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firewood processor

Started by sjfarkas, May 24, 2009, 03:53:48 PM

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sjfarkas

I hope this is in an alright spot to post.  I saw this and thought I should share it with everybody.  This link is to a video.
http://www.firewoodprocessor.net/fp160video.htm
I want one even though I hate firewood.
Always try it twice, the first time could've been a fluke.

beenthere

sj
Wish I hadn't looked at those videos.. ;D ;D

That looks like a pretty handy rig.

Now, I plan to go out and do some blocks by hyd. splitter..one block at a time and one splitter bar.  :)
I'll be thinkin of this outfit when I do.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

tonto

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to portability. I wonder if it's a lot cheaper than a full fledged processor, has to be.
Stihl MS441 & Husqvarna 562XP. CB5036 Polaris Sportsman 700 X2. Don't spend nearly enough time in the woods.

sjfarkas

When I saw it I had to inquire about the cost.  the reply was $24,900.  Don't need it that much.
Always try it twice, the first time could've been a fluke.

gunman63

to my thinking, looks good in the video, watched them before in person,  takes  to much time to get the stick and move around, small dia wood is way to slow, 4-6" size, and think of the times your 8' stack rolls down and criss-crosses.

beenthere

gunman63
Is that any different (moving the stick around) from having to move the sticks from a deck to a processor and set them down with some kind of loader?  (That requires a second operator and a second machine).


In the video, the split pile seemed to be a fair ways from the log deck, but by the time those logs were split, prolly would become a shorter distance.

I was curious as to how well the operator could see what was happening with the rig raised that high. But he seemed to know when there was a block crooked or split pieces hung up. He shook them about pretty well to correct the problem.

Not sure how many processing jobs this would fit, but maybe some of the firewood processors here would venture a comment. Just looked pretty handy to me.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

StorminN

That's a pretty neat unit... I've heard of these before, but never saw a video... thanks for the link!

I think the neatest firewood processor video I've seen is The Chomper... I'd love to see one in person (or own it)... and the smallest one is $17k?
http://www.chomper.net/

http://www.chomper.net/video.html

-Norm.
Happiness... is a sharp saw.

gunman63

beenthere... to me with this processor, your moving one stick at a time, with a set of forks your moving 6 to 12 at a time, and depending on how your piling your 8' wood, your spilt pile is going to be bigger and take more room,  yes u can scatter your 8' pilesout, takes more room too.
  as far as  the second machine, the skidsteer is your second machine no matter loading your processor or runnign this one,  yes your one  operator with this, as u can with any processor.
   Still think your smaller wood is goin to give u troubles when it rolls down the pile both criss crossing and one end higher  than the other, like when one end is one the ground, and one end is up a foot laying on another log,, but like any processor theres good and bad about any of  them

sjfarkas

The chomper looks pretty cool.  The problem here in CA is that the diesel emissions regulations are kicking in soon and the more equipment you own the worse of your going to be.  This emissions crap will put a hurt on CA trucking, equipment, and Agriculture.  That's where the skid steer unit would be handy.  only one engine to retrofit.
Always try it twice, the first time could've been a fluke.

gunman63

I think some of the scandanavian  processors  can be fitted with electric motors, sure they become stationary then , but quiet

woodmills1

I actually own one of the chomper prototypes.  It was an earlier model the also has a conveyor on it.



James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

beenthere

woodmills
What is your assessment of the chomper you have? How does it do with hardwoods?
Guess I can see it being more adaptable to the western softwoods, and some of the less dense hardwoods, but not so fair on ash, oak, and maple.

Seems like a design that would work well for a processor.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

redprospector

I've got a Chomper Simplex 14 with the auto option, and a home made conveyor.
It works pretty good, about a cord an hour if you keep your logs 30 to 40 ft long, and don't get too small in diameter.

Andy
1996 Timber King B-20 with 14' extension, Morgan Mini Scragg Mill, Fastline Band Scragg Mill (project), 1973 JD 440-b skidder, 2008 Bobcat T-320 with buckets, grapple, auger, Tushogg mulching head, etc., 2006 Fecon FTX-90L with Bull Hog 74SS head, 1994 Vermeer 1250 BC Chipper. A bunch of chainsaws.

firefighter

great video ,it sure worked slick .

woodmills1

I bought the chomper to process my sawmill slabs when I lived on an acre and a third.  It did really well at that.  Since I moved here I hardly run it.  I did some 10 inch hard wood and it did ok but would some times take two cycles on old dry wood.
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Woodhog

That chomper looked pretty cool but it was splitting some nice wood, I wonder how it would do on firewood quality stuff, small diameter all bent and crooked...

The blade idea is really good...

redprospector

Quote from: Woodhog on May 26, 2009, 09:27:05 PM
That chomper looked pretty cool but it was splitting some nice wood, I wonder how it would do on firewood quality stuff, small diameter all bent and crooked...

The blade idea is really good...

The smaller the diameter, the less wood is produced. I guess they are all that way. I upgraded the engine on mine from the 18 horse Honda, to a 35 horse briggs. It hasn't balked at anything I've put through it. If I'm processing 13 to 14 inch diameter logs they have to be pretty straight, the smaller they get, the more crooked they can get.
I like the shear blade idea, no sawdust to clean up, and it's entertaining to watch.

