Firewood processor anyone?

[Hawkshoe]

I was checkin out these build it yourself processors (ebay item #110332462200) from Miller's Wood Cutting.  It almost looks like something I can do.  Anybody build a processor before?

[Al_Smith]

 To ever justify one a person would first have to cut firewood by the hundreds of tons .In addition have access to acres of pecker pole type wood .

I've seen many on display at lumber and forestry shows .Some claim 4 cords per hour .Very impressive but 80 thousand bucks buys a lot of saws and pays for a lot of help .

Besides that they are cutting 12 to 18 inch stuff and smaller  .By the time you load it up and haul it to a site to use a processer you could have sliced and diced the whole mess anyway  with a good saw .

[John Mc]

An interesting looking piece of equipment, and a good deal cheaper than the "store bought" firewood processors you see. But from watching the video, it seems rather slow cutting. The log in the video is not all that big, but when I timed one of the cuts, it was over 30 seconds. At that speed, I'd be inclined to just use my chainsaw.

John Mc

[bandmiller2]

Processors require support equipment and like smaller straighter logs.I would say if your selling fire/stove wood and have equip.their worth it.If your cutting for your own furnace your better off with a good saw and a splitter with a lift for heavy chunks.Frank C.

[Al_Smith]

I think a good tiltable splitter would serve the average person much better than a processer .

After years of swinging an axe and maul I finaly built one last year .Firewood is a lot of work no matter how it's done but that splitter certainly made things easier on my tired old bod .

A strapping young man can out split a splitter but you can't out last one .

[Hawkshoe]

Yeah,  I know they are major bucks, but I am lookin at tinkerin around with salvaged parts.  My wife will make sure I don't spend more than $2.98 building anything.  Past experiences have made her wiser than I! 

[rebocardo]

> A strapping young man can out split a splitter but you can't out last one

I agree 

[Al_Smith]

Out last,a short story .

I've been a gear head all my life even as a little boy .When I was 14 years old I built a mini bike with a Briggs lawnmower engine .My good friend ,even to this day was born with a silver spoon in his mouth .He had a 10 speed racing bike and could hit 40 miles per hour .Yes he could out run me,maybe for 400 feet then the good old Briggs passed him up at 25 miles per hour .

Reminds me of the age old story concerning a rabbit and a turtle .

[mrcaptainbob]

Visions of John Henry!

[archertwo]

Saw this in the older threads and decided to respond.

An answer to your question.
Yes, you can build your own firewood processor. You can make it so it cuts up to 18" or more too.
It may not be the fastest thing around but you'll have the satisfaction of building it yourself. You never know it may even work.
 


I built my own using a chainsaw for the cutting instead of going hydraulic with everything and till last week I was running everything else with a 9HP Honda. Switched to a 15HP to make things easier on the engine.

[John Mc]

Looks interesting, Archertwo. Any details, or perhaps a video of it in action you can share?

I'm involved with a group of landowners who together cut and process about 25+ cords of firewood a year, mostly for our own use - a kind of neighborhood firewood co-op. We might do more, if we were a bit more efficient at it. We've discussed ways we might upgrade our operation. Buying a commercial firewood processor is beyond us, and wouldn't make much sense anyway, given our volume. However, we still dream of something. We've got an engineer and an experienced welder in the group. We just haven't thought out what we might attempt yet.

John Mc

[archertwo]

John Mc, I decided this summer to upgrade my logsplitter by making a totally new one using only the piston off my old one.
The log splitter I had was a store bought one that I got well over 30 years old. It was on its third engine, the newest being a 9HP Honda replacing the initial 8HP Techumseh and the 8HP Briggs & Stratton that had replaced the original. I'd already modified it a few times adjusting the beam height twice and adding a splitting table and a higher splitting wedge.
I decided to add a conveyor to the log splitter to boost its efficiency.
I added a directional control valve so I could run the conveyor separately when the piston wasn't travelling.
You'll notice the Charlynn motor hanging next to the filter behind the engine.
 


I then made a conveypor for it.
 




Added a one piece infeed belt that is easily removable for exchange when it eventually wears out.
 

 


Here's a pic of the idea I had in the beginning of my completed project with one minor addition. Check out the major diference between the first pic of the splitter and the second and no it's not that one has a conveyor attached to the splitter.
 



I know the pic's dark but notice the valve bank. That was the beginning of the processor idea I had been pondering for a while.

I'll post more pics if you want.

[bill m]

OESCO in Conway Ma. rents a firewood processor for about $380 a day. It runs off a tractor PTO and WILL do 5 cord per hour.

