A few modifications to the processor including a larger hydraulic reservoir, hydraulic cooler, grizzly bar chute extension and winch. The processor will get at least one more major upgrade this summer...
Seeing the pile of cut wood reminded me of a friend (Yakima Wa) who would head into the hills with a chain saw and gathered wood (downed). At his place there were three stages of wood in his back yard. Cords split, stacked and dried ready for the winter. Cords being split stacked and drying, then the loads piled up fresh from the forest the last of it weighting down the back of his pickup. He would have been very happy with a setup like yours. Thank-you for the time, take care.
Great looking set up Ken. I’m looking at building one for my place. I’m thinking right now that most of the fun will be in the design and building stage. Thanks for sharing this!
Nicely Done! I built one too. A relatively inexpensive add on that I used was a piloted dump valve. It speeds up the return cycle significantly when it dumps straight back to tank. Great job.
That is awesome and I am not a nitpicking safety sally but you really need some kind of guard on the top of that saw bar it just looks like the operator has to get dangerously close to the saw when adjusting the log it might just be the angle of the camera but I'm not sure. Anyway great video
Nice setup, I was thinking of a chute, dropping the split wood into a trailer (tall sides). I then realized a conveyer belt would be better so you didn't need to raise the machine, causing the fork lift to reach the higher log tray (add a center support?) or spend money to raise the individual log up and over into the feeder (but it's meant to save time and money). ;-)
nice job! it looks like the nose of the bar is hitting the next trunk that is och the feeding table? maybe have some kind of stop on the feeding table? be careful with kickbacks! You should rebuild the handle for the splitter. If you have some kind of pedal that you control with your foot you can start cutting the next log while still splitting the first log. and maybe even have some kind of catcher for the log if the splitter aint back in startposition? Same amount of work, but with a higher output. :)
Pretty darn neat setup.. How big of powerfist pump engine are you runnig? With just a basic cylinder for ram use and nothing else bjt cylinders you should not over heat even 10 gal of oil....there has to be a restriction or are u using a proportioning valve?
PUTS MY $ 120 K, BELLS 8000 FIREWOOD PROCESSOR TO SHAME IF ONLY BRENT EASTON COULD MAKE A PROCESSOR HALF AS GOOD AS THIS ONE HE WOULD HAVE NO COMPLAINTS
+Dan Vize I'm only using 45 gallons of fluid in the tank, I'll add more for next winter. You may be right about the restrictions though, I don't think the return lines are large enough, they're only 3/4"
+Ken Wilson return lines should ALWAYS be larger than supply lines! if you get a hand held laser thermal temp device(or borrow one for a few days) you can check for hot areas in fittings and connections and that'll tell you where the restrictions are(or at least where there is heat building up as an indication of the point of failure in the system!)
One day there could be a hydraulic saw but it's not likely. The biggest cost to build a firewood processor is a hydraulic saw. It requires a much larger engine, multiple pumps and a very expensive high speed hydraulic motor. I should have used a bigger engine and multiple pumps, but this project started as an simple, inexpensive machine to produce firewood.
Tracey Osterlind , The processor's back in the garage right now. I'm putting an axle under it, extending it to be able to handle 16' logs and finishing the conveyor system. I'll post an update when I get it all done and another when I order some logs this winter.
A lot of back-breaking motion wasted getting the logs up high to feed the machine, and then more of it getting the split wood off the ground into a vehicle of some sort to move the wood to the stack. The saw bar is dangerously exposed; if the chain breaks, it may hit you in the face, which is guaranteed NOT to be pleasant.
