Firewood Processor Differences(+?-points) Again ???

[cessna]

As there are so many makes of firewood processor on the market now,please can you give me some quidance on the main differences between them and the points to consider when buying one, to process at max 600cu mtrs a year.

I do not mind paying for quality of build, BUT I do not like paying a premium for supposedly high end brand, when in fact it is no better built than a lesser known make of machine.

[gdh]

I would recommend a tajfun 400 for quality, reliability, production speed and price but it's mostly personal opinion.

 

Things to consider;

Chainsaw or circular saw. Saws stay sharp longer but chains are easier to sharpen especially if damaged and are cheaper. Also the machine can be physically smaller with a chainsaw.

 

Size: go as big as you can afford and look for one with a big open splitting chamber, this limits wood damaging the machine.

 

Splitting force: with a 6 way splitting wedge you'll want 10 ton plus. 15 is idea though for hardwood and you can go higher.

 

Log tables: if you're using pallet forks or a grab to avoid manual handling you'll want a log table attached to extend the in feed.

 

Power requirement: shouldn't be an issue most are less than 40hp but if you want to move them small tractors will struggle as they're normally 1-1.5tons and mounted quite far back.

 

Unfortunately you just missed the demos at the apf but there's plenty of people on here if you find a machine you want to look at.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

As there are so many makes of firewood processor on the market now,please can you give me some quidance on the main differences between them and the points to consider when buying one, to process at max 600cu mtrs a year.

I do not mind paying for quality of build, BUT I do not like paying a premium for supposedly high end brand, when in fact it is no better built than a lesser known make of machine.

 

Do you mean 600m3 of roundwood INTO it or 600 cube of loose logs OUT of it?

 

Also, is that volume done in a big hit for storage or in a more leisurely fashion over the year?

 

Green or seasoned in the round?

 

Some very unglorified machines will do that vol peasy.

 

Diameter of roundwood a slightly major factor.

Edited October 26, 2016 by TimberCutterDartmoor

[ash_smith123]

If you can get quality cordwood under 13" I would look at the Posch 360. I would never go back to a chainsaw processor after having a Posch with circular saw! Great build quality and backup from Jasp Wilson is good too. I would also budget for a hydraulic deck as well, a processor is half the machine without a deck!

I would definitely go and test a few different machines before making the jump!

[bilke_user]

What I did before I bought the processor was to make a list of what I wanted the machine to do, what I wanted to pay and what the upkeep of it was going to cost.

 

Ease of servicing, and mobility were the two main priorities for me and this narrowed the field considerably.

Chainsaw or circular saw? Had to be chainsaw for my needs..........hiring a processor to the general public always means inappropriate material will get thrown through it (old fence strainers are a favourite). Much easier to sharpen and supply a few chains with the hire than to spend a lot of circular blades only to have them needing sharpened after every hire

 

I'm happy with the choice I made, simply because it's costing little to maintain in £s and hrs and I'm getting around 100% re hire from my customers.

[Logged On]

I'd say chain blade instead of circular blade too now....

 

Circular blades (I have found now), 'nip' dead easily.

 

Because they're spinning constantly (ours anyway), if you have a jam, you're running for the stop button, and if you don't get to it quick enough, you're burning / snapping belts....

 

Ever considered the noise level too??

 

Again, circular blades are howling all the time, but chain blades only run when needed, which is why I have a supply of headache tablets not far away from ours - and that's regardless of wearing the full PPE too....

 

Other than my input, gdh has got it in one for what to consider.....

[william petts]

I have a dalen 2054 and can only talk of my experience with it, I find it very versatile, due to its large infeed area and a large splitting chamber, I find it very effective for processing a lot of our arbwaste we get from tree surgeons and it's very quick with cord. It's well built and don't weigh to much, my 60 hp international drives it around fine, and it's simple to operate and you can control the speed of the chainsaw blade/chain manually with the controls, which I think is vital! I mean I put small branches like 1" through it!!!. Also my one don't have all the safety malarkey with sensors on it so I can leave the guard over the splitting chamber up and just use it as a splitter.

Apart from that I love the look of taj fun, and hakki pilke is always up there, below is a vid of my processor. That's another thing I'd recommend watching videos of the machines in a real work place not in a promotional vid!!

[Logged On]

Settle this question....

 

With your Dalen - or any chain bladed processor, do you suffer many nips / jams / early blunted chains etc??

 

Had this argument many times before we (HE) bought the Rytec, saying chain blades are less cost effective against circular blades??

 

Also, I've just been informed by a visitor yesterday, that it's not a 'standard' chain on your type of processor, but a 'harvester' chain that's stronger / better...??

 

 

Thoughts / info, thanks..??

[rovers90]

Settle this question....

 

With your Dalen - or any chain bladed processor, do you suffer many nips / jams / early blunted chains etc??

 

Had this argument many times before we (HE) bought the Rytec, saying chain blades are less cost effective against circular blades??

 

Also, I've just been informed by a visitor yesterday, that it's not a 'standard' chain on your type of processor, but a 'harvester' chain that's stronger / better...??

 

 

Thoughts / info, thanks..??

 

I have a Palax with chainsaw blade and chain rarely nips. It can start to stick but that usually means it needs changing. It's just .325 chain so I think my last batch cost £15 each. I had a try of a Posch circular saw one and found it nipped every log I tried to cut, might just have been me.

[gdh]

Settle this question....

 

With your Dalen - or any chain bladed processor, do you suffer many nips / jams / early blunted chains etc??

 

Had this argument many times before we (HE) bought the Rytec, saying chain blades are less cost effective against circular blades??

 

Also, I've just been informed by a visitor yesterday, that it's not a 'standard' chain on your type of processor, but a 'harvester' chain that's stronger / better...??

 

 

Thoughts / info, thanks..??

 

A chain should only jam if it's blunt, in an average day we cut 15 tons and with the exception of a few bent logs which pinch briefly it will never stick until you need to change the chain at around 20 tons.

 

I'm also curious to know if the harvester chains are any better at cutting.