Witch firewood processor?

[logman81]

I've really been thinking about how I can increase profits for my business and I'm thinking that getting back into selling firewood, both bulk and bundle wood. So I've been looking into small firewood processors to start up with. The two machines I'm thinking about are the built rite 18 scp and cord kings 1820. Both are self loaders which is what I need so that I don't need another machine to load it. As I may offer to do mobile processing to help pay for it. I will also like to have the integrated conveyor so it wood be a complete machine that I could take any where in one trip. I know that the built rite has a package wedge option for theirs but cord king doesn't list that as a option. Both machines seem to be pretty equal in performance, cord king claims two cord-hr as built rite claims one cord-hr. Can one be profitable nowadays doing this. I know a lot has to do with cost of raw material and what you can sell the end product for any thoughts?

[logman81]

What do think about dyna processors?

[Ivan49]

What do think about dyna processors?

I will let you know next week as I am going to their factory on Thur for a demo and tour

[logman81]

i like dynas sc 14 but they dont list a longer in feed troth option, 12' logs are shorts logs most of what is cut around here is 20' and need a machine that can handle that. ;)

[glassman_48]

logman81
I posted a couple of weeks ago that around the midwest I think the 2 best midsize processors around here are twister and dyna.  I have never used a cord king so I cant comment on them, but they have a great reputation whenever I hear them talked about.  If you plan on doing mobile processing you almost have to have a log deck to speed up the processing.  We have a young man that owns a dyna near me and he only does mobile processing if you have a machine to load the logs onto his log deck.  I had my twister firewood processor custom designed so I could concentrate on mobile processing.  I have a 14' fold out conveyor and a live deck and the machine was built extra long so I can load up to 20' logs onto the log deck.  My machine has a 38 hp kohler motor and I wish I would of gotten at least a 50 hp.  My machine will do 2 pulp cords an hour.  Twister takes crooked logs better than any other machine I have seen and we have a bunch of crooked logs and tops around here.  Dyna has a nice log deck with 3 uprights so you can put the shorter 100" logs on the main 2 uprights or logs that are longer onto the 3rd upright.  The dyna guys around here dont like their offload conveyor because they think its to narrow.  If you get some big wood its hard to keep the conveyor from getting overloaded.  If you get a 1 cord per hour machine it would take one long long day just to get 10 pulp cords processed at a mobile location.  I am 60 years old and when I process mobile at a friends I will set up the afternoon before and get 1/4 to 1/3 done that day so the next day isnt so long.  If my 30 year old son is with me then we can get it done in a day.  Just trying to give you some things to think about.  good luck ed   

[Ivan49]

logman81
I posted a couple of weeks ago that around the midwest I think the 2 best midsize processors around here are twister and dyna.  I have never used a cord king so I cant comment on them, but they have a great reputation whenever I hear them talked about.  If you plan on doing mobile processing you almost have to have a log deck to speed up the processing.  We have a young man that owns a dyna near me and he only does mobile processing if you have a machine to load the logs onto his log deck.  I had my twister firewood processor custom designed so I could concentrate on mobile processing.  I have a 14' fold out conveyor and a live deck and the machine was built extra long so I can load up to 20' logs onto the log deck.  My machine has a 38 hp kohler motor and I wish I would of gotten at least a 50 hp.  My machine will do 2 pulp cords an hour.  Twister takes crooked logs better than any other machine I have seen and we have a bunch of crooked logs and tops around here.  Dyna has a nice log deck with 3 uprights so you can put the shorter 100" logs on the main 2 uprights or logs that are longer onto the 3rd upright.  The dyna guys around here dont like their offload conveyor because they think its to narrow.  If you get some big wood its hard to keep the conveyor from getting overloaded.  If you get a 1 cord per hour machine it would take one long long day just to get 10 pulp cords processed at a mobile location.  I am 60 years old and when I process mobile at a friends I will set up the afternoon before and get 1/4 to 1/3 done that day so the next day isnt so long.  If my 30 year old son is with me then we can get it done in a day.  Just trying to give you some things to think about.  good luck ed

