Hey Professional Firewood Dealers Using a Super Splitter.

[sawhoss]

Long time lurker here. Selling firewood part time. About 60% of what I do. Approx. 150 full cords per year. We have about 10 different sorts of wood,by split size and species. Most of the wood is pulp, tops, or mill rejects, crooked, etc. Buck with a chainsaw. Looking to replace my splitter. Not quite to the point of a processor yet, $$$, like to pay for everything. Thinking about a super splitter hd and a true firewood conveyor. Should be about 10k total. Any of you firewood guys use this set-up? Should shave off some splitting time, hopefully about 35%. Thanks in advance for the info. I do 90% of all the processing, and all the deliveries,etc.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

 

[sawhoss]

sandhill, somewhat similar to what I do. I like the super splitter for consistent split sizes for various markets we service. about how many cord a year?, and what kind of conveyor do you have? Thanks for the pictures, they"re worth a thousand words!

 

[Sandhill Crane]

The last photo is a dog on a hog!
I only did fifty cord with the PackFix for sale and another ten last winter went in the shed for personal use.
-The conveyor is a 28' 2007 Built-Rite rubber belted, hydraulic, top drum drive with issues. It does not raise up or down with the hand crank due to the top 'tube in a tube' hinge joint being froze up. Contacted Built-Rite about it. They said they have built thousands and this is the first time they have heard of this issue. He suggested heating it. I suggested zerks but he seemed to question the need on new conveyors. Other than that it is a great machine. Things do get under the lower drum and throw off tracking, like snow and bark. I assume this is common with belted conveyors in general. Reversing the belt pretty much clears most debris. That is one benefit of hydraulic drive, reverse. Anyway, a pain in the ass problem (raising/lowering) because of not putting in three bucks worth of grease zerks. Built-Rite doesn't care, not their problem. That's my take on it.

 

[sawhoss]

To me its just crazy how much these conveyors cost. The belt guys say belts are the best, and the chain guys say chains are the best. All I know is the guys with the ag conveyors hate them, and are always looking for a true firewood conveyor. Looking at a wood beaver belt conveyor, they're built about 30 miles from here. Also the super split hd?.
Maybe se, going to give Paul a call. Really wanted a single powersplit, but starting @ 18k plus shipping, its not that far from a processor. I think the ss and conveyor is the best bang for the buck to increase production.

 

[cantoo]

I use ag conveyors (grain elevators) and other than replacing an old burned out motor and bolting a couple of paddles back on I have had no issues. Used it for maybe 8 years now, bought another one a few months ago just to have a spare in case the old one craps out. Maybe 20 to 25 cord per year. I dump used motor oil onto the chains and paddles to soften the noise abit. Firewood conveyors are too expensive for my use.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Powersplit. Depends how you work, how you move materials, and size of wood. I'd like to try one, but I think most of my wood would be to small.
Belted conveyor. Worst issue I have is snow. Blowing snow gets smashed between belt and lower drum, and creates lumps of ice that throw off tracking. That means the edge of the belt rubs on the sides of the conveyor near the lower drum. There are fixed expanded metal guards on both sides of the lower drum making it hard to clear ice bonded on the drum. Modifying the guards and making them removable would help. Not big issues, just letting you know.
I have stalled the conveyor a couple times. This happens when the splits hit the top of the split pile and do not clear the paddles on the belt. That is the advantage of hydraulics. You can stall it without immediate damage. You can reverse it. You can vary the speed. Mine is gas powered with a Honda GX 160. Runs for forever on a gallon of gas.
Edit: I no longer pile splits, but the solution to stalling is obvious. Don't pile so high, and move the conveyor sooner. Another issue I thought of is raising the conveyor too high, past the balance point, and tipping it over on the top drum.

 

[sawhoss]

My piles are approx. 7 ft high, about 10 ft wide and 75 ft long. Makes for good drying, especially oak. 2 10 ft wide piles, 10 ft space, repeat. try to turn the pile about June or so. skid loader with skeleton bucket. Also with the ss, don't have to worry about huge rounds, I bust them up with inverted splitter on skid loader. The conveyor I'm looking at has hyd drive, Honda motor, rubber belt with metal paddles, radial stacking axles, winch height adjustment. Went down to Chicago and tried a powersplit, very well built, but the leaning over using the foot pedal would take some getting used to.

 

[dave_dj1]

It all depends on how much time you want to spend in front of a splitter. Myself, I would want something to split as many splits as possible the first pass. Something in the way of a TW 5 or TW 6. I know that wouldn't leave much if any money for the conveyor but I think after the first year you would thank yourself for buying such a unit. I'm not connected with TW but they are the only ones I really know of, I'm sure there are others out there similar.
You could always put the 10 g's towards a processor and thank yourself even more.
Good luck.

