A monster of a machine that looks like it was built to command attention, the Beast horizontal grinder from Bandit Industries was a dominating presence on the Global Recycling stand, which the team was enthusiastic to talk about.

The very first Bandit chipper was built in 1983 in a 6,000 sq ft repair shop. Fast-forward to 2019 and Bandit’s complete product line offers more than 50 different machines to choose from.

Key to the Beast’s success, according to Global Recycling, is its unique cuttermill. Using a spiral pattern with a series of teeth, cutterbodies and rakers, it processes material using a cutting/splitting action versus other recyclers that attempt to bash material through hammering and grinding. The cuttermill also turns in a downward direction, which is more aggressive and less likely to discharge material back through the infeed. The rotation of the mill pulls material in, working with the feed system to provide better control of material into the machine. Material is less likely to turn or roll, and it’s cut to size better on the first pass with fewer hang-ups.

Chipper knives are available for the standard cuttermill that bolt onto knife cutterbodies. These cutterbodies can also hold standard Beast teeth for easy switching between chipping and mulching. Two dedicated chipping drums are available in lieu of the standard cuttermill for companies primarily chipping, turning the machine into a high-capacity chipper capable of producing screened chips from large-diameter material.

The solid, track-type infeed conveyor grabs and carries material for processing, keeping it on top of the conveyor, while the drag chain conveyors on rival horizontal grinders allow material to fall through the links and bind up the system. The infeed conveyor also serves as a travelling anvil, eliminating hang-ups that often occur in other horizontal grinders from the gap between the conveyor and anvil. 

The Beast’s two-speed discharge conveyor ensures the discharge capacity is greater than the cuttermill’s production capacity, with height- and side-to-side-adjustable discharge systems available. A magnetic head pulley removes metal from the processed material; an optional overband magnet provides additional metal separation capability. Add-on features such as discharge funnels and chip throwers keep material focused and contained, whether building large piles or loading end-opening trailers.

The Beast 2680XP models stocked by Global Recycling Solutions feature a CAT 320L undercarriage system and weigh in at 30–40 tonnes dependent on options. The models offer 756 hp, though other engine options are available, and have an infeed opening of 890 mm x 1,524 mm.

The Rapid Advance feature allows the infeed speed to increase and decrease automatically, dependent on engine load, which keeps the engine operating at its optimal power/torque range and reduces the amount of infeed reversals. Optional features include a Kesla forestry crane and a fire suppression system.

Cutting systems available include a 30-tooth cutting head, 60-tooth cutting head (both of which can be configured with various tooling options depending on the waste stream being processed), and an 8-knife chipper drum, which can be configured to produce G30, G50, and G100 woodchip sizes. The chipper drum utilises ‘babbitted-style’ knives, allowing the knives to take the same size of cut every time, regardless of sharpening.

Andy Dudley, technical consultant, Global Recycling, explained: “The main thing about the Beast is its versatility in what products it can process. You can take a 3-m-diameter log and shred it down to 10 mm in one pass; that’s an important aspect of the machine. You don’t have to keep putting the product through to get the size smaller and smaller.

“The whole machine is radio remote controlled. We do two versions – one with a crane and a cab on it, the other without. Some guys have a version without and they’ll operate it from a log-grab on a 360 excavator, so it is a one-man operation.”

He added: “It really does live up to its name. We’ve had a couple of customers using it for clearing forestry waste on  a site where there’s been harvesting and all the brash has been left behind. It goes in, they rake all the brash down the hillside, they have the machine waiting at the bottom. They load it and have bulk lorries parking underneath it. Once everything’s set up and you’ve got the correct tooling on the cutting head, you can achieve 60 tonnes an hour. They were filling bulkers within 25 minutes. It’s an absolutely awesome machine.”