blockbuster 22-22 vs. bells 4000

[OH logger]

unfortunately I think im close to being forced to buy a processor (long story). I sell between 300-600 full  cord per yaer and log full time. i have it nailed down to these 2 brands because of ease of maintanance, use, and customer service but im definitely leaning towards a blockbuster.  mostly because of simplicity and less electric crap on it. I have a blockbuster elevator and its built great and the company seems honest as heck.  the 22-22 would hook right up to it. im set on a bar saw cause I have kids runnin around here and the circle saw scares the you know what out of me. I try to keep my logs clean as I can.  I want somethin that splits faster than I really need cause I mostly work by myself and  I cant be sittin on the processor all the time.  I have to log look at timber do mainatnace… yadayadayada. I buy some poles but mostly produce my own through the logging side of things. I was wonderin opinions on these 2 but especially the blockbuster. options, thoughts. they can customize em with whatever you want.  I want a cab and a little longer live deck. maybe 12 feet instaed of the standard 10 feet. on the 22-22 there is a tip pan to tip the cut off chunk into the splitter chamber. I asked them and they said they could make it to tip the other way also to tip the chunk outside if the machine. I would mostly runa  12 way wedge on it so if there a big knot on the middle of the log that would be nice to flip it out instead of wrestling it out of the splitter chamber or breaking the wedge or worse. I can split those with my log splitters or sell em whole like I do now.

 so the only options im thinkin on the blockbuster is a cab with work lights, and with door out the back and an extended platform behind that for pullin any respliits out , maybe longer live deck and the bi directional tip pan. I like the log stop and auto chain tensioner but they already come standard on it. any thoughts?

[Tin Horse]

I can't comment on the Blockbuster other than hearing good things about them. By comparison I only do about 30 to 40 cords a year. I've had my Bell 1000 for about 3 years now and couldn't be happier. It's the baby in the bunch but has worked great. The company has been 100% with support and service. No issues. To me the support is equal to the price. They are also only about an hour away so that also counts. If I was to upgrade it would be another Bell.

[OH logger]

looked at an 18-20 plus today. not to buy it (wasnt for sale anyways) I just know the guy that has it and wanted to see how well its built. seems to be well thought out. I was amazed at how easy it pushed some pretty narley wood through the 12 way wedge. he says that's all hes ran on it and hes split mostly good sized hickory with it. hes impressed and I am too.  the only major thing id like different is a longer deck. his was 8' but the 22-22 im interested in is 10' but I still wish it was a little longer. if im runnin by myself thatd give more run time and less hoppin on and off bobcat. and if my son is helpin then whoever is loadin could get a few things done while the other one is processin a deckful. im sure they could bulid a seperate deck but I want to be all one piece so I can move it faster on the wood yard. we move most every day. I guess ill have to talk to them about that possibility

[GRANITEstateMP]

I was at a local wood yard the other day.  He had the log deck from his old mill feeding the processor.  He said that he can get about 1.5 cord on there, nicely, without difficulty.  His machine is set up to be stationary, so the deck isn't fold-able.

[BargeMonkey]

 Honestly I wouldnt shy away from the circle saw, treated with a little respect they are aren't bad, yes you can launch a piece but it's not what everyone makes them out to be. 
A Bells 4000 is the FASTEST machine out there, nothing wrong with a barsaw but I wouldnt do it. My buddy has a 4000 barsaw, I have a 6000 circle saw, no comparison. For what the bars, chains and oil cost your actually losing money and production running a barsaw machine. A blockbuster isnt a bad machine, know 1 guy who has one and says its rugged. Service from Bells is 2nd to none, I have a problem I call Brent himself, they are good people to deal with. 

[bulldozerjoe]

I can't comment on the Blockbuster other than hearing good things about them. By comparison I only do about 30 to 40 cords a year. I've had my Bell 1000 for about 3 years now and couldn't be happier. It's the baby in the bunch but has worked great. The company has been 100% with support and service. No issues. To me the support is equal to the price. They are also only about an hour away so that also counts. If I was to upgrade it would be another Bell.

whats the 1000 cost, just wondering

[hedgerow]

Honestly I wouldnt shy away from the circle saw, treated with a little respect they are aren't bad, yes you can launch a piece but it's not what everyone makes them out to be.
A Bells 4000 is the FASTEST machine out there, nothing wrong with a barsaw but I wouldnt do it. My buddy has a 4000 barsaw, I have a 6000 circle saw, no comparison. For what the bars, chains and oil cost your actually losing money and production running a barsaw machine. A blockbuster isnt a bad machine, know 1 guy who has one and says its rugged. Service from Bells is 2nd to none, I have a problem I call Brent himself, they are good people to deal with.

Even with my homemade firewood processor I wish I would have built it with a circle saw instead of a bar saw. It gets old messing with sharping chains and the cost and mess that oil makes. 

[labradorguy]

I’ve got a Bells 4000 with the circle saw and extended deck. It’s a good machine but if I had to do it over again I would go Multitek.

I’ll tell you this much, you can take that 4 cords per hour they advertise and throw it out the window.

[BargeMonkey]

I’ve got a Bells 4000 with the circle saw and extended deck. It’s a good machine but if I had to do it over again I would go Multitek.

