my new Firewood toys

[GrizzyDan]

Remember that an electric motor takes more power to start up than it does to run for a while, I don't know the specifics of it, yet it seems to be a general rule of thumb. The obvious upside to going gas is being able to cut right into your bed like tbutman is setup to do while out in the field, down the road, or 20 miles away. There's nothing I dislike more when it comes to firewood than handling it more times than I have to.

One of those superpilke type limbers looked like it used an adjustable hydraulic cylinder rotating off the main drum to power the toothed infeed, I thought that was pretty epic.

Off the subject of limbs, but back to processors...This was one of the first video's I looked at, and it's still one of my favorites for the simplicity of it and the production speed.. and that big pile of firewood he has way out there. It's a bit grainy.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAckm2YdLEQ]Home Made Firewood Processor - YouTube[/ame]

 

[tbutman]

This was my option B. I bought the hydraulic system off from a retired garbage truck off ebay like 5 years ago and about 3 years ago I bought a 3 line infeed from a private sale and that came with 3 heavy 30' chains with dogs allready attached and two heavy transmissions Yeah been thinking of doing this for awhile.

 

[Sackett2]

this would be my choice for a firewood processor
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdXzaGFkWfU]Wood Cutting & Splitting Attachment - YouTube[/ame]

 

[GrizzyDan]

If I remember right, that attachment processor is $24,000... WOW I could buy all the parts new and build that for pennies on the dollar.. It's a shame I don't have that many pennies to put toward a processor.. yet!

tbutman: Too bad you live on the other side of the country, there's no way I can buy the sprockets and chain for my processor new, so I'm pulling parts together to run a belt infeed table and conveyor. Recently scored 80'+ of 24" belt from the lumber mill for free, I'll likely rip it down to 12", but it's multi layer, like 1/2" thick!

I'm glad you got the machine you wanted, a true success story right here. I'll keep these guys in mind in a few years when I'm ready to take it to the next level and need a processor that can be hauled out into the field. idk if my thinking is correct, but I'd rather haul loads of split wood home (dump truck loads at that point in time) than have to deal with logs over and over again.

Last fall I could fill my truck up to the top of the cab in an hour pulling poles out of burn piles, could move it faster if I didn't have to load it in the truck, and only skid it 20' to the processor. My bro promised he'd quit his job at that point and help me run the business..

Dump truck, processor, and a log grapple/excavator.. some may think that's small time, I think life will be mighty fine at that point.

 

[JohnDeere4300]

this would be my choice for a firewood processor
Wood Cutting & Splitting Attachment - YouTube

Yes, Mine too!!!... I've watched that video and others like it hundreds of times!!!

Bill

 

[Ken45101]

I don't see that processor handling any nasty crotches....

 

[tbutman]

I have so far only used it that one time. This unseasonably 80-90 degree temps we had has caused the snow to melt in force and i'm waiting for my roads to dry out enough to "set up" so I can use them without turning them into a mud pit. But back to your statement about "nasty crotches" I'm doing this for myself and not a firewood business. I just keep any nasty crotches in a separate pile. That i can saw up later and split with woodsplitter. or I can cut the crotch off and process it like a limb.

 

[GrizzyDan]

I have so far only used it that one time. This unseasonably 80-90 degree temps we had has caused the snow to melt in force and i'm waiting for my roads to dry out enough to "set up" so I can use them without turning them into a mud pit. But back to your statement about "nasty crotches" I'm doing this for myself and not a firewood business. I just keep any nasty crotches in a separate pile. That i can saw up later and split with woodsplitter. or I can cut the crotch off and process it like a limb.

Exactly, I haven't seen any processor on you tube demonstrate a crotch split, it's all pole wood, and those guys flaunting the 16 way kindling wedges.. that wood doesn't even have knots in it!. I can't see that you'd be able to run max diameter oak through any processor due to the fact that they very rarely grow anything resembling to straight. There's a pretty good reason oak costs half again to twice as much as any straight growing tree, not just because it's a denser wood, it's just plain more time consuming to harvest. A wood business would cut the crotch out and leave it in the woods. Or you could throw it in another pile like tbutman says and run it through a seperate splitter.

Fighting the mud here as well, skidding logs has become rather tedious as of late to keep them out of the mud, yet so long as it's not pouring down rain and it's light enough to see, then I gotta go play in it.. :thumbsup:

 

[flyingcow]

Remember that an electric motor takes more power to start up than it does to run for a while, I don't know the specifics of it, yet it seems to be a general rule of thumb. The obvious upside to going gas is being able to cut right into your bed like tbutman is setup to do while out in the field, down the road, or 20 miles away. There's nothing I dislike more when it comes to firewood than handling it more times than I have to.

One of those superpilke type limbers looked like it used an adjustable hydraulic cylinder rotating off the main drum to power the toothed infeed, I thought that was pretty epic.

Off the subject of limbs, but back to processors...This was one of the first video's I looked at, and it's still one of my favorites for the simplicity of it and the production speed.. and that big pile of firewood he has way out there. It's a bit grainy.

Home Made Firewood Processor - YouTube

That was a pretty nice set up. Impressed with the low cost/simplicity of it. Would be nice to have telephone poles to cut up also.

 

[tbutman]

I found out that a loose thrown cord of wood is 195 cu.ft and my trailer wasn't big enough so I built the side up higher to 200cu.ft 195cu.ft for 24" wood, 180cu.ft for anything down to 16"

 

[Gordon Gould]

You started a great thread and have put together some nice equipment :thumbsup:
I just read it all the way thru and watched all the videos. Some how I missed it the first time. Some real good ideas and equipment in there.
I am going to make one of those limb saw rigs. I think I will try to make it so it folds over easily for refueling.
Looking at all that nice stuff makes me feel a little foolish doing my wood the old fashioned way. Good thing I only need 4 or 5 cord a year. Only 3 this last winter.
Thanks for the nice post.

 

[tbutman]

I just purchased Haldex 12 Volt DC Power Unit — Manual Operation, Double Acting, Model# 1510038 | Hydraulic Power Units | Northern Tool + Equipment and Haldex Reservoir — 2 Gallon, Model# 2280045 | Tanks + Reservoirs | Northern Tool + Equipment so that with a battery I won't need my tractor to dump it. Figure on making a few local deliveries and I will just mount them on a platform and slide it into the back of my truck rather than mount it to the trailer. My trailer hoses are long enough to easily reach as it is allready set up to run off my remotes on my tractor. This will allow me to use the hydraulic power pack on other cool things like a home made bearing press or a small lift for my lawn tractor.

 

[Gordon Gould]

That should work good for you. I would think that you are probably planning on using a strong battery. I have electric over hydraulic on my little dump truck. I typically dump 3 to 3.5 tons which is only a little more than a cord of good hardwood. It does not take long to suck my heavy duty battery down especially if it is cold out.

 

[tbutman]

Yes thx, I do plan on using a new deep cycle battery, maybe even two in tandem if I find that one is too weak.

 

[nwngunner]

Another option would be a solar charger. While it wouldnt keep up 100% with the draw it might be enough to get you through the day until you can get home and charge it up properly.

 

[tbutman]

I also thought of that but remember while that might work on other peoples setup, my hydraulic pump will only be in the bed of my truck for deliveries. Otherwise it will be kept in my garage. My trailer hoses are long to reach the remotes on my tractor. By keeping the unit in the bed of my truck and plumb it with female disconnects I won't need to alter the trailer hoses and therefor I can still use the trailer with the tractor. Keep the ideas coming!