Firewood processing with the Cord King M18-20 and other firewood topics.
Hello and welcome to Millstone Firewood. My intention is to show some of the work I do with my firewood business and also some repair and maintenance tasks. Videos on my Cord King firewood processor will be fairly common. I'll be doing videos on firewood subjects and the never ending repairs and maintenance of various equipment.
I also have a small electronics lab. Videos on some electronics subjects may appear once in a while.
Lastly, I work a full time job as a tugboat engineer so the firewood business and RU-vid channel is my side hustle. My video upload schedule will be fairly inconsistent.
Thank you very much for watching my channel. If you have any questions or want to see something specific, please get in touch.
Just had a gentleman tell me cast iron couldn’t be welded. My son is going through welding school and said yes dad it can with the right equipment and know how. Thanks for your video. My dad was a welder for 42 years. Hats off to you and saving your Cast Iron.
@@timdimon8214 it's definitely not my favorite thing to weld and I'm not that good at it. But that was one of my favorite pans so I had to try to save it. It still gets almost daily use. Thanks for watching!
On your infeed deck, in the industry we call the device your looking for is called a Stop & Loader they are hydraulic powered. we don't normally have teeth or attachments on the log deck chains.
@@NormanStrobel that was the first thing I thought of. The pump would work fine for a while. It's just very sensitive to any dirt. Generally it's a just a poor quality pump . I've already started replacing it.
Yes, periodically. I make small batches. I'm looking for a practical way to make larger piles of it. We use it for camping and it was my intention to try selling it. Haven't gotten that far yet.
started up my Cord King (m18-20) this week. What a beautiful machine. Had an issue with the mechanical switch that activates the saw. Had to take it apart and clean it. Like you I never go over 18", anything bigger I use a chainsaw. Not worth the grief.
The pump doesn't use a spider. It's a different type of coupling. Not sure what you call it. I'll have to get back to you or you can just contact Cord King directly.
...many thanks for posting this video....I'm in the process of repowering my 30 year old log splitter and the explanation you give for the lovejoy coupling and spider insert is going to be very helpful... 🙂
Ouch! That's sounds painful. I've had pieces pop out at me before. Had one chunk come out and actually bend the aft support for the shield. Happened very fast. Thanks for watching!
I've thought about hooking up an electric brake controller to mine for this exact same reason. What are you using for the 3 point connection? I've seen a few of those with a 2inch receiver made into them on Amazon but they all look like they'd snap with a good size dump trailer.
I'm using a 3pt trailer adapter that I got from Everything Attachments. I have my multi-ball hitch installed. So far it shows no signs of bending or breaking.
I’ve experienced the same in the North Carolina mountains with my tractor and 16 foot 8 ton dump trailer. In fact, I have been pushed down a hill toward a pond with a heavy load of soil in a fully jack-knifed position (e.g. trailer tongue pressed against the rear tractor tire). 😮 The ideal solution - for around $100, I purchased and installed an electric brake controller and 7-pin socket with harness, which provided excellent downhill trailer braking. In fact, the heavily loaded dual trailer axles and 4 independent wheel brakes far exceed the braking power of the tractor, allowing you to maintain perfect control even on steep slopes.
That sounds scary. I just installed the brake controller for my pickup truck. I hadn't thought of that for the tractor. Great idea! I will definitely be looking into this. Thank you very much!
Have you considered backing down the hill? Or backing up near the log deck to try to straighten out the angle before going down the hillside?. I know the feeling of sliding sideways on a machine with a trailer. It is scary. I wish cameras could do a better job of showing angles.
@@Millstone_Firewood ahh ok missed that part. Love the 18-20 processor though. I was going to buy one but ended up getting a Halverson 140b to be a bit more mobile in my yard. It’s just the way my setup is.
I have a weight box. But I also have to move the dump trailer which I can't do while the box is installed. It's a lot of work to install and remove the box. So it's a trade off. I have to cut the logs shorter so the tractor can lift them. I'm trying to come up with a better solution. Possibly a quick change 3PT hitch arrangement. Not sure yet.
Any issues with the bar oiler pump? Mine seems to be working but not pumping oil. About to take it off and inspect more and possibly replace. Its a fuel pump
Yes mine gave me a lot of trouble at first. One pump was bad. Probably damaged from sucking in dirt I installed a filter on the inlet. I also had to fix the ground wire which was not making a good connection. If this pump fails, I'll install a better gear pump.
@@Millstone_Firewood i just ordered the same pump which comes with filter. It didnt have one on it and im assuming its a hard pull for that little pump pulling oil instead of fuel. Well hopefully it works, thanks for your reply!!
@@fritz1022 mine has been working for almost 2 years since I installed the filter. But yes it's a hard pull. But it's not necessary to pump tons of oil to the bar.
looks like one conveyor bar is loose . looks good making fire wood so fast. also if you hold the log longer on the up hill side it won't flip down hill so easy....
Hi John! Nothing is loose that I'm aware of. And yes, I actually figured out that holding more of the log on the uphill side really helps. Feeling the tractor starting to tip over is very unnerving!
