Manual Firewood Processor

[Q-Saw]

Also known as sawbucks. I finally made myself a set and they work really well for cutting up firewood logs and slabwood.

 

[Q-Saw]

I used rough-sawn 2x8's with half-lap joints. The half-lap keeps the spacing (16" O.C.) the same on both sides of the sawbucks. The first pair (on left) are spaced at 8" o.c. The forks on the Kubota make a good workbench / sawhorses, as well as helping to load the sawbucks with wood.

- Marty

 

[xmoto]

That looks great, think I will make one this weekend. Wood boiler is up and running.

 

[xmoto]

Why did you 16 o.c. instead of 24 with 2x8's.

 

[studor]

Wow -- biggest sawbuck I have ever seen! Nice work. Looks like you need a loader to load it!
My saw buck for long stuff is an angle rack made temporarily in the bush from five logs and two stakes. The logs to be cut are piled evenly on top of the "rack", one is marked in 16" intervals and then you just cutdown the line. The rounds are easily retrieved and you cut up the sawbuck when you are done

 

[MarcusCarr]

When I saw this title, I thought for sure it would be a picture of a splitting maul. =]

 

[JohnDeere4300]

Also known as sawbucks. I finally made myself a set and they work really well for cutting up firewood logs and slabwood.

 

[Q-Saw]

Xmoto - I used 16" centers because that's how long I want to cut my firewood. I can eyeball the sawbar halfway between two bucks pretty well and end up with 16" firewood (usually within + or - 1"). I used 2x8's because that's what I had handy, and I wanted to be able to drop the logs from the loader and thought the extra strength would hold up well.

Studor - I'm interested in your temporary rack - do you have any pictures?

- Marty

 

[20 20]

Nice job

 

[xmoto]

Q-saw

You did a nice job on it. I am going to make one for myself.

 

[studor]

No pics but this link gave me the idea and has a drawing of two styles

http://www.motherearthnews.com/multimedia/image-gallery.aspx?id=71166&seq=3

I use the bottom style, a pickaroon to pick up the blocks, and go straight to a splitter

 

[xmoto]

Q-saw

Any design changes you would do. Just wonding before I make one.

 

[turnkey4099]

I made one basically the same type using a couple 2x6 and angle iron frames. Makes quick work out of limbs:

Loaded up:

Cut up:

Folds flat after use:

Space inside the frames is 14" designed for a 20" bar. It could have been an inch or two wider.

I hate cutting, picking up, loading those small, don't need splitting, chunks. Rather haul up to 8' long limb chunks and cut them up at home at my leisure.

Harry K

 

[Q-Saw]

Thank you to all for the positive comments and contributions.

Studor - Thanks for the link, that's a pretty slick in-woods system. I can't wait to try that one this fall.

Xmoto - I don't think I would change much, it works better than I had hoped for. BTW, I used 5' boards for the crosses (I cut 10'x2"x8"s in half). I plan on coating the "feet" with some West or System 3 epoxy to prevent the wood on the bottom from rotting due to ground contact - I'll let the top weather to gray.
I did think about making the top horizontal brace from hardwood and screwing it in. This would hold up better to the occasional cut and could be replaced if it got too chewed up. As it is, I just try to be careful and not drop the bar as I finish cutting at the bottom.

Turnkey4099 - Nice work. Great idea using iron and vertical posts. The fact that you can use a 20" bar is a real positive. I use a 36" bar on my saw (MS-650) to allow me to make a full cut from just one side, but I'd rather use my 20" saw (026-Pro).
Having one that is collapsible is an advantage in that I can throw it in the truck for on-site cutting.
Do you chew up the 2x6 much at the end of a cut? Have you had to replace it?
I can see I'll need to make another.

- Marty

 

[turnkey4099]

[I

<snip>

Turnkey4099 - Nice work. Great idea using iron and vertical posts. The fact that you can use a 20" bar is a real positive. I use a 36" bar on my saw (MS-650) to allow me to make a full cut from just one side, but I'd rather use my 20" saw (026-Pro).
Having one that is collapsible is an advantage in that I can throw it in the truck for on-site cutting.
Do you chew up the 2x6 much at the end of a cut? Have you had to replace it?
I can see I'll need to make another.

- Marty

Use of iron around a saw is not exactly recommended but I do have 8" on either side of the bar . I have 'nicked' the chain twice while transiting from one cut to the next - scraped the top of the post going over it. Someone else used the idea and used wood uprights fastened to the outside of the 2x6s with a wood crossbar so it would still collapse. The original did spend a bit of time going to the 'field'.

My original version lasted several seasons before they needed replacing. On the current one, I added 1x4 boards across the bottom of the frames to give me a bit more time to catch the saw as it comes through. Even there I have knicked them in each bay. I always did figure they were sacrificial. Only have this years time on it so far. Already have a couple more piles of limbs waiting for processing.

The excess lenght to the left is, I will say, to allow more frames. The real reason is I had 6 frames on the original but cut up two of them for other uses over the years . I eyeball the left most cut to give a 16" piece.

Using this thing the chain must be sharp! One cannot use any 'down pressure'. Also a bit of care must be taken placing the top one or two chunks. I have had them climb right up and over the frame.

A nice part is that most of the cut pieces remain right there in the frame for easy pickup.