Feed aggregator

With considerable research and collaboration, the Bandit team brings the HM6420 hammermill grinder to market.

This highly productive 40” capacity grinder is designed and manufactured to be an alternative solution for those grinding applications that may contain contaminants. A Caterpillar C32, 1,200 horsepower engine provides ample torque and horsepower for optimal machine performance and productivity.

The heart of the HM6420 is a 50” diameter x 66” wide hammermill. The heavy-duty mill features a 1.75” drum skin custom formed from rolled plate. The mill is supported by a 7” main shaft constructed of alloy steel that has been ultrasonic tested. Each pocket within the mill is manufactured from high strength A-514 steel. These combinations create a structural sound mill for added durability and integrity. The mill is equipped with 20 carbide infused hammer inserts built to withstand the toughest material fed into the machine. Each holder is securely attached to the mill via a patent-pending quick change pocket system. Each holder recesses into the mill pocket, increasing durability. A top plate covers the pocket and holds in place by six hex bolts. The hammer insert is attached to each holder utilizing two bolts. With this set-up, the mill hardware is easier and quicker to replace.

A heavy-duty slat-style infeed conveyor is directly driven generating over 18,000 pounds of pulling power. The large diameter feed wheel is also directly driven and provides an additional 17,000 pounds of pulling power and 8,650 to 17,300 pounds of down force when hydraulic pressure is applied. These combinations allow the HM6420 to grind massive quantities of material efficiently and effectively at one time.

A proportional feed system is standard and regulates the feed system from 82 – 132 feet per minute. The HM6420 has one of the fastest feed rates on the market allowing it to quickly process material. The proportional feed system allows operators to adjust the feed based on material being processed ensuring maximum output and grinder efficiency, all while achieving a higher quality end-product.

Three screens are located on the top side of the HM6420 mill. A variety of screen sizes are available up to 7” to produce various end-product sizes. The top feed wheel moves upward, and a removable screen cradle allows for quick screen set-up changes. All work for screen changing is performed outside of the machine.

An impact detection system is standard and designed to limit damage if a contaminant is struck inside the grinding chamber. Once an impact event is detected, the grinder will idle down, open the gate, disengage the clutch, and reverse the feed.

A 56” wide height adjustable discharge with a stacking height of 16’ 8” is standard. The height of the discharge can easily be adjusted accommodating various grinding scenarios and situations.

The standard wireless remote controls all grinding and tracking functions and features an LCD screen that will display engine coolant temperature, engine oil pressure, engine load percentage, engine RPM, and battery voltage.

Bandit initially debuted the HM6420 at the 2023 Con Expo show in Las Vegas. After the show, further evaluation and testing was conducted and the machine was then demonstrated to a variety of customers and dealers at Bandit’s 40th Anniversary event in September of 2023. Final testing of the HM6420 took place in the fourth quarter and the machine will begin production in the first quarter of 2024.

Bandit will be showcasing the HM6420 in February at the Compost Show in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The addition of the HM6420 expands the already diverse line of Bandit horizontal grinders available. Customers can choose from various mill configurations that will “CUT IT,” “CHIP IT,” OR “HAMMER IT.”

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The post Bandit Industries announces a new Hammermill horizontal grinder! appeared first on International Forest Industries.

In 2023, the Norwegian Forestry Agency paid out almost SEK 309 million (around $44M) in compensation to landowners who were denied felling in areas close to mountains due to high natural values. This is an increase of 25% compared with the previous year. At the same time, the area for which formal protection was established was the lowest since 1998. Source: Timberbiz Since 2020, the Norwegian Forestry Agency has paid trespass compensation to landowners who have been denied permission to fell in areas close to mountains, this after a trial in court gave the landowners the right to do so. In 2020, only individual trespass compensations were paid out as a result of denied permission to fell, but in the following years the amount of payments increased sharply due to the increase in felling applications that were then sent to the Forestry Agency. In 2021, 72 million kroner (around $10M) was paid out in trespass compensation, in 2022 it was 248 million kroner (around $54M), and most recently in 2023, 309 million kroner was paid to the landowners who were denied felling. The number of compensation cases has increased from 110 in 2022 to 188 cases in 2023. In total, trespass compensation has been paid out as a result of denied permission to harvest 16,700 hectares of forest land in the region near the mountains in the years 2020 to 2023. The biggest increase was between 2021 and 2022 when the area that was trespassed increased by almost 300%. The largest part of the area that received trespass compensation in the mountains until 2023 is in Västerbotten (62%) and Jämtland counties (36%). The remaining 2% is distributed between the counties of Dalarna and Norrbotten. In 2023, 810 hectares of biotope protection and 210 hectares of nature conservation agreements were added. Overall, this was the lowest level of new formation of the Norwegian Forestry Agency’s formal protection since 1998. It is also the fifth year in a row where less than 1,500 hectares have been formally protected. The years with the greatest new formation were during 2002 to 2005 when approximately 6,000 hectares per year became formally protected. “Those who have been refused permission to harvest have the right to compensation and we work there as quickly as we can to handle the cases. If more funds are needed to compensate forest owners for denied felling near the mountains, we will request more money for that in good time,” says Johan Åberg, specialist in area protection at the Norwegian Forestry Agency.