[archertwo]

Mine won't do 5 cords a day if I'm by myself but I can cut the trees, bring them out and process 2 cords and be back home for supper.
I can also move it and set it up by myself to anywhere I have a pile that's ready to process and it will take 16 foot logs up to 18" at the butt with no problems. 
The log lift is the heaviest part since I have to manhandle it into the truck box.
 

[beenthere]

archertwo
In that last pic, I'm trying to sort out what all goes with the log lift.  Just what is painted orange?

What's the unpainted frame? And the white bucket doesn't go with it?   

You look to be real handy with the design and fabrication of things to make the work easier. 

[beenthere]

OESCO in Conway Ma. rents a firewood processor for about $380 a day. It runs off a tractor PTO and WILL do 5 cord per hour.

Any pics of that processor in action? 

[bill m]

Sawmill & Woodlot Magazine did a test on it. You should be able to see pictures there. If you call OESCO ask for Howard Boyden, he has run them a lot. They might have a video.

[Al_Smith]

I suppose a processer is an option .I personally could never see the need for one .

As far as making good time though early  last winter we did good .5 men,one chainsaw ,2 splitters .7.5 cords split and stacked in 4 hours .All oak too,big stuff .

My buddy is a tree trimmer and sells the stuff .Another time with 4 men and one splitter they knocked out around ten cord in one day from a pile .

I've got 20 cords split ,stacked and tarped down I did myself but not in no 10 hours I'll tell you that . About half a cord an hour for maybe an hour ,two hours at a stretch---not as young as I used to be ya know .

[archertwo]

beenthere, the log lift is only what is painted orange in the pic.
The unpainted framework is mostly my welding table and a piece of an unfinished project on top.
 

[stonebroke]

Boy that log lift is pretty slick. How long did it take you to figure out how to make it.

Stonebroke

[archertwo]

It's a log lift I bought from a friend. He wasn't using it on his Hakki Pilkki 1X37.
I had to "left hand" everything on it except for the bottom pieces and add 9" to its height to fit my rig. It was made to go the other way so there was a lot of cutting and welding involved.
You'll notice the "hitch" attaches the log lift to the processor otherwise it would be pretty tippy.

[Al_Smith]

 First of all I'm not dogging anyone that has a processer just posing a question .

By the time you cut log lengths ,haul them to a pile then load them into a processer I would think you could easily buck to length ,split and be done with it .

All I've ever seen besides at lumber shows is 12 inch stuff you can easily handle by hand if in firewood length .In the log though it takes machinery or a couple of corn fed husky fellows to move around .

The big ones that make short work of a 36" log cost around 80 thou a pop and you need a big front end loader to handle the log at 50 grand a pop for a used one .

Maybe I just don't see the big picture .

[woody1]

AL,
You have good points. I think the big thing is AGE and having the money to buy the toys you need to make the job easier. In my case I already had a loader and the equipment to haul and drag. Sure, you can chainsaw, hand split, hand load and have your wife rub your back.  . But, then again, you could walk to town instead of taking the car, too. 



Woody

[Al_Smith]

Ha Ha .Well I suppose you could bowsaw it too and split it with a hatchet if you so desired .

In my case I have a shed full of saws and a homemade splitter that will cut though anything,sideways if I desired which I don't .

Those high priceed contraptions might have a place providing you handle huge amounts of firewood in an area the trees are taken down and hauled in log lengths.

I've heard for example in the Mich. UP it's standard operating proceedure to buy 20 cord log length and cut them down  to firewood size .That doesn't apply in this neck of the woods . Fact is I've never paid a dime for firewood in my life even when I sold the stuff .Whatever works I guess .

[archertwo]

Al, all the logs I make into firewood I cut myself, haul myself and process myself and most of the time I do it all by myself.

Woody1, you hit the nail right on the head with this one.

AL,
You have good points. I think the big thing is AGE and having the money to buy the toys you need to make the job easier. 

Woody

I'd much rather make my toys than buy them if I can though.
My processor can take a little bigger than 12" even if it is small compact unit compared to most.
This is a pic of the biggest log I've put through up to now. I can't go much bigger than this one though.
The saw blade is 18" long. The beech tree is 22" at the widest point. I had to use one of my other saws on the first three blocks to cut completely through this one.
 

[Hilltop366]

Archertwo looks like you could make a sawmill too and save those bigger ones! Nice looking rig you have looks like some extra valves for an expansion of options? I too enjoy the process of making my own toys when I have the time. I don't have a good place to work in right now hope to make a work shop in the next year or so until then it's limited to nicer days and when I can borrow a little space in my brothers garage.

