$7958 for a firewood processor !

[mahonda]

Happy Birthday Don. As for owning a welder yes you will need to be some what mechanically inclined especially with these cheaper models. I've always said wood is harder than anything on equipment and i have worked on a rock crusher and wood is harder on conveyors motors and bearings. regaurding the chain i believe this one is actuated when you pull the handle. some run full time especially if they run of a pto so your not using the pump as much works well but is a little more wear and tear on bar and chains. don't know to much about the hudsons equipment I run a blockbuster now. My opinion is its one of the better ones out there they have a short video online i'm sure someone can put the site on here easier than me. i think your weight guess is a little short too don off the top of my head i was thinking the softwood i cut was over three thousand pounds a cord. If you have access to the wood and think you can sell it you could pay for a really nice processor with out a lot of extra time or work. and a word of warning when they say a cord an hour that is all straight perfect size logs sitting there ready to go i figure if they saw a cord an hour you end up doing a cord every two with maintenence and filing. sorry to go on and on but i do love what i do. Have to cause i don't make money at it 

[genesis5521]

Hi Mhonda. Thanks for the BD wishes. My weight estimate was for a face cord, so a full cord would be somewhere between 3000 to 4000 pounds. But it could be a bit more. I to love to make fire wood. Never worked so hard and enjoyed it so much. Although it's taking me longer to do it now. I use to be an accountant, and now I'm a computer instructor at a technical college. One intangible and gratifying thing about making firewood is that at the end of the day, you can see what you've accomplished. Couldn't do that as an accountant. At the end of the day as an accountant, all I'd done was to move a large stack of papers from the right side of my desk to the left side. One thing about a processor is I'd have to buy full trailer loads of 8 foot logs. I wouldn't be able to go out and get my own free trees as I do now. I don't have the equipment to transport logs. Last time I bough a full trailer of around 12 cords the price was $85 a cord, delivered. That was three years ago. It was all freshly cut, good mixed hardwood. Their price this year was $95. a cord delivered. They're a small family logging business about 10 minutes from me. They're good people to do business with. But if they ever went under, my source for good, reasonably priced logs goes out the window and my processor would become a very heavy and expensive paperweight. I checked out the Blockbuster 15-20. VERY NICE MACHINE ! Is there much difference in price between it and the 14-12? I think the 15-20 handles larger logs. You've probably got the equipment to load the logs on the live deck. Do they make a model with a log lift for those of us who are "equipment impared". Just out of curiosity, what log splitter do you favor and why? If I don't go the processor route, I would replace my little Ryobi electric splitter with something bigger and more efficient. I was also thinking of building myself something. I don't know how to weld, but I have two retired welding instructors, and my neighbor is maintenance chief at his plant, who are all willing to teach me. That project from start (learning how to weld) to finish (a completed processor) would take me around 3 years. I'm reasonably mechanically inclined. (I can break off a spark plug as well as the next guy.) You've been at this stuff for quite awhile, so I really value your opinion. Thanks Mhonda !

PS: The best tool for fixing a computer is a big hammer !

[stumper]

Use the money you would have spent on the machine and hire someone to cut and split for you.

5 cords per year

5 hours to buck tree length to stove length + 5 hours to split + 5 hours to move = Total time 15 hours

15 hours at $25.00 per hour = $375 per year

At that price it will take 20 year to get the money back from the purchase.  This does not count your time, mainenance fuel, Ect...

I generally do my own because I like to, but I have found guys to come in for $8.00 to $12.00 per hour.  Busy years I hire it.

[mahonda]

But if you hire it done you don't get to win. Ya know he who dies with the most toys wins. Yeah its expensive but i like equipment and it helps me buy more sometimes it even pays for itself. don, i have a 22 ton generic wood splitter its great for oversized but is still slow. there guys here that know more about them then me but timberwolfe makes some really nice looking ones. the 14-20 is a bit cheaper. they make one for a tractor that has self loading arms on it. Call em they are really great to work with they could make you one with a loader if you decide to go that route. Most my wood is twenty foot long so i don't handle as many peices as you do. Have you looked at the small multi tec it would work great for you and has a self loading arms and built on conveyor and is built strong and works great on short stuff it was less than 20 thousand i think the only reason i didn't go that way was the length factor.

