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WoodEze Firewood Processor

Started by DeerMeadowFarm, May 23, 2017, 01:39:44 PM

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DeerMeadowFarm

I picked up a WoodEze processor this past February. I bought it from a really nice guy in VT. I looked at it last summer and apparently I was the only one who showed interest in it. We worked out a deal and he delivered it to me. Unfortunately, it didn't work! We spent some time fooling around with it, but we had no luck. I gave the guy $100 for fuel and we worked it out that I'd keep it and once I got it to run, I'd pay him the balance less the amount I had to put into it.

We knew the flow control was troublesome, but I wanted to check the pump as well. My nephew works for a company that builds and services buckets, booms, etc. for trucks so I borrowed a flow meter from him and checked the pump; very poor flow. I ordered a new pump, a flow control valve that fellow WoodEze owner Marty Lapin suggested (Thanks!), replaced the suction and output lines and it worked!

Marty has made a lot of great ideas/improvements that I plan to incorporate into my machine as well. The first one will be to hard-mount the pump to the unit to the tongue of the machine. The pump, along with it's large cumbersome hoses are a pain to wrestle on and off the tractor. Details to follow. Meanwhile, below are some photos of the unit now and some of the upgrades/repairs I have made.

This is a view from the tongue end. You can see the new pump and hoses for it. I also replaced the broken jack with an exact replacement I just had hanging around!


 

This is a side/quartering view. You can see the 4-way, back side of the winch, and the tires I replaced as the old ones were dry-rotted and only one held air longer than a week.


 

I replaced the bar, chain and sprocket. It came with the original 404 bar but it had a 3/8 chain and sprocket on it!


 

DeerMeadowFarm

I did some more updates. I didn't like having to wrestle the pump on and off of the PTO shaft. I had to remove my guard off the tractor, put it on and then chain it up so it wouldn't rotate. I had a brand new PTO shaft so I built a mount to accept the pump and now it stays attached to the machine. I just hook up to the hitch, connect the driveshaft (like any other implement) and I'm good to go!


 


 

I made a mount for my new flow control valve as well:


 

Next I worked on the winch. There was no fairlead, just some rebar welded in a loop to "guide" the cable. I bought a fairlead, made a heavy duty bracket and replaced the rusty frayed cable with a brand new one (still on the spool with shrink-wrap on it) that my company bought years ago, decided they didn't need it since they never used it and threw it out....


 


 

DeerMeadowFarm

I ran it last Tuesday night after work for the first time since I made the pump mount and added the fairlead. I ran six 12' to 20' logs through it in 45 minutes. No speed record for sure, but on the plus side I never had to lift anything heavier than the winch cable, I wasn't all sweaty or tired at all! I think I can gain speed with experience and a few more improvements:
1. I want to re-locate the winch button near the winch itself or convert it to a wireless remote. Right now the button is near the operator's location, but this requires that you walk around the machine, play cable out, hook up the log, walk around the machine, actuate the button to winch the log in, walk around the machine, unhook the cable, then walk around again to begin processing. Moving the switch would eliminate two trips per log.
2. I need to add a cable hook and/or a spot to keep a Peavey near the winch end. I had a couple of logs I processed last night that I struggled to get the cable under/around.
3. A friend of mine who has one of these came up with a cut-to-length mod would definitely help as well. I hope to complete that conversion this summer.

Photo from last night:


 

DeerMeadowFarm

Stacked the pile I did in the photo above. Turned out to be 1/2 full cord. So that puts me at 1-1/2 hours per cord. Not great, but it's a start!

Hilltop366

This is great, it would suite my needs just fine.

DeerMeadowFarm

Quote from: Hilltop366 on June 21, 2017, 04:24:01 PM
This is great, it would suite my needs just fine.

Yes I think it's perfect for me as well. Saves me time and my back. They are hard to find however...

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