What is a tub grinder?
As you know from reading this blog, I am a very serious gardener and am very serious about my compost yard. About once a year, we hire a tub grinder to help us out. In the course of the year, my ground's crew amasses quite a large pile of organic debris from the farm including stumps, logs, and brush. All of this material will eventually decay, however, to speed the process up by many years, a tub grinder is necessary. Basically, material is fed into this large piece of equipment, where it is hammered into much finer wood chips, accelerating the decomposition of this organic matter.
Dan Repola, of Material Processors, located in Spring Valley, New York, has been at the farm working hard on this project. Once all the wood has gone through the tub grinder, Dan passes it through a second time to make it even finer. He also screens the older piles of decaying matter, turning them into the dark and rich compost that I like to call 'black gold.' I hope you enjoy these photos of this amazing process.
1 This is approaching the tub grinder in the compost yard with piles in various stages of decay.
2 As you can see, this is major heavy equipment.
3 An excavator is used to grab big mouthfuls of logs and brush.
4 It is then transferred into the revolving tub of the grinder, which, by the way, measures 10-feet 6-inches across.
5 As the tub revolves, a hammer mill below, shatters the wood into fragments.
6 Those fragments travel on a long conveyor belt, forming a large mound.
7 You can see how finely the wood is ground up.
8 What is Laura taking a picture of?
9 Oh! It's Eliad in the Hi-Lo taking a picture of Laura!
10 Eliad got a better view from above.
11 That's Dan in the excavator feeding the tub grinder.
12 As the tub spins, friction actually causes some of the wood to smoke.
13 A better look
14 In one year, this wood pile had gotten quite large.
15 Another view of the ground up wood. By the way, it's very fragrant.
16 When the pile gets too tall, Dan uses the claw to push it down a bit.
17 This machine can lift even a mighty tree trunk.
18 It's hard to imagine that this could fit into the tub grinder, but it did!
19 Dan retrieves the nicer looking wood from the pile that he thinks will make good firewood.
20 That wood is sawed into manageable pieces and is neatly stacked for splitting into firewood.
I had no idea a tub grinder was that HUGE! I can't believe it chewed up that large trunk. It must be impressive to see the tub grinder work. Isn't it amazing to see the equipment that simplifies our lives?
Posted by: Lynn from For Love or Funny | November 13th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Hi Martha, read your post about the evening for the Martha Stewart living center. I am happy that it was a successful evening. You look glowing and beautiful.
Best wishes
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | November 13th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Hi Martha,
Several yrs. ago, my husband and I inherited a 60-acre pasture by a creek bottom. Oh boy, trees, trees and more trees. We have a lot of the "stickery" hedge trees; would any tree ground up like you're doing make good compost or are there some that you suggest not using?
I absolutely love your farm and enjoy your blog very much. I miss it on Saturdays and Sundays. Take care.
Posted by: Esther | November 13th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Hi Martha
I read your blog daily and enjoy looking at all the pictures, I have learned a lot from you.
This tub grinder is a wonderful machine.
Keep up the good work
Thel
Posted by: Thelma | November 13th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Hi Martha,
Not even the waste is wasted on your farm! That's a very impressive piece of machinery but I bet it makes a lot of noise. Got earplugs? Thanks for the play by play - it was very interesting. Trish
Posted by: Trish | November 13th, 2009 at 10:53 am
We are restoring my grandparents farm in central Illinois. I wish we had access to a tub grinder here instead of having to burn all the debris we create.
Posted by: Leilani | November 13th, 2009 at 11:45 am
This is so great, Eliad and Laura remind me of a couple of little kids excited about something big and noisy and out of the norm that arrives only once a year. Ranch kids and farm kids, as well, act that way during fall harvest when the custom crews or livestock trucks arrive.
Posted by: Margie | November 13th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
LMAO, thank goodness I read the blog before I suggested to my husband that we rent a tub grinder for the brush out back!!!
Posted by: Amy Lomasney | November 13th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Martha,
LOVE your tub grinder ! What a great contribution for another eco-friendly compost system.
I am curious about the logs you rescue for firewood and what species they are which you choose for burning?
My father saws 8-foot logs from some dropped white pines and makes wonderful benches for seating and display purposes.
We recently cross-hauled a beautiful pile of logs at our tree farm in northern Minnesota.
Really enjoyed today's segment with Ana Pavord and bulbs. We are doing some plantings today.
Thank you for supplying such great information to your viewers and fans on so many diverse subjects. So greatly appreciated!
Posted by: Becky HK | November 13th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Oh my, that is huge. I didn't know they came that big. I see they kept some really nice pieces for firewood, we save almost everything, as we live in Wisconsin and burn wood for our fuel in the cold winter months. We have used a small machine for mostly twigs and some heavier brush, so I was really impressed to see that big machine, and the amount of mulch you have. Thanks for showing us all the hard work that goes into your farm..although we live in a small village, we have a little more than a acre, and it is alot of work. So seeing your farm at work, I feel ours is manageable. Looking at your photos is really enjoyable, thanks for all you do..D
Posted by: Dianna L | November 13th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
What a fun post! It's great to see the more industrial side of a large gardening/landscaping operation every now and then; it really helps one appreciate the beautiful trees and flowers on your property that much more.
Posted by: Heather | November 13th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Too bad we aren't closer to you or we could buy your sawdust for our wood burning boiler that heats our greenhouse
Ours comes out of Italy and it burns so clean it's amazing.
Posted by: Tamara | November 13th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I have never seen this type of machinery! One can plainly see why it's called a tub grinder. The aerial vantage points give us true perspective as to the massiveness of the equipment AND the end product that is produced.