 

[T. Mainus]

I run a TW-5 with autocycle and an old grain elevator. I am on my second grain elevator and I hate them. You spend more time fixing them then you do running wood. We have a guy locally selling conveyors now and I am thinking of having him bring one out to demo for me. I wanted to have the conveyor for this season but we might hold off and upgrade to a powerplit next year. I think short of getting a processor, the power split machines makes the most sense and have the best production rate. I have a hard time standing in front of my TW-5 all day without my back killing me by the end of the day. The power splits seem to solve that problem and are about the same price as a commercial splitter and conveyor for the single ram model.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Random conveyor photos:
Top three photos are the top drive drum. Below are the idler wheels They are a rod with hockey puck rollers with washers welded on each side. No bearings or bushings. Very squeaky. Works very well, just seems cheap and poorly done being no way to lube and noisy.
Above is tube in tube pivot that is seized up preventing raising and lowering. Note above/below placement of idlers.

Bottom of belt, frame cross member to which UWHM (?), plastic strips are fastened lengthwise. The belt rides on these. In Junes' full sun, they expand and hump between fasteners, pushing belt up two to three inches. Seems this would cause excessive belt wear. Fastening one end and letting it float in small channels, perhaps letting butt ends run along side each other would avoid this.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

These expanded metal lower drum side guards should be removable to clear debris from drum and lower belt.

Hydraulic/power unit, hand crank and adjustable slip tube for elevating. Hydraulic components are hydro tank, engine, hydro pump, valve for forward/reverse, flow control valve for belt speed, top drum hydro drive motor.

This is how I adjusted elevation six month ago. Pin is removed in lower photo. Complete jack removed in preceding photo. Not happy, as this could be avoided had Built-Rite added two, maybe three grease zerks when built. They created an unserviceable hinge joint on a piece of equipment generally used outside. Nice...

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Moving in a raised position. Lowering the conveyor in effect moves the wheels back and shifts weight to the tongue, which in this case, transporting with the quad, would easily overload the quads solid rear axle.
This carries the tongue weight but makes it difficult to back up.

The radial stacking option some companies offer would be well worth the price to be able to rotate the wheels 90*. The tongue would have to be fastened to something, a piece of equipment or a deadhead with pintle hitch or ball.

Sawhoss: Just a few photos and feedback on my experience with this belted conveyor the last six or seven years. I must say when I ordered a top drum shaft they got it right out to me. I had tipped it over having loaded it, the last of the splits moved from the bottom up to the top, tipping it. I had done this before but the top only dropped a few feet before resting on the split pile. This time it dropped considerably further and slightly bent the top drive shaft. The hydraulic motor was wobbling at the end of the bent shaft.
With a few minor complaints this has been a very good, dependable unit. All in all I am very happy with it, having bought it used. It is a early 2007 unit that I bought in 2010.
Edit: I'll have to send the second to last picture to Built-Rite. They asked how a horizontal joint would get moisture in it.

 

[cantoo]

Sandhill, you need to buy a cheap oil under coating gun and soak that thing with oil. I use Fluid Film but even motor oil or bar oil would help the threaded rod adjustment and other exposed steel parts.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I have not used penetrating oil because I do not want to get it on the rubber belt. Built-Rite did not think it would be an issue. But then they did not think it needed grease zerks either.

Thinking outside the box: (muddstopper will like this)
If you use a conveyor to make lots huge piles, and fill trucks, then the conveyor could be mounted on the chassis of a mini excavator for quick and uninhibited travel and rotation. For loading trucks it could have a log lift type table on one side to dump splits on with a grapple and tip the table to more slowly feed the conveyor while the grapple is getting another load.

 

[cantoo]

Sandhill, I meant the metal parts that you want to move like the adjusters and shafts. I wouldn't worry about Fluid Film on the belts.
Here is a conveyor for you.
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/homemade-conveyor-and-wood-boiler.128039/

 

[sawhoss]

Sandhill, thanks for all the info and pictures on your conveyor! It seems like many brands of conveyors, as with splitters, or anything else have there little problems. Used conveyors around here are almost nonexistent. Definitely
would be top drive hydraulic, radial stacking, raising could be hyd. or crank.

 

[Joesell]

Wish I could afford this right now. Think of the piles a guy could make with it.


http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/hvo/5928240597.html

 

[T. Mainus]

I was just looking at that when you posted. These are the ones I am looking at.

http://racine.craigslist.org/grq/5903465233.html

 

[sawhoss]

The abs conveyors are very nice, saw them at the logging show. One of my first choices.