[genesis5521]

Use the money you would have spent on the machine and hire someone to cut and split for you.

5 cords per year

5 hours to buck tree length to stove length + 5 hours to split + 5 hours to move = Total time 15 hours

15 hours at $25.00 per hour = $375 per year

At that price it will take 20 year to get the money back from the purchase.  This does not count your time, mainenance fuel, Ect...

I generally do my own because I like to, but I have found guys to come in for $8.00 to $12.00 per hour.  Busy years I hire it.

Hi Stumper. I'm no where near that fast. Are you sure your figures are right? Can any of you other guys work this fast? Maybe I'm a lot slower than I think. In one day, I'm lucky if I can find and cut 1 face cord of trees (that's 1 face cord!), buck them and load the rounds in to my trailer, and unload the rounds when I get home. This is just 1 face cord and it takes me pretty near a whole day. These trees are usually in a pretty dense area, and they seldom fall to the ground. They usually get hung up on another tree. No I have to fart around to get them down. Good "standing dead or down trees" are not that easy to find in the Nicolet Forest. The year I ordered a full trailer (about 12 full cords) of 8 foot logs, it took me pretty near the whole summer to buck, split and stack everything. My brother wanted me to take down a bunch of trees on his property. Some were near his house and garage and leaning the wrong way. I had to climb up each tree to put on a 3333 pound strap (I also put on a second strap just in case the first one snapped). I attached the other end to a distant tree and connected everything with a hand winch. I made the first cut and winched the heck out of that tree to pull it way away from any buildings. Then I made the felling cut, but didn't go quite all the way. Again, I winched the heck out of the tree and literally winched it until it fell right where I wanted it to. I had to do this for 5 trees. It was either go through all this work, or take a chance on turning my brothers buildings in to toothpicks. He had a bunch of other trees on a hill. I didn't have to worry where they fell. But getting the felled trees off that steep hill was a chore. I tried rolling the bucked rounds down the hill, but they just scattered all over the place. The next day I brought my ATV and dragged each cut tree down the hill to a flat spot next to my trailer where I could easily buck and load them. There are old railroad grades in the Nicolet Forest, with 8 to 10 foot drop-off on each side. If I find and take a tree from an area like that, I have to carry each bucked round up the steep embankment. This is a ball buster! 99% of the trees I take require a ton of effort. As I'm carrying rounds, I'm tripping over downed rotten trees for maybe 50 yards of dense forest. About 50% of the time, a US Forest guy will find me in the woods and ask to see my wood permit. I make sure that I never cut a tree I'm not suppose to. I go out in the summer when all the trees have leaves. When I see a tree with no leaves, it's a standing dead tree. Then I poke a screwdriver in to the tree a couple of times. If I bury the screwdriver in the tree, I let that tree alone (rotten). I work my butt off for my firewood. But I thoroughly enjoy it !

[zopi]

you mentioned driving to the factory to look the thing over..if they aren't selling in the US market yet, is there anything to prevent you bringing one home?

[genesis5521]

But if you hire it done you don't get to win. Ya know he who dies with the most toys wins. Yeah its expensive but i like equipment and it helps me buy more sometimes it even pays for itself. don, i have a 22 ton generic wood splitter its great for oversized but is still slow. there guys here that know more about them then me but timberwolfe makes some really nice looking ones. the 14-20 is a bit cheaper. they make one for a tractor that has self loading arms on it. Call em they are really great to work with they could make you one with a loader if you decide to go that route. Most my wood is twenty foot long so i don't handle as many peices as you do. Have you looked at the small multi tec it would work great for you and has a self loading arms and built on conveyor and is built strong and works great on short stuff it was less than 20 thousand i think the only reason i didn't go that way was the length factor.

