Probably the main cause of disputes between wood retailers and wholesale suppliers is the amount of unsellable material such as fines, dirt and bark they get in bulk deliveries. While a certain amount of fines and dirt is generally accepted as being unavoidable, as a result of the shaking that wood gets during loading and transport, if it appears that the wood was not adequately cleaned prior to being loaded, then a complaint or a claim for a rebate is likely to occur. The impact on retail yards of large quantities of fines and dirt in bulk deliveries is not just that the retailer has paid for this as wood, but they also have to dispose of it, which is an unwelcome extra cost.
Many wholesalers, and some retailers, have built their own wood cleaners to address this issue, mainly because up until now there has not been a readily available Australian made wood cleaner on the market. The latest addition to the Whitlands Engineering range of firewood processing equipment solves this problem. Whitlands are well known for their range of commercial wood processing equipment, from the Aussie Chopper and Superaxe splitters up to the larger 600 and 900 Rex processors. Whitlands also manufacture the Rex log saw and a range of firewood handling equipment. The latest addition to the company's product range is a 1.2 metre diameter trommel style wood cleaner powered by a twenty kW, three cylinder Yanmar diesel engine. The wood cleaner can be adapted to suit any wood processing configuration by the team at Whitlands Engineering. Hopefully widespread use of the Whitlands trommel wood cleaner will lead to greater retail wood customer satisfaction and fewer disputes.
A short video of this latest offering from Whitlands can be viewed here. Whitlands Trommel Video
