Woodcutta & Splitta Combo #1 - Super Output, 20 years old and still going !

[Bustergasket]

Well i have been busy in the barn working on this latest project, it’s starting to take shape and has impressed me from the first time i fired it up, i have been looking for a while and always wondered if a woodcutta would work for me... well let me say since setting this up i have a few bits of kit up for sale ! i always worry that a bit of kit will be fussy, this has surprised me how big and bendy timber this bit of kit will deal with, it’s an older machine 20 years to be precise, but the principal is the same as newer machines, now the fact this is going strong after 20 yrs is due to the superb design and build quality, it really is built like a tank, and is a well polished design, i have had to fettle a few bits to get back to fine form, and it’s now really starting to come into its own, this goes to show that there is some super high output machines out there and they can earn there money back very quick, thing that surprised me was how easy fully automatic is, i think once you have tried this it’s difficult to go back to pulling levers, i actually took a log order the other day while the machine continued running, made me smile ! will try and load some pics of the work we have done lately [emoji106]

[Bustergasket]

One of the first thing we had to do was modify the side of the barn so we could get the timber to the saw, always tight on space so opted for outside in feed, so far seems to be working ok, then with this set up we ran it up, have to say it started cutting straight away, that first day we ran off about 25 bags but it was clear something was not right, i had oil howling out the saw chain pump a burst hose and a small ram was leaking oil, i think the machine had not been used continuously like this for some time as it was set for kindling when i took delivery, i was expecting to spend a bit so had a chat with the folks at Fuelwood, have to say great service, and most of what i needed was in stock and on the shelf, i put the new bar and chain on it which is narrower that the 2.0 harvesting bar which was fitted, and a new semi chisel chain, decided to put a new motor on the chain drive, had to make a new intermediate shaft from 12mm silver steel rod and new bearing in the sprocket housing, that all took a few evenings

it was a week or so before i could get to run the machine, by that time i had managed to get an oil cooler rigged up, again Fuelwood were able to order me one in and give me some pointers, i welded up a frame and stuck somewhere out the way, they also had a new 12v supply so that went on along with some leds
the oil temps we’re getting high so interested to see what a difference the cooler made, at this point also stuck some new filters in the hydro pack, the next time we ran it i kept an eye on the oil temps and they were much more under control, and it worked better than before, the most recent tweaks have been to the saw start trigger mechanism, newer machines have different parts to this very early in fact #1 machine, this one uses a mechanical valve and the issue i was seeing was that on 14 inch dia the time between chain start and chain contact with timber was not enough and sometimes the chain would stick into the wood before it got going, after a few different attempts i came up with a swinging spike that just contacts timber and starts it spinning, it has surprised me how well it works and gravity is proving pretty reliable ! the machine now runs for long periods on its own
iam sure i will keep tweaking but the fact that this old machine is running so well has meant iam well ahead on this years production and i have only ran it for a few days here and there, will post up some more pics when i get a chance, keep on chopping [emoji106]

[Bustergasket]

The other half of this set up is the splitta, now when this lot got delivered it came with a splitta which was set up for kindling, it worked but needed a few bits tidying up, so i put the Woodcutta into my existing splitta which i have been running for about 5 years, had to make up a shoot to transfer etc, i was not sure if the two machines would run at the same rate, well after running a good few days now i can say they are matched together depends a bit on timber dia but it seems to work itself out, the addition of a small conveyor, second hand ebay purchase, has proved a worthwhile exercise, it runs at 4m/ min which seems just right to give a constant flow of logs, and have to say they are nice and regular sizes, biggest issues we have now is keeping it fed with timber, biggest positive is iam not knackered after a day, need less people, and i have more time for other projects !



been cutting the blanks to feed through the other splitta for kindling.

[SbTVF]

Hell of a testament to the machine to still be going after 20 years, especially with all the switches and sensors that it’ll undoubtedly have!

You expect mechanical parts to go after time but electrics can sometimes have a mind if their own after time rather than just break.


This type of machine would definitely be the way to go for us too if it was affordable. Just keep the deck loaded and the conveyor clear and away you go. Could be doing all manner of log related things during the day while it did it’s thing.

How much saving over new was there on your unit after all your replacement parts if you don’t mind saying? Just roughly, not expecting an exact figure.

