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Started by Stephen Alford, January 19, 2013, 09:56:08 PM

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Stephen Alford

   First heard of shearing firewood back in the eighties. These units as far as I know came from Norway or Finland.  They were mounted on the 3pt hitch of a tractor.  This one was repaired and tweaked.  Firewood was one of the primary products from woodlot enhancement work.  When forestry went  to the bottom 5-8 years ago firewood was pretty much the only game in town.  It was a way to handle the small diameter, muddy twisted wood.
   The larger diameter wood is processed on the right.  The conveyor, 4 way splitter and engine in the middle. The smaller muddy wood is handled form the left .


  Decks are loaded.


  Knife layout.


   Plastic barrels cut to working ht. are used because they are saw friendly.


  The larger wood is advanced using the knee leaving hands free to handle the saw.


   A basket is used to put the low quality and short pieces in.


  On the left the knee is also used to control the shear freeing up both hands.


  Wood is advanced.


  Wood that has been sheared.


  Wood begins to split.


  When all goes well the truck ends up with a 1.5 cd load. All is good.  :)
logon

1270d

That's quite the rig!  So when it shears, the wood shatters enough that splitting isn't needed?

thecfarm

Stephen,thank you for the tour. Now that is quite the weapon.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Stephen Alford

  Sorry 1270d it is kinda hard to tell but if you look closely there are 2 knives to the shear axe, it cuts it off and splits it at the same time then falls into the conveyor.  Hope that helps.   :)
   Did not mean to drive you crazy with all the pics cfarm, you know the dial-up thing,  You can always slip across the border and do an up close and personal. Bring gloves and don't forget the earplugs.  The word  WHAT  is  heard a lot around the weapon.  :D
logon

Okrafarmer

Nice. So you don't have to sharpen it very often, then?
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

bushmechanic

Stephen are you sure your not an engineer of sorts?

Stephen Alford

  Okra if need be just a rub with the grinder works. Usually wait till it rains or fresh snow down . Lately you can do it whenever you want.  :-\
   Well Bushmechanic I have been called worse than engineer. Usually involves the use of something called "adjectives".  :D  Can't really be sure of anything these days. Allow me to give you an example. The other day I was just working away.

 
    When I went to climb on the  ol Doll which has only been yankin wood for 34 years, I noticed there was a dang hole wore right through the clutch pedal.  :'(


 
    What were these guys thinking when they built these machines ? What could possibly cause this. Me, I am thinking " Bigfoot"  :D
logon

thecfarm

Time for a new one.  :D I would like to see that weapon in person. But I doubt it.
By the way I like your other "weapon" too,the one with the hole in it.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Okrafarmer

Stephen, that ain't nothing the welder can't fix.  Good as new, and you'll be off to get your next twitch of logs.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

Dom

A hole in the pedal!  :o Time to put that machine for sale.   :D
Nice setup Stephen. Good to see the woods are still active on PEI.
My great grand father started Arsenault Sawmill outside of Summerside (St. Chrysostome).
They are still logging, but I don't know how well its going.
When in the area, I try to visit.

Maine372

that hole is ergonomic. when you have snow or mud on your boot it lets the material pass through so your foot gets a better purchase on the pedal.  :)

gjersy

The lst tree harvester I ran in the late 80's had a shear on it, it was sure a lot less maintenance then a bar & chain. When the wood was below zero it would send the pulp stick flying, I'd shear half way through and it would pop, and fly 4 feet sometimes. Does your shear send frozen blocks of firewood flying? Neat firewood processor, I've always wondered why shear firewood processors didn't catch on more, i heard sheared firewood dries quicker to.
If life gives you lemons, throw 'em into a quart of vodka.

Stephen Alford

   Hey Dom that business grew to be one of the biggest wood harvesters on the island. At one point before the "Dark Times" they cut about 57% of the annual wood harvest. Don't know them personally but hard workers they are. First trucks you would meet in the morning and the last ones at night. The load of wood in front of the truck in the pic came from them.   :)
   Totally agree Maine372 skidders are all about comfort and purchase.   :D
    Gjersey shear wood did not go over very well at all at first. Customers were used to manually produced wood which was much neater.  However,  acceptable change usually includes a bit of compromise. Now an average load includes everything from over nighters to kindling. Got a lot of those lost sales back over time with reliability. The goal was not to waste wood from a landowners perspective and to deal with the part of the twitch  which gets muddy.

 
This is an 8 cd load produced by a ctl contractor.


 
The infeed deck is a piece of farm gear,found in the woods, used to load round bales before spears became common. Just had to take the tires off, came with a hydraulic motor so the 200$ worked.


 
Even when you grade the road there will be mud on the wood.  :)


 
logon

treefarmer87

Stephen, my clutch looks the same way.
1994 Ford L9000
2004 Tigercat 718
1998 Barko 225
1999 John Deere 748G
FEC 1550 slasher
CTR 314 Delimber
Sthil 461
Sthil 250

Dom

Quote from: Stephen Alford on January 22, 2013, 10:40:19 AM
   Hey Dom that business grew to be one of the biggest wood harvesters on the island. At one point before the "Dark Times" they cut about 57% of the annual wood harvest. Don't know them personally but hard workers they are. First trucks you would meet in the morning and the last ones at night. The load of wood in front of the truck in the pic came from them.   :)

I'm not surprised, I went to a family reunion in 06-07 and most of the people still living in the area worked for the family business. They were very proud of the business.  :) Hope the business will stick around for a bit longer as many people rely on it for work. Most dropped out of school to work at the mill or woodlots, that's all they know. I enjoy reading your posts, Keep it up! :)

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