Real World Processor Output

[ash_smith123]

It's down to the timber Ash - usually not great. 8 hour working time - did 18 today 10" 2 people - but the 2nd person had spare time to do odd jobs while other processing the small 3" - 6" sizes.

Yes it's very much down to timber. Even on the smaller stuff "loading" person never has 2 seconds spare, we run around like blue arse flys jumping from the JCB to the forklift, loading the deck and making sure that person on the processor doesn't have to stop for anything. Ive actually looked at the idea of using a robot arm (quite cheap on ebay) to do the processor part [emoji23] but there's too many variables unfortunately.

[Woodworks]

47 minutes ago, SbTVF said:

I’d be getting complaints if all the logs were that size. Most people want plenty of chunky stuff and like ash says 10-13” through an 8 way produces fantastic logs very quickly too!

Guess we have very different customers. Never had a complaint about the logs being too small but occasionally asked to make sure there are plenty of small ones in the load. Suits us as the small logs dry faster and go further ie less kg or roundwood  per m3 of logs.

[Bustergasket]

I’d be getting complaints if all the logs were that size. Most people want plenty of chunky stuff and like ash says 10-13” through an 8 way produces fantastic logs very quickly too!

I agree our customers want chunky logs, issue is that you need some smaller stuff to keep them going, the 8 way produces the best mix, the picture is about 12-13 inch dia so up there size wise, we find that you get the perfect compliment to the big stuff once you are at 10 inch lower down to about 8 inch, i used a 6 way last year too many big big bits once dia gets up there, the variation in sizes this year using 8 way is the best we have seen
i will be surprised if we get concerns over the size, but i have been known to get it wrong before, anything over 14 inch we feed through the splitta which makes nice regular squares, i have few pics of when i played around with the 8 way initially, they may help

[ash_smith123]

I do like the look of a transaw! Was thinking of a posch 375 but think it's worth having a look at these too

[arboriculturist]

2 hours ago, ash_smith123 said:

I do like the look of a transaw! Was thinking of a posch 375 but think it's worth having a look at these too

Have you thought about the Tajfun 480 like gdh given the variability of loads delivered these days - you probably have, but like me I don't think you could face having, bar, chain, sprocket, oil etc, and everything associated.

 

We have to deal with small diameters on a daily basis, which as you know kills output, which is why the 375 Turbo will be the choice. Faster cycle time is everything on the small stuff.

[Bustergasket]

Have you thought about the Tajfun 480 like gdh given the variability of loads delivered these days - you probably have, but like me I don't think you could face having, bar, chain, sprocket, oil etc, and everything associated.
 
We have to deal with small diameters on a daily basis, which as you know kills output, which is why the 375 Turbo will be the choice. Faster cycle time is everything on the small stuff.

Fuelwood were able to add the xls upgrade part to my xl transaw, which allows you to adjust the hydraulic flow though the system this means you can speed the feed rate up of blade hugely for small stuff and it seems to transfer quicker too, the transfer tray ensures a clean transfer to splitter, defo worth looking at a transaw

[Big J]

We've got the semi automatic Trak Met processor and it's quite fast. It's got a large capacity, but only an 8 way wedge so if you push it towards it's maximum, at least half the logs need to be resplit. 

 

I generally only produce softwood now, so it's mostly straight larch processed. If I'm cutting and splitting for my stove (takes anything up to 26") then I'm doing 18" logs and producing a cube in 4 minutes if I have decent sized material (circa 30cm). If I'm doing standard logs (sub 12") then it's about three times as long as that. We never really do full days, so can't give you a day production rate.

[Bustergasket]

We've got the semi automatic Trak Met processor and it's quite fast. It's got a large capacity, but only an 8 way wedge so if you push it towards it's maximum, at least half the logs need to be resplit. 
 
I generally only produce softwood now, so it's mostly straight larch processed. If I'm cutting and splitting for my stove (takes anything up to 26") then I'm doing 18" logs and producing a cube in 4 minutes if I have decent sized material (circa 30cm). If I'm doing standard logs (sub 12") then it's about three times as long as that. We never really do full days, so can't give you a day production rate.

what diameter J will the trak met cut and split, interested to hear that sub 12 is that much slower but i bet you are right, when i stop and think about it feels that way to me too

[Big J]

It will cut and split a log up to 480mm in diameter. At that size, it needs to be quite straight to get through the machine, and unless you are splitting for a very large fire or stove, everything would need to be resplit at least once, even through the 8 way splitter. I don't think that the ram has enough power for a 12 way or more. 

 

The shorter and smaller the log, the more time it takes to process. I'm a great fan of stoves where you load the log so it's orientated front to back. Side to side stoves tend to take shorter logs, and they have a tendency to fall out. My stove (based on a Jotul design) takes 26 inch logs at 8-10 inches across (max), but my friends 7kw version will still take 18 inch logs comfortably, albeit with a smaller cross section. 

 

Longer logs have so many benefits. Less sawdust, fewer cuts, fewer splits and if hand balling fewer logs to chuck. I wish there were more stoves that took 18 inch logs. Would make life easier for us all!

[Bustergasket]

Ok i can see that at 400 plus the logs would be getting on the large side, bet u make a big pile very quickly though