When these are rated as 1 cord an hour I thought it was a full cord. This is a question that I am going to ask. With my home made one I can do over a cord an hour when I put the elevator on it. When I talked to the factory rep the other day she sent me some info and I thought the conveyer sounded real narrow. I think it said it was 8 inches wide. I am using an aluminum one that was built for grain and it is about that width. It world ok until you start getting into the larger splits then it has a back up because of the width. I tried making a pabe to feed it but it just made it worse. If I cut without splitting it has no problem keeping up 

[logman81]

Yes they are rated at full cords 128cubic ft. The conveyor is 18" wide. My concern is the limited log length of 12' all of the logs around here are 20' as that is the length of the log truck.

[Ivan49]

Up this way most of the wood that is bought is around 8 1/2 foot or in that area. These are made about 60 miles south of me and I will ask about that also

[logman81]

Thanks ivan49 , I'm curious to know if that's an option .

[glassman_48]

Ivan,
I turned an old potato conveyor into a firewood conveyor that one was about 12" wide and worked fine for the 1 cord per hour machine I had.  I also purchased an old hay conveyor with a small engine on it thats about 2 foot wide that I dont have a use for anymore.  (I was using a demo firewood processor without a conveyor at the time) That conveyor is at my brother in laws in Mesick.  As soon as the snow gets out of the woods a guy is coming to get the potato conveyor.  I just kept one conveyor in Mesick and one up at my house so I wouldnt have to transport another piece of equipment around.  Logman were you talking about dynas conveyor being 18" wide?  Just curious, my buddies dyna machine seemed a lot narrower than mine.  I never measured either one of them though.  Ivan if you google twister firewood processor I think it was jan.2012 you can see a picture of what I did with my potato conveyor in the background.  That works real well and I could roll it around by myself unless going uphill.  That one has an electric motor on it.

[logman81]

Yes dynas conveyors are either. 16" or 18" wide forgot which one. I really like the idea of the attached conveyor makes it real easy to move to another location if needed. Built rite and cord king both have that option as well.

[Ivan49]

Yes dynas conveyors are either. 16" or 18" wide forgot which one. I really like the idea of the attached conveyor makes it real easy to move to another location if needed. Built rite and cord king both have that option as well.

If you look at some of there vids the conveyor does not look that wide but they may be old vids.
  I looked for a hay conveyor when I built mine but had no luck as they had beed junked and sold for scrap. The belt conveyor I thought was a good idea. I saw a sand conveyor being used once and they have rubber paddles every so many feet and it worked good, but had a lot of weight to them when moving around

[logman81]

I have watched all of their vids, their is mention in one of them that the conveyor is 16" wide.

[glassman_48]

logman,
thanks for that info, now I am curious as to how wide mine is on my twister.  My infeed log belt I think is 12" wide its flat rubber not a chain and paddle type which is why it catches the crooked logs easier.  I would not ever buy another processor unless it had an attached conveyor.  Ivan, if you need another conveyor, let me know I will give you my brother in laws address you can look at mine.  I will give the forum some money for the sale.  He owns hilltop maintenance just off of c-42 highway near mesick.  I helped a young guy last fall I used my tractor and he used his dyna sc-14 and I remember the conveyor seeming to jam up some near the base.  We were also doing boiler wood at 20" so that might have been part of the problem. 

[Ford_man]

I got a Dyna Sc 14 Last summer the conveyer is 16 at the top and angles to 12 for the belt, I got the 14 ft conveyer, I also had them make it with an additional 10 ft of feed trough I have run 40ft logs on it with no problem, I have a 2 strand deck and have no problem . the reason for only 2 strand is I can push it farther back in my woodshed to eliminate carrying the wood to stack it. The only problem I had was the wedge raising until I stopped running the tops in first. The 10 ft extra length cost me $1000 but is well worth it . I love the machine.

[r.man]

Logman, here is a link to a thread on Cord King that might be helpful. https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,74529.0.html
I also think that their guarantee might be used to persuade another manufacturer to issue a similar one on a one off basis to a motivated buyer. Worth the try. To me all the machines look good and they are all better than no machine but if I was buying a machine for business I would time the splitter cycle and make sure the blocks land properly in the splitter most of the time.

