LAND CLEARING AND WASTE WOOD RECYCLING

Turn your old trees into a valuable product

Orchard removal & recycling experts

Africa Biomass Company came into existence more than 16 years ago because of our orchard removal recycling services.

ABC in partnership with Moreson Grondverskuiwers removes old orchards, vineyards, and windbreaks, which are then fed by three-wheel loggers into a horizontal grinder. All this happens with the use of excavators with specialised attachments.

The Beast horizontal grinder processes waste wood according to the specifications discussed and agreed upon with the landowner or project manager.

Processing waste wood into a viable product, if applied correctly, could account for a 30% increase in water conservation, as well as many other advantages. This is why orchard removal is a sustainable Agri-practice. Get in touch with our team for the removal or clearing of commercial orchards or plantations.

Are you rotating or removing your orchards or vineyards?

Many farmers understand the need for orchards to be rotated in order to make room for new cultivars. Perhaps you want to remove an orchard to replace it with a more valuable crop. No matter what the reason is for the removal, you can count on the team at ABC to be of assistance. We offer contracting services with our extensive range of wood chippers and horizontal grinders.

If you need to remove your vineyard, fruit or nut trees, or windbreak sections - we can make this happen. We have the right equipment and services suited to these specific needs. An added benefit of removing orchards, vineyards, or other unwanted trees and brush, is that the wood chips that are generated by the removal can be recycled back onto your land. The wood chips generated during orchard removal are used for mulch – which we mechanically spread back onto your new or existing orchards, vineyards or crops.

We remove orchards, vineyards, or other unwanted trees and vegetation by removing them from root to tip, or by felling the trees with a tree shear, just above ground level. These trees are piled up or cross-cutted to be fed through a wood chipper or grinder. The trees, bushes, and stumps are then processed which results in wood chips. We use specialised equipment to spread these wood chips back as mulch onto your land. This process is effectively called wood recycling.

Reasons why it is necessary to recycle old unwanted orchards, vineyards & windbreaks

Due to removal processes, valuable wood chips become a by-product. Instead of this by-product being discarded, we use it for valuable mulch or biofuel. Wood chips are an excellent form of organic mulch with various benefits. Wood chips can be used as ground cover in new or established orchards, vineyards, or other crops to reduce competition from weeds.

Organic mulch, such as wood chips, grass clippings, and crushed leaves, break down over time and contribute to soil health. This can be very valuable, especially if your soil fertility is low.

Benefits of wood chips as mulch or groundcover

Wood chip mulch effectively reduces soil water evaporation
Organic mulch provides for temperature moderation in soil
Mulch suppresses weed germination and growth
Mulch enhances microbiology in soil
Mulch reduces volume of required fertiliser
Mulch improves yield and nutrition in fruit production
Organic mulch improves root and vegetative growth

Types of farming our services provide for:
Deciduous fruit farming
Citrus farming
Nut farming
Vineyards (table, wine & raisins)*
Windbreaks (pine, beefwood, etc.)
Eucalyptus trees on farms
Floral farms and nurseries

* Our equipment is specialised enough to remove the trellis wire during the recycling process

Site or land clearing explained

During the process of land or site clearing and preparation, Africa Biomass Company removes selected trees, bush and shrubs from a certain area. Thereafter, an owner can plant new orchards or vineyards, or construct a building.

This is the first process in expanding or planting new orchards or vineyards, or before construction can begin. In some cases, site clearing is also necessary to clear an area of invasive alien trees and vegetation as part of government legislation to remove these unwanted trees and/or bushes.

This ensures that water is placed back into the current river system and allows for natural fauna and flora to flourish.

Site Clearing Process

Each farm or site is unique and the process to clear each site is also handled uniquely. The process of land clearing can be divided into 3 different operations:

Windbreaks and alien trees
Africa Biomass Company makes use of brush cutters, tree shears, or chainsaw operators to cut down windbreaks and alien trees. These stumps are then placed onto piles and fed by a logger into a Bandit horizontal grinder and recycled into usable mulch, which can either be sold as biomass or used as ground cover in new and established orchards and vineyards.

De-bushing & larger site clearing
ABC makes use of bulldozers and brush cutters to remove unwanted bushes and trees. This unwanted woody biomass is then fed into a horizontal grinder and recycled into usable wood chips or mulch, which can be sold as biomass or ground cover.

This process is mostly used in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga areas where de-bushing is quite a common practice to expand or create new plantations.