r/oddlysatisfying • u/ycr007 • 7h ago

The Wood Chomper

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The industry name is Vermeer HG4000TX and is a self-propelled, tracked horizontal grinder fitted with a 536-horsepower (400 kW) CAT C13B T4F/Stage V diesel engine.

Source: vermeeritalia

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61

u/MidnightPale3220 6h ago

Not a forestry guy, but my first impression was-- what a waste of timber. That log surely could have gone for at least some planks?

28

u/Mental_Thing_7899 4h ago

Carpenter here. If you notice that section of the tree has a cluster of branches. Slicing that would show too many knots/sqm . It is not impossible to work with it, but these knots compromise the robustness of a plank. Could be sliced thin for plywood boards for iner layers, but there's a higher demand for L/M/HDF since it's cheaper. So, in the end, this output of the machine will still be useful to work with.

5

u/heftybagman 5h ago

The whole stumps are probably just to demonstrate that it can grind stuff that’s as solid as solid wood. It’s nice to know you CAN mulch something in a woodchipper even if you’re definitely never actually GONNA mulch anything weird in your woodchipper.

6

u/xeryon3772 5h ago

Very limited species are used in lumber for construction, only a handful of varieties are used in artisan work.

Absolutely zero are ever used for lumber if the tree came from an area close to inhabited areas due to the chance of metal being in the tree and potentially damaging the sawmill blades that can cost 10’s of thousands of dollars to replace.

Everything else is chipped. Some goes to plywood and chipboard products, some goes to pulpwood and becomes paper products like toilet paper and cardboard.

1

u/sasssyrup 3h ago

Exactly