Tony is still a great salesman. He introduces the product and allows the product to sell itself. And having grown up around folks from eastern Europe and later Wisconsin, I love his accent. For me it is comforting.
Yeah it hit me hard, because i can see myself doing that. It cemented into my memory way better than if they had just said it. If i bought that, I can't see myself forgetting it now.
Nice machine! A few other channels have them but Tony does a good review! It’s definitely a back saver. I think the conveyor will pick up better when that flap wears in a little. I also think it will work better if the conveyor is at a lower angle. You did have it at a very high grade/angle. Thanks for another episode of “TONYS TOYS” GNI
Check out the mod this guy's done on the conveyer to make it work better. It's at the 8:08 mark of the vid. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vjhnK0dRviQ.html
WOOOOW, that splitter is a beast. Thank you for sharing all the ins and outs of setting up and running the machine. I've seen different channels use this machine and I've never seen the points that you showed. Thanks to Tony for sharing his machine and thanks to both of you for sharing this video with us.
The bark and smaller tree pieces should be saved into 5 gallon bucket’s to start fires with or simply burn in your outdoor boiler. Waste nothing and you will want nothing. A buddy of mine heats his house and shop with an outdoor boiler and literally being out in the boonies, his nearest neighbor is 38 miles away he burns his trash and once a year loads up his 1 ton dump truck and hauls all the scrap metal cans and other items that are steel based. He said his last trip paid him just over $30.00. Food for thought
Great video Chris! We really appreciate you guys putting it together to show us window shoppers the pros and cons of the machine. I also agree with Stuart, there doesn't appear to be much room for error with the wedge coming down that close to your fingers. Especially with that pedal. Like driving a vehicle, we can get froggy with it sometimes. I could tell that was concern too from the way you were holding it. Regarding the tranfer to the basket, it may help the wood transfer to basket a little easier if Tony lowered the conveyor. That's a significant incline before it tranfers to the basket. I'm sure he'll figure it out. Thanks again for sharing the experience with us.
Tony, Growing up we had a small farm (6 acres) which we farmed with a tiller (8 tine, with a 16 HP Tecumseh, yeah it was a beast, it would drag you down the row, like breaking a bronco), after I left home my dad had a friend take the handlebars off and mount a 3 point hitch to it and put it on a Sears 16 HP garden tractor which he primarily used for just turn plowing and rowing, in his later years he got an attachment for the Tecumseh (looked like just a bolt that mounted on the rope wind and a socket for his drill and he would start it with the drill, worked like a charm... if you're curious, we had a process where we would start with 2 of us at one end of the field (700' rows) and one at the other, one of us would take it to one end, the other would take over and run it back and so on an so forth, it would take us about 6-8 hours (depending on the field condition) to till between the rows of the 6 acres... long hot... hot... days but rewarding, at harvest time we would take the 68 VW bus, take the center seat out and ride the rows breaking corn and tossing it in to the bus and taking it to the farmers market, renting a stall and selling fresh sweet corn, cucumbers, squash etc. , late 60's early 70's... good times and life lessons.
I've watched every youtuber demoing the axis and this was by far the best overall coverage of the setup issues. I am more than interested in purchasing one but waiting to see a Kubota diesel version. As we get older the higher work table and conveyor into the totes make perfect sense to me. Just one word of caution. Get in the habit of keeping your thumbs on the side of the blocks. One moment of inattention and you are missing an important digit.
@@AATreeService 2 years later...nice! I just see more reliability from my diesel engines than gas-powered ones that are not used continually. Gas goes stale and carburetors get gummed up. Diesel might not be an option on the Axis but they do put them on some of their other high performing splitters. I was intrigued by the electric option but you need 3 phase service which I do not have.
@@briansilver9652 I was just wondering that’s all. The cost for a diesel is about 3-4 times the cost of a gas engine so that’s what really got me. I have never had any issues with any of my gas engines as long as I run an ounce or 2 of sea foam for gas stabilizer and water displacer before I store them for winter
Down below the table, it appears to have 2 fork channels to use with the forks of a tractor or skid steer to move the machine around the wood lot without having to tow it. I've been known to be wrong once or twice in the past however.
That's exactly what they are used for. I believe Andrew from Eastonmade has a video showing how to move the Axis with pallet forks on his Kubota tractor.
