I love seeing how you constantly improve your process.
As much as I would love a self propelled SuperSplit, my next challenge is to load the dump trailer efficiently. Part of the reason for selling the flatbed was the climbing around on it to hand unload. With a full load of six pallets there wasn't much room to clear the first pallet by hand.
- Which rules out forklifting the pallet over the trailer and cutting the netting. The netting hangs up on every piece that way, actually engulfs pieces. I don't want to climb around on top of a pile of splits, and be in and out of the trailer for every pallet.
-The best thing I've found is to unwrap the netting a wrap at a time, hand tossing wood in the conveyor. That works good.
-What I'm picturing is a 3' or 4' high platform above the conveyor apron.. (With fork extensions I can lift a pallet with maybe sixteen inches between it and the mast). So if the pallet is in the middle with a 16" gap on four sides and a catwalk on three sides, a toe board on the outside and a pipe railing, I could unwrap the netting, letting the splits fall into the conveyor. And can step on the forks on the fourth side.
-Another idea is similar, with the pallet on a hydraulic driven turntable. Then I could stand in one spot and gather the netting like making a ball of yarn.
-The platform would have fork pockets and be movable when not in use.
I'd also like to add wheels to the conveyor for side movement, and an anchor with ball coupler to load the trailer without moving the trailer. I forget the term for conveyors on processors that hydraulically move side to side for piling or loading.
Just some winter thoughts.
I've never stock piled this much firewood before and my delivery process has always been lacking.
The original plan was to get a larger flatbed truck, 24' tandem axle and carry the piggyback forklift. Loading takes too long, cleaning embedded gravel and wet leaves, covering, and strapping. Delivery also means leaving the pallets. I have several customers with equipment to unload. Half burned the pallets, and another fourth of the pallets got tore up bad moving them with tractors. Most have very poor vision using forks at ground level, and the larger tractors needed to lift 1k are generally not HST.
Long term idea is still a small processor with conveyor, then my present conveyor would be dedicated to loading the trailer. For now I'll have to move it to load and back again to process. The quad doesn't like that. Putting a receiver hitch on the front of the quad would help repositioning it between the log decks and PackFix for processing. If the tires are off a little both ends are off a lot.
The overall process is always in transition.
Back to the dry erase board...