Tub Grinding & Horizontal Grinding Services in Virginia

Got wood waste? We grind it. R.L. Elliott Enterprises operates both a Bandit 4680 horizontal grinder and a 1460 tub grinder — two of the most productive grinding machines in the industry. We use them on our own land clearing projects, and we contract them out (with operator) to sawmills, utility companies, municipalities, contractors, and anyone else with material that needs processing.

Whether you need a grinder on your job site for a day or a month, we bring the machine, the operator, and 35+ years of grinding experience. You just point us at the pile.

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Our Grinding Equipment

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Our Grinding Services

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How Contract Grinding Works

Renting a grinder with an operator from R.L. Elliott is straightforward. Here’s what to expect:

Step 1: Tell Us What You Need Ground

Call us and describe the material — what type (logs, stumps, brush, pallets, construction debris), how much (pile size or estimated tons), and where the job is located. This helps us determine which machine to bring and estimate the time required.

Step 2: We Recommend the Right Machine

Not all material grinds the same way. Based on what you need processed:

• Bandit 4680 horizontal grinder — Best for logs, whole trees, long material, railroad ties, and C&D wood. Produces uniform chips. Feeds better with long, straight material.
• 1460 tub grinder — Best for stumps, root balls, mixed brush piles, pallets, and irregular debris. Handles material that won’t feed through a horizontal grinder. Produces mulch and ground material.

For large or mixed-material jobs, we may recommend both machines working together for maximum efficiency.

Step 3: We Mobilize to Your Site

We transport the grinder and support equipment (wheel loader for feeding) to your location. Mobilization is included for jobs within our standard service area. For locations outside Central Virginia, a mobilization fee may apply depending on distance.

Step 4: We Grind — You Watch the Pile Disappear

Our experienced operator runs the grinder while our loader operator feeds material. A pile that took months to accumulate typically gets processed in hours. You’re billed at our hourly rate for actual grinding time. The finished product — mulch, chips, or ground material — can be left on-site, stockpiled for your use, or hauled away.

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Horizontal Grinder vs. Tub Grinder: What’s the Difference?

These are two fundamentally different machines designed for different types of material. Understanding the difference helps you get the right equipment for your job — and avoid paying for the wrong one.

Factor	Horizontal Grinder (Bandit 4680)	Tub Grinder (1460)
Feed method	Conveyor belt pulls material into the cutting drum	Rotating tub feeds material by gravity into hammermill
Best material	Logs, whole trees, long limbs, railroad ties, C&D wood	Stumps, root balls, brush piles, pallets, mixed debris
Output quality	Very uniform, consistent chip size	Variable — mulch-grade, can be screened for consistency
Handles contamination	Sensitive to dirt, rocks, and metal — can damage cutters	More tolerant of dirt and small contaminants
Production rate	Very high for suitable material	High for mixed/irregular material
Ideal use case	Sawmill waste, log yard cleanup, clean wood processing	Land clearing debris, storm cleanup, stump grinding

Not sure which machine you need? Call us at (804) 550-1761 and describe your material. We’ll recommend the right equipment and give you a rate quote.

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Who Uses Our Grinding Services

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Understanding Wood Grinding: A Guide for Virginia Property Owners & Contractors

Wood grinding is how the forestry, land clearing, and waste management industries turn trees, stumps, brush, and wood waste into useful products. If you’re generating wood waste — or sitting on a pile of it — understanding how grinding works helps you manage it effectively and economically.

What Can Be Ground?

Modern industrial grinders can process virtually any wood material:

• Whole trees and logs — Including hardwoods and softwoods of any diameter
• Stumps and root balls — Even large, dirt-contaminated stumps (tub grinder)
• Brush and limbs — From land clearing, tree trimming, and storm cleanup
• Sawmill waste — Slabs, edgings, bark, trim ends, rejected lumber
• Pallets and crates — Broken and damaged wood pallets
• Construction wood waste — Clean dimensional lumber, plywood, OSB (no treated wood)
• Railroad ties — When permitted by environmental regulations
• Storm debris — Downed trees, broken limbs, uprooted vegetation

What Happens to the Ground Material?

Ground wood has several end markets depending on the material type and chip/mulch quality:

• Landscape mulch: Clean, color-consistent mulch for residential and commercial landscaping. The highest-value end product from grinding operations.
• Playground mulch: Clean, processed wood chips that meet ASTM safety standards for playground surfacing.
• Erosion control mulch: Coarser ground material used for soil stabilization on construction sites and disturbed land. Required by Virginia’s erosion control regulations.
• Biomass fuel: Clean wood chips used as fuel in biomass power plants and industrial boilers. A growing market in Virginia.
• Paper mill chips: Clean, uniform chips from species suitable for pulp production. Processed through horizontal grinders for consistent sizing.
• Compost feedstock: Ground wood mixed with green waste and food scraps for composting operations.
• Animal bedding: Fine, dry wood shavings and chips used in equestrian, poultry, and livestock operations.

Economics of Grinding vs. Hauling

For most Virginia land clearing and tree service operations, grinding on-site is significantly more cost-effective than loading and hauling raw debris to a disposal facility. Here’s why:

• Volume reduction: Grinding reduces wood debris volume by 60-80%. A truckload of brush becomes a fraction of a truckload of mulch.
• Eliminated tipping fees: Landfill disposal of woody debris costs $30-$60+ per ton in Virginia. Grinding eliminates this entirely.
• Reduced trucking: Fewer truck loads means lower fuel and labor costs for hauling
• Revenue potential: Ground material (mulch, chips) has value. Instead of paying to dispose of waste, you can sell the end product — or at minimum, leave valuable mulch for the property owner.

For most operations, the hourly cost of contract grinding pays for itself in saved hauling and disposal fees within the first few hours of operation.

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Wholesale Mulch & Wood Chips

Our grinding operations produce large volumes of high-quality mulch and wood chips that we distribute wholesale throughout Virginia. If you’re a landscaping company, garden center, nursery, or mulch distributor, we can supply you with consistent, reliable product.

• Natural mulch — Uncolored, mixed-species mulch from land clearing operations
• Wood chips — Clean chips for landscaping, playground surfacing, and trail bedding
• Bulk quantities — Available by the truckload from our Ashland, VA facility
• Delivery available — We operate chip trailers (open-top and closed-top) and walking floor trailers for delivery throughout Virginia

Call (804) 550-1761 for current pricing and availability.

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Why Virginia Contractors Choose R.L. Elliott for Grinding

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Frequently Asked Questions About Grinding Services

How much does contract grinding cost per hour?

Our grinding rates vary based on which machine is needed, job location, and estimated duration. We charge an hourly rate that includes the machine, operator, and fuel. For specific pricing, call us at (804) 550-1761 with details about your material and location. We’re competitive with — and often less expensive than — other grinding contractors in Virginia because we maintain our own fleet of grinding equipment.

Do you bring an operator with the grinder?

Yes, always. We provide the grinder and a trained, experienced operator. You do not operate our equipment — our operator runs the machine while your crew or our loader feeds material. This ensures safe operation, maximum production, and protects our equipment investment.

How much material can you grind per hour?

Production rates depend on the material type, size, moisture content, and how efficiently the loader can feed the grinder. As a general guideline, our machines process anywhere from 20 to 100+ cubic yards per hour depending on conditions. Clean logs through the horizontal grinder produce the highest rates. Stumps and mixed debris through the tub grinder are slower but still highly productive.

What do you do with the ground material?

That’s up to you. We can leave the mulch/chips on-site for your use, stockpile it in a designated area, or haul it away. If you don’t want the material, we can often take it at no charge or reduced cost — we sell it wholesale through our mulch distribution operation. For some jobs, the mulch value may partially offset the grinding cost.

Is there a minimum job size?

For jobs within our local service area (Richmond metro, Hanover County, and surrounding counties), there’s no formal minimum — but keep in mind that mobilization time is the same whether the job takes 2 hours or 20 hours. For small brush piles, forestry mulching may be more cost-effective than mobilizing a grinder. For jobs outside Central Virginia, we typically require a minimum of one full day to justify the mobilization.

Can you grind stumps?

Yes. Our tub grinder handles stumps and root balls that are too large for conventional stump grinders. If you’ve got stumps piled up from a clearing operation, we can process them into ground material. Note that stumps are slower to grind than clean wood due to the dirt and rock contamination — we may recommend the tub grinder specifically for stump-heavy jobs.

Do you sell mulch wholesale?

Yes. We produce and distribute wholesale mulch and wood chips from our Ashland, Virginia facility. We supply landscaping companies, garden centers, nurseries, and distributors throughout Virginia. Available for pickup or delivery by our chip trailers and walking floor trailers. Call for current pricing and availability.