Morbark introduces new horizontal grinder, Biomass MicroChipper, and new insert

At their recent 2013 Demo Days event, held annually for customers and dealers, Morbark introduced three new products. The company unveiled their 3200 Wood Hog, a new mid-range horsepower horizontal grinder; the Biomass MicroChipper, a new configuration of the model 40/36 Whole Tree Drum Chipper, aimed at pellet mills; and the Wearwolf™ Insert, the newest addition to its line of inserts for industrial grinders.

The 3200 Wood Hog
Aimed at wood and green waste recycling applications, the new 3200 Wood Hog, mid-range horizontal grinder is designed as a compact and aggressive unit.  

“We saw a need for a horizontal grinder in the 400-600 horsepower range that was smaller than our 3800 Wood Hog and more powerful than our 2600 Wood Hog,” said John Foote, Morbark’s VP of Sales and Marketing. “This is a smaller, lighter, and more affordable unit with all of the benefits of our larger grinders.”  

The 3200 Wood Hog can handle green waste, regrind, sawmill residue, pallets, and logs up to 14” in diameter ease. The 30”-diameter feedwheel is powered by an internal drive Fairfield torque hub with no chains or sprockets for more torque, greater durability and less maintenance. Other standard features include a Poclain infeed chain drive, dust suppression, remote control, air brakes and hydraulic oil cooler.

Available as a tracked unit for greater mobility or with electric power, the 3200 can be built with Morbark’s most popular options, including an externally adjustable break-away torque limiter to protect the driveline and the hammermill, magnetized end pulley for ferrous metal removal, or the Quickswitch 12- and 16-knife drum assembly to easily convert from making mulch to making chips.   

40/36 Whole Tree MicroChipper
Morbark is also excited to announce its redesigned 40/36 Whole Tree MicroChipper. This is the latest in design enhancements to make the machine perfect for micro-chip producers. The 40/36 Whole Tree Drum Chipper was first introduced in 2008 as a compact, affordable and productive biomass chipper. The model was improved by the addition of the Advantage 3 high performance chipping drum in 2011, which significantly improved chip quality.

The latest model includes an enhanced drum set with 16 knives utilizing standard hardware, an operator-friendly slide-in forestry grate system to reduce oversized chips and a mechanically driven chip accelerator to fully load vans with the micro-chips.

“With new biomass plants being built in the United States and the rapid expansion of wood pellet exports to Europe to meet the European Union’s mandate that 20% of its energy come from renewable sources by 2020, our customers need a cost-effective system for making microchips,” said John Foote, Morbark VP of Sales and Marketing.

“This newly re-engineered 40/36 MicroChipper is the solution. We are able to produce a far superior product, producing 95-98% acceptable micro-chips at volumes of more than 70 tons per hour.” 

With an average fuel consumption of 2.25 tons of micro-chips produced per gallon of fuel used, the Morbark 40/36 MicroChipper allows owners to reduce costs and maximize profits. In customer tests, 95-98% the micro-chips produced passed through a ½” grate, and 72-74% passed through a ¼” grate. These micro-chips are vital for pellet mills, eliminating the need to regrind the wood fiber prior to pelletizing. 

Wearwolf Insert
Finally, also at the company's 2013 Demo Days, Morbark launched the Wearwolf™ Insert, the newest addition to its line of inserts for industrial grinders. Morbark is a leading manufacturer of industrial grinders and chippers for the forestry, biomass, sawmill and wood reduction and recycling industries, as well as brush chippers and stump grinders for the tree care market. With heat-treated, knife-like edges on a solid, forged-steel insert blank, the Wearwolf cuts material rather than beating it into mulch. Therefore, customers can make chips out of hard and soft woods without needing another machine.

The Wearwolf’s greatest advantage may be in its handling of stringy material such as palm. Morbark customers had been asking for a way to break down palm waste and other stringy material effectively.

“Morbark has a tradition of listening to our customers and addressing their needs,” said Dave Daymon Jr., Morbark Dealer Parts Sales Lead. “We met with our engineers and our vendors to design a new insert to help our customers break down palm, and we came up with the Wearwolf. The Wearwolf chops the palm, so it doesn’t wrap around the hammermill of the grinder like it does when using standard inserts.”    

According to Morbark, in customer tests, the Wearwolf not only efficiently chopped and broke down palm waste; when processing hardwood or soft woods, it also provided a denser end product, yielding two to three additional tons per load than a standard insert. Due to its knife edge, the Wearwolf even handles frozen wood with ease.

Sun Recycling, a C&D processing facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., saw a 30% increase in production, according to Facility Manager Paul Valenti.

“We never once went into reverse with the Morbark Wearwolf Inserts,” added Valenti. “They save us maintenance time, downtime and allow us to increase our overall production.”

Like all Morbark inserts, the Wearwolf is made of a forged material, which is stronger, more durable and scores better on a Rockwell tester than a casted material or tooled steel. The Wearwolf Insert is the newest addition to the Wolf Pack™ line of genuine Morbark inserts, and is available for Morbark tub grinders and Wood Hog horizontal grinders. See the Wearwolf break down palm at www.morbark.com/wearwolf.