Andy
1996 Timber King B-20 with 14' extension, Morgan Mini Scragg Mill, Fastline Band Scragg Mill (project), 1973 JD 440-b skidder, 2008 Bobcat T-320 with buckets, grapple, auger, Tushogg mulching head, etc., 2006 Fecon FTX-90L with Bull Hog 74SS head, 1994 Vermeer 1250 BC Chipper. A bunch of chainsaws.

sawdust


I have spent many hours running a chomper. I love the thing, something actually gets done. this one is the automatic with the JD turbo diesel on it. Not mine unfortunately. My log builder buddy has all kinds of good toys, I have been sawing lately at his place. Logging/milling/drying,planing how on earth can money be made? All the support equipment. I look at a 2by6 in a store and think that maybe it's not so expensive after all.
Walk a mile  ;)

David
comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

Randy88

Looked at it and ran it, nice idea but its plagued with problems and the high cost were a bit rediculous, on top of the 25grand add on a 40 grand skidsteer and it has to be about the biggest model made to handle the one ton weight of the unit alone let alone what wood your picking up and you do about a cord an hour is about it which isn't so bad but your limited to about 15 inches and most of the material your doing is probably 10 or less and that can be thrown into most outdoor furnaces without splitting so all you gain is to cut to length.   As for real bent wood any length, probably not going to happen and yes you have to run around with the unit and pick stuff up like its stated and thats a wash out for needing another machine but what you don't realize is your putting the sawdust, bark and all into the pile of split wood, most processors spit the sawdust out into a pile and bark falls off around the processor, on this sweep it all up and chuck it into the pile along with the wood and after a while it adds up.   It does have protability and the perfect option to be run from the warmth of the cab but most processors today have cabs as options too.   Its been refined several times and will continue to be changed as ideas come along but the biggest drawback is the total cost of the unit with a skid steer, that alone with buy the nicest processor on the market with cab, heat and air and conveyor and will seperate sawdust and put the firewood into a large pile without handling the wood twice.  As for visability, it depends on the skidsteer your using but all the viewing of cutting and splitting are done out the side window looking up, the only time you look directly ahead is when your picking up a log otherwise everything is done out the side window and you don't have as nice a view as the from the video angle thats for sure, maybe its a drawback to view it from the seat of the skidsteer in a video.   I'd definately recommend to run one before placing an order or taking delivery, you might walk away with a different prospective on it compared to the video.

spencerhenry

it may cost 25 grand, but all the processors i have looked at cost way more than that. it may not fit everybody's operation, but i think it has some great advantages over a stand alone unit. being able to put the split wood pile where ever you want is huge. i have seperate piles for different species, and i dont like having my log pile right next to the split pile. i talked to the people at Hahn machinery, the ones who are developing this attatchment, they tell me that it has a production capacity of 2.5 cords per hour. a stand alone unit with that capacity is about double in cost. with a stand alone unit it takes up alot of valuable yard space, and is one more machine to have ownership tax on. i am in the process of ramping up my firewood business, and if in the need for a processor i will give this one serious consideration. it is a new unit, but improvements have been made since the video was put out there. the big improvement they tell me is preventing the last piece from getting jammed or out of position.

gunman63

watched a new one  operate the other day, has both goods and bads, nice straight decent wood they are ok,  but one moving one stick at a time to far is time consuming, small wood  is tough to load into it when its cockeyed in the pile, bigger knotty wood is tough onit and sticks at times. but as with everythign it has its goods and bads, good thing is one operator, but i didnt see him 2.5 cords a hr, more like 1

Randy88

I ran it and theres no way to get much over a cord an hour, your not processing big enough wood to turn that kind of production, the guy thats testing it for them has put the most hours on one of anybody and he claims its a cord per hour machine and thats all.    Theres too much time spent chasing individual sticks and running between log pile and split wood pile.   

It has potential and in time someone will fix all the problems and lower the cost and it'll make a homeowner a nice machine but 500-1000 cords per year, can't see it happening, nobody will wear out a high priced skid steer to split wood full time, its just an attachment to add to a skid steer not turn a skid steer into a full time processor.   It has a tremendous market for the homeowners who want to share a unit between several individuals to do their own on weekends, so if two or three people go together and invest in one and share it to divide the costs and do about 50-100 cords per year total it'll be a great attachment to add to the skid steer arsenal like post hole diggers and buckets, bale spears and the 100 other attachments to go on them but thats all it is an attachment for occasional use.   

Stand alone processors are designed for years of use and thousands of hours or tens of thousand of cords of wood in their lifetime, I've talked to the folks at hann also and they claimed it was an attachment to go onto a skid steer to add versatility to a skid steer, they never claimed to turn a skid steer into a full time processor, theres a big difference.   

I'd suggest to compare the unit side by side with other processors and compare actual cords per hour processed and quality of construction and talk to those who have run it and to run it yourself first hand and see what its like, after running it myself I walked away with a whole differnt perspective than what I had beforehand and I've run most of the processors on the market to see for myself what it was like.   Don't get me wrong its a nice idea but they didn't come up with it they bought it from someone else and are improving on someone elses design and having others product test it for them and make suggestions as to what and how to change it.

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