Being able to grind multiple
materials reduces your grinding costs for everything you grind. So the more
material ground the better. If you are a C&D Recycling Company for example,
then you not only can separate the wood, plastics, metal and rock, but you can
sort the shingles and be able to reduce your landfilling costs by lowering
disposal weights. Even if you do not have an outlet for the shingles, mixing
with small stone and making roads on your Landfill or site is a great option to
eliminate this product after it is ground.
`But grinding shingles will wear
out all the surfaces in your Grinder in a hurry and you will need a lot of
water to keep the grinding chamber cool. This is the number one conversion you
will need. Your radiator will plug solid with shingle dust and even dipping it
may not fix it. Roofing tear off shingles are hard and brittle and the easiest
to grind. Factory reject materials are much more difficult and if it is the
middle of summer in the south, your ¼” ground shingle material will make one
giant asphalt cone if you haven’t mixed in a little fine sand to stop it from
sticking together.
There are machines
specifically made to grind shingles. On these machines, there are usually:
·
More replaceable wear plates
·
Can be different tips
·
Grinder Hammer pattern is made to keep materials
away from the sidewalls of the grinding chamber to reduce wear on the outside
surfaces
·
Top Fed rather than force fed with feed rolls.
Gives materials time to fall through screen and reduces oversize product
·
Single discharge belt to reduce transfer leakage
·
Conveyor Belt Splicing is different to reduce
fine material leakage
·
Heavy duty water spray system
among many other changes to maximize shingle reduction production.
So what do you change or what can
you change to switch from grinding wood to grinding shingles? Each machine is
different, some say run as is, not a good idea. Look for one that can reduce
wear, increase production and is easily changed. You could purchase a shingle
package grinder and then convert for wood, and then all the package options are
already included. Here are some ideas:
·
Adding additional wear plates
·
Different rotor or rotor configuration with
additional hard surfacing
·
Different belt splices
·
Deflector plates or screen to keep overs from
mixing with finished product
·
Smooth belts not chevron patterns
·
Adjustable belt scrapers to keep as tight as
possible to clean the belts
·
Water, Water, Water. Spray bars and enough water
flow to keep the grinding chamber cool
Before you invest in this
additional expense, make sure you have an outlet for materials. Even better,
make sure you have two outlets, so when the first one disappears, you have
another option. Use as an amendment to asphalt mix is great, but when the oil
price drops and it is not worth the price to buy your material, the Asphalt
plant will go back to straight liquid and leave your grinder worn and wet and
covered in shingle dust.
Questions? Dave Whitelaw Grinderguy@askthegrinderguy.com