It varies. Most of the logs are between 18 to 28 ft. There are a few shorter ones. I have to cut most of them at least in half just so my tractor can lift them.
Even though it’s almost a year old, it’s still a good honest video. It’s great to hear what you’ve encountered after running it through the seasons. Cord King should hook you up if you buy a new one! Good Content, thank you.
Thanks very much! I appreciate that! I'm still pleased with it. It's big enough to get the job done and small enough to be able to easily move it to a customer for onsite processing.
Yes. Pretty much the whole one side is cut out. Then I took the plastic that I cut out and shoved it in between the plastic and the frame to help hold the sawdust in. That gives me a 12-in gap at the top that I put the sawdust shoot into. Works great.
It's a great machine. Fast and tough. I haven't found too many logs that it can't handle. The sawdust in the IBC totes I pick it up with the forks on the tractor. Usually it gets shoveled into the chicken coop and around the apple trees. If I want to actually dump it, I put a ratchet strap around it and the back of the forks. Then I dump it in the mulch pile. Thanks for watching!
I enjoy your matter-of-fact speaking style, better than any of your RU-vid 'competitors.' Doing things off the cuff is easy to say to do, but is different, when actually having to do it, but you do well at this. Just wondering your first name?
I'm back ! If you want to get rid of the noise, take off the muffler and braze a metal flex hose to a plate [ hand made ] and mount it where the muffler was. wire on the flex hose in a jug of water. Ta da no noise!
@@Millstone_Firewood My uncle brazed a flex pipe [ I think its called electircal flex pipe ] on his chainsaw and wired a gallon bleach onto the saws handle bar half full of water and the only noise was the chain chewing on the wood. Also you can adjust how fast or slow it works , but cant say where on valve to ajust. There was or is a company called Northern Hydrolics that has a page that tells you what HP motor, cylinder and pump go together. Iv'e seen V 8 motors hooked up to an 8 inch cylinder and i laughed as it was so over powered. You might ask someone who knows about those fittings, as O'm pretty sure you don't use tape on them. I built my splitter so the table was waist high with a 3 foot table to sit wood on,. I wielded a 3/4 inch piece of angle iron around the edges to keep the wood from rattling off the table. I put the chunk of wood on the table and split it , then pushed half to one side while I split the other half. Not having to pick up anything as it stayed on the table. I built foot peddles so i could use both hands while splitting, once finished with the round of wood , i stepped on the down peddle and reached over and grabbed another round of wood, That is where the ''retern to center ''comes in handy. If you want to see my spliter , send me your address and i will send a picture. My e mail address is at the top.
Thank you for the information. I actually do understand hydraulic fittings since I work with them frequently. My go-to product is a thread sealant called Gasoila. Good stuff. But yes, you can use tape on the NPT threads as long as you do it properly. My splitter operates either horizontally or vertically. I mostly use it in the vertical position since now I only use it for the occasional log that's too big for the Cord King. That way I don't have to lift the logs. You should post a video of your splitter. Sounds interesting.
Thanks for making this video! You had some good tips. I am going to be tackling my first valve replacement soon, and was not born with the handy-man genes. Neither were a couple other guys who made videos of their jobs, and man, did they make a mess! Yours was clear, with good advice on being prepared for fluid coming out of the cylinder and how to get that high-pressure hose on and off. Wish me luck! I hope I have all the tools I need.
I'm really glad you like it and I hope it helps you. While you're at it, don't forget to check your Lovejoy coupling and spider. Thank you for the wonderful comment! Good luck with your project.
It's a necessary task. Otherwise it builds up and you can't work because of it. One thing I like about doing processing for customers... the debris is theirs to clean up. LOL! Thanks for watching!!
If you had to do it again, my guess is you'd buy orange and blue... Seems a ton is niggling issues on that machine and the customer is the beta tester.
Not at all. Cord King has been around for a very long time. Their machines are awesome. Anything mechanical is going to have issues. Have you watched "In The Woodyard" ? His machine also has little issues. But just like Cord King, the manufacturer stands behind their product and helps resolve problems asap. Cord King has treated me very well. The main difference between the companies is, Cord King offers machines for different levels of production. Meaning a machine that I could actually afford. The other company only offers large processors that are way out of my price range. If I had to do it again, I'd get a BIGGER Cord King. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching!
That was the main reason I bought it. We burn 10-13 cords every year depending on the weather. I just couldn't physically keep up doing it the old way. It used to take me months for what I can now do in a weekend. Selling firewood has been a good side hustle and it helps pay for the machine. Thanks for watching!
Good to see your machine up and running again. I saw you fighting with the hydraulic lines. How I combat that problem is shut my tractor off and then wiggle all of the function levers for the implement before disconnecting the lines. . I had used a machine that was electric over hydraulic. For that machine I had to turn the key back on. Great content.
That's exactly what I do. The 3rd function valve is connected directly to the battery. So what I do is shut off the engine and let all the pressure off the lines before I disconnect. The problem happens most of the time because there is almost always a big change in ambient temperature here. So if I disconnect when it's cold, then the temp warms up, the fluid expands just enough to make it impossible to reattach the lines. It's infuriating. I have a solution, just need to get it set up. Thanks for watching!!!