About the conveyer grab & go issues, I have observed several companies wood conveyers functions & pick up efficiency & noticed several Easton made units hesitancy to grab wood immediately from the first pick up "paddle". I think just installing higher "paddles" by at least double the current height And sharper leading edges, instead of radiused edges, would help immensely to increase the grab & go 1st paddle efficiency. Easton Made is awesome stuff, made to last, it seems! Thanks for another "Tony's Toys" that make money episode! Paul from S. Central TX..
Good to see got the price out of the 12/22 what he paid for they definitely cost more now in the beginning of 2023 here. If you lower the conveyor a little more it probably take the wood up better but the did a up grade on the paddles on the chain GOOD CHOICE 👍👍👍
You need a flow control valve on the input to the table raising. What this does is limit the volume( speed) of hydraulic oil but not the pressure(power) to the cylinder. slower but more control. Safety, safety, safety. pipe it after the control lever. Very cheap at princess auto or tsc or harbour freight (20.00). They have an adjustment screw to fine tune the volume, just like the conveyor system only smaller and permanent adjustment unless you use tools.
8 to 12 inch pieces will go right up the elevator. For 16's, lower the elev and/or make the elev trough deeper. It's the teeter-totter effect.- Somebody, during his turn, was splitting pretty big, bigger than Tony's. Really enjoy Tony and his orientations. I have some machines, but they are not "toys". Good tools, to a hard working man, are to be used carefully, and enjoyed. Thanks, both of you.
Sure beats the heck out of “the Glacier!” Awesome machine and great video showing the ins and outs. Chris you’re right, you do want one with the amount of wood you produce.
Went back and rewatched want to thank Tony for the heads up on hour meter.👍 Used on my own equipment now. I am building a homemade version of axis on steroids. Trying to get ideas. This video was AWSOME showed everything about the machine 👍👍😎
First scene I thought you were at Outdoors with the Morgan’s😆…excellent presentation and demonstration. Yeah there’s some bugs that need to be reworked on this… 1) Table hinge needs to be piano style. Period. End of story. It could be as simple as just sliding a loose fit, thick wall, mechanical tube steel bushing or bushings on pin as it’s inserted. Bushings will act like “rollers” and negate any hangup on either table edges regardless of which direction wood is moving. 2) table cylinder connect. Yeah that’s not ideal. The neighbors home built vertical uses a mount that requires no unhooking and folds 180*. Similar to powersplit except you need to be able to assist table for the over center transition and at the same time the valve direction will reverse. It’s real simple and easy to use 3) Table lift speed. As much as it pains me to say it I believe the inline restrictors 🤬 forgot to get installed. 4) Elevator pickup. What I believe would make the pickup issue go away is if one were to mount a guide plate from elevator hinge to just ahead of the rubber debris flap. That way flap would not be getting trapped between wood butt end and paddle. 5) Drop leg on conveyor. I just don’t like weight hanging on a strap. A simple gravity drop leg that folds out when conveyor is being deployed I think would be reassuring and more stable. Man…if that machine were to find it’s way to my shop for a day I’d have all the bugs fixed and probably a lot more!…Knowing my past history.
@@InTheWoodyard I just ran it today and kicked up the conveyer speed up to about 5 or 6 and that seemed to help clear the logs faster but it really reduces cycle time.
I"m glad you showed the blooper lowering the conveyor. That is a moment where a person could have thrown out there back or could have gotten smoked in the face with an angry winch handle.
The rubber flappy thing is something that when I was using a processor was 1 of the banes of my existence. I have come to the conclusion after spending a LOT of hours watching wood not go up a conveyor that there was 2 things that I would try once I got around to trying once I got around to building 1 for personal use. The first is to add some bolts at least twice the height of the scrapers so they either pick up the blocks or at least rotate them and secondly and potentially most importantly is the change the rubber flappy thingy for a broom head angled maybe 20 degrees off being at right angles so that the flicking action as the scraper passes under the shrapnel protector doesn't occur across the whole scraper at the same time. My other alternative thought was to put in 2 rubber flappy things. The lower 1 would be a match for what is on the Axis and it would stop chips getting under the tail drum and a second located about an inch higher than that (in the position that the Axis one is in) and that is of a height that brushes the tops of the scrapers and chain but it doesn't flick at all which is what allows wood to build up. The processor I used to use would cut anything that would fit through the 20" x 12" aperture. To get wood cut fast I would fill that space with as many sleeper backs (leftovers from railway sleeper production) as possible so that every cut every 8s or so there could be 5 or 6 blocks (about a wheelbarrow load) dropping onto the conveyor. There wasn't much time to get the blocks out of the road before the next lot dropped in.
