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Firewood processor anyone?

Started by Hawkshoe, May 12, 2009, 08:37:10 PM

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Hawkshoe

I was checkin out these build it yourself processors (ebay item #110332462200) from Miller's Wood Cutting.  It almost looks like something I can do.  Anybody build a processor before?
Made by the Maker
Bought by the Buyer
Broken by the Breaker

Al_Smith

 To ever justify one a person would first have to cut firewood by the hundreds of tons .In addition have access to acres of pecker pole type wood .

I've seen many on display at lumber and forestry shows .Some claim 4 cords per hour .Very impressive but 80 thousand bucks buys a lot of saws and pays for a lot of help .

Besides that they are cutting 12 to 18 inch stuff and smaller  .By the time you load it up and haul it to a site to use a processer you could have sliced and diced the whole mess anyway  with a good saw .

John Mc

An interesting looking piece of equipment, and a good deal cheaper than the "store bought" firewood processors you see. But from watching the video, it seems rather slow cutting. The log in the video is not all that big, but when I timed one of the cuts, it was over 30 seconds. At that speed, I'd be inclined to just use my chainsaw.

John Mc
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

bandmiller2

Processors require support equipment and like smaller straighter logs.I would say if your selling fire/stove wood and have equip.their worth it.If your cutting for your own furnace your better off with a good saw and a splitter with a lift for heavy chunks.Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Al_Smith

I think a good tiltable splitter would serve the average person much better than a processer .

After years of swinging an axe and maul I finaly built one last year .Firewood is a lot of work no matter how it's done but that splitter certainly made things easier on my tired old bod .

A strapping young man can out split a splitter but you can't out last one . :)

Hawkshoe

Yeah,  I know they are major bucks, but I am lookin at tinkerin around with salvaged parts.  My wife will make sure I don't spend more than $2.98 building anything.  Past experiences have made her wiser than I!  :-\
Made by the Maker
Bought by the Buyer
Broken by the Breaker

rebocardo

> A strapping young man can out split a splitter but you can't out last one

I agree  :)

Al_Smith

Out last,a short story .

I've been a gear head all my life even as a little boy .When I was 14 years old I built a mini bike with a Briggs lawnmower engine .My good friend ,even to this day was born with a silver spoon in his mouth .He had a 10 speed racing bike and could hit 40 miles per hour .Yes he could out run me,maybe for 400 feet then the good old Briggs passed him up at 25 miles per hour . :D

Reminds me of the age old story concerning a rabbit and a turtle .

mrcaptainbob


archertwo

Saw this in the older threads and decided to respond.

An answer to your question.
Yes, you can build your own firewood processor. You can make it so it cuts up to 18" or more too.
It may not be the fastest thing around but you'll have the satisfaction of building it yourself. You never know it may even work. :)



I built my own using a chainsaw for the cutting instead of going hydraulic with everything and till last week I was running everything else with a 9HP Honda. Switched to a 15HP to make things easier on the engine.
Husqvarna 254XP x3
Red Max 5300 x3
Kubota 62 & 85 HP two 203T loaders on 9 Ton wagons one with a 40LF PATU delimber & GMT 035 felling head
homemade firewood processor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxLwTiRxf3c
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O01xr7dVAAA
Road Trail 7X12-14,000## Dump Trailer

John Mc

Looks interesting, Archertwo. Any details, or perhaps a video of it in action you can share?

I'm involved with a group of landowners who together cut and process about 25+ cords of firewood a year, mostly for our own use - a kind of neighborhood firewood co-op. We might do more, if we were a bit more efficient at it. We've discussed ways we might upgrade our operation. Buying a commercial firewood processor is beyond us, and wouldn't make much sense anyway, given our volume. However, we still dream of something. We've got an engineer and an experienced welder in the group. We just haven't thought out what we might attempt yet.

John Mc
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

archertwo

John Mc, I decided this summer to upgrade my logsplitter by making a totally new one using only the piston off my old one.
The log splitter I had was a store bought one that I got well over 30 years old. It was on its third engine, the newest being a 9HP Honda replacing the initial 8HP Techumseh and the 8HP Briggs & Stratton that had replaced the original. I'd already modified it a few times adjusting the beam height twice and adding a splitting table and a higher splitting wedge.
I decided to add a conveyor to the log splitter to boost its efficiency.
I added a directional control valve so I could run the conveyor separately when the piston wasn't travelling.
You'll notice the Charlynn motor hanging next to the filter behind the engine.



I then made a conveypor for it.





Added a one piece infeed belt that is easily removable for exchange when it eventually wears out.


 


Here's a pic of the idea I had in the beginning of my completed project with one minor addition. Check out the major diference between the first pic of the splitter and the second and no it's not that one has a conveyor attached to the splitter.




I know the pic's dark but notice the valve bank. That was the beginning of the processor idea I had been pondering for a while.

I'll post more pics if you want. ;D
Husqvarna 254XP x3
Red Max 5300 x3
Kubota 62 & 85 HP two 203T loaders on 9 Ton wagons one with a 40LF PATU delimber & GMT 035 felling head
homemade firewood processor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxLwTiRxf3c
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O01xr7dVAAA
Road Trail 7X12-14,000## Dump Trailer

bill m

OESCO in Conway Ma. rents a firewood processor for about $380 a day. It runs off a tractor PTO and WILL do 5 cord per hour.
NH tc55da Metavic 4x4 trailer Stihl and Husky saws

archertwo

Mine won't do 5 cords a day if I'm by myself but I can cut the trees, bring them out and process 2 cords and be back home for supper. :D
I can also move it and set it up by myself to anywhere I have a pile that's ready to process and it will take 16 foot logs up to 18" at the butt with no problems. 
The log lift is the heaviest part since I have to manhandle it into the truck box.


