Are Conveyors really worth it?

[NELOG]

It seems that having a conveyor at the end of a splitter is very convenient for making a large pile of wood or loading directly into a truck. Additionally, it allows you to continue operating the splitter for a long time without having to worry about the pile up of wood. Still, if you need to reload the wood into a truck, a conveyor isn't as useful as you must load the wood onto the conveyor first. Is a cheap front end loader or skid steer a better solution? Just split right into the bucket and then dump it. This would seem to be easier for reloading, but your stack probably can't be as high and you need to constantly start and stop your loading machine, which is bad. Are there any other options that are ideal in both instances? Thanks

 

[SilentElk]

Cost is the deterant of the skidsteer. Even an old used one will cost at least a few thousand dollars if you can find one for that price. A guy I work with picked up a 18 ft conveyer for $200. He hasnt set it up yet as it is electric but we are going to switch it over to hydraulic since he has more hydraulic flow and power on his custom splitter than he uses ( 35 hp wisconsin engine). Figured another valve with some quick connects. Conveyer runs into splitter when in use.

Skidsteer of course is much better. Load, pile wood, more big chucks around and so forth. Heck, make money renting yourself and skidsteer out. Skidsteer is much more useful. Most skidsteers should dump to 8-10 ft+ and relistically get 6-7 pile of firewood I would guess.

Personally, I pull the truck right next to the splitter and throw the piece a few feet into the truck. Only handle it once.