Hi Mahonda. I did check out the Multitek 1610EZ. I have their literature and price list. The 1610  with a log lift (not the live deck), and conveyor, is $24000. I really didn't want to (can't afford to) spend this much. I'd have to start a firewood business in earnest with this kind of investment. At 64, I don't think I'm ready for a second career. But ya never know.
Here's a video of the 1610 in action.


I did check out all of the Timberwolf splitters and really liked the TW-6. But they ain't cheap.
Here's a video of it.


Here's a video of the Hus-Son Badger. It's $16500 with a conveyor, and doesn't require any support equipment. This is the one I was considering until I found the one for $7958. There is a review of the Badger at https://www.sawmillmag.com/reviews/58/Hud-Son+Badger


It's a good thing I have a three year supply of firewood on hand. I have plenty of time to do my homework on this stuff (and sometimes get very confused along the way).

[genesis5521]

you mentioned driving to the factory to look the thing over..if they aren't selling in the US market yet, is there anything to prevent you bringing one home?

Hi Zopi. I emailed them and asked them that very question. I'm waiting for their response. I don't wanna get stopped at the border with something I'm not suppose to bring in to the USA.

[zopi]

yeah...for 24grand you buy a hydraulic sawmill and have nice square firewood...

[mahonda]

Well I'm impressed your doing what ya do I'm 28 and feel like I'm behind and beat up at the end of everyday, but i must love it cause i still get outta bed to do it all over again. last week has been slow getting up, wrenched my neck good. Had the bone cracker try his best three times so far but i think its in now, so good for awhile longer. I was looking at buying their bundling splitter but like ya said they aint cheap. so i put it toward a processor. i've had my business for seven years and cut wood since i could pull it to the house in my red wagon and i still drive myself crazy trying to figure out the best fastest easiest most profitable way to do it. so when you figure it out let me know would ya. like my old man says, "Go Fight Win!" and i want a sawmill too!

[logwalker]

Genisis, I see many shortcomings on that unit. If you need it quartered like thay are doing it would be very hard on the back to bend and drag the halves back to re-split. Pulling down on that bar would also be very tiring over time. And it is slow. Why isn't it splitting while the operator is cutting the next round.

I bet I could come close to the throughput of that machine with my 6 hp standard splitter and my tractor. I split directly into 1/2 cord boxes and then stack them away till i need it. Very little handling with my system. I collect the rounds in the bucket of my tractor and then take them to the splitter. I go directly from the bucket to the splitter to the box. Almost a cord and hour. The boxes can sit in the weather of under a tarp. I forklift and set them next to my boiler. I figure I can do this till I am 80 or so. The house is about 75 degrees right now. I have to open a window.

For that much money it should at least quarter the round or power feed the saw or both.

Joe

[motohed]

Hi Don
I have been looking at processors for a long time . I really can't see the difference in this unit versus a good splitter and conveyer unit . You said you would be buying log length firewood correct . You also said you would have to buy a conveyer . I believe a good splitter and conveyer would be much more versatile than this processor . 325 pitch chain seems quite small for processing firewood in this situation , you would be sharpening all the time. Getting really clean wood in log length is almost impossible . Think long and hard on this one , you do as much work with this as you will do with a chainsaw . Don't get me wrong , it a good idea but it needs a lot of improvement from an engineering stand point . I Don't think it would be easy to sell if you were unhappy .

[mahonda]

Don, I was thinking, you said you can get wood from your national forest will they let you haul it out in eight foot lengths? a atv log trailer with a loader and a winch might be the first equipment you want to look into keep the cost per cord down and then move onto a processor. with the loader you could sit the logs right in front of your shed to cut and split and probably even run a splitter off the trailer hydralics. And if you end up getting a processor you would have a lot more options in what you can do. just a thought ya know, horse before the cart 

[stumper]

My time estimate is pretty close for the sawing and splinting.  It is from tree length on my yard.  I can actually cut it faster if I use a big saw but with the 394 or the 3120  I am wiped out after two hours.  The splitting does sometime includes my wife or son working the lever.

