My firewood processor build

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You mentioned wanting to be able to cut 27" across logs. What length is that bar?
Since Valley brought up bar lenght, I went and did some calculations. Normally a 27 in bar on a regular handheld chainsaw is great for sawing 27in dia wood, A hydraulic saw is fix mounted. Because of how the hyd saw is mounted it isnt going to quite reach thru a 27in dia. Since my current bar and chain will reach thru the largest majority of the wood i will be processing, I am going to go ahead and use it to continue the build and the testing. Once the buggs are worked out, and I have worn out the chain, I will probably change it out for one a little longer. My son just laughed when I told him and said, "Well at least now you will already have a bar and chain to make your wood splitter into the processor you started this build as". Hmm, he may be right, I do have a spare saw motor.
 
It will take a long time to wear out a chain.

I but my processor in service in the summer of 2013 and I'm still on the same bar and 3 chains. I have around 600 hrs on it, but I'm not sure if the hour meter works right because my records show just under 1000 cords cut on it.
 
Well changing out the B/C will be dealt with later, after the bugs are worked out and i know what I have. In any event, assuming everything goes as planned, I can buy a longer B/C and just use them when they are really needed. Sooner or later, I am betting my son will be wanting to fix the old splitter up and make a small processor out of it, so nothing will go to waste
 
With the forklift frames, do you have the height (assuming there will be the need) for more than one wedge arrangement?

Staying with the fork frame width or reducing it?

On rounds nearing the max diameter capacity of the processor, will the splits coming through the 12-way wedge need re-splitting? I mean, can you use or sell 15+" wide splits?

Here, anything that won't fit through a approximately 5 1/2" square hole is inviting complaints that it is too big.

There are a few wedge designs around that have concentric wedges between the main star ones, to keep the split wood widths down without needing to re-split it. If just the one 'ring' of wedges then the binding and load may not be too much. But if two or more then there's potential for heaps of binding and load.

If needing to re-split anything, then how are you going to accommodate pulling those from the out-feed (some could be quite heavy and it's generally not a back-friendly action).

If choosing to run at least one concentric wedge ring, then could an 8-way star be used instead?
 
I just got the forklift mast. I will be cutting it apart and widening for the wedge. I also will be cutting it shorter Right now I only intend for one adjustable 12way wedge. there will be a round ring in the middle that will split into 4, 6in splits. The splits wont actually be 6in since there is some spread of the original first half split causing the wood to be spread by the time it actually contacts the center ring. Considering a 24in dia round, every split should be pretty close to even size. The wedge will be height adjustable so that anything less than 12 inches will pass thru the center ring for 4 splits. Smaller stuff, can pass directly under the center cross section and still be split 4 ways by using the bottom half of the ring. Raise the wedge all the way up and 6-8in dia stuff can just be split in halfs. Center the ring and cross section up with 24in or large dia round should give me 12 pretty even size splits that can be picked up with just one hand. Once I get beyond the 24in dia, then the outer splits will get larger proportionally. While the wedge will have a 4way cross section with a ring, attached to the ring will be an additional 4 wedges to half the outer splits. The way I currently separate my wood for resplitting is during stacking. I find it just takes to much time to reach for a oversize round and send it back thru the splitter. I find it better to just split and when I stack, I throw out anything to big, until I get a pretty good size pile of resplits, and do them all at one time. Another thing i have found is my wife will go for the big stuff for the nite fires. If i wait long enough, she will have most of the big stuff burnt and I dont have to resplit it. But thats for my stove, I know other folks can be picky.

I have studied the binding issues of multiple wedges and did some experimenting with my current 6way wedge on my current splitter. The wedges must be mounted with a larger opening in the rear than it does in the front of the wedge or binding becomes a big problem. Also, for any ring type wedges, the wedge can only be sharpened on one side (outer edge) to prevent the split from being pinched toward the inner fixed section. What I have done is watched and measured the width of the spilts as they pass thru my current 6way wedge to determine just how far a split will open up as it passes across the wedge. Planning wood to wedge contact and using proper angles for the wedges should allow the wood to pass thru without any major binding issues. Its not a issue of having plenty of power to push the splits thru the wedge, plenty of power and binding equals broke parts. Of course best laid plans of mice and men and Murphys law will apply here.

Right now I have plenty of cutting, grinding and machining to do before actually welding any thing. My first task is to build the knuckle boom and get it out of the shop. I was going to mount the boom on the processor back toward the operator. Not liking how that design would mean having to set the boom off to one side and making for blind spots if loading off the opposite side, I have decided to just mount the boom on the trailer at the tongue. It will mean beefing up the tongue some but it will allow me the same reach from each side of the trailer, plus if i get a wild hair, i can set the processor off the trailer and use the trailer as a forwarder, not that I think thats going to happen a lot as it would mean needing another hyd power supply and the processor aint going to be that easy to set off and on.
 
Figureing out the boom mounts for the base. Fooled around with autocad until it drove me crazy. Didnt have to drive me far. I finally gave up and just drew it out on the shop floor. Got my Valby r3 rotator yesterday .0509151048.jpg 0508151720.jpg 0509151048a.jpg
 
It won't be.

Could be 150 tons still will eventually get a piece that will jam it all up.. or break something.
 
It won't be.

Could be 150 tons still will eventually get a piece that will jam it all up.. or break something.
The question is not even if, or when, but has it produced enough to pay for the downtime should that be needed. I'd wager it would, even without giving much thought to the length of said downtime.
 
That knife is very similar to what I have planned, except only 4 splits in the center instead of 6 and 8 around the perimeter. Staggering the knifes and keeping the wedges extra wide for split exit should keep jams to a minimum/ I'll have 50 tons pushing, so its come, bleed or blister if the wood jams.
 
My build has been put on temporary hold. Got a torn rotator cup been dragging me down since March. They thought it was just tendonitis and had me on therapy for a while. When therapy didnt help, they finally did and MRI and found that it was torn. I have put off surgery until mid Sept and then 6weeks of more therapy. I might get back to it by Christmas.
 
Really wish the vast majority of your pictures would load for me. Very interested in following this build! Best of luck with your rotator cup.
 
I will add that I sort of gave up on using 4x4 tube for the knuckle boom. I bought a stick of 5x5x1/4 to build the boom. I was afraid the 4x4 would bow or bend if I tried to pick up to much weight on a 16ft long boom. I am also looking for a piece of 5in round or square stock to make the knuckle boom spindle. The current truck spindle is hollow and altho I think it will hold, I would feel better if the spindle was solid instead of hollow. I am considering just inserting a piece of solid shaft inside the current spindle and welding it in, top and bottom, just to stiffen it up. Everything is just setting on the shop floor waiting for me to get back to it.
 
It sounds like you're definitely trying to keep the beef factor up! Are you planning on using this for personal use only or will you be going into the wood business with this machine? Sounds pretty serious for personal use but then again I'm taking a pretty serious "overkill" approach to firewood myself for personal use lol
 

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