[Al_Smith]

 I'd much rather make my toys than buy them if I can though.
  

Oh I'm just razzing you guys .Besides I really have no room to talk because at this moment I'm building a bandsaw mill myself .27 feet of track,capable of 38" of log by 22 feet or so as if I ever could find a straight log that long .That's another subject though rather than processers .

[woody1]

No problem Al..We know your stirring the pot.  You'll be buildin' a processor too. My buddy came up to my processor last week. I was cutting big stuff with my chainsaw and throwing up onto the processor. He said "What the heck are you doing ?" I said it was easier to cut the big stuff and throw it up, than it was to load it on the deck and process it.  Some things just don't make scence. 

Keeep up the razzin" We love it !
Woody

[Al_Smith]

You'll be buildin' a processor too.

Keeep up the razzin" We love it !
Woody

Actually no but I do have a couple more irons in the fire .

First off I help out a little bit with maintaining the saws and equipment for two tree service companies  .As such I have access to all kinds of good saw logs and tons of firewood should I choose to take them .
Most of the big oak,which can be up to 4 feet accross is chunked and loaded with a skid loader .It takes 3 or 4 people to just roll a round into a tilt beam splitter ,like 500 pounds or so .
What is needed is a log arch that will handle a 3 foot log by about 16 feet . In addition a big splitter with a 6 way like a Timber wolf . Nothing pressing on those projects .I get to them when I get to them .

[archertwo]

Hilltop366, we already have a circular saw mill. My father built it 45 or so years ago so I don't have to make one of those.
We've put through many a log up to 36 feet and a few even longer than that through there but we mainly stay with 20 foot or less nowadays.

Al, not a problem.
Good luck with your bandsaw mill build. Post some pics.

When you get around to it post pics of the logging arch build. 

Everybody loves pics.

[archertwo]

Nice looking rig you have looks like some extra valves for an expansion of options?

Thanks, there is actually only one extra valve in the whole setup.
The first one in the 5 valve bank is not being used anymore.(was for the conveyor)
The second is for the 4 way wedge.
The third is for the log clamp.
The fourth is for the infeed belt.
The fifth is for the log lift.
Then there's a Power Beyond and the logsplitter valve.
After that there's the conveyor motor valve.

[Hilltop366]

I guess when you add them up it takes quite a few valves.

And thanks for the reply, looks like your just up the road a bit in Claire, I'm just a few miles before town, my Grandparents (dads side) were origionally from the Meteghan area so when we make some contraption Dad says " ce la rig de cadet" (not sure of the spelling) You might be the only one on here that gets that.

Cheers

[archertwo]

Hilltop366, the pics in your gallery of used saws and of the wood stove. Would they have been taken at Joey's place?

I get it.
Some of the "Cajun" population down South might be able to figure out the of it.
It's probably not every day that you'll see "Acajun french" written on this website "si tu sais quoi que j'vuex dire".

When I started out all I wanted to build was a logsplitter with a conveyor attached and I happened by chance to have to put on a bigger valve when the new one I had sprung a leak.
Then all heck broke loose and many of the ideas I had ended up being built in the process.

[Al_Smith]

Al, not a problem.
Good luck with your bandsaw mill build. Post some pics.

When you get around to it post pics of the logging arch build. 

Everybody loves pics.

Well I wish it were that simple .Try as I might the only forums I can post pictures on are those hosted by V-Bullitin and this is not one of them . Fact is on one that is hosted by VB I can't either . Either my security system blocks me or I'm just plain too stupid so I just don't even try any more . Simple things for simple minds and I'm pretty simple .

[Hilltop366]

Yep thats Joey's, I went to the Vocational and took small gas at the same time, I try to stop in and visit him once and a while but it doesn't happen often. I don't know if you new of, or remember of back but in the 80's but there was a Kawasaki & Sachs Dolmar shop in Dayton next to the Austrian Inn Resturant anyway that was me.

My french is very limited from growing up in an mainly english area so I needed a little help with that so I guess I didn't really know what you were saying

If you keep at it the next thing you know you will just be putting that machine up against a tree and spitting firewood out the other end

[archertwo]

Al, it must for sure be your security system blocking you.

Hilltop366, I stopped by Joey's place to get some things the first time I brought the processor to the woods. He looked at it for a while then said, "Yeah, I think that can work."

I do put the processor pretty close to the trees that I cut but it will be some time between blocks if I have to wait for them to grow back.