I have a freind that does the same with a smaller saw and splits by hand.  But he is younger an more fit that I (46 and rides a desk).

In days gone by a man was expected to produce a cord of 4 foot wood per day with an axe and a bow saw.  Fell, limb, buck, pile and usually help the teamster load.

[genesis5521]

Don, I was thinking, you said you can get wood from your national forest will they let you haul it out in eight foot lengths? a atv log trailer with a loader and a winch might be the first equipment you want to look into keep the cost per cord down and then move onto a processor. with the loader you could sit the logs right in front of your shed to cut and split and probably even run a splitter off the trailer hydralics. And if you end up getting a processor you would have a lot more options in what you can do. just a thought ya know, horse before the cart 

Hi Mahonda. The National Forest doesn't allow any support equipment when using their firewood permit. All vehicles must stay on the fire roads. Big time fine if they catch any vehicle off the road and in the woods. But I can take my mountain bicycle anywhere in the woods. I can't take any tree larger than 18 inches in diameter, and the tree must be within 200 feet of an access road. They don't want guys cutting down a tree and then deciding it's to far from the road, so they just leave it there. Also, bucked pieces can't be greater than 4 feet long. And, any wood taken must be for self use. It can't be sold. So with these restrictions, I would be forced to buy truckloads of logs to use with a processor.

So you're 28. I have a granddaughter in college who's almost as old as you. You've got lots of time to collect more "toys". My toy collecting days are just about over. A processor, or a really nice splitter, along with a conveyor, will probably be my last major purchases. (I say that now, but we'll have to wait and see.) I've got a nice new 2008 Suzuki 750 King Quad ATV, a new 2008 Suzuki DR650 on/off road motorcycle, a really nice Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo mountain bike which I ride a lot, and a couple other nice things to play with. This past summer I was doing 40 mile rides on my mountain bike as practice for a local 100 mile bike run. I live right on the ATV trails, and love to putz through the woods on the DR. The ATV has to stay on the ATV trails, but the DR can legally go anywhere a licensed vehicle can go as it licensed and street legal. I never buy a second toy until the first one is paid off. I ain't rich by a long shot. I only work 2 days a week as an instructor at our tech college and earn less than $16000 a year. So I really gotta watch (pinch) my pennies. But I really can't complain. I live on 10 acres. Got lots of room for nice big stacks of logs. I put up a new manufactured home in 2002.

Here are some facts and figures to ponder. A face cord of split firewood goes for $50 ($150 for a full cord) in these parts. Sometimes that even includes deliver and stacking. If I'm paying around $100 a cord for delivered logs, that leaves around $50 profit on a full cord. If I figure $15 in gas for equipment and delivery, that leaves $35.00 profit. If it takes me 5 hours to get from a full cord of unprocessed logs to delivered and stacked firewood at a residence, I'd be making about $6 an hour. I can make more as a greeter at Wal-Mart. But I'd rather make firewood. Another thought I had was to hire myself out to anyone who had a wood lot and wanted some of it turned in to firewood. I'd charge a fixed (rather than hourly) rate. That way I could work at my own pace. I'd cut the trees and split the wood for $25 a face cord. I'd only be selling firewood or hiring myself out until what ever I buy is paid for. Maybe 2 to 5 years. After that, maybe I'll keep going with the outside work, or maybe I'll just do my own firewood. Gotta wait and see how these old creeking bones feel then. I'm pretty conservative, so what ever I buy, I have to assume a worst case scenario. That being that I can't make any money with it. So I'd have to come up with the monthly payment on it just from my regular teaching paycheck. If I do make any money with it, that's just frosting on the cake. Realistically, what ever I buy is really just another toy. I could just keep processing my firewood with the equipment I have now. But how many people still cut grass with an old push rotary lawn mower? We all have "our toys".