@@jakebredthauer5100 . There's actually a couple of really bad videos on my channel of the 2 saws I worked on and used nearly 30 years ago. The video is pretty shocking as it's from a VHS-C camcorder recording that was transferred to VHS before being digitised. Binding was always a bit of a problem but the saw (known as small saw on my videos) had a thicker than usual 3ft circular saw on it direct driver from a 180hp supercharged Nissan diesel. The clamping mechanism was actually multiple stages with a row of springs with spikes right at the front and some 4" spring loaded "tubes" in a couple of rows further back. When the saw was humping it was knocking through a truckload of my little truck in about 20-25 minutes. That's around 7m3 or 2 cords of Aussie hardwood. Great machine that I cracked the shits with and stopped cutting with due to the conveyor.
Chris & Tony ~ I back watching this vid....my AXIS arrived today....and WOW and DOUBLE WOW....I was and am intimidated for sure! Did not have enough muscle at the end of the day to get conveyor attached. I need Tony here!!! CBJ
I think you and Tony need to start a weekly equipment review........ I like the years of knowledge mixed with practical sense... a must see combo for any potential buyer..... keep up the great work..
I’ve used chain conveyors and belts. The chain conveyor will last longer then a belt but the chain conveyor is noisier then a belt. Lowering the angle is the key to prices surfing over the chain. Vertical splitters push the wood up the conveyor untill the paddles grab it. Peace
It looks like putting it lower would make it work better, but it should work at a higher angle. I'm thinking the angle of the bottom is too shallow. I don't know how to describe it. That spanning-part full of bolts that holds the debris flap. THAT part needs to be more vertical. It's acting like a cup, and is being a place for the base of the wood. The chain-rung thing only clears the flapper BEYOND that cup area. So the base of the wood that is supposed to catch on the rung isn't even getting close. If that was more vertical, the rung would get to the wood.
That's a monster of a machine! I can see where production would be fairly high!! I would say to either oil or grease that chain....wouldn't hurt anything!! Stay safe my friend!!
Great review guys. Really appreciate the support. I will get tony to check the cylinder for the log lift. There is normally a restrictor in one of the fittings to slow it down. It may have been missed.
@Eastonmade Wood Splitters - any plans to improve the intake on the conveyer? It seems like wood always sits at the bottom of the conveyer and has a hard job getting picked up.
Good answer Andrew (assuming its you). Some do not seem to recognize that the smooth cleats help to prevent major damage to the conveyor in that a "stuck" piece of wood is far more likely to pop loose with your design if it gets jammed with others than it would be if there were teeth grabbing it. The lower the angle the easier it goes on the conveyor!
@@christophersmith5303 makes sense. I guess it looks like the wood is getting stuck on that black sweeper...I was thinking of more of a wider intake that funnels the wood down above that black sweeper so that the wood doesn't have to get pulled off the sweeper.
Wow!! that is one neat splitter, must be awesome to work standing straight up and down, and to just push the splits to the conveyer and not have to worry about throwing splits. You guys should do a segment called "Wine time w/ Wives of the woodyard" I'm interested in what they think with all the time spent on cutting, splitting, stacking and selling; getting calls to pickup tree's, wood delivery's, buying more equipment.
Extremely thorough review, with the good features and considerations or limitations also! Like a lot of equipment, setup and understanding proper controls is very important!
I've been considering one of these for the last month or so, but damn............the price has damn-near doubled on it in the last year. Tony was saying that the cost when he got his (which I assume was a year ago, or thereabouts, since that's how old the video is), the cost was 7K for the Axis without the conveyer, plus 4K for the conveyer. If you look on Eastonmade's site now, it's 13K without the conveyer!!! Man oh man, I know everything is more now with inflation, but almost double???
The conveyor bars need some small teeth welded on them, if there is clearance room for them. If I remember correctly the prototype of this machine had bars with teeth. For some reason they removed them for the production model. Probably because of lawyers.
Guys this was so Kool - thank you for the detailed and experience reporting. The lead time today is now 14 months for the Axis. I'm going to watch the last half after dinner! ~ Keith
Looks like lowering the angle has been mentioned. As a professional viewer of wood cutting videos, the other thing I noticed was, the max height needed to be raised another inch or so. It looked like the amount of time saved with a shorter stroke was used up by fiddling with wood that didn't slip right under the wedge. I'll be looking for another video in the future, once you guys get some more practice on this machine. It looks like a great machine.
