Well, its been a long time since I actually started this project. and I havent actually built anything yet, so no pictures. That is about to change, so I thought I would give a little history behind my thought process when it comes to building this processor. Plus, its raining outside and I'm bored
A few years ago, I was heating with all electric, had one of those Kerosun heaters for emergencies, but we seldom used it. Cold winter and a $300 power bill in Oct of that year and wifey decided to surprise me with a wood stove. My house has a basement and there used to be a wood stove installed, but the old stove was burnt out and I didnt want to use it. Took it out and threw it away back in 1999. Now my wife being the person she is had enough of those $300-400 power bills and thought a wood stove was the answer. Never mine the fact that I didnt have any firewood laying around, or any potential sources to get any. I had a saw and a truck and a axe so time to start scrounging. Made it thru the winter with green wood and power bill dropped to just over $100 and my wife was hooked. Wood stove means her a new pair of shoes or something, I dont know, but the stove was here to stay.
The next summer, I scrounged wood everywhere I could find it and rented a splitter to do the splitting. some of the wood i was getting just wasnt maul material, but it was wood. Next winter, some dry wood, but mostly green because i didnt like to rent the splitter unless I had a big stack of wood to workup. Went through simial the next summer and winter. and thats when I decided I needed a splitter.
I had a lot of junk laying around. I had bought a cylinder and control valve probably 20years ago to build a splitter with and had never gotten around to it. I wasnt burning wood so didnt really need it. I had used the cylinder to build a 6x10 dump trailer with. Well now I needed a splitter and the dump trailer was seldom used, so splitter build began. I have built a few splitters over the years and had rented a few so I had an ideal of what I wanted to build. I had a old Finn hydroseeder I had stopped using setting out back and it had a nearly new 25hp engine. I found a V20 Vickers vane pump in the scrap yard for $2. I had a 6x6 Hbeam in the scrap pile and a old boat trailer without a boat. So with pretty much everything on hand to put a decent splitter together, I started my build. I looked at the large splitter at Northerntool that had the adjustable height 4way wedge and knew I wanted to incorporate that in my design. Threw that thing together in a couple of weekend and life was good. Finally got ahead in my wood pile but then needed something to haul wood home.
That brings me back to my next splitter modification, I needed my dump trailer back working and I decided to buy a bigger cyl for the splitter. Northerntool had their 5in bore cyl on sale for around $249 or something and I thought nows the time to fix my dump trailer and soup up the splitter in one stroke. I installed the 5in cyl on the splitter and whoa, major slowdown in cycle times. I solved this by swapping out the pump for a 28gpm. Cycle times improved measureably and with the exta power I added a couple ore wedges and made it a 6way split instead of a 4way. at that point, splitting wood almost became fun. Big rounds, no problems, plenty of power and fast enough to make very short work of a big pile of rounds.
Enter processor ideal. Of course I had looked at every processor on youtube. I went to a couple of places that actually sold firewood and used processors and tried their machines out. I wasnt impressed, but it did beat running a chainsaw. I decided I wanted a bigger hydraulic chainsaw than what most of the manufacturers where using. The chainsaw seemed to be the biggest bottleneck on all the machines Iran and the ones I actually times on youtube. I didnt want a circle saw processor because of the size of wood I process. A circle saw big enough to buck a 30in dia round was too wickly expensive, not to mention all the extra expense of setting up the hydraulics to run one of those big blades. I figured I would build a Walstein style processor that uses the winch to pull the log onto the log trough and build a hydraulic chainsaw with power to block the wood and used my current splitter for the actual splitting.
Well then things took a turn, I found a hydraulic motor I think is capable of getting the job done for the saw, even got a spare for free. called CRD and got a sprocket, bar and chain and build the saw, but havent been able to test it out. It should work, math says it will, but you always have those nagging feelings about something untested.
I ran across a couple of conveyors for $200, so I bought them. Then gave up the ideal of the winch for feeding the logs. I still needed something to load the logs on the conveyor and thought, why not a knuckle boom, but I didnt want a big heavy knuckleboom. I splitting firewood, not handleing sawlogs. I wanted the knuckleboom mounted on the processor also. I ran across a A620 ditchwitch backhoe attachment for $300 and thought, with a little modification, a ready made knuckle boom, so I bought it. Then I found out it weighed over 3000lbs, Whoa way to heavy to be mounting on a processor. I sold the backhoe attachment for $800 and invested the money in some parts to build my own knuckleboom. I am using a 48000lb big truck axle tube and hub for the boom mount. I bought a #60 72tooth double sprocket and I will be using the agitator motor off the old hydroseeder to turn the boom. Aint built yet, but the parts are laying in the shop floor. well now my processor plans have really blew up from the add a winch to my wood splitter.
