Eastonmade

Firewood fanatic · May 30, 2025, 11:26:07 PM

Anyone have any experience with eastonmade's 48c firewood processor. From production per hour, is it a good machine etc. Am looking into getting one in the future (a couple years) but am always looking for more information about them!

Old Greenhorn · May 31, 2025, 06:34:56 AM

I have seen that unit run a few times at Boonville Woodsman Field days. That big circle blade sure seems to make quick work of things and is much faster (IMHO) and more trouble free than a bar saw. If you are considering dropping that kind of coin you should spend the money to go see it either at a show or their plant. They will usually let you run it for a bit and will take you through the whole operation of it. Eastonmade makes good stuff and my buddy has one of their machines. I tested it at my place before he got to set it up in his yard and I like the engineering. They do a lot of thinking on how to make it run the most efficient and least trouble free.
For that kind of money, you should do some of your own engineering and think very hard about how you need it to operate. They have lots of options besides wedge configurations. Swing out and aimable conveyors running off the unit powerpack, or stand alone types are just one. Look at everything and decide what works best for you. Making the best choices up front can save you money (and production time) down the road.
Very good machines though, and very good people to work with which is extremely important when you invest like that.

TreefarmerNN · May 31, 2025, 06:47:32 AM

I'll second going to a show where several manufacturers have units running. There are lots of good machines out there but all are slightly different and you want one that works the way you like to work. Another reason is usually there is at least one or two current customers of the machines hanging around the manufacturers booth or station and you can ask them about how well the dealer supports the product. Like the lady on a current TV commercial says, something is going to break and you want to be able to get parts and service quickly if you are running it commercially.

Firewood fanatic · May 31, 2025, 06:52:38 AM

Yea I have been to many shows and watched it run, I have done a bunch of research about them, I really just want to hear from someone that has ran them and owns one and knows someone that ones one and see how much they really like it.

Firewood fanatic · May 31, 2025, 06:59:36 AM

Old green horn, how does you buddy like the machine and what production is he getting with it?

Old Greenhorn · May 31, 2025, 07:59:37 AM

Well he bought one of their larger splitters to fill a nitch. He already had 2 timberwolf's and a full processors with log deck. He needed a machine to split the larger wood into smaller splits for restaurant clients and folks with small stoves. Because the Eastonmade he bought has a drag back arm they can push a 20"+ round through it, shearing a bunch of small splits off the bottom half, then drag back, drop in and repeat. It goes through the wood fast and eliminates almost all the manual handling to get big rounds broken into small splits.
It's not entirely a matter of 'how much wood can I produce with this?', it's more a mater of 'can I make the right sized splits, consistently and with the least manual effort?'. The answer is, they are quite happy with it, his guys like running it, and they can fill a truck in about 1/2 hour (1 cord +). For him, it's a bit of a fill-in machine, but at a little over $50k it does the job just fine.
When I had it here I was filling my 1/3 cord trailer in about 10 minutes. Could have been faster, but I didn't have a conveyor lift.

barbender · May 31, 2025, 08:49:01 AM

I think Eastonmade puts the most thought into their machines. They actually have a woodyard where they are working them. On the small processor side, they came out with the Evo recently. It has a really smart layout and design, and a competitive price in the market.

I did run a Bell's (predecessor to Eastonmade) that I rented one spring. I think it was a 60? Memory is a bit hazy, I think it ran a 56" circular blade. It was way overkill for what I do, but man that thing could process some wood! I think 4-5 cords an hour is reasonable.

There were things I definitely didnt like about it. It had a full cab which was nice in one way, but also a pain because you can reach anything in the splitter box. You'd have to snake a hookeroon out the window through the protective mesh to straighten a block out that fell in crooked or any other problems. The splitting chamber was pretty inaccessible (completely inaccessible if you didnt shut the blade down) It had the big 16 way wedge on it, and you ended up making a LOT of debris.

I think pretty well all of the issues have been addressed since Andrew bought the company and redesigned the machines. They have a reject block kickout (you just had to send it on the Bell's) offset splitting box and they have hydraulic log kickers that correct pieces that get in the chute correctly. I think k they are intelligently designed machines for real wood. And they should be, for the money.

BargeMonkey · July 01, 2025, 09:52:21 PM

If I had to buy another processor it would be another 2040 3/4 pitch. Yeah the circle saw is nice, have a Bells 6000 we bought new at the show in
18 ? Unless your having wood fed in, and dealing with the wood going out it's sort of a waste sometimes. You've gotta run clean nice wood, knobby stuff falls in funny, I got less production with a bar but a nicer product. New top of the line circle saw, conveyor and tumbler with conveyor has to be 250+ now, getting pricy.