting read and if you have some acreage and a chipper it may well be a business oppurtunity.

 

[familytreeman]

buy chips

Our dump buys wood chips and burns them, they offer 3$ per yard.

We dump logs and brush there free.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Nothing much decomposes in SoCal. It does not spend enough time with enough moisture in it. It pretty much piles up till it burns.

Yep. Plus, palm fronds are almost like plastic. They shed water like it, anyway.

 

[jefflovstrom]

How many tons is in a 600 dollar load of palm fronds? That must be a huge truck. I pay 50 for my pickup but in Sun Valley there is a dump that lets you dump for free on Saturdays- even palms- but it has to be 6 yards or less.

I got a laugh out of that, that would be a big load! (if if were only fronds), these were removals, heavy. That load was probably a full 25 yards-back in the 70's and 80's, no charge, . California, gotta love it.
Jeff

 

[epicklein22]

Well, the wood chip business has been picking up. Over 50 yards delivered this weekend. Clean, quality chips is what the advantage I have over free chips. With mulch at $20 bucks a yard, plus delivery; it makes wood chips a more appealing product. All the customers seemed to be very happy with the product. The Morbark chippers make nice chips.

I haven't been making much money myself after paying the owner $3 dollars a yard and my buddy to haul the chips in his stake dump, but I haven't been doing anything besides setting up a time and date, and help with loading and unloading.

Free chips aren't nice and nice chips aren't free.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

We have no problem giving them away, they are in demand. Sometimes I'm persuaded to sell them for whatever.

Had the power company secretary's son on my crew a couple years ago, (a standalone adventuresome tale) He turned down $200 in cash for a load while I was finishing a couple removals. That was one of those early signs of things to come with him.

At any rate, I sold a one ton contractor dump bed full of clean thornless honey locust chips from a couple of removals I did. They were perfection via the Vermeer 1400 XL. I had them set off to the side for myself, but someone saw them and offered to buy them. I forget what I charged because he wanted a tree trimmed and I just combined the cost. Say 300, half being chips and delivery.

I believe that once I settle in somewhere that I will stock pile depending on the various quality and sell them from home along with firewood, greenhouse products, and my son's birdhouses. I've also been considering becoming a chimney sweep to compliment my other services.

Where folks have tree services by the short hairs is in our need to dispose and quickly.

I've dumped on a couple locations that have sold all that I have dumped and want more. Some have kicked some back my way.

Everyone that wants chips stops and wants to know what we are doing with our chips. I give them the usual with emphasis on the fact that the demand for my chips will not be met. The smart ones know how to be next on the list. Money talks.

The point is in the perception. If they think you are desperate, then they have you where they want you regardless of their need. If you act as if you have a thousand options and you won't make it to half of them to supply the needs and that you can always take it home if need be, they reveal their willingness to pay for the material and delivery. Simple.

I don't mind giving it away though if the situation is right.

 

[treesquirrel]

There is a local tree service here that recently bought a big 18 wheeler chip box truck and they sell chips to a biomass facility. He lets us and other competitors dump our chips at his yard.

 

[Damon]

we get 38.50 per yard of clean quality for the paper mills and 30 a yard for biomass plants if its dirty have to have a wheeler load though or there not interested so most people stockpile