Bulk firewood cleaner

[blackdogon57]

Interesting thread. Guys like me who process wood think this is a good idea and want one, while the guys who cut small amounts of wood for personal use think it is a novelty item. Trust me if you move a lot of wood and want to sell it for profit you need to sell clean wood that is free of debris. This looks to me like a great way to do it.

 

[Vitotreecare]

Yes it looks like it would help a lot i have to do some thing a lot of garbage
In my wood this year starting to have customers complain

 

[MattB]

TBrown, if you're still on the site...I've tried to make a youtube list of all of the firewood cleaners out there and yours is one of my favorites. Most of them out there are stationary I really dig the way you set this up on the trailer.

I think there are two times that you'd want to clean wood. 1. right out of the processor so you only need to handle 6-20 pieces every 5-10 seconds or 2. Pulling buckets out of a pile right before hauling where you need to handle yards/minute.

I think this design is a good middle ground and I'm pretty sure I've looked at everything out there.

 

[LegDeLimber]

Anyone else find it interesting how closely these things resemble a topsoil sifter (Trommel Screen) ?
Mostly the perspective of what you're looking to keep and its ideal mesh size.
edit: look around for some disillusioned gold panner and you might find something adaptable.
Just be wary of dirt eaten bearings and gears and such.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Right out the processor?

I shovel the junk out after stacking. Don't get all that much, maybe a small wheelbarrow worth in a cord.

Would work if you don't stack I guess but it's too hard to measure loose wood.

 

[MattB]

Right out the processor?

I shovel the junk out after stacking. Don't get all that much, maybe a small wheelbarrow worth in a cord.

Would work if you don't stack I guess but it's too hard to measure loose wood.

There is no point in measuring wet wood since it shrinks anyways.

Better to figure out how much volume a hand tossed cord takes up and NEVER stack wood unless the client is paying you to do it.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

It is not repeatable. I've tried. A cord ended being anywhere from .75 to 1.25 cords.
Also I can't fit 2 cords in the little truck or 5.5 in the big one without stacking.

 

[jcl]

It's a real problem. I use a rock bucket to load my dump trucks and I have wood on the ground. with a every scoop there's always some dirt in with the wood no matter how much I shake the bucket.
but a machine that big just wount be cost effective for me I only sell 110 cords a year
This is what I want to copy to clean my wood. And make taller and longer so the wood slides into my truck

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Would be cheaper to keep your wood on a slab.

 

[066blaster]

I thought it was gonna be spraying water like a gold trommel. I think a little prevention would be better than the expense of this machine. But I suppose it may be cheaper than a huge cement slab. I don't get any complaints about a little bark or saw dust but if I gave em a wheel barrow worth of dirt with their wood they would complain.

 

[MattB]

Slabs are spendy. I'm renting a 1/5 acre yard for $650/month and I'm haggling with the owner to pay for truck loads of gravel, much less pave it. Paved space with the right zoning is more than $ .10/sq/ft/month, that's $4,300/acre a month in Sonoma County, Ca. Damn vineyards and wineries drive up the price of everything. Good thing is the retired folks who move to wine country can afford firewood and good tree work. Plus my custom splitter makes lots of slivers.