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

[Bustergasket]

It’s been a while and we have been busy running the Woodcutta and splitta, we have done some extensive upgrades to the hydraulic circuits, electrical circuits, and we have added a number of sensors which mean that the machine looks after itself much more on its own, upgrading this machine so that it has many of the features that the latest machines have has been a great exercise and have to say We have received the usual great service and support from Fuelwood, along with the upgrades the pressures have been increased by about 40 bar,
We have put a photocell sensor on the outfeed so it now has the pause function and a switch which now means the magic finger is no longer needed. Today i have stripped out one of the clamping jaws as i could see some cracks appearing from a previous repair, i was pleased to see the bushes were in excellent condition and were made of a phosphorus bronze and were huge they look like they will last forever, anyway i welded some reinforcement 5mm and ground it up and repainted
I have done a video and will upload when i get a chance, we are really on top of the firewood for this coming season, and have taken on a couple of new customers on a wholesale basis prob about 100 cube and that’s been no problem, we are getting on so well iam considering selling the transaw as it’s not getting used [emoji848]. slightly different note but yesterday we had a refusal in the splitta the only one all day but it shows how consistent the log size is keep on chopping [emoji106]

[Bustergasket]

Here is a quick video, my camera skills are not good, but you should see the machine is quicker it’s automatic nature means we can munch through much more timber, we even managed a doughnut and coffee outside while it was munching away, a bit risky leaving it alone, i has a hose fail the other day luck i was in there otherwise it could have been a right mess and expensive, next things will be to have the oil sampled and then looking to run a HVI 46 hydraulic oil [emoji106]

[Bustergasket]

this bit is not straight but it deals with this ok

[Westwood]

Hi Bustergasket

 

Just following this old thread and great to see another Fuelwood Factory enthusiast.  We have a 2016 Woodcutta fed by a 6 meter Japa log deck with a 360 Splitta and 4.2 meter output conveyor through a log cleaner directly into log boxes for storage and seasoning.  We line up 5 by 2 cube logboxes and arc the conveyor across them as we cut to minimise halts - when we have done 10 cube we use a telehandler to move and stack the boxes and replace for the next session.  We have a Japa dust remover which feeds into a bay of 4 bulk bags to remove sawdust.  We fill a bag from 10 logboxes.

 

Really interesting what you have done.  Our machine will have incorporated many of the modifications you have figured out and fitted - when I am next in the yard I will be rushing round with a tape measure but I feel sure we are not getting 400mm  timber through the combination.  The input to the Splitta has been made taller but the size of the ring is governed by the loop on the input shute which I think maximises the ring at 380mm or so. The input to the woodcutter is limited by the oversize detectors and the input feed which I think is set at 400 max (probably 380 practical given very straight timber).

 

The reason for the focus on size is that quality and volume seems to be absolutely dictated by the timber size fed.  We specify 200-400mm timber in accepting that some of the larger pieces we will have to ring up.  The machine seems to operate best with 2 people at least one making sure the logs are fed properly and the next log is fed in to the preceding log to push the last pieces through.  The other is helping keep the boxes clear and sawdust and rubbish removed and restacking the log deck. We also ring up from our own forest but even with two people it is substantially less productive than putting timber through the Woodcutta.

 

We find that timber less than 200 creates too much rubbish and small logs through the Splitta.  We collect this from the cleaner into four bags as we rotate the conveyor.  Approximately 15 logboxes (30 cube) will produce 4 cube of small logs, kindling and scraps.  On quite days this is sorted into small logs and kindling and bagged for sale - about 50% is waste.  The quantity of waste is halved by larger logs - is that your experience?

 

We have just started using the machine for kindling as an experiment.  We have a conversion from 250mm to 150mm in length of ring - we find customers will buy in both sizes.  It is early days experimenting with this but initial results are encouraging - conversely we find smaller rings produce less waste with kindling!  There is a lot of waste on bigger rings due to twisting in the splitter.  I think a lot of this is down to experience or lack of which we found with the logs.  Worth persevering though.

 

Interested in your latest experience and comments

 

Dave

 

[Bustergasket]

Hi Dave, great info, sounds like you have a great set up [emoji106], i will run the tape round but pretty sure my hoop on the splitta infeed is just over 400, i know the woodcutta is upto 430mm and you are right the volume goes up big time with diameter, i have done quite a bit of work getting the length as long as possible as this also increases volume through the set up, yes the small stuff goes through the cutter but i then feed that through another splitta which is set up for kindling, we have fashioned a sort of side shuffle arrangement so we can keep the machine going, we run at 1 bag a minute, with two people, bagged stacked and wrapped on pallet, realistically after a 100 bags (60x40) you want to go and do something else [emoji23] we have been using the new bags with the one way locking collar so no time knotting the bag [emoji106] i also do the barrow bags full of kindling, they are easy, since we have the cleaner we are getting more shrapnel out the bags, iam really grateful as i use it in the farm 2000, do you ever leave the machine running on its own ? the more we get to grips the longer we are able to leave it, it’s not without risk but mostly we can sneak the odd coffee and doughnut in without it stopping, we really like the way you are away from the dust and noise, also you can think about other things while the machine runs, i don’t miss pulling levers ! have you had the pressures tweaked to optimise performance ? made a big difference to mine, but it was much older than yours, sawdust is my next thing to tackle [emoji106] there is huge amounts, where abouts in the country are you ?, cheers Dan

[Westwood]

HI Dan

 

You are right - the splitta infeed loop is just on 400 but the size of round has to be perfect to get through!  The Cutta is up to 430 but we are careful to avoid oversize rounds getting jammed in the splitta - splitta jams and bent timber on the infeed most time consuming problems at the moment!

 

We are in Hertfordshire - where are you based. 

 

 

[Bustergasket]

That’s good, i think we can go about 20mm larger than the hoop, it means we lift the ring out and put back in on the other side, it must be straight, if we get jammed then i have found a 5ft bale tine, splitting wedges, lump hammer, it’s easy to tap the wedge into the ring from the side just nipping off the top while it’s stuck under the bar at the splitter chamber, we use the bars to lever the ring back or straighten it up as required, most jams we can free in a few minutes, it’s very rare now that we have a jam, we have not had any jam for the last 100 cubes but we do grade the timber and have developed a bit of a sixth sense as to what’s going to go through, iam based midlands, how often if ever do you leave it running on it’s own ? when iam on my own i will leave it going while i go and stack the bulk bag it’s just filled, you have to make a judgment based on how the next bit of timber looks [emoji106]

[Bustergasket]

Well i thought i would update this as i have been running the Woodcutta and splitta on my own, it’s quite interesting to see how i