Bell's Firewood Processor

[deastman]

Been looking to buy a firewood processor and really like the looks of the ones built by Bell's Machining in Canada. Anyone have one or heard anything about them, good or bad? I've been studying the different brands and the Bell's look like a well built processor. Looking to get one of their rotary saw models.

[glassman_48]

deastman, I own northern michigan firewood products and sell a lot of items related to this industry.  I think the top 2 overall mid size machines right now for the money are twister firewood processors and dyna.  They both are fine machines, the twister does crooked logs better than most.  I just got a price list from bells machining also.  They have a very fine product but I have never used one.  Our guys in this area do a lot of mobile firewood processing so we are always looking for the fold up conveyor option.  Bells machining told me the other day that they have 11 units to build.  The gas prices went way up in canada this year so more people are looking for other options.   good luck,,,,,,ed

[heat maker]

Glassman, I have been in the market for a processor for a couple of months.. I did a lot of research, I like the Dyna for the price. But unsure of the quality seeing I am quite a distance from them.  I am interested in the SC-16 for some larger diameter logs.. Any input??

[delvis]

They look like nice machines but from what I have been able to gather, they are quite expensive compared to similar models from other companies.

[glassman_48]

heatmaker,
I would of responded sooner but dont think I have the notify button on.  I am not real great on a computer.  I have a friend that has a dyna sc-14 he came over and helped us process a semi load.  We had so many orders to process, I left my machine at another location and we used his.  I like their machines overall, they are well built but the crooked logs dont go through the machine as well as the twister machine.  Twister has a 12" wide flat infeed area and they use a webbed belt so it much more of a crooked log can catch the webbed part to get it started through the machine.  Most of the processors built have the "v" shaped infeed and its really hard to catch a crooked log with.  I was at the logging show in wisconsin a couple of years ago and a serious buyer had an engineer with him and the engineer asked if he could go through the twister machine thoroughly.  He went to every mid sized machine at the show and concluded that twister and dyna were probably the top 2 overall.  There are a lot of machines being built  now and prices all over the board, I sat with a lot of the vendors early morning and just sat and listened and learned a lot.  The owner of twister also told me that if you looked all around the country in ads for sale for used machines, the best machines are very rarely for sale, and if they are its because they are upgrading to a larger machine. The machines that the vendors talked about somewhat negatively (mostly about quality of construction and service) were the ones that I found to be for sale the most around the country.  I hope that explains a little better without being negative about other machines out there.  I own a glass company and if you call my number (listed under my name) I can talk to you more in detail.  I tried to message you about this to explain further, dont know if I did that right either.  I dont want my posts to come off as trying to sell products in here so am trying to be careful.  I have just learned a lot in the last few years and a lot of people try to make a purchase based on price and not always what will do the best job for them.  Hope this all makes sense,,,,,,,,thanks ed

[glassman_48]

delvis,
I just replied to heatmaker and tried to include info for you too about price.  That engineer in heatmakers post helped confirm some stuff for me about quality etc. versus price.  A lot of the people buying processors now also do mobile processing to help pay for the machine where before they could buy a bigger "yard machine" and produce larger quantities than the mid sized machines.  I frankly think its easier to make money processing 10 pulp cords in a day than it is having a yard machine and stacking or bagging/palletizing firewood or loading into a truck or trailer and delivering. I could not make enough money by delivering firewood.  Much of my profit would go back to my fuel charges at the end of each month.  I dont even advertise that I sell firewood I have private contracts and sell to my family and close friends. I purchased a machine that was built for mobile processing so I could have the versatility to do both yard work and mobile work.  I worked a month straight last fall doing mobile processing and bagging firewood with my son.  I urge people to carefully look at what they want out of a machine to process wood.  If your a homeowner and just want to do your yearly wood and maybe some friends then most of the machines that are out there will work ok.  If your doing more than that then shoppping for the best $$ deal may not be the best way to go.  I hope this helps,,,,,thanks ed

[glassman_48]

deastman,
I started getting off track here with my other posts.  I contacted bells because they have a 12' and 16' integrated offloading conveyor for $3800.00 and $4800.00 which is what I wanted for a machine that can do mobile processing.  I was also looking at their circular slasher saw machines but cannot find the integrated conveyor option for those machiines.  It looks like the models that take the integrated conveyors are their bar and chain models.  The model 36 has a 36" slasher blade which is the one I was looking at but in their price list it does not show the integrated conveyor as an option.  This model is about 10 grand more than their model 2030 which looks like their biggest bar and chain model.  For the 10 grand more and as often as I do mobile processing I would of probably gone with the more expensive machine.  If the guys I know in this industry have any input on their product I will let you know,,,,,,thanks ed

[glassman_48]

Deastman, I just realized that I was looking at cord king price list and model numbers not bells machining.  Those model numbers and prices are not bells machinings.  I had looked at both cord king and bells originally and bells looks like you can get an attached conveyor for most or all of their machines.  I had called bells and they sent me a price list with all their options so its easy to put together a machine of your choice.  thanks ed