Kinetic splitters and production

[Upstatewoodchuc]

I pile up all my nasty, gnarly crotch pieces, take off the 4 way wedge, and split them into chunks with just the single wedge.  I burn that stuff in my woodshop woodstove.  I just finished restoring this 70's vintage Fisher Grandpa Bear stove.

Nice stove woodworker! I do basically the same, id feel bad mixing in waste with customer loads so all the waste chunks of wood that are unshakable but still good blown up knots or twisted stuff gets bucketed away from the processing site and burned in the garage woodstove which is an old 70's Earth Stove.

[woodworker9]

Thank you.  It was a rusty trainwreck of a stove when I bought it.  I welded up a baffle plate for it to create a secondary burn of the gasses before going up the chimney, and it works great.  My other stove, which was a smaller Fisher Grandma Bear, wasn't putting out enough heat on the really cold cold days, and this one throws off a lot more heat.

And, yes, I burn all the ugly wood myself.  I only sell the perfect looking splits, bundled up nicely.  I cut everything at 16", but the tree service guys can't seem to cut their logs into the right sized sections, regardless of how many times I ask them to use multiples of 16".  So, I have a rather huge and growing pile of shorts, too, that I also burn myself, or give to my daughter and her husband.

[stavebuyer]

I stumbled across the photo looking for something else but thought this topic was a good place to share it.



 

We were feeding bigger blocks through the 6-way wedge and finishing them up into uniform stove wood splits with the kinetic. That loader had a 3 yard bucket and stacked rounded up would yield 1/2 cord. We generally had a waiting list for wood and many customers dropped empty trailers

Now obviously piddling around with firewood doesn't justify that kind of capital investment in a wheel loader. Firewood was a sideline to the log yard which in itself was an offshoot of the sawmill. The blocks mostly came from our being "paid" to upgrade logs that were poorly manufactured to make them into a higher value log. So we either paid to haul off the chunks or processed them it into a very saleable product. If you didn't cut and split you couldn't give it away.

Note the size of the splits coming off the the 6-way wedge; if you are selling stove wood you need a kinetic. We loved boiler wood but sold probably 10-1 of the stove sized splits. Many of our customers were older and really appreciated wood they could handle.
 

[Upstatewoodchuc]

I stumbled across the photo looking for something else but thought this topic was a good place to share it.



 

We were feeding bigger blocks through the 6-way wedge and finishing them up into uniform stove wood splits with the kinetic. That loader had a 3 yard bucket and stacked rounded up would yield 1/2 cord. We generally had a waiting list for wood and many customers dropped empty trailers

Now obviously piddling around with firewood doesn't justify that kind of capital investment in a wheel loader. Firewood was a sideline to the log yard which in itself was an offshoot of the sawmill. The blocks mostly came from our being "paid" to upgrade logs that were poorly manufactured to make them into a higher value log. So we either paid to haul off the chunks or processed them it into a very saleable product. If you didn't cut and split you couldn't give it away.

Note the size of the splits coming off the the 6-way wedge; if you are selling stove wood you need a kinetic. We loved boiler wood but sold probably 10-1 of the stove sized splits. Many of our customers were older and really appreciated wood they could handle.

Awesome stuff, we have a similar style! I flip the vertical splitter up and quarter the mosters then pass them to the 4 way splitter and split right into the loader bucket so we handle it the least and the loader does the hard work!

[mike_belben]

Its always a struggle for me to focus because as youre illustrating.. Once youve set up for one business, youre usually really close to being into another business too.  And if you have enough land, iron, fuel, raw material and laborers you can be running 7 days a week, in dire need of a break from all your success.


So it still takes money to make money and its still feast or famine.  Its only a function of youth that made us think the quips of old timers were dumb and we'd show them a thing or two since they clearly just didnt understand what we understood.  But alas, theres still no free lunch [except for the people on the other end of the tax conveyor]

[Upstatewoodchuc]

Its always a struggle for me to focus because as youre illustrating.. Once youve set up for one business, youre usually really close to being into another business too.  And if you have enough land, iron, fuel, raw material and laborers you can be running 7 days a week, in dire need of a break from all your success.


So it still takes money to make money and its still feast or famine.  Its only a function of youth that made us think the quips of old timers were dumb and we'd show them a thing or two since they clearly just didnt understand what we understood.  But alas, theres still no free lunch [except for the people on the other end of the tax conveyor]

I agree 100%, we must decide at what point enough is enough, but ill admit I'm still young enough and like nice toys so I do find myself working often lol.

[stavebuyer]

Mike you did nail the analysis. It is both a treadmill and an opportunity. Many times you have no choice but to either quit or expand. The old adage is that you are either growing or going out is one I found to be true and I pretty well downsized myself out. You realize things are all intertwined. Nothing works by itself. You had to have the log yard to feed the mill, and the firewood to optimize the log yard. None would stand alone and all together can consume you.

The upside is you can build equity by buying good equipment instead of paying taxes. The downside is its getting impossible to find people willing get their hands dirty no matter what you pay.

[North to Alaska]

 

  

 I have a k22 from DR equipment. I would recommend going with the Super Split. DR Equipment is not of the best quality...they did replace the motor under warranty and have decent customer service. Motor and splitter was left outside in the rain by the dealer and I believe that was the problem.

Biggest rounds I have done is 20" but it handled it fine (wished I had the bigger one though).Key is getting the biggest "ton equivalent".

The work table is also key. I split the big rounds in half, set half of it off on the side of the work table opposite of me, and proceed to split the other half like beef through a meat slicer. Work your way through it. Don't split your half piece in half again.

Finally, the kinetic is only as fast as you can load it. I back my truck filled high with rounds to the splitter, which is located right next to where I plan to stack. Used a wheelbarrow for a little while before getting smart.

In this way the kinetic is far superior to the hydraulic. I can split a cord in an hour by myself or with one of my kids pushing the rounds closer to me in the truck bed.

I did try a 4-way wedge from DR. It was worthless to me. Slowed me down.

Edit: bit bullish about how quickly I can split a cord. More like an hour and a half.

Also, today I just adjusted a couple of bolts that stop how far the lever is pulled forward. Was having gear grinding problems. The lever was going too far forward and allowing the main rail to come back up off the gears. 
I solved it. It is now like a totally different machine. More power. 
The machine itself is of good quality, the motor is not bad but seen better (replaced once), but I have had to fix stupid stuff that was an assembly issue too many times.