Morbark Launches Sawdust Quick Switch Conversion Kit

Morbark Inc. is now offering a second Quick Switch conversion kit, allowing grinder owners to further diversify their product offerings by simply modifying the hammermill of their Morbark horizontal grinder. The original conversion kit, introduced in 2009, gave Morbark grinder owners the ability to make high quality standard size chips.

The new Sawdust Quick Switch conversion kit also allows grinder owners to supply the large volume sawdust market. This gives Morbark grinder owners the capability to produce mulch, high quality chips or sawdust – with just one machine.

Markets for sawdust include animal bedding, wood fuel pellet production, cellulosic ethanol and co-firing with coal. Sawdust is actually the preferred material for wood fuel pellet production and co-firing with coal. The basic difference between the two Quick Switch conversion kits is the number of knives and their configuration. The Sawdust kit uses up to 16 knives where the original kit has up to 12 knives at most.

“In a recent demo, our Morbark 4600XL horizontal grinder equipped with a 16-knife Quick Switch conversion kit and a 1050 horsepower CAT diesel engine produced approximately 40 tons per hour of fine hardwood sawdust from fresh cut whole trees. The resulting material was completely suitable as direct input for pellet mills or for co-firing with coal and was analyzed in a local university to be 95 percent below ¼ inch,” says Ed Dodak, assistant sales manager for the Morbark Great Lakes Region.

The Morbark Quick Switch conversion kit does not require removing the hammermill from the unit or replacing the hammers with small knife bits. The Quick Switch converts the hammermill into a drum with full sized knives so it acts just like a chipper. Conversion is possible in the field, without a crane, and can be done faster than any other conversion on the market.

The Quick Switch conversion kit is available on Morbark horizontal grinder models 3800, 4600, 4600XL and 6600 from any model year, wheeled or track versions. For more detailed specs or to watch a video, please log onto www.morbark.com/quickswitch.