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

[arboriculturist]

4 hours ago, Bustergasket said:

Do you think it’s getting harder to source processor grade timber ? i have been pretty lucky this year but it did take some forward planning and early commitment to buy all my timber from one source, as you have suggested there is quite a bit of variation even in sorted loads, do you think this could be what is driving the need for ever bigger capacity machines ? have you seen the jappa 435 ? for me i was not a fan as it looked too slow splitting each bit 3 or 4 times, but the more i think about it i can see a few advantages, see if you had a 600 diameter machine that would be great but the hydraulic side of things starts to get out of hand, but with the same principle as that 435 i think you could run sensible size hydraulics but open the machine out so it would handle bendy 400 or straight ish 600, this would also give regular size logs i think if things continue as they are then bigger machines will be more common and if they make them automatic then even better, i to have always run tct, was apprehensive about chain but really it’s not that bad, only takes a few mins and the gain you get is huge over a dull chain just takes the stress out of everything on the machine.

The last 12 months have been the worst ever for sourcing the spec. you require.

 

Gdh was one of the 1st to invest in a  480P and does large volumes, splitting bent, twisty large Oak a lot of the time.

 

He plans to buy the same when he changes and that says it all. ?

 

 

 

 

[Bustergasket]

No question, the 480 is right up there, i think it looks a great machine [emoji106]

[Bustergasket]

Well we have been working on some more tweaks with the woodcutta and splitta, we first noticed that in the morning it was running a bit slow, initially i thought it was the oil, however after a chat with Fuelwood and a flying visit from Pete that same night, we found the voltage was a bit low at some of the solenoids, we think just a bit of corrosion in the terminals of a few connections, a quick reroute and the addition of another relay and the machine has stepped up a gear, been running it today and it’s noticeably quicker, i also adjusted the log length to an inch longer this amounts to about 12 % increase in timber going through the machine in the same time, i would also estimate that the new wiring had made it 5-10 % faster, we really are struggling to keep up with it now, every time we run this machine it gets better, i think it’s the relentless nature that we like, running it on oregon 404 semi chisel chains i can get a day out of them before swapping, starting to get ahead this year for the first time in years, keep on chopping

[Bustergasket]

Well it’s been a while but i finally managed to get some time to modify the infeed timber guides and rollers, the first mod was simple it just required two new holes and we have been able to move the inward roller guide an inch closer to the chainsaw sprocket, it will still clear the gripping dogs so essentially should give another inch in that direction the second mods took a more figuring the woodcutta used to have two swinging roller plates that used to ride up on the top of the timber, the first one was short and used to swing into the second, i saw on the newer machines it’s modded so just one is present, the issue i was seeing was sometimes timber could jam as it transitioned from one to the other, so cutting old brackets off and mounting the pivot height has given us two inches in height, we just had to weld a closure plate on the second now only remaining swinging roller, i ran out of time to prove out the mods but i cannot see how it can fail to work better, (famous last words), other than that i can say the machine is running really well and we have also done some more welding and cutting to get the conveyor and log cleaner up and working, we ran off a quick 6 cube on sat and the comments were that the bags looked really clean and the timber size was the best it been, customers are also liking the squares more than the triangles but it’s more of a size thing, those big triangles that don’t get resplit can be too big for some, realistically these won’t go out till later this year
i have put castors on the conveyor now so it’s mobile, just wish i had a bigger barn ! i have some more mods to do and will post up some more pictures when i get a chance, a few people were asking about stringy timber, we get very few that stay together, i delivered 3 loads at the weekend and we had 3 pairs that were still together, they were 1.5 cube loads so no worries [emoji106] keep on chopping

[Stubby]

1 hour ago, Bustergasket said:

Well it’s been a while but i finally managed to get some time to modify the infeed timber guides and rollers, the first mod was simple it just required two new holes and we have been able to move the inward roller guide an inch closer to the chainsaw sprocket, it will still clear the gripping dogs so essentially should give another inch in that direction the second mods took a more figuring the woodcutta used to have two swinging roller plates that used to ride up on the top of the timber, the first one was short and used to swing into the second, i saw on the newer machines it’s modded so just one is present, the issue i was seeing was sometimes timber could jam as it transitioned from one to the other, so cutting old brackets off and mounting the pivot height has given us two inches in height, we just had to weld a closure plate on the second now only remaining swinging roller, i ran out of time to prove out the mods but i cannot see how it can fail to work better, (famous last words), other than that i can say the machine is running really well and we have also done some more welding and cutting to get the conveyor and log cleaner up and working, we ran off a quick 6 cube on sat and the comments were that the bags looked really clean and the timber size was the best it been, customers are also liking the squares more than the triangles but it’s more of a size thing, those big triangles that don’t get resplit can be too big for some, realistically these won’t go out till later this year
i have put castors on the conveyor now so it’s mobile, just wish i had a bigger barn ! i have some more mods to do and will post up some more pictures when i get a chance, a few people were asking about stringy timber, we get very few that stay together, i delivered 3 loads at the weekend and we had 3 pairs that were still together, they were 1.5 cube loads so no worries keep on chopping

Nice work . Well done .

[Ratman]

Ooohh..... excellent penetration there sir! ?

[Bustergasket]

Cheers, iam no expert welder but i do enjoy it, almost as much as chopping firewood, there’s so many things to sort out when processing wood it gives the old grey matter a bit to think on [emoji106]

[briquette_seller]

Thanks for sharing 

[Bustergasket]

Well we managed to get an hour on the machines on sunday, we fed through all the bits which it refused a few weeks ago those two simple mods now mean the woodcutta will reliably cut 430mm diameter and the splitta will also just take that, there is still scope to go bigger with woodcutta but realistically as the splitta would need serious modifications and then it would not be a standard machine, so it’s probably best to leave it where it is and look for a splitta 400, pretty sure they will do nearly 500mm, the difference in volume is huge, when going from 360 upto 430 there is almost 50% more volume going through the machine, we really were struggling to keep it fed and get the bags away, the new single entry gate needs to be fixed to stop it sliding from side to side as that did jam under the ear which was left from moving the backstop roller closer to the chainsaw sprocket but that’s simple, the cleaner and conveyor are also working well and have to say we are ending up with very clean bags i have been thinking about moving the fingers on the cleaner just a little bit wider but fear it might take out too much of the smaller stuff which people seem to like, i guess best option would be to make them adjustable or make it so you can swap the whole set of bars as a complete unit [emoji848]

[Bustergasket]

Well i have been leaving the machines running more and more on their own, so i went to more timber as i was on my own and came back to find logs everywhere and this [emoji23] it was a simple jam and i suppose an indication i have not quite got something 100% buttoned down, other than this the setup is going very well [emoji106] keep on chopping