In November, Rotochopper, Cutting Systems, Forest Pro and James River Equipment collectively demonstrated that making quality pellet fuel in the woods is feasible. The demo was staged in a young loblolly pine stand near the Forest Pro dealership in Scottville, Va. Employees and equipment of Tapscott Brothers Logging felled, bunched and skidded stems to the landing, where a Barko 595 ML loader and CSI FDT 6000 flail/pull-through delimber took over. After delimbing, the loader operator turned the stems and sent the trees back through the flail, butt end first, to remove bark. Then the clean stems were fed through a Rotochopper MC 266 grinder fitted with a ¾ in. screen. The fine material produced, one dried, was suitable for making fuel pellets.
Rotochopper machines feature a unique grinding method that does not use knives or hammers for processing. A rotating drum is fitted with rows of sawhead cutter type teeth that grind the fiber, which is sent through removable screens. These can be changed in under 10 minutes and range in size from 4 in. for mulch material to ¾ in. for pellet feedstock.
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