BioBaler Cuts, Mulches And Bales "Waste" Wood

BioBaler Cuts, Mulches And Bales "Waste" Wood WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 33-6-18 Brush, branches and forest undergrowth have always been treated as a waste product in years past. You can turn those products into a valuable resource to create heat and energy with a new biomass baler that will cut, mulch and bale in one pass. The WB55-BioBaler is set to hit the U.S. market the end of this year, according to Tom King, president of SUPERTRAK, Inc., the U.S. distributor for the Canadian-built machine. Pine, willow and poplar trees up to 6 in. dia. and 25 ft. tall ù are reduced to strips no bigger than 2 by 12 in. after being cut and mulched by the powerful baler. Yet the baler is small enough to pull through 12-ft. openings, powered by a 150 to 200 hp farm tractor. The baler has a 48-fixed tooth rotor and chopper and cuts a 7 1/2-ft. wide swath. During research at a Georgia pine plantation, it cut 10.7 green tons per acre of gall berry, wax myrtle and sawtooth palmetto. Cost was less than $9/bale, or $17.60/green ton. "The advantage to baling is you're capturing material that's only touched one time," King says. Usually forest byproducts are handled a few times with piling, processing and transporting, and it's not economically feasible to use expensive bunching and processing equipment. With the new baler, one person can do all the work and average 14 to 15 1,000 to 1,200-lb. bales per hour. The 4 by 4-ft. compacted and netted bales are easy to handle and load for transportation by tractors with hay spikes. King says the baler offers a secondary source of income on timber land because undergrowth can be baled every few years and sold. Another option is to plant fast-growing woody crops such as willows and harvest them annually. A new federal program, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, matches up to $45/dry ton to stimulate biomass energy projects. King adds there are opportunities with a host of agencies including the Forest Service, and Departments of Transportation and utility companies that need right-of-ways cleared. The WB55 BioBaler sells for $125,000 in the U.S. In Canada it can be purchased through the Anderson Group. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, SUPERTRAK, Inc., 26855 Airport Rd., Punta Gorda, Fla. 33982 (ph 800 466-9858; www.supertrak.com) or Anderson Group Co., 5125 De la Plaisance, Chesterville, Quebec, Canada G0P 1J0 (ph 888 833-2952; www.fldbiomass.com)

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