Husqvarna 254XP x3
Red Max 5300 x3
Kubota 62 & 85 HP two 203T loaders on 9 Ton wagons one with a 40LF PATU delimber & GMT 035 felling head
homemade firewood processor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxLwTiRxf3c
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O01xr7dVAAA
Road Trail 7X12-14,000## Dump Trailer

beenthere

archertwo
In that last pic, I'm trying to sort out what all goes with the log lift.  Just what is painted orange?

What's the unpainted frame? And the white bucket doesn't go with it?   

You look to be real handy with the design and fabrication of things to make the work easier.  8)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

beenthere

Quote from: bill m on December 08, 2009, 06:16:13 PM
OESCO in Conway Ma. rents a firewood processor for about $380 a day. It runs off a tractor PTO and WILL do 5 cord per hour.

Any pics of that processor in action?  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

bill m

Sawmill & Woodlot Magazine did a test on it. You should be able to see pictures there. If you call OESCO ask for Howard Boyden, he has run them a lot. They might have a video.
NH tc55da Metavic 4x4 trailer Stihl and Husky saws

Al_Smith

I suppose a processer is an option .I personally could never see the need for one .

As far as making good time though early  last winter we did good .5 men,one chainsaw ,2 splitters .7.5 cords split and stacked in 4 hours .All oak too,big stuff .

My buddy is a tree trimmer and sells the stuff .Another time with 4 men and one splitter they knocked out around ten cord in one day from a pile .

I've got 20 cords split ,stacked and tarped down I did myself but not in no 10 hours I'll tell you that . :o About half a cord an hour for maybe an hour ,two hours at a stretch---not as young as I used to be ya know .

archertwo

beenthere, the log lift is only what is painted orange in the pic.
The unpainted framework is mostly my welding table and a piece of an unfinished project on top.
 







Husqvarna 254XP x3
Red Max 5300 x3
Kubota 62 & 85 HP two 203T loaders on 9 Ton wagons one with a 40LF PATU delimber & GMT 035 felling head
homemade firewood processor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxLwTiRxf3c
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O01xr7dVAAA
Road Trail 7X12-14,000## Dump Trailer

stonebroke

Boy that log lift is pretty slick. How long did it take you to figure out how to make it.

Stonebroke

archertwo

It's a log lift I bought from a friend. He wasn't using it on his Hakki Pilkki 1X37.
I had to "left hand" everything on it except for the bottom pieces and add 9" to its height to fit my rig. It was made to go the other way so there was a lot of cutting and welding involved.
You'll notice the "hitch" attaches the log lift to the processor otherwise it would be pretty tippy.
Husqvarna 254XP x3
Red Max 5300 x3
Kubota 62 & 85 HP two 203T loaders on 9 Ton wagons one with a 40LF PATU delimber & GMT 035 felling head
homemade firewood processor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxLwTiRxf3c
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O01xr7dVAAA
Road Trail 7X12-14,000## Dump Trailer

Al_Smith

 First of all I'm not dogging anyone that has a processer just posing a question .

By the time you cut log lengths ,haul them to a pile then load them into a processer I would think you could easily buck to length ,split and be done with it .

All I've ever seen besides at lumber shows is 12 inch stuff you can easily handle by hand if in firewood length .In the log though it takes machinery or a couple of corn fed husky fellows to move around .

The big ones that make short work of a 36" log cost around 80 thou a pop and you need a big front end loader to handle the log at 50 grand a pop for a used one .

Maybe I just don't see the big picture .

woody1

AL,
You have good points. I think the big thing is AGE and having the money to buy the toys you need to make the job easier. In my case I already had a loader and the equipment to haul and drag. Sure, you can chainsaw, hand split, hand load and have your wife rub your back.  :o. But, then again, you could walk to town instead of taking the car, too.  :D



Woody
If you don't want to row, get out of the boat !

Al_Smith

Ha Ha .Well I suppose you could bowsaw it too and split it with a hatchet if you so desired . :D

In my case I have a shed full of saws and a homemade splitter that will cut though anything,sideways if I desired which I don't .

Those high priceed contraptions might have a place providing you handle huge amounts of firewood in an area the trees are taken down and hauled in log lengths.

I've heard for example in the Mich. UP it's standard operating proceedure to buy 20 cord log length and cut them down  to firewood size .That doesn't apply in this neck of the woods . Fact is I've never paid a dime for firewood in my life even when I sold the stuff .Whatever works I guess . ;)

archertwo

Al, all the logs I make into firewood I cut myself, haul myself and process myself and most of the time I do it all by myself.

Woody1, you hit the nail right on the head with this one.

Quote from: woody1 on December 13, 2009, 09:21:30 AM
AL,
You have good points. I think the big thing is AGE and having the money to buy the toys you need to make the job easier.  :D

Woody

I'd much rather make my toys than buy them if I can though. :)
My processor can take a little bigger than 12" even if it is small compact unit compared to most.
This is a pic of the biggest log I've put through up to now. I can't go much bigger than this one though. ;D :o
The saw blade is 18" long. The beech tree is 22" at the widest point. I had to use one of my other saws on the first three blocks to cut completely through this one. 8)


Husqvarna 254XP x3
Red Max 5300 x3
Kubota 62 & 85 HP two 203T loaders on 9 Ton wagons one with a 40LF PATU delimber & GMT 035 felling head
homemade firewood processor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxLwTiRxf3c
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O01xr7dVAAA
Road Trail 7X12-14,000## Dump Trailer

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