Let’s say you operate a waste processing operation and own a tub grinder or horizontal grinder. Perhaps you have both.
And lately you have heard about the new Vermeer LS3600TX low speed shredder. You wonder …
What does a low speed shredder do that a high speed grinder cannot?
Is a low speed shredder something you need?
And can these workhorses all work together?
The quick answer is low speed shredders are meant to handle a variety of difficult and rugged waste materials. Meanwhile, high speed grinders reduce contaminant-free wood waste into mulch and soil products.
Put simply, adding the LS3600TX can help expand your business.
“It opens up other potential avenues of revenue,” Vermeer Product Specialist Curtis Van Der Wal said.
To explain, let’s dive into the key differences between low speed shredders and high speed grinders and examine how they can also work together.
Low speed shredders vs. high speed grinders: Key differences
Vermeer has produced grinders for 30 years, starting with the TG400 in 1994. In the decades since, Vermeer has introduced numerous innovations in grinding — the duplex drum, the Thrown Object Restraint System and Damage Defense system technology, to name a few.
Its latest addition came earlier in 2024 with the launch of the LS3600TX.
Is a low speed shredder something waste processing operators should add? To answer that, they should ask themselves these questions.
“What’s been your experience with contamination in your raw material? Do you struggle with hidden surprises like sledgehammer heads, engine blocks, concrete or things that are ungrindable?” Ted Dirkx, a Vermeer sales manager in Recycling and Forestry, said. “The low speed shredder is really designed to tolerate unshreddable, ungrindable materials.”
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For operators processing potentially contaminated raw material, the LS3600TX was built with your work in mind. The LS3600TX was made to shred and reduce green waste, wood waste, yard waste, construction and demolition debris and municipal solid waste.
“The reduction we’ve seen in those waste streams at different facilities we’ve been in has been amazing,” Van Der Wal said.
The LS3600TX’s direct drive system provides a more uniform crush at a lower horsepower than similar machines that rely on hydrostatic power to shred materials.
“That really equals incredible crushing performance,” Dirkx said.
Vermeer high speed grinders are built to efficiently reduce and process wood waste in land clearing, composting and wood waste processing operations. The low speed shredder serves a role in wood waste processing, but it’s not meant for creating market-ready products like the grinders.
“That’s the nature of a shredder: It’s a crude, simple crush,” Dirkx said.
Wood waste processing: So how can low speed shredders help your business?
If a Vermeer tub grinder or horizontal grinder detects certain metal contaminants, the Damage Defense system initiates the shutdown process. The technology helps prevent damage to the high speed grinders but processing the raw material first with an LS3600TX can minimize downtime caused by contaminants.
That’s because the Vermeer LS3600TX both shreds the wood and removes contaminants. That provides a far more efficient process when tub and horizontal grinders are used afterward.
“The finish grind through the high speed machine goes a lot more cleanly through it,” Van Der Wal said.
On top of that, using a low speed shredder for the first grind reduces the fines in the mulch. That allows operators with both low speed and high speed machines to produce various mulch and soil products — and maximize productivity.
“The shredder can work on its own very well in many applications. But in the wood waste application, I think it’s a great first step, even if you don’t have contaminated material,” Van Der Wal said. “Just a reduction in fines … that could pay big dividends to a mulch producer or composting facility.”
While the LS3600TX is the newest addition in the 30-year history of Vermeer grinding, low speed shredders will likely have a growing presence in the years to come.
“I see a trend toward low speed shredders complementing a high speed grinder to make finished mulch and soil products, but beyond these markets, there’s a whole other realm of waste markets such as municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris,” Dirkx said. “Those markets continue to see higher and higher volumes of material, and a way to successfully process those is really through a low speed shredder.”
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