So what goodies is Santa gonna bring you?

dON <><

[genesis5521]

Genisis, I see many shortcomings on that unit. If you need it quartered like thay are doing it would be very hard on the back to bend and drag the halves back to re-split. Pulling down on that bar would also be very tiring over time. And it is slow. Why isn't it splitting while the operator is cutting the next round.

I bet I could come close to the throughput of that machine with my 6 hp standard splitter and my tractor. I split directly into 1/2 cord boxes and then stack them away till i need it. Very little handling with my system. I collect the rounds in the bucket of my tractor and then take them to the splitter. I go directly from the bucket to the splitter to the box. Almost a cord and hour. The boxes can sit in the weather of under a tarp. I forklift and set them next to my boiler. I figure I can do this till I am 80 or so. The house is about 75 degrees right now. I have to open a window.

For that much money it should at least quarter the round or power feed the saw or both.

Joe

Hi logwalker. A 4 way splitting wedge is an option on the $7958 unit.  It seems that all of these less expensive processors only do one part of the process at a time. I'm not an engineer, but I assume it has something to do with what the hydraulics can handle. But that's why I started this post. So you guys could educate me a bit on this stuff. Did you watch the video on the Badger? That's the one I was considering until I found the $7958 unit. The Badger weighs almost twice as much as the $7958 unit, but it costs more to. I don't think pulling down on the bar would bother me much. When I think of all the muscling I have to do now with just a chain saw, "any" processor has got to be easier.

dON  <><

[BcWoodWorks]

As is normal for me, I had a couple points I'd like to bring up.

Aside from the obvious safety concerns of having your hand near the the bar and chain...Did you see how that log tried to kick out, and off the processor?Something just doesn't seem right about that thing to me.

Though to be fair, I know absolutely nill about firewood processors. Just doesn't look right to me though. Also, does the log lift running off the same hydraulic pump as the saw present a technical/safety problem? It looks like when he engages the chainsaw; the log lift kicks a good bit.

[genesis5521]

Hi Don
I have been looking at processors for a long time . I really can't see the difference in this unit versus a good splitter and conveyer unit . You said you would be buying log length firewood correct . You also said you would have to buy a conveyer . I believe a good splitter and conveyer would be much more versatile than this processor . 325 pitch chain seems quite small for processing firewood in this situation , you would be sharpening all the time. Getting really clean wood in log length is almost impossible . Think long and hard on this one , you do as much work with this as you will do with a chainsaw . Don't get me wrong , it a good idea but it needs a lot of improvement from an engineering stand point . I Don't think it would be easy to sell if you were unhappy .

Hi Motohed. See, you guys are educating me a bit. I didn't realize the chain pitch could/would necessitate more frequent chain sharpening. In fact, I know nothing about chain pitch. I currently use a little Stihl M170 with a 14 inch bar. I have 4 chains for it. When one chain starts to get dull, I just put on another one. I wait until I have 3 chains that need sharpening, and then I sharpen them all at once with one of those little electric sharpeners you hook to a car battery. This doesn't take me very long and that little gizzmo does a nice job of sharpening. After I've sharpened the chains 4 times, I take them in for professional sharpening to straighten out all of the angles. I figured no matter what process I bought, I'd get 4 chains for it and use my same sharpening routine. Or is there some fallacy in my thinking?

A lot of people have said what you said about a good splitter and a conveyor being just as fast as a processor. I don't see how that's possible if your starting with unprocessed logs. With a splitter, you'd have to first buck a log, then load the rounds on the splitter, and do the splitting. In the time it would take you to just buck the log, a processor would be finished with the log. Or am I missing something.

In terms of versatility, what does that mean? If it means the ability to do bigger rounds,  I have my old splitter to do any really big rounds and really knotty wood. But I don't really get to many big or knotty rounds. Oh, like everyone else, I get the occasional rounds that seem to take forever to process. But I'd say that 99% of my rounds are straight and under 16 inches. Or did you mean something else by "versatility?

