How come you see so many processors without an attached conveyor I get some guys have one already but what about the guys doing mobile processing wouldn't you almost need one at the site?
because they cost a fortune for a conveyor that works well and most guys have it in their head that the cutting and splitting is the bulk of the labor.
I have been having non stop trouble with my converted bale conveyor this year. Time to recondition and modify for the purpose! It is costing me serious production time with all the trouble!
Welcome to the forum Polish Hammer1
Like Mike said cost is one thing and another is everyone is going to want a different length conveyor depending on are you loading trucks, trailers or just piling and trying to make the conveyor fold up over the machine to make it go down the highway gets a little tricky. I think most that are doing mobile processing are using the smaller processors that have a short conveyor on them. I don't do mobile with my home built processor but have moved it twenty five miles to another farm and I just hooked the conveyor behind the processor and went down the road.
My processor does not have a conveyor attached and yes one is pretty much needed to be productive.
I tow a separate conveyor to each mobile job. With the tractor I hitch both together and the SMV sign bypasses the law. 10 miles is about my radius so using the tractor is no big deal on the road (25mph).
I can however get about a cord off the end before the machine starts to move itself :) if the log pile is positioned right I can just move along without the conveyor. My conveyor is a 16" wide rubber belt, has worked flawlessly summer and winter.
Nathan, what does the "S" in SMV stand for?
"SLOW" -- like me :)
@cutterboy (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=1157) slow moving vehicle
That makes sense. Thanks guys.
I do not move mine often. All the wood comes to the processor in 8-10 or 16-20 foot lengths. Depends on where the wood is and which trailer i use (lengthwise). I use loading dock and lined with one ton cement blocks. Processor pushes cut wood into the pit and then use loader to move it to front of the furnace. Try to use hyd instead of old muscles. :D
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Quote from: mike_belben on January 26, 2021, 10:13:14 AM
because they cost a fortune for a conveyor that works well and most guys have it in their head that the cutting and splitting is the bulk of the labor.
I used to be one of those guys. I went from axe to Speeco to Supersplit HD to Eastonmade 22-28 6-way then added his first box wedge then a Dyna processor (Dyna was used and had been built w/o conveyor) before wising up and getting an Eastonmade conveyor.
If I had a do-over it would be a Supersplit into a conveyor for dollars spent to dollars made/kept. Elevator saves more work and bending that any other piece. Forget the uglies; if a kinetic won't split it there is no money to be made only time and bigger equipment to fix. Hickory crotches will always prevail over time. Just cause you can doesn't mean you should.
Quote from: stavebuyer on January 31, 2021, 05:28:27 AM
Forget the uglies; if a kinetic won't split it there is no money to be made only time and bigger equipment to fix. Hickory crotches will always prevail over time. Just cause you can doesn't mean you should.
I am getting more and more like this as time goes on. If the uglie's won't stack nice in the trailer of fit nice in the door of the Garn it just goes in the brush pile and gets burn. Its not worth tearing the splitter up or worst yet hurting some one if it flies out of the splitter trying to get it split.
The whole tonnage/it's split everything I ever put on it is silly to me. Waiting for the rod to go back and forth on a 5" cylinder all day, just because you think you need that power for one big hardwood crotch that turns into a bunch of unusable chunks and slivers if it can be split. The only reason you should need that big of a cylinder on a production splitter is if you are running a multi-wedge. Otherwise you're just wasting time. I have an MTD homeowner unit that has a 5" cylinder, powerful but slow. The wedge is on the ram, so 1 way split. Mostly you are standing there waiting for it. Watch the videos for the Eastonmade Ultra. I think they run a 3.5" cylinder, and they are splitting some ugly enough hardwood with it, but it's fast! Basically, wood that is worth splitting (to me) doesn't take a lot of tonnage.
Im doing hydraulic trap doors on mine to drop anything ugly right on the ground and move on quickly. Put that stuff in the boiler block pile.. I know a guy that burns monsters and will buy it all.
Saturday was cold and sunny. Great day to process wood. Son in law and i processed about 10 cord. Glad we did, Sunday the Panhandle Hook hit with lots of snow. :snowball: What a diference a day makes. 8)
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Quote from: Polish Hammer1 on January 26, 2021, 09:32:26 AM
How come you see so many processors without an attached conveyor I get some guys have one already but what about the guys doing mobile processing wouldn't you almost need one at the site?
I have a Hudson Badger on order that has the option for a 10' conveyor. It adds $5,000 to price but for us old guys it's worth it's weight in gold.