I have installed, tuned up, and repaired hundreds of conveyors in different applications. I would remove that silly rubber wiper thing and try running without it. What little wood debris falls through won't hurt anything but you can then adjust or remount it if you want to.
Nice splitter! I am one year in on my firewood hustle. I bought a 2265 Split-fire. The 2265 is a great first splitter and will always have a place in my woodyard being how light and fast it is. However, I need to grow and need more power and speed. The Eastonmade 12/22 with a box wedge may be in my future.
Just a thought...before lowering the conveyor, if it's long enough, could the winch strap be flipped backwards (over the log stripper plates and behind the ram) to use the winch for safely foolin' with the log lifter? It looks like the hole in the lifter side plate is big enough for the hook. A factory welded on guide ring somewhere on the top of the vertical frame, big enough for the hook to fit through, for an up and over use of the strap wouldn't be a bad idea either. Ring could also be used to lift the entire unit with an excavator or bucket if needed. (I know, I know...it's got fork tubes! lol.) But ya never know when another option might be handy or needed. Been operating equipment big and small from half ton to 30 ton for 55 of my 68 yrs... experience says options matter. Also a welded on bracket to pin the lifter upright (using the existing hole in it's side plate.) I'd be real tempted to try scrapping that debris guard too. It's a nice idea but "it ain't helpin'!" Maybe there's more to it than I know but it seems whatever debris made it down through there would just pile up underneath....dunno.....maybe just a center piece of sweep to keep chips out of the chain sprocket Best demo vid yet...good work men! Ya listenin' Andrew Eastonmmade?
They have the same problem on all of Andrew's videos with the wood not feeding on the conveyor, he let's it pile up and eventually it all just grabs and goes. I've noticed other companies the build wood conveyors notch teeth into their cleats to catch the surface of the wood better and even turn the cleats over so the open section on the bottom works as a tooth instead of the smooth top side. Heck just try flipping the chian over and using it that way.
I am on the list. Hopefully their production will increase enough I can get it this winter but for now I am still out over a year. I ordered mine without the conveyor as I can get a larger convey to pile wood higher for not much more than haveing the conveyor attached.
Ok so we definitely need to set something up.before and after you get it. I am saving for a Wolfe Ridge but seeing equipment run in person is way better than on video..
Another thing move your whole round left to right letting pieces of wood stay together. Then turn quarter turn moving the whole a second left to right and all the wood to converter belt
Eastonmade still needs to put a chute on the end of that little conveyor. That would make it much easier to use when loading bins and trailers and a bit more intuitive to run the conveyor at less of an angle. I do like watching the axis work through some big chunks of yard tree wood.
As others have stated, the angle of the conveyor was far too steep. The Axis really seems to shine when you cut through multiple splits at the same time. It has plenty of power to do this and it makes the operation more efficient if you can make bigger splits holding even quartered sections together so that you can split it in 4 presses of the pedal instead of 8. It is a very nice machine. Total overkill for a guy cutting firewood for himself but more power to Tony for buying one! You would do really well with this and it would certainly up your production. The most attractive thing about the Axis for me and the reason I have considered it is that it really saves your back. I very much like the large workbench with the lift so there is no bending over! One question - given your log supplier and the smaller diameter logs you get from him, would you get more wood if you took the big stuff vs the small stuff and what would the pricing difference be? I know your brother seems to get stuff that is much bigger but sounds like it's raining wood where he is at. You could definitely handle that stuff with an Axis pretty easily, but what would the economics be if you got a log truck of the bigger stuff vs the smaller pieces?
Usually no price difference for me, but yes you do get a lot of wood from the big logs for sure. What I have found though is the huge amount of work and time needed to work them down in size is the killer for me.
Easton made makes great equipment .The problem i had is when i called them about a unit, i was told a 18 month or longer wait that is just a long time for a person running a business!
Hey Chris, with the large volume of wood you process , this machine would pay for itself in no-time. Very little to none, kindling pieces , means more wood sold and would greatly reduce the hundreds of wheelbarrow loads you now take to your low spot in the back of your yard. On those brutal hot days you could split and barely break a sweat , well maybe , seems like much less effort Have a good day
Great machine, maybe lower the conveyor to lesser angle. Waiting to see which new machine you will get, not trying to spend your money. Have a Safe Day
What benefit does that conveyor give over just setting the tote nearer and throwing the logs in directly? It seems like the same amount of work to put them on the conveyor.