I'm not an engineer, so I don't know what to look for from that standpoint, so I appreciate your comments about that. I to think that the design concept has merit. But I don't know what to look for if I were going to change anything about it.

The way I see it, I don't compare the $7958 unit to any other processor, because there is no other processor anywhere near this price range. (The next step up price-wise is the Hus-Son Badger) I see this little $7958 unit as a step up from a splitter. Even if it were slower than a splitter, it still eliminates a lot of the handling and lifting involved in bucking and splitting wood. I'm thinking of doing just 20 to 30 cords a year. That isn't very much. That's just 2 to 3 truckloads of logs in a whole year. I think the big question is, "will it last". Will it stand up to the punishment of log after log slaming in to it and going through it. I'm trying to find out more about the company, to see how long they've been in business, and if they offer any referrals from people who have purchased this unit.

Thanks for you comments motohed. I'm learning a lot from this thread.

dON  <><

[genesis5521]

As is normal for me, I had a couple points I'd like to bring up.

Aside from the obvious safety concerns of having your hand near the the bar and chain...Did you see how that log tried to kick out, and off the processor?Something just doesn't seem right about that thing to me.

Though to be fair, I know absolutely nill about firewood processors. Just doesn't look right to me though. Also, does the  present a technical/safety problem? It looks like when he engages the chainsaw; the log lift kicks a good bit.

Hi Bc. I, like you, know nothing about processors. But I've spent the last 2 months trying to educate myself before buying one. You bring up some good points. Others have mentioned the log almost falling off the conveyor. When I first watched the video, I didn't pay particular attention to that. I was just so intrigued by its operation and performance compared to the way I do things now. But many other have noticed that to, so it must be something I need to consider. I noticed that the opposite side of the conveyor has three spindles sticking up to keep the log from rolling off the far side as it's being lifted on to the conveyor. Perhaps a simple lever could be welded on the operator side of the conveyor which could be flipped up and cause a similar series of rollers to pop up on the operator side to prevent the log from falling off.

I've watched videos of other smaller processors which had no mechanism to hold the log as it's being cut. I guess they figure that these are relatively low volume units, and as such, the user won't be "racing" through the process. (How wrong they can be!) I figure any processor is going to have it's own idiosyncrasies which the operator will become accustomed to.

Concerning the log lift running off the same hydraulic pump as the saw, what about it guys. Could this present any safety or technical problems?

Thanks for your post Bc.

dON <><

[genesis5521]

My time estimate is pretty close for the sawing and splinting.  It is from tree length on my yard.  I can actually cut it faster if I use a big saw but with the 394 or the 3120  I am wiped out after two hours.  The splitting does sometime includes my wife or son working the lever.

I have a freind that does the same with a smaller saw and splits by hand.  But he is younger an more fit that I (46 and rides a desk).

In days gone by a man was expected to produce a cord of 4 foot wood per day with an axe and a bow saw.  Fell, limb, buck, pile and usually help the teamster load.

Hi Stumper. You're pretty fast at making firewood. Having a helper is a big plus. I do "everything" alone, and probably at a more sedate pace than you, while using a smaller chain saw. I use a little Stihl M170 with a 14 inch bar. It just takes me so darn long just to find a good "legal" tree to cut. I buy the permit to take "standing dead or down trees" from the national forest. The permit is only $20 and entitles me to take up to 4 cords of wood. 3 permits a year can be purchased for a total of 12 cords. But none of this wood can be sold. It is only for self use. But finding good trees is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Luckily, I live right next to the national forest. I seldom have to travel more than 5 miles to find good trees to take. I always go out looking for "horizontal" trees after a storm. That's when some good live trees get blown over. But they're still a bear to buck and load.

Thanks for your post Stumper. And keep a-cut'n. It's good exercise for ya.

dON  <><