We ran a total of 1 cord thru it before it went under the knife. Added/upgraded to a hydraulic saw and clamp. modified the shields to allow the use of a 64cm bar instead of the 54cm that it came with. Changed out the hydraulic pump for a 2 section pump 1.04/0.52 cu in which if i remember right worked out to be an extra 2gpm on the large side that i left connected to all the original hydraulics and 8gpm dedicated to the conveyor/saw/clamp. worked out nice. I used 1 1/2" cylinders to operate the clamp and saw so they didnt have to much power and had fast movement. Installed a priority valve for the conveyor and a flow control valve on the saw cylinder. With the extra flow the Honda engine can only muster 2900psi and that is feathering the splitter valve to keep it from stalling. 2900psi on the 4" cylinder is 19T but Dyna has a nice 4 way wedge that splits right thru 99% of what i throw at it even the knots and crotches. we also modified the log feed table because once we were able to fit the 18" logs the chain didnt grab them and feed them. That modification was the easiest. We just added a strip of 1 1/2 x1/4" steel in the track under the chain. Lifted it up out of the track just enough to allow it to grab the larger logs and grabs the smaller logs even better than factory. We jsut laid it in under the chain and plug welded it half a dozen spots to make replace easy later on.
total investment in the upgrades were less than $2000 and it performs similar to a the sc16.
To do it over again I would buy the SC12 instead of the SC12XP. One of the main benefits of the xp model was the larger motor and pump but knowing that the pump needs replaced and even the larger motor that comes on the xp isnt big enough i would save the money and just buy the SC12...take the money i saved and install a 24-27HP used engine off a rider along with all the same mods i already did to mine.
factory capacity is 14"...with the mods..i can feed 16" even if the are knotty or crooked and 20-22" perfect logs without a problem. occasionally the bar isnt long enough to cut all the way thru the log but i keep a chainsaw handy for that among other things. When we modified the shields we left enough room to go to the next step up on bar length but it isnt worth it since the 64cm bar reaches for 99% of the wood i feed it and if you go to size wood that it wont reach thru i start running into the chain wont pull the log.
I have somewhere around 50-60 cord thru it now maybe a bit more since i dont know how much is in my stock pile. the 50-60 cord is what has been sold and hauled off so far last year and this year. so far only thing that has needed worked on is the junk Honda engine that the fuel solenoid in the carb died at 30hrs. works good and cant complain about anything other than my quickie modified conveyor doesnt work very well.
All the resplits happen right when they come off the splitter. I just flip them right back over the wedge and split them again. I mostly load directly into the truck so it would be more work to set them off to the side and do later. The only splitter i have is the one on the processor. Sold the trusty 22T huskee splitter this spring since we didnt use it all last winter.
Overall i like the processor but it is very light duty. The main frame/splitter beam is just 4x6 1/4 wall(cant remember measurements for sure but this is close to what it really is) with 3/8 plate welded to the top for the pusher plate to ride on. Wedge is 10-12" tall and only an inch thick. I watch it flex and move on even 10" oak rounds but knock on wood, no cracks or problems. The beam flexes and moves a bit and it used to bug me watching all the flex but anymore i dont even pay attention. I figure the low psi from higher flow hydraulics has probably saved me from tearing anything up.