[glassman_48]

r.man
well said about the cycle time, my machine has 6 second cycle time, at first that time worked out well, but I am so much quicker on my machine now.  Thats why I wished I would of gotten a bigger motor and quicker spltter time.  To get the ideal machine for my situation its gonna be over 40 grand new.  A lot of my money in this business comes from mobile processing, with my machine I can cut up to 20" long which most boiler guys will accept and with my 4 way wedge down I can cut one log (all 6 pieces) and push all my smaller stuff through and only the bottom piece of wood gets split.  If I could design the perfect machine for myself it would have the flat rubber belt on the infeed to take the crooked logs better the machine would do 3 pulp cords per hour and have an attached fold out chain conveyor.  I have also wondered if many of the manufacturers rate their cords per hour on their machines with 20 or 30' logs.  Like Ivan said most of our logs around here are 100" logs.  My best time ever on my machine was at my sisters where we had 12' logs to process. 

[logman81]

Thanks guys this is good info, ford man I'd like to here more about your machine. What motor does it have ? What options does it have ? I'm thinking about this model , pretty much the same thing but extend the feed troth another four feet so I can do  20' logs. Has anything broke on the machine?

[logman81]

Ok guys I got some more info on the dyna processor, they do offer custom feed troth frame extensions , they also offer re genitive circuit for splitter and even custom paint! I'm liking the sound of these! Question is can a guy make the payments and still make money with it? Around here bulk seasoned wood sells for between 225-275 cord and green 165-185 cord .

[glassman_48]

logman,
I took money out of my retirement account to purchase a processor.  I am glad I did, because I did not have an established customer base.  I sold wood for 75 bucks a face cord plus tax and a small delivery charge.  I paid my help, but not myself for a couple of years. Down here I dont have the space to purchase green wood in bulk, so I pay a premium for year and a half old wood which I sell the smaller stuff right away.  I process it right into my dump trailer so I dont have to handle it. My customers all know exactly what I do so there arent any surprises.   When I got my bigger processor I started mobile processing which helped, then I started selling eco bricks, and next year maybe wood pellets.  I do have a friend that lives up your way that sells dyna processors, his name is bill thams.  I shared space with him at a couple of logging shows. If you want contact info, let me know.  thanks ed

[Ford_man]

Logman81: my Dyna SC 14 has the 40 HP Kohler gas engine, It has the 14 Ft belt conveyor,I have the 4 way and the 6 way wedge, I had 10 ft added to the length of the feed conveyor, 2 strand log deck. My grandson runs the machine and I get to load the deck. If we have short logs I have to hustle to keep up with him.
When we stack off the conveyor it takes 2 good men to keep up,Or 3 High school kids. The only thing that I had a problem with was a valve I called them at 11AM and had the new valve the next morning. I have run about 75 cord so far I like the machine.

[deere540]

I've got a Built-Rite model 18.  It's been a great little machine.  I can do a cord (128 cu ft) by myself in an hour, much more if I have help to feed the machine.  I've only had very minor repairs (broken hose, bent bar (my fault)).  Parts are off the shelf components.  I built a live deck for mine, with a stop and loader.  I like the idea of the built in conveyor, making the machine self contained. I think you would be happy with any of the machines talked about on this thread. 

[logman81]

Thanks ford man that how I would want mine setup seems like the way to go.

[glassman_48]

logman81
The other thing that nobody mentioned on this segment was the amount of safety protection in and around where your cutting the log at.   If a chain breaks and you dont have a metal cage in front of you then I think you would be in trouble.  My machine has quite a large cage built right around the whole area where the chain is running.  I even added a piece of 1/8 lexan onto that screen to be even safer and it also helps cut down on sawdust.  I wish I could figure out how to post a picture I would put a really crooked log on to show how the infeed trough works.

[r.man]

If you want to see safety you need to look at a European machine. Danger areas are very often screened and interlocked to cut down on risk.