New here...

[fatmac]

Hello, I'm new here and I wanted to say hello. I'm looking at building a firewood processor and found this site. WOW there's some good stuff here! I hope to learn a lot and maybe contribute some too. Well here's a little bit about me I've been welding and building all sorts of tools and equipment for about 25 years now and now (mostly semi truck/trailers repairs). So here I am starting a new chapter in my life. Rather than working for someone else I'm going to go into business for myself. I'm looking at building a firewood processor this winter and hope to have it running by spring. I have a ton of salvage equipment to work with in my build hopefully to keep the cost down. I'll take any input and help i can get!

[NWP]

Welcome!

[mad murdock]

Welcome to the forestry forum fatmac!! Sounds like an interesting project. Pics go a long way here

[beenthere]

Look forward to you hangin around.  Your background will come in real handy for many of us, and interested in your processor build too.
We like pics, and if you have any to post of your projects, that would be great.

[thecfarm]

fatmac,welcome to forum. Good luck with the firewood processor. I think we had a couple members build one.

[mesquite buckeye]

Welcome ;D

[BargeMonkey]

 Hi everyone, im also new here.

  I can tell you that building a processor is a major project, and it can get costly quick. I have a "brute-builtrite" which has served its purpose, but ive upgraded it over the years. Even just an overgrown homebuilt splitter and the saw head parts off a barsaw timbco can make a nice machine for a few thousand.

[Magicman]

Hello fatmac and BargeMonkey and Welcome to both of you to the Forestry Forum.   8)

[dboyt]

Welcome to the forum!  I figure the best way to go about making a firewood processor from scratch is to start out by watching old re-runs of "Junkyard Wars", then an episode or two of Red Green!  I've got an old hay baler that I always thought would be a good start.  Barsaw Timbco... any other ideas for hydraulic chain saws?

[sshier]

Slash table might work better cut alot faster anyhow

[North River Energy]

... any other ideas for hydraulic chain saws?

Topping saw from a slasher/delimber package.  Saw one this past spring on CList for 700/bo.

[fatmac]

BargeMonkey, A welcome to you too! Thanks for all the warm welcomes! I'm still looking at youtube vids and I yet to make an inventory list of what I have on hand. But it looks like the only part I'll really need to buy is a hydraulic motor for the saw. Some of the parts that are laying around is a Drott 40 log loader (with a dead 4-53 Detroit), truck mounted log loader, a couple of Cat 988's plus tons of hydraulic's i.e. pumps, hi-torque low speed motors and various sizes of cylinders. My personal favorite is a 406 Unimog it's way cool. there's to much to list, about 5 acres of old machines to rummage through! When I start my build there will be a butt load of pics. Again thank you for the welcomes.

[BargeMonkey]

 There's alot of things to think about,
Weight ?
Stationary or portable ?
50 cord or 2000 a year ?
Parts availability, can you buy or replace what your using to build this with. There are 6 firewood processors within a 20 mile radius of me, from multitek to valley, homebuilt, ive seen all kinds. Circle saws are nice, but they will put you into a whole bigger class of design nightmare if your trying to fab a hood table onto a processor.  Try and cut a 4-6" stick with a circle saw that its quite clamped down right, dangerous. 404 or 3/4 is the way to go. I get 100+ cord out of a 404 chain, and 150+ cord to a bar. You ever seen what a horse shoe does to a circle saw ?  Hit one years ago, thats why we have stayed away from a newer woodbine circle set up, every once in a while we get logs with metal.

[fatmac]

I would like to do about 5 cords a day 3 days a week or so. I think a semi portable model would be good that it'll help keep it from growing legs and walking away. Weight and size isn't a big a issue to me as I tend to build things on the heavier side. As for parts it'll all be a custom build other than the parts like the chainsaw bar and chain, hydraulic fittings, lines, pumps and ect. The 404 and 3/4 chains how big of a difference is the between the two I.E. price and availability for replacements. I'm leaning toward a 404 from what I've been reading but not knowing the pros and cons first hand it's hard to make a good choice.

[BargeMonkey]

 .404 isnt bad, but if I was building a machine I would bite the bullet and try to go 3/4 just because the chain and bars last so much longer, and when you break it down it isnt that much more expensive. Im getting 75-100 cord to a chain, and 150-200 cord out of an oregon bar with stihl harvester chain, oregon 404 is junk compared to stihl chain I dont care what anyone says. The bars for 3/4 are alot more expensive but I dont think 500 cord out of a bar would be hard to get. Multitek is the only one using 3/4 with processors right now that I know of.
When you build one there is just so much youve gotta figure on. Mine is in a building,  with a chip conveyor under it, we cut firewood when its just to double DanG cold to do anything else. What length wood are you planning on..? Diameter ? Short logs ?  Ive added a 3rd leg to mine, so if we can saw it on the mill, or ship it to the mill, it goes thru the processor,  down to about 4-5 ft. I see alot of these machines with cheesy live decks and feed systems, thats where your time should be invested, getting off to reload every 20 minutes sucks. The newer built rites have the best wedge set up ive found, 2 floating wedges which is nice when your catering to wood customers. Theres only a few machines that ive seen that can do a true 2+ cord an hour with 1-2 people, with the type of firewood im feeding thru mine.

[fatmac]

After looking at prices of chain-n-bars and my limited knowledge of wood workings. I think I'll start off with the 404 if it gives me problems then I'll rethink it. The requirements of what I can do is limited to shorter logs than I thought so me processor will be a light'ish weight machine to tow behind my flatbed where the logs are. I don't want to handle the logs more than a few times to get it cut/split.

[cwjr]

Welcome fatmac!  I am basically doing the exact same as you,  I have a whole field of old airport cargo loaders to scavenge,   there are some pics on here on my thread called "hydraulic motor selection".  I am using a 4 cylinder perkins with a 2 stage pump  but I am waiting to get the hydraulics plumbed before I order the saw motor.  I want to put a flowmeter on the saw motor hoses to figure out exactly what size motor to purchase to get the most hp to the chain that I can.   All I have to say is try to make a realistic timeline and then double it,  its absolutely amazing how building things chews time. 
All the best,  looking forward to the pics,

[BargeMonkey]

 A simple in-feed setup with a 2 strand conveyor isnt to hard to build, and could be easily transported. I have pictures and specs from mine if you really get looking. Alot of the manufacturers will sell you their saw components,  you would be better off buying a complete pump, banjo box and bar mount that way you wont have cutting issue, been down that road.

[fatmac]

Heck ya I'm all for pics and info!! As for buying an already tried and true part that's not for me ! I'm the kind of guy that likes to tinker and make my own. ;D My engine I have is a 1000cc Kubota diesel and according to my local hydraulics shop it'll support about 10-12 gpm@3000PSI a min. but that's his a best guess. So with keeping that in mind. I've been doing a lot of research online for the saw and I think I've got it figured out to keep all the requirements in check. But most likely I'll be proved wrong. I think It'll be powered by hydraulics (but I'm thinking about a direct drive setup tho). I've seen a lot of different ideas and all have good and bad points to them. I don't want the best machine just a reliable one and easy to maintain. I'm trying to use the rule of KISS, but that's a hard concept for me to grasp at times. But again the more pics/vids I can see the better...