Low impact commercial firewood setups

[FarmerBurrill]

Hey guys I'm new to the forum I've been doing firewood more and more each year and currently have ventured further into the low impact side of equipment just looking to see if anyone else has similar setups I'm running a Massey Ferguson 471 with a metavic forwarding trailer that has the winch and rear steering as well as a 2018 kobelco sk55srx with a mecanil sg160 felling grapple I'm in the process of figuring out what small processor best

 

 suits my operation as of right now I'm leaning towards a Hakki pilke 38 pro with the live deck log table... 

[barbender]

The euro processors seem like great machines for smaller diameter wood, plus you have a tractor to power one with already. Member @GRANITEstateMP has a Hakki Pilke that he's posted quite a lot about. I have to go read about your felling head now😁

[mike_belben]

Nice equipment.  What does a cord pay in your area and how many years you think it is to break even on your investment? 

[Corley5]

That equipment will work 8) 8). I'd suggest getting a sturdy roof on the MF.

[FarmerBurrill]

Barbender the felling head took a lot of looking into for this size machine and It really doesn't have much information on the web with people using it like I intend to so I finally bit the bullet and figured I'd be the guinea pig! Mike we get $200 for green and $250 for seasoned but I'm trying to primarily harvest timber and manage our property to its fullest potential which helps since I get added value making it nicer as well, I also do work for others so payback if all goes well I figured 2.5-3 years. Corley I plan to build a full cage for the tractor with a roof I'm hoping if all goes well in the future I'll have either a malwa 560 forwarder or a Vimek something a bit more purposed for forestry 

[mike_belben]

Got any better pics of your setup?  Im trying to figure out what the post is in front of your live thumb.  

[Southside]

X2 on the tractor protection and if you are felling with that mini - get some cab FOPS on her. 

[GRANITEstateMP]

FarmerBurrill,  

Love your setup!

I have a HakkiPilke 1x37 that I got second hand. Neat little machine, I think its the older version of the 38 Pro. I don't have the live deck just a brow and the log lift.  We've put a lot of wood through it and it's treated me well.  Just need to remember that it's a smaller machine only takes a make 14in diameter log, and its not a bad splitter, but not the most powerful either. I find that presorting wood and setting aside the iffy logs helps a ton with production.

[barbender]

I haven't seen any of the Euro machines that look like they'd be happy on a diet of big bumpy hardwood. On product videos of Scandinavian machines, I don't know if I've ever seen anything other than 10" minus birch. It's what they're made for, and they excel at it. They seem to get the best production on the size of wood where the American style processors fall off. I know of one local firewood outfit that runs one of each. Euro machine (Palax I think) for small diameter wood, and a Cord King for the bigger stuff.

[mike_belben]

Pretty much sums up how i feel on nearly all the european wood splitting equipment.  Hold on Sven, Let me get you a hickory crotch and a spiral grain black gum and see which pops first..  The wood or the machine. 

[Nathan4104]

 

 Barbender you hit the nail on the head.  
It all comes down to what we each have locally to cut.  I can't see a big circle saw making its payments with 4-6" dia wood, neither would a bar saw euro style/smaller Dyna style cut it making up giant knarly hardwood.   Size a processor to the 90% of the wood you get and do the rest by hand, you may not even need a commercial sized splitter for that amount of wood.
20" is as big of Birch as we see here and my little Husky 353 and Splitfire take care of that odd ball stuff good enough. 

Now all this talk of big hardwood has me jealous as it's snowing and I know the -40 is coming as I get another armload of poplar and balsam!!

[GRANITEstateMP]

Nathan4104,

My machine maxes out at 14in diameter.  I don't know how many times I wish it'd do 18in... That being said, I bet if I had a machine that could do 18in, I'd be wishing it'd do 22 :D.  Anything oversized or ugly gets sorted out and done with ol' American splitter

 
my pto power unit was down on this day. We ran it on a friends little Kubota, it sips fuel



 bigger diameter stuff getting done by hand. Under the shade tree! When the shades all gone, it's time for us to be gone too!

[mike_belben]

Thats how i time much of my activities too.  Work over on that side of the yard until noon when the shade ends, under cover through mid day then over on that side when the shade starts. Clean up at dark.