Have a 4600 grinder been running morbark inserts they say theres are the best but doesnt everyone ! Anyone try after market inserts vs oem any signifigant savings vs wear . Told boss i would research it but no one post prices online so i have to call all these aftermarket places for pricing , shipping currently is the worst part about buying morbark parts , i told them i dont need them fast on the order i made today and told them to explore different shipping options , i could have drove to michigan and picked them up myself cheaper then what freight was for 5 boxes of inserts
Just wondering how many hours do you normally get out of the morbark inserts.
Not anywhere near the hrs morbark says they should last due to the amout of dirt that gets run thru my machine alpha 2 inserts i can get anywhere from 10-40 hrs maybe a bit more before they are toast on both sides , im doing a test right now with 3 different inserts in my mill all mixxed up and i wont be buying anymore alpha 2 inserts they wear worse then the lone wolf low buck insert. Im going to try running a mix of alpha3 and lonewolfs when i get it back grinding and hope i can get the hrs up between flips and worn out .
A bunch of years ago I had a couple of customers using Diamond Z machines. I didn't work on them but remember they did a lot of buildup and hard facing trying to maximize their wear and cut costs. If you could get a handle on labor costs you might look at doing that.
Thats pretty routine for me its usually once a year the mill comes apart. Due to something damaging it we only use it a few times a month when things are under control. Those are the inserts in the milk crate in the picture they are the wear part i dont think it would ever be cost effective to attempt anykind of a hardfacing or build up on those . They range from 16 bucks each all the way up to 60 depending on what insert you want or need my mill has 30 . Morbark only offers that pattern as an option now , everything leaves with 24 with rakers as the standard mill setup now, i intend on buying therakers this year and having them on hand for next time and i will drop 6 hammers out and change to the 24 pattern
ok so i am gathering no wood grinder guys have experimented with aftermarket inserts so i will stick with lanclearers advice from way back and stick with oem inserts i guess , if i do try any I will post some side by side comparisons and pictures
kennametal are the best in the biz. The really exotic stuff is called Kenncast. Really good in rocks and iron contamination.
You might want to call Thelin Recycling in Ft. Worth, Tx. and chat with them. They run a big fleet of grinding machines, both tub grinders, and horizontal grinders. I bet they would share info with you on this subject. You can find contact info on their website. Jeff
Update from years ago, we converted mill back to run oem inserts and hammers. Getting 60 hours on inserts doing dryland sort wood waste. Dirt and sand can wear them out quickly but the cost is passed on to the customer for dirty grinds. Only used to get 8 hrs out of a buildup and hardsurfaced insert. Going back to the oem inserts cut out a lot of maintenance costs.