A member here had bought a cylinder off a guy that had several. I cant remember the members name, but he sent me a link to the ad the guy had on craigs list and I contacted him. The cyl have a 30in stroke, 4.5in bore and 2.5in rod, I wanted two, but shipping was higher than the asking price for the cylinders. Guy had 8 cyl and I could get all 8 shipped for about the same cost of shipping 2 so I bought all 8 of them. I sold 6 cylinders and kept 2 (and made $300) and will be using them to make my splitter. Well in order to have any decent cycle time using 2 cylinders, I need lots of oil. 60gpm should keep the splitter up with the saw so thats what I'm shooting for.
I have aquired a 8x8 hbeam, bought the metal for and built the pusherplate and slide. Found the metal to make the 12way box wedge, found a v70 control valve to handle the 60gpm of oil for the splitter. Found another valve to handle the 30gpm of oil for the saw. All that was freebies out of scrap bins. Paid $20 for a multispool control valve for the knuckle boom. Paid $75 for a 100gal hydraulic tank. Paid anothe $100 for 2 cylinder for the boom on the loader and today found a old forklift frame for mounting my adjustable 12way wedge for another $100. I I still have a few things to find/buy to complete this build. The biggie is a 170-190hp engine to pull the hydraulics, also need to buy a 3section pump for all the functions and the other biggie is going to be buying a rotator for the grapple on the loader.
So I have been scrounging and gathering parts for this build now for about 5 years and its getting down to the nitty gritty. I finally have enough parts to actually start putting some of this junk together. Unless i get really lucky and someone gives me an engine to power this thing with, it probably wont be completed this year, but I plan on having it built waiting on that engine to fall in my lap. I figured it up the other day and after the buying and selling, I am out of pocket about $1400 in this build at this point. Engine and hydraulic hoses are my last major expenses, as well as a rotator if I have to buy a new one, but I am shooting for keeping this processor build around $5000.
A few years ago, I was heating with all electric, had one of those Kerosun heaters for emergencies, but we seldom used it. Cold winter and a $300 power bill in Oct of that year and wifey decided to surprise me with a wood stove. My house has a basement and there used to be a wood stove installed, but the old stove was burnt out and I didnt want to use it. Took it out and threw it away back in 1999. Now my wife being the person she is had enough of those $300-400 power bills and thought a wood stove was the answer. Never mine the fact that I didnt have any firewood laying around, or any potential sources to get any. I had a saw and a truck and a axe so time to start scrounging. Made it thru the winter with green wood and power bill dropped to just over $100 and my wife was hooked. Wood stove means her a new pair of shoes or something, I dont know, but the stove was here to stay.
The next summer, I scrounged wood everywhere I could find it and rented a splitter to do the splitting. some of the wood i was getting just wasnt maul material, but it was wood. Next winter, some dry wood, but mostly green because i didnt like to rent the splitter unless I had a big stack of wood to workup. Went through simial the next summer and winter. and thats when I decided I needed a splitter.
I had a lot of junk laying around. I had bought a cylinder and control valve probably 20years ago to build a splitter with and had never gotten around to it. I wasnt burning wood so didnt really need it. I had used the cylinder to build a 6x10 dump trailer with. Well now I needed a splitter and the dump trailer was seldom used, so splitter build began. I have built a few splitters over the years and had rented a few so I had an ideal of what I wanted to build. I had a old Finn hydroseeder I had stopped using setting out back and it had a nearly new 25hp engine. I found a V20 Vickers vane pump in the scrap yard for $2. I had a 6x6 Hbeam in the scrap pile and a old boat trailer without a boat. So with pretty much everything on hand to put a decent splitter together, I started my build. I looked at the large splitter at Northerntool that had the adjustable height 4way wedge and knew I wanted to incorporate that in my design. Threw that thing together in a couple of weekend and life was good. Finally got ahead in my wood pile but then needed something to haul wood home.