Shiling Pei is from the Republic of China, where he likely suffered from wood deprivation. Concrete is the material of choice. Except for ancient buildings, there are few, if any, wood frames, he says. Source: ENR Pei is not only a wannabe woodworker. He has been researching timber building systems for years. “I consider myself an experimentalist,” says Pei, also a licensed civil engineer in California. His latest wood research in resilient performance-based seismic design is historic. As principal investigator for the National Science Foundation’s Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure TallWood Project, Pei is leading a team that tested a resilient 10-story “rocking-wall” frame, composed of vertically post-tensioned cross-laminated-timber, on an outdoor shake table at the University of California San Diego. The 112-ft-tall specimen was the tallest full-scale structure ever tested on a shake table, says NHERI. The shaking simulated the 1994 Northridge quake, a magnitude-6.7 temblor in Los Angeles. Then it ran Taiwan’s 1999 Chichi quake, a magnitude-7.7 temblor. The specimen sustained no damage, except to steel clips that can be replaced, says Pei, and it performed exactly as expected, returning to its plumb position after rocking. “We found a cost-effective and practical way to build a tall wood building that is almost earthquake proof,” he says. The unbuilt 12-story Framework, designed by LEVER Architecture and KPFF, is the model for the specimen. “Ling had the most difficult position of all,” says Reid Zimmerman, a structural engineer on the NHERI team and technical director at the Portland, Oregon, office of KPFF. “He led a large, diverse team,” including six universities, “to design, supply, fabricate and construct the tallest shake-table test in the world,” he adds. And Pei leveraged multiple funding sources and numerous supplier donations while building consensus. Thomas Robinson, LEVER’s founding principal and a NHERI participant, says the rocking wall is “probably the most innovative structure put on a shake table in our lifetime.” Pei’s research focuses on multi-hazard mitigation through performance-based engineering, numerical modelling of structural dynamic behaviour and large-scale dynamic testing. “There’s something very addicting to testing large structures,” says Pei, who has a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Colorado State University. Pei first studied bridge engineering as an undergraduate at Southwest Jiaotong University, in China. He arrived in the US in 2003 to study structural engineering. It was a time when academia was interested in the seismic performance of wood structures, in the aftermath of the Northridge quake. There were few fatalities but the number of wood structures with severe damage was high, Pei says. “We thought wood could do better,” he adds. The “sweet spot” for the resilient rocking system is three to six stories, says Zimmerman. LEVER, with structural engineer Holmes, is currently designing a three-story office building with a timber rocking wall. If built, it would be the first wood rocking wall, other than the specimen. Timber rocking walls are not in the code, making it more difficult for engineers to use the system. Pei and Zimmerman hope to change that. They are co-leading an effort to write a proposal for the 2028 update of ASCE/SEI 7, Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures. Toward that, Pei has to have the NHERI report finalized by the summer of 2025.

Wood leftover from Okanagan forestry operations that would once have been burned is now being put to productive use, according to the Forest Enhancement Society of British Columbia, Canada. Source: Penticton Herald Sixty-six innovative projects undertaken around the province in the past year at a cost of almost Can$50 million have generated an environmental benefit equal to one million fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the society said. And debris wood that would have filled more than 68,000 logging trucks has been used instead for the making of wood pellets and other products. “With the help of 66 projects funded in 2023, BC is taking necessary steps in battling climate change and becoming more resilient in the face of worsening wildfire seasons,” Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston said. Along with finding new ways to use waste woods, the projects involved thinning forests and other fuel reduction efforts near towns and cities to avoid a repeat of last year’s devastating wildfire season, the worst on record in BC. “Healthy forests are essential to thriving and diverse ecosystems that support healthy people and secure communities, along with a sustainable BC economy,” Minister of Climate Change George Hayman said. The government provided the funding to the Forest Enhancement Society early last year. Forestry companies, Indigenous groups, and municipalities were invited to submit applications for grants that focused on wildfire risk reduction and better use of waste wood. A total of 17 projects were supported with Can$9.3 million of funding in the Thompson-Okanagan region. Fuel mitigation work was done on 84 hectares of land, with carbon dioxide emission reductions estimated at 193,000 tonnes. Recovery efforts have included gathering debris wood for conversion to high-efficiency wood pellets for heating, said to be a renewable energy source, and directing more material to pulp mills than would otherwise have been the case. In the South Okanagan, the Osoyoos Indian Band received funding for the enhanced use of “low value fibre”, material that’s left over from forestry operations. Debris that would have otherwise filled more than 3,200 logging trucks before being burned off was instead put to productive use. “There doesn’t need to be a trade-off between the environment and the economy – it can be, and should be, a win for both,” said Steve Kozuki, the FESBC’s executive director.