I’ll tell you this much, you can take that 4 cords per hour they advertise and throw it out the window.

 is the extra 50% in cost worth it ? Changed the leg spacing on the 6000, all the crooked stuff gets cut short now and feeds pretty well. feeding shorts and crooked wood I can do 2+, get into that 16-20" nice 16' stuff and I bury the conveyor, over 4 cord an hr. 

[labradorguy]

I should have been clearer.... I’m in hardwood. I can bury the conveyer too when I’m in nice 16-20” logs 16’ long. The thing is... if I’m running logs like that through a firewood processor, someone needs to slap me upside the head. I’m running tops through it and cull logs. The Bells machine likes telephone pole logs. Crooked logs are a nightmare. Keep your cant hook handy. Multitek’s grapple arm is pretty sweet. The Bells machine also hates splitting pieces that are not perfect. It loves to try to push wood through sideways. I’m actually getting ready to weld some nuts to the push plate to see if I can get it to feed straighter. Bottom line is the Bells will
make great firewood out of your white oak stave logs, but I’d rather sell them for 2 or 3 bucks a bd ft.

Let me know if you decide you want one. I’ll sell you mine and the tumbler.

[BargeMonkey]

I should have been clearer.... I’m in hardwood. I can bury the conveyer too when I’m in nice 16-20” logs 16’ long. The thing is... if I’m running logs like that through a firewood processor, someone needs to slap me upside the head. I’m running tops through it and cull logs. The Bells machine likes telephone pole logs. Crooked logs are a nightmare. Keep your cant hook handy. Multitek’s grapple arm is pretty sweet. The Bells machine also hates splitting pieces that are not perfect. It loves to try to push wood through sideways. I’m actually getting ready to weld some nuts to the push plate to see if I can get it to feed straighter. Bottom line is the Bells will
make great firewood out of your white oak stave logs, but I’d rather sell them for 2 or 3 bucks a bd ft.

Let me know if you decide you want one. I’ll sell you mine and the tumbler.
 

  Brent has a waiting list for used machines probably 30 people deep, Im sure he can find that machine a good home    Im not feeding decent wood either, yeah sometimes its a pain BUT ive got 120k tied up not close to 200k in a setup. Im waiting on another local guy who i feed to finish selling out, hes got a 3/4 2040 which is better suited towards the ugly stuff. 

[labradorguy]

I’m thinking hard about it. I think I’m going to try a couple things first. I hate to take that huge hit on the upgraded 4000, tumbler, conveyors, etc... but darn... it sure is frustrating at times and I’m not even using the tumbler.

The 4000 really works well when I am thinning oaks though. I run 10-12” 40’ long telephone poles through it and the firewood flies out of it. Prices are starting to bounce back and I’m not doing that as much now, it’s mainly tops. Those are driving me nuts. That and the ash trees. 4000 hates them...

When I priced them out, Multitek was about 40k more. I think it would have been worth it in the long run. Heavier built for sure and made to run forever. There is a reason the big boys are predominately runnin Multiteks. AND they don’t have those stupid 5’ high log decks....  

[OH logger]

what I dislike about multiteks is the price and the fact that they are cookie cutter processors.  there is almost no customization they will do to them. its their business and they must know what works for them but everyones operation is soo different. the custom made parts of a machine is what interests me. they wouldn't customize a 2020 for me to use a box wedge on for me. I hate it but that's what I need to produce sellable sized wood for MY customers. some don't need wood smaller but I do. they just said no. I know multitek are good machines just not good for me. I can look past price. ive also heard that their machines are very technical and if it breaks down (which even they do) you almost have to have them come out to fix it. not sure aif  that's true but ive heard that

[BargeMonkey]

 The shuttle grapple is slick, I'm not sure if they just have an airtight patent on the design But if you could incorporate that onto a Bells with a Built-rite wedge setup it would be the way to go 🤣 the older 2040s where about bulletproof and seem fairly simple to work on, I guess the newer electric over hydraulic ones are fairly complicated. Price wasn't really the factor in upgrading, service and parts was the biggest seller, you see Bells selling ALOT of machines. The 2 guys here who own cordqueens told me to buy a bells. Cordking was the only manufacturer who was willing to build a machine how we wanted it, originally we wanted the cab on the other side and shorten the machine which we did ourselves. We even called CRD 🤣, nope he only built 1 style machine, so glad we didn't go that route. 🤮 The biggest problem I see with guys is feeding literally garbage thru a processor, trying to stuff a 27" 0CF nasty log into a 8000 processor is just asking for problems. We shortened the width on our live deck, 6ft between leg #1-#2 and 4ft from #2-#3, if it's super bony and crooked it gets cut into a 5-8ft piece of wood and for the most part I don't have much trouble, my 6000 also doesn't have the fancy updated feedroller which will be added here in the future. My biggest complaint is it's like anything else, you buy a machine and 2-3yrs later they change it just enough and do alot of the updates, little things like the fuel tank size and placement. Mine with the 2 conveyors and tumbler all running at once lacks for power, it gets it done but you notice it. We pulled the limiting block out of the hydraulic valve, jacked the pressure at the handle its helped, with the timing valves being adjusted like I've got them that saw in 18-20" wood will run with the splitter, over 4 cord an hour at that point as far as speed. In the future I'm looking at hooking up a hydraulic power pack and a directional valve in the cab, fwd/rev for the conveyors and tumbler, pouring wood out onto a concrete pad, be the way to go.