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Since Eliad was up in the bucket, was that sisterLaura on the ground, or housekeeperLaura? [giggle] Either way, it made me chuckle nevertheless... These were excellent photos capturing this process!
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Gee whiz, while I'm here, I'll drop a friendly hello to Eliad and LauraP...it's been awhile, so, 'hey'!...hope you're both well, and thanks for all you do for us! I'm always cognizant you're behind-the-scenes (and sometimes in front of the camera as well).
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Happy autumn weekend everyone!
~
=^..^=
Posted by: Cindy Bricker | November 13th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
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What is Laura looking at? Probably you photographing Mount Washington from a crane's bucket!
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Posted by: Andrea Spencer | November 13th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
With such a large property there is always something going on. Great to have the tub grinder tackle such an enormous task.
Posted by: sherey | November 13th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Looks like quite the project, but was beautiful organic soil compost you now have. Black gold for sure.
I have been a fan for years and am now a follower on your blog. I recently started blogging as a sidebar to my business and am now hooked! You have inspired me along the way and I thank you.
xo,
cristin
http://www.simplifiedbee.com
Posted by: cristin @ simplified bee | November 13th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Did you take the excavator for a spin Martha? Looks like lots of fun and hard work went into your wonderful compost! Jealous!
Just curious... you may have answered this previously; can you suggest an organic replacement for pesticides? I recently suffered several cases of anaphylaxis with no idea what was causing it, only to learn it was common pesticides. I've always been a big gardener, but this really upped the ante.
Thanks kindly,
Rebecca
Posted by: Rebecca B. | November 13th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Hi Martha, WOW, what a fabulous blog!!! I love every part of it! How great that you can produce your own compost to grow all of your wonderful items in all of your gardens. These photos certainly tell the story of why you have such great results from planting all of the different items every year. I love it! I wish I had access to all of the things that you do. Super, Martha, super! Great show again today after your presence on Rachel's show. Can't decide which one I liked best. Both shows were super! What a special year worth of your shows we have had so far. Can't wait for the next one. Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | November 13th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Wow Martha. I think that you know everything. You go girl. Now I know what a tub grinder is. Thanks for all of the photos and lessons that you deliver to us. You are so self sufficient. I wanna be like Martha.
Posted by: Edna/HandmadeDiva | November 14th, 2009 at 2:37 am
wow, that puts my home composting system into perspective.
Each in proportion to the size of our gardens I suppose...
Posted by: sophie | November 14th, 2009 at 4:40 am
My Fall Clean Up suddenly feels so very manageable! Your compost pile is so impressive! I know the Frenchies have rabies protection, but do you worry about the person that cleaned their little Frenchies mouths after the bad game of catch and kill? My beagles had similar run -ins and three of us in our family have had to have the rabies shots!!
Posted by: Jayne | November 14th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Hi Martha:
I now have learned what a tub grinder is. Its an amazing piece of equipment.
Linda
Phila, PA
Posted by: Linda | November 14th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Martha, I don't own one of these, but do rent one about four times a year. We have run beef cattle and grind large cornstalk bales, straw bales, and hay bales. A huge mountain is made - just as your wood chips - and we use a skid loader to feed this to our cows.
I took photos of the behemoth working last year and sent it to the tub grinder owners in their Christmas card!
Posted by: IowaCowgirl | November 14th, 2009 at 11:55 am
What a day when having Grinder came!!
Dakota has few trees but my 3 spruce grew too tall for my front yard.
A wonderful lumberjack, named Raymond Crane came and took them out.
The whole town misses their towering inspiration of 50 years.
It seems they were holding me back and now I can see the big sky.
Posted by: ann | November 14th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
For Esther and Beck HK - I wouldn't hesitate grinding any wood in a tub grinder with the exception of any poison ivy vines and poison sumac, as they have irritating qualities. Also, the only wood that I burn in my fireplaces is hard, non-resinous woods. Pine resins are dangerous, as they coat the chimney flue and can cause a fire there.
Posted by: Martha Stewart | November 14th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
"Major" is right (major equipment, major logs, major chips pile}. I had no idea.
Posted by: Elizabeth Gage | November 14th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Martha, that's not "gardening"...it's FARMING.
Posted by: Victoria | November 15th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
There is a new book published about the Forest Service. How it started how it almost disappeared due to under funding b Congress in the very early years. President Teddy Roosevelt picked his college roommate to head the agency. Just an interesting tidbit in the historic legacy of this choice and the imprint this person made. Pynchon was his name ?? something with a P anyway-- it was a tremendous forest fire out west during 1901 that as often things go changed the course of history. Please read the book by Michael something or other -- oh I guess I could bookmark this and fill in these blanks-- but terry gross interviews the chap a few weeks back interesting stuff that fresh Air
Posted by: HBE | November 16th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Thank you, I have watched you since a Thanksgiving special on PBS in 1989.
You should have a PHD in Domestic Arts!!
Thanks, Diana
Posted by: Diana Tolbirt | November 18th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Witaj Martho
Witam Cie bardzo serdecznie.
Czesto na kanalach Tv Polskiej ogladam Twoje programy, ktore ogladam z zaciekawieniem.
Serdeczne Ciebie pozdrawiam z Polski.
Elzbieta Zarzecka
Posted by: Elzbieta | December 1st, 2009 at 4:50 am
wow this thing is huge! Does anyone know what is the conveyor belt made of? rubber?
Posted by: Lulu | December 10th, 2009 at 8:42 pm