For efficiency I have seen others keep the round (or portion of a round) together during the split. Do slice, slice, slice in one direction then rotate the entire round 90 degrees then slice, slice, slice in the other direction and in that (ideal) case you can have 16 pieces of wood with 6 strokes of the wedge. (EDIT...I see that you were doing this with the smaller rounds) Also, looks like the conveyor might catch the wood better if the incline was not as steep.
Can it be configured so the conveyer is on the right and lift table on left. Conveyer is set to high. Is my guess why it’s not taking the wood up. How many ton is it ? What is the cycle time ? I think I’d still like the ultra.
On that conveyor those bars that drag the wood up the conveyor you need to weld a bar with teeth on it to the bar and it will dig into the wood and drag it up the conveyor!
Good high quality machine but my bug bear would be that the conveyor doesn't pick the split wood up very well at steep angles. A lot of time lost getting the paddles to carry it away from the work area.🤔
This is my pet peeve with Easton Mades conveyor. The bar that takes the wood has round edges and doesn’t grab the wood properly. I think that bar should have teeth so it solves that problem. If I were you I would place your order now so you can get an Axis and make your life so much easier.
Eastonmade should design and offer a couple of "clean-out cleats" to put on the conveyor. So that a couple of times during the rotation of the chain, the cleats might get a better bite on anything hanging up.
The opening was so dramatic I know I liked it so did a few other too.. Good overall review, I think its one of the best I have seen so far on this piece of equipment..
I noticed that Adam from Hometown Acres has the same problem with his splitter. It might be a design flaw or you just need to lower the elevator down to reduce the angle. Good demo, thanks.
This type of spliter has been popular in the uk for many years.and i have used them frequently. My only compaint is that the side tables are to narrow and would be better if they enveloped the user more .everything seems a little tight big rounds once split have nowhere to go .i hope you get to read this.
Building something for the the foot pedal is absolutely false on the powersplit. The powersplit also only weighs around 600 Pounds with a 5 inch ram. How much does the Axis weigh? They are both fine machines and congratulations Tony! Lower the conveyor a bit to keep the wood from clogging up the bottom of the conveyor
For 11 grand I’d want to have a place to store the square tubing and trailer ball hitch somewhere other than in the dirt. Eastonmade needs to put a bit more thought into the design of their equipment.
Tony should post his Axis review on the Eastonmande website. Very thorough. That being said, there is no way the Axis holds a candle to the 12-22 for any application other than if a person were primarily interested in selling bundle wood. Much slower and way more handling of every round. I predict Tony will miss the 12-22 after the novelty of the Axis wears off.....unless selling bundle wood if a bid part of his future. the 12-22 is a brute and best-in-class by a wide margin.
Hey Guys I'm thinking that that the conveyor is set at a to steep of an angle therefore its not catching the wood at first opportunity Great video Guys
The conveyor issue could be a matter of just throwing the split pieces a little further up the conveyor. Alternatively, you could lower the angle of the conveyor so the split piece isn't fighting gravity as much.
@@InTheWoodyard Seen this model highlighted on a couple of other channels. I really appreciate the thoroughness of your post on this machine. I've now decided to get one.... without the conveyor. I'm not a firewood seller.👍
There should be a short piece of metal that overhangs about half the depth of the conveyor shoot so when the pieces of wood drops the catch has already cleared the flap.
The conveyor needs to be remodeled. The cross members appear to be to short or the chain is to high. The lifting table should be able to lift smoothly and not launch the wood into the air. The entire machine for the price should be a lot more refined. The only thing it does well is cut wood everything else is clunky.
Tony might drill a hole in the table on the top end to get better leverage and table won't bounce as much. Need a longer rope on ratchet pulley. The lift table needs a limiter like the elevator has you could get hurt with a launch.
The intro music and sequence was really neat! Got a moisture meter, brand name is General, and it seems to work really well. Moisture of the Ash I bucked yesterday was 17-21%, and the oak stringers was 20% about 1/2in from the outside edge, 35% in the middle. How long do you think it will take the oak at 35% to dry down to 20%? Would be a great video for you to do on different wood with initial moisture and how long to normally dry it down to 20% in the open with good sun. The Axis is a really sweet splitter. Not sure if want to go that route or with a Wolfe Ridge. Can't beat the working table of the Axis, plus the conveyor can help you load the trailer and you can go store the wood anywhere in the woodyard. Seems to me that splitting with the Axis and conveyor into a trailer so you can keep the same wood in one spot in the woodyard instead of scattered about.
