30 inch diameter Circular saws for home made slab firewood processor

[Percy]

Im hoping to buy a 30 inch diameter carbide tipped circular saw for a slab wood processor im adding/building...eventually.... 
Anyone point me in the right direction?

[moodnacreek]

Im hoping to buy a 30 inch diameter carbide tipped circular saw for a slab wood processor im adding/building...eventually....
Anyone point me in the right direction?

Those are usually made to order.  The sponsor Menominee Saw can help. If you have a hold down you can use a inserted tooth rip saw as wrong as that seems it is the way to go for fire wood. That is what I would do.

[NaySawyer]

That would be what is called a cord wood or buzz saw.  They can cut a ton of firewood faster and to a consistent length than a chainsaw.  It MUST have a rock solid blade guard system .  Most have a cradle to hold the log firmly while being cut.  The circle blades are app 24" as the cradle wont hold large logs.  The blades are also not flat and may be dished requiring special "washers" on the mandrel to hold them.

[47sawdust]

How will this saw be powered?
Do you plan on a cord wood saw or a swing saw?

[Ianab]

No pictures but a local guy has a sweet setup with a chop saw like that. Basically an in-feed belt / rollers, that advanced ~12", then dropped the saw though the wood. Cut pieces fell onto another elevator belt that took the wood into the back of his truck. Wood (slabs or boards) would come off the mill onto a roller table. Good boards got taken off and stacked, slabs and rejects got pushed down to the chop saw. Chop saw was powered from a decent size (80+hp) farm tractor via a PTO hydraulic pump. Probably didn't need all that power, but the tractor wasn't working hard and could sit there powering it all day. 

It was a slick setup, and he'd done the maths that even if a whole log was rejects, he could process it into firewood with the mill and chop saw, and at least break even. 


And yes there was some good guarding over the choppy bits.

[Ron Wenrich]

I worked with on a firewood processor that used an inserted tooth slasher saw.  I think this is what moodnacreek is talking about.  They use carbide teeth, so there is less time needed for sharpening.  You need a hold down on the wood, just like any other processor.  It seemed to work faster than a chain saw processor.  Speed depends on the amount of hp you have on the mill.

[Percy]

Thanks for the responses folks. I found a 36 inch inserted tooth saw from a firewood processor outfit. Waiting on a price. I plan on using a 1800 rpm 3 phase 7.5 hp motor. My slabs are pretty thin for the most part. Im adding  a Variable frequency drive to the mix so according to what Ive read, I can spool this motor up to 3000 RPM increasing the torque from 20 ftlbs to ....more.... Hope its big enough

[moodnacreek]

3000 rpm is screaming. My 14" edger saws run 2000 - and the 30" on the slabwood saw goes 1000 or so. The 30" on the top saw is also 1000.  7.5h.p. electric is like 12 h.p. gas and really not enough for a 30 0r 36" saw but if it will start and the slabs are thin and soft the inertia may do the job if the starter does not trip.

[Percy]

I would correctly gear the blade via belts to the recommended rpm. The VFD makes setting that up easier but also gives the opportunity to have the motor spinning faster, which by my less than basic understanding of physics, would increase flywheel effect helping the saw get through thicker slabs....

[Percy]

Something like this but ill be using an incline gravity rollers to feel and hit a trigger to activate the saw movement,
AccuraCut Slab Saw Operation - YouTube