That brings me back to my next splitter modification, I needed my dump trailer back working and I decided to buy a bigger cyl for the splitter. Northerntool had their 5in bore cyl on sale for around $249 or something and I thought nows the time to fix my dump trailer and soup up the splitter in one stroke. I installed the 5in cyl on the splitter and whoa, major slowdown in cycle times. I solved this by swapping out the pump for a 28gpm. Cycle times improved measureably and with the exta power I added a couple ore wedges and made it a 6way split instead of a 4way. at that point, splitting wood almost became fun. Big rounds, no problems, plenty of power and fast enough to make very short work of a big pile of rounds.
Enter processor ideal. Of course I had looked at every processor on youtube. I went to a couple of places that actually sold firewood and used processors and tried their machines out. I wasnt impressed, but it did beat running a chainsaw. I decided I wanted a bigger hydraulic chainsaw than what most of the manufacturers where using. The chainsaw seemed to be the biggest bottleneck on all the machines Iran and the ones I actually times on youtube. I didnt want a circle saw processor because of the size of wood I process. A circle saw big enough to buck a 30in dia round was too wickly expensive, not to mention all the extra expense of setting up the hydraulics to run one of those big blades. I figured I would build a Walstein style processor that uses the winch to pull the log onto the log trough and build a hydraulic chainsaw with power to block the wood and used my current splitter for the actual splitting.
Well then things took a turn, I found a hydraulic motor I think is capable of getting the job done for the saw, even got a spare for free. called CRD and got a sprocket, bar and chain and build the saw, but havent been able to test it out. It should work, math says it will, but you always have those nagging feelings about something untested.
I ran across a couple of conveyors for $200, so I bought them. Then gave up the ideal of the winch for feeding the logs. I still needed something to load the logs on the conveyor and thought, why not a knuckle boom, but I didnt want a big heavy knuckleboom. I splitting firewood, not handleing sawlogs. I wanted the knuckleboom mounted on the processor also. I ran across a A620 ditchwitch backhoe attachment for $300 and thought, with a little modification, a ready made knuckle boom, so I bought it. Then I found out it weighed over 3000lbs, Whoa way to heavy to be mounting on a processor. I sold the backhoe attachment for $800 and invested the money in some parts to build my own knuckleboom. I am using a 48000lb big truck axle tube and hub for the boom mount. I bought a #60 72tooth double sprocket and I will be using the agitator motor off the old hydroseeder to turn the boom. Aint built yet, but the parts are laying in the shop floor. well now my processor plans have really blew up from the add a winch to my wood splitter.
A member here had bought a cylinder off a guy that had several. I cant remember the members name, but he sent me a link to the ad the guy had on craigs list and I contacted him. The cyl have a 30in stroke, 4.5in bore and 2.5in rod, I wanted two, but shipping was higher than the asking price for the cylinders. Guy had 8 cyl and I could get all 8 shipped for about the same cost of shipping 2 so I bought all 8 of them. I sold 6 cylinders and kept 2 (and made $300) and will be using them to make my splitter. Well in order to have any decent cycle time using 2 cylinders, I need lots of oil. 60gpm should keep the splitter up with the saw so thats what I'm shooting for.
I have aquired a 8x8 hbeam, bought the metal for and built the pusherplate and slide. Found the metal to make the 12way box wedge, found a v70 control valve to handle the 60gpm of oil for the splitter. Found another valve to handle the 30gpm of oil for the saw. All that was freebies out of scrap bins. Paid $20 for a multispool control valve for the knuckle boom. Paid $75 for a 100gal hydraulic tank. Paid anothe $100 for 2 cylinder for the boom on the loader and today found a old forklift frame for mounting my adjustable 12way wedge for another $100. I I still have a few things to find/buy to complete this build. The biggie is a 170-190hp engine to pull the hydraulics, also need to buy a 3section pump for all the functions and the other biggie is going to be buying a rotator for the grapple on the loader.
So I have been scrounging and gathering parts for this build now for about 5 years and its getting down to the nitty gritty. I finally have enough parts to actually start putting some of this junk together. Unless i get really lucky and someone gives me an engine to power this thing with, it probably wont be completed this year, but I plan on having it built waiting on that engine to fall in my lap. I figured it up the other day and after the buying and selling, I am out of pocket about $1400 in this build at this point. Engine and hydraulic hoses are my last major expenses, as well as a rotator if I have to buy a new one, but I am shooting for keeping this processor build around $5000.