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firewood conveyor

Started by kev, December 21, 2011, 06:14:51 PM

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kev

was looking to build firewood conveyor thinking about old hay conveyor with chain in middle and welding cleats onto chain think the chain would be strong enough.

Corley5

They'll work but can be a real PITA  :)  I used them for a couple years until I got a real firewood conveyor.  I kept the last one just in case.  Hope I never have to use it.  They aren't built with firewood in mind  ;D   
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

T Welsh

We have a Zimmerman hyd. conveyor and it has a rubber belt no cleats. it works flawlessly. Tim

JBS 181

I think there is another post on here about somebody doing the same thing. I too have built one out of a hay elevator. I shortened it up some as to just reach over the side boards that I have built for my pickup. You have to build a V-type gutter into your hay elevator and I done the same thing you are thinking by adding longer cleats onto the existing one. I started out with the pulley that was on it but had to change it up a bit. I have a 5hp briggs and stratton that runs just a bit over idle. It works fine. You just have to take your time in building and have to expierment a bit.

blackfoot griz

I converted an old hay elevator into a firewood conveyor--the wrong way. :-\ I made it a flat bottomed style and welded some angle iron to the tabs on the chain. The problem is that the angle twisted too much and kept breaking the chain. I should have made it into a v trough as JBS suggested. There is some video on you tube that shows a hay elevator conversion that works

So, my old messed up hay elevator is on the scrap pile and I built a conveyor for my firewood processor which runs off the hydraulics on the machine.

Al_Smith

Finding a decent flight type bale elevater is like looking for a hens tooth in these parts .They pretty much went to the big round bales and also the livestock is just about non existant here abouts because it's mostly grain farming .

Even if you do find an old rusty McCurdy elevater in a fence row with trees growing out of it the farmers won't part with them .You used to be able to pick up a 40 footer at an auction for less than a hundred .

I found a 40 foot narrow one last year which is actually made for ear corn but they wanted 6 hundred for it .

OH logger

i have 2 that are run off electric that work GREAT. where the paddles come around at the top end of the elevator but on the bottom side, i cut the bottom panel off from the end to 4' down the elevator. (if that explains it). that way any firewood that gets caught under a a paddle or whatever comes around the top end and shakes off before it comes down to the bottom end and causes holy H*&^. i also slowed them way down to reduce wear. i like the electric option because in thr rare case soething gets jammed in there it blows the breaker in the barn instaed of ripping and tearin. hope this helps!!
john

yellowrosefarm

I use an old grain/hay elevator that I found behind a barn when I was there to buy something else.They said I could have it if I could move it. It had a 6" tree growing up through it I had to cut down and was COVERED in briers and poison ivy. I made slats out of old garage door track and bought replacement chain links from tractor supply. I power it with a 5hp Briggs engine and leave the belt loose enough to slip when a piece gets jammed. I like the idea of cutting the metal back on the bottom as I have had a piece travel all the way down the inside that was a bear to remove. You can see a picture of it in the "lets see your firewood truck" thread. I'm pretty sure it's a John Deere from the paint color underneath. I see used elevators for sale all the time but they are in the 5-600$ range.

logman81

I built one a few years back from scratch. Used a 6.5 hp gas engine running a small pump that drove a hydraulic motor mounted at the top of the conveyor. I used a double chain setup and welded 3 inch high cleats in between. It was also height adjustable with a hand operated ram jack worked very well. very rugged.
Precision Firewood & Logging

r.man

I used to do repair at a commercial firewood processor and their 40 ft or so conveyor was single chain in the center but the chain ran in a channel that was sided with a raised one inch hardwood floor that ran the length of the upper level. The paddles were also hardwood that spanned the trough and they ran snug on the hardwood boards. From the look of the boards they were oil soaked, maybe deliberately and maybe from oiling the chain. To my knowledge it was very reliable but the chain was roller chain.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

Ivan49

I have an aluminum grain elevator that has a single chain and it has a 10 inch flat bottom with angled sides. The chain has rubber paddles that are the same width as the flat bottom. I plan on using an electric motor on it and using belts so if something gets caught it will slip. It is either a 14 or 16 foot I don't remember and I bought it at a farm sale severals years ago for 50.00. Probably could get that much for scrap price out of it now. 

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