The Heyfield Timber Festival is not just an event, it’s a celebration of community, tradition, and the rich history of timber. This year the event will be held from 17-19 February with a street parade on 18 February. Source: Timberbiz The event promotes timber and forestry with its wood chop events but also celebrates local activities such as a dog high jump competition, car and truck displays, and live entertainment. Highlights will include the truck show with a display of log trucks from various eras, as well as the wood chop event which is a cornerstone of any timber festival, and the iconic parade through the main streets of Heyfield. There will also be a timber workers memorial vigil to pay respects the workers of the industry at the timber workers memorial.

Perth’s Hyde Park could lose up to 20% of its trees due to an infestation of an exotic South East Asian beetle known as ployphgous shot-hole borer which tunnels into a tree and plants a fungus that blocks nutrients and water. Source: Timberbiz A single female borer can fly up to 400 metres and start new colonies quickly. It is believed that the borer came into Perth via untreated wood from Asia. “It’s not clear how this destructive borer made its way into WA, but it is clear that we need everyone to follow the strict biosecurity rules at our airports and borders, to keep unwanted pests out,” Western Australia’s Agriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis said. “An unprecedented biosecurity response has been underway for more than two years to stem the spread of this pest. “DPIRD is working around the clock to eradicate it and is consulting with scientists from California and South Africa to learn from their experience in managing the borer. “However, it is imperative that we work together as a community to deal with this invasive pest.” Around 180 trees in Hyde Park are targeted for removal including old Moreton Bay Figs and London Plane Trees. The Cook Government is urging the Western Australian community to help stop the spread of the tiny beetle, which was first detected in Fremantle in mid-2021. With no known treatments currently available, tree removal is the only way to prevent this invasive pest from rapidly reproducing. This means a number of infested trees across Perth will require pruning or removal by arborists including at Hyde Park, Lake Claremont, Kings Park, and Perth Zoo. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is doing everything it can to stop the spread of the borer, as part of a national biosecurity response, and has launched the biggest surveillance program in the Department’s history. DPIRD response staff have already inspected more than 1.5 million trees on more than 50,000 properties, as well deployed 3,000 traps to help track the borer. There is also a quarantine area in place, covering most of the Perth metropolitan area. It is vital that residents are aware of the restrictions on the movement of wood and plant material from their properties, as it could spread the borer. To date there’s been excellent support from the public and local governments, however ongoing community vigilance is vital to assist the State’s efforts to stop this invasive pest. The public can help by keeping an eye out for signs of the borer, and reporting it to the My Pest Guide Reporter app or website mypestguide.agric.wa.gov.au Symptoms can include tiny holes in a tree trunk, discolouration, staining or sawdust.

A forestry innovation organisation focusing on breeding, researching and developing durable eucalypts is seeking investors to help further research. Source: Farmers Weekly New Zealand Dryland Forests IP Ltd was set up in July 2022 by New Zealand Dryland Forests Innovation (NZDFI) to separate commercial activities from the broader focus of NZDFI’s research and development program. The board of NZDFIP Ltd is now seeking expressions of interest from the forest industry for a limited offer sale of shares in the company and support for its ongoing research and development program. “After 15 years of research and breeding progress, we are ready to invite industry partners to come on board,” said Shaf van Ballekom, chair of NZDFI and general manager of Proseed NZ, Australasia’s largest tree seed producer. “Advances in tree breeding take many decades, as does the research and education that goes with delivering what is a new opportunity for the forest industry. We are on the cusp of commercialising the results of our intensive efforts to date.” Up to 49% of the NZDFIP Ltd shareholding is on offer to forest growers that have the land, capability, and a strategy to diversify by investing in large-scale planting of the elite durable eucalypts now available. A confidential expression of interest document has been circulated to a number of forestry companies that have shown interest in diversifying with durable eucalypts. “Our plan is to deliver tree-breeding, research and extension services to new shareholders in a similar way to that which the Radiata Pine Breeding Company undertakes for industry. We have exciting plans for more research, and want to focus our communication and education into building the capability needed for a New Zealand durable hardwood industry,” Van Ballekom said. Expressions of interest close 28 March.