I run a lot of material that generates a good amount of rippings. Without going into huge grinders, what does everyone use to dispose of the waste? I generate 1-2 bundles about 2-3' in diameter a day. Taking them to the dump is about $20 per bundle and probably 2 hours for 6 bundles at a time. Options without breaking the bank? Thanks

don't know what state you are in but
kindling
we are in maryland/not horrible winters
they sell small bundles of firewood @ convience/grocery stores
but no kindling
we use it as p.r.
don't have enough

Call your local rib shop. They will probably take all the maple, cherry, oak, and hickory you have. See if your local quickie mart will sell your kindling next to the stack of camp wood. Try an ad on Facebook Marketplace. Lots of hobby wood ink pen makers out there who want blanks 3/4" square by 6" long.

This time of year in my neck of the wood the maple syrup makers will come get all they can. If your shop is in a well traveled area, you might try putting it out by the road with a free sign on it. There used to be a pool cue maker in our industrial park who had the same issue as you. Either the high school kids making bon fires or other people would grab it up.

We don't know where you are but anywhere north if you wrap it up and put it by the curb it will go away for free.

Dustin:

Not that there aren't already enough people making cutting boards, but..........

Not sure what you do to produce all of this scrap and if this would just be more trouble than it is worth, but if you are already looking to give the material away, you might be able to have a new/different product line. You can utilize/test your new unskilled hires and see how they do with something like that.

Just a thought.
TonyF

When I ran a shop that ran a molder 12 hrs a day, we generated huge bundles of rippings. These were banded at about 4' in diameter and up to 16' long. As many as 1-2 a day.

We would occasionally run into someone that had visions of being the local Kindling King, and we'd take 8-12 bundles to his location. Most would burn out pretty quick and ask for no more bundles. Ever.

One guy was determined and built special rack to hold a whole bundle, then his chainsaw would fit between supports and cut thru the bundle every 16". While it worked well, and he took bundles for 6 months, he eventually burned out on just the mass of wood.

We bundle ours at 2' diameter and sell them. We have two primary buyers - one is a potter who uses a wood fired kiln and he gets 60-65 per year. The other cuts, packages and sells for kindling and he is currently taking 90 per year. The rest is sold by ones, twos or occasionally 6-10 bundles. We sell them for between $40 (single bundle) to $20 (50+ bundles) each.

However, if you are not in a place where there is any demand for burning, don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

Using the numbers you provided, it's costing you near $1000 per week.

I figured 3 trips per week, and labor at $100/hr. No, I'm sure you don't pay your guys that, but when someone is driving to the dump they aren't producing. Assuming you are running at a profit and paying your guys at least $20/hr, $100/hour is likely to be closer to the truth than you might think.

You could buy a grinder for $50k and it would be paid for in just one year. OK, there will be installation expense, some time lost operating it, electricity and maintenance. Maybe it takes two years and then it makes you $25k per year instead of costing you $50k. Pretty hard to beat that ROI.

The wood crusher can be used for crushing, making edible fungus bags and so on. Now that the environment is deteriorating and forest resources are decreasing, the shredded sawdust can be used to press boards.