[Bustergasket]

There is very little in the way of electrical bits on both machines which is a bonus, i have found that real world output would be 30-50 1.2 cube bags a day and that’s stacking and shacking, if you just ran it constant i dread to think how much wood it would chomp through. Regarding pricing and justification i looked long and hard at this, now for me i don’t get much time as so i need kit that will produce huge volumes of regular product quickly, so i have been on a mission for the past 5 years buying all sorts of stuff, i have tried pretty much everything else and they all have downsides which become apparent very quick when using in the real world on real timber, so i just was not confident enough to weigh in for an expensive machine without the knowledge of how it will actually perform, this older machine was the right money so i took a punt and it has outperformed every other bit of kit i have tried, if you are doing logs and kindling on a big scale then to me this machine is a complete game changer, it automatically runs and i don’t have to concentrate like a conventional processor, and it’s just much less fussy on timber which is not straight, and that really did surprise me and my mate who was outside feeding it, when we stopped at lunch he said he was feeding allsorts through, if you have the volume then to me the figures should stack up on a newer machine than mine, and you know that most processors have seen better days after 5 years. This machine is number 1 in that it was the first machine built, and it’s still going and from what i can see i think it will literally go on forever with maintenance obviously, how much volume do you do in a year ? keep on chopping [emoji106]

[arboriculturist]

I have never seen one in operation in real life but the videos look impressive.

What is the new price, any idea?

 

A lot of people are going for a Tajfun 480 which is a lot less money of course.

[Bustergasket]

I agree, the videos are great, but what’s surprised me was actually how it worked in the real world, i have a few videos but have no idea how to upload, anyone have any ideas ?

[Bustergasket]

I have never seen one in operation in real life but the videos look impressive.
What is the new price, any idea?
 
A lot of people are going for a Tajfun 480 which is a lot less money of course.

Is the 480 the automatic one ? i have seen a 400 in action but the output looked a bit low, and the guy was jumping around all over lifting the lid and sorting logs, running to swap knifes etc

[SbTVF]

Is the 480 the automatic one ? i have seen a 400 in action but the output looked a bit low, and the guy was jumping around all over lifting the lid and sorting logs, running to swap knifes etc

480 has an automatic knife height option but there is only@gdh in the UK that has that because it’s a £5k option.

The rest of it is the same as the 400 but bigger.

It’s about as fast as can be for a chainsaw processor, it’s ideal feed stock would be 8-14” material for best output. Capable of filling an IBC in 6 minutes in those situations

I can do a 2cube container of softwood in 10 minutes flat but that was 12” perfectly straight 4m rejected saw logs.

It’s the continuous nature of your machine that makes its output so good. If I could stand at the controls all day and not have to do anything but operate then I’d wager I’d do 40 cube no problem.

What do you do with smaller diameter timber? Still feed it through? That’s always what slows me down. Thinking saw bench and not split would be better sub 5/6”

[arboriculturist]

1 hour ago, SbTVF said:

480 has an automatic knife height option but there is only@gdh in the UK that has that because it’s a £5k option.

The rest of it is the same as the 400 but bigger.

It’s about as fast as can be for a chainsaw processor, it’s ideal feed stock would be 8-14” material for best output. Capable of filling an IBC in 6 minutes in those situations

I can do a 2cube container of softwood in 10 minutes flat but that was 12” perfectly straight 4m rejected saw logs.

It’s the continuous nature of your machine that makes its output so good. If I could stand at the controls all day and not have to do anything but operate then I’d wager I’d do 40 cube no problem.

What do you do with smaller diameter timber? Still feed it through? That’s always what slows me down. Thinking saw bench and not split would be better sub 5/6”

The 480  automatic knife height option is just under 4K now and there are 3 or 4 others with it now.

 

I'm thinking is it really worth it?

 

We have a 360 feeding the log deck and grade the stack onto bearers according to size already, so is it worth it.

 

Andy at Kilworth said yesterday that it scores on the log taper, which I had completely forgotten about.

 

Spending that amount the extra is not that significant - saying that it's approx £24K now.

 

gdh, you are a high volume producer - I am thinking it's a must even though extremely expensive for what it is.

 

Do you agree it's worth the investment?