Please help.

[Turboguy]

I have to agree with what Erik said.  Different mulches are made a little differently.  When it comes to wood mulches some have longer fibers than others do.  Mulch with shorter fibers will mix better in a jet machine.  You may find you can spray one brand of blend easier than another brand of blend.

Another thing too.  If you were to take 4 buckets and were to put exactly one gallon of water in each.   Then you but X pounds of Jet Spray into the first.  The same X pounds of 100% paper mulch into the second, X pounds of 70-30 into the third and the same x pounds of 100% paper into the last bucket and then stirred them up.  You would find the slurry in the Jet Spray would seem a little thinner than the paper bucket, and that would be a little thinner than the blend and the wood bucket would be the thickest.  It is good to adjust the amount of mulch you use based on the type of mulch you are using.  Perhaps my immagination is playing tricks on me but I think that I remember you mentioning you had been using Jet Spray.   You can use a lot more Jet Spray than blend without getting into trouble. I think even if you left the hydrostraw out of your blend the amount of mulch you have in your mix is the max if not a little over the max you should be using.  I think your machine would play with that much jet spray and might handle that much paper but with a blend it might be a tad heavy even if you drop the hydrostraw.

A lot of times when I am talking to new owners about running their machine I suggest to them that they make the first load a little light and then keep adding a bit more each time they mix.   If they reach a point where they have any problems, then back off to the next lower amount and use that as their standard mix.  I also suggest doing that if they change the mulch they are using.   

One other small thing too, your second and subsequent loads will be a little thicker than the first because with the first load if you have cleaned out your machine you have clear water in the hoses and pump where on loads after that you probably have 10-15 pounds of mulch left in your hoses and pump so there is actually more mulch in those next loads.  If you are running close to the limit of your machine you might want to keep that in mind.

[TerrawoRx]

Ray,

Straight wood will not do well whatsoever in that machine! He needs to make a blend no matter what. Jet Spray is not that good of a mulch as it makes a super thin slurry and by the time one uses the recommended amount of bales their costs are far exceeding the small amount of blend that would be used and have a nice thick slurry. I use between 1.5 and 2.0 bales of blend in that small machine and it works great and if it looks thin after I apply then Ill add a cap layer and all works just fine...

On a side note.... a job is never a place to experiment either as it makes one look bad in front of a customer when problems occur. Your method with the 5 gallon buckets is a great approach to determining a mix. Wood is not a Blend and Wood is for mechanical machines so if one wants to use wood then it must be blended to make a Blend. For anyone new I would strongly recommend using Rays bucket technique to determine the proper amount and proper blend as it will save time, money, parts, and serious headaches.

Regards,

[slc tm35]

Use Central Fibers 70/30 or make your own by purchasing a good wood like Matt Fiber or Central Fiber and blend it with a paper. A 50/50, 60/40, or 70/30 will work extremely well for your machine so stick to that and you will not ever have any problems with mulch again.


You can use a lot more Jet Spray than blend without getting into trouble. I think your machine would play with that much jet spray and might handle that much paper but with a blend it might be a tad heavy even if you drop the hydrostraw.



 thanks for the help guy's 
like i said i will never buy hydrostraw again!!
the supplier i went to told me he had a 70/30 when i got there it was a 70/30 wood cellulose blend by conweb? i was told to stay away from that much wood in the past?  so i stuck with there 100% paper that they had!
 will def look for this 70/30 central fibers and cut my mulch back a little!

on a side note we loved the jet spray barely had problems with it, mixed really well sprayed well and only had a few pump "lock ups" a year!!
but i called every # that profile gave me and they each said we will not carry this mulch for one "small buyer"! i have found a company 4.5 hours away!!!

[TerrawoRx]

slc,

Im not sure who told you that but they are not accurate or on point whatsoever!

70/30 means 70% Wood and 30% Paper.. and thats what Central Fiber is as well...

The Conwed mulch would have been a good one to try since you had it available... Central Fiber is the best Ive found.

Regards,

[Epic Manufacturing]

Chris,

Conwed mulch is a great mulch, however it is one of Profile's mulch products and has a longer fiber length than the mulches made by Central Fiber.  I would not recommend it in your TM35. 

Thanks,
Jeff 

[TerrawoRx]

Jeff,

Thanks for clarifying that for us both!

Regards,