Horizontal slab shaver.

[Ianab]

Do you have a firewood market?

A local guy running semi-portable had a rig on the back of a farm tractor. In-feed rollers, a big chop saw, and a conveyor / elevator out-feed. All the slabs and reject boards just got slid down a roller table and into this processor. An automatic advance 12", drop the saw, retract the saw, repeat. The cut wood went up the conveyor into his small dump truck. When it was full, $200 of random size green firewood ready to deliver. 

I know everyone want DRY firewood, but there are folks smart enough to buy it 12 months ahead and dry it themselves, as long as it's cheaper. 

[Dave Shepard]

It's 98% pine, so not firewood here. I like burning pine slabs in my owb, but my time is more valuable than the benefit of running the owb, especially when they are completely rusted out. I don't know what they cost these days, but I hear you can get Central Classics if you have a brick of cash and don't ask any questions. I'm not going to cough up $10k, or more, for the privilege of spending every Sunday cutting up slabs and then being a slave to the boiler twice a day for six months of the year. I currently have a mess from the last ten years at my house that would probably cost as much to clean up as the fuel the owb saved in that time. 

[Ianab]

Fair enough, that's why I asked if there was a market. You can sell green pine off-cuts here, as long as it's cheaper. If you don't have that market. then yeah, don't go there. 

[melezefarmer]

Maybe an automatic slab saw at the end of the conveyor that dumps into firewood bags. They can be relatively low horse power if you are not in any hurry and you get a clean and neat product that is easily sellable.

[Magicman]

Dave's dilemma is one of the reasons that I had to go 100% portable.  I had no options to get rid of the slabs/waste.  Hopefully somehow a solution will be offered that will solve his slab buildup problem. 

[Dave Shepard]

The solution, most likely, is to have the slabs hauled, and pass the cost on to the customer. They would get ground into a mulch product, at least. I haven't given up yet,  however. 

[thecfarm]

Maybe you need one of those 8-foot wide OWB     
They feed it with a grapple on the front of a tractor or skid steer.

[Peter Drouin]

I can't imagine 10 years of slabs in the yard.
Best of luck to you sir.

[Dave Shepard]

It's only about three, but I only put 46 hours on the mill in '02 and '03 combined. It's still taking up too much prime real estate. 

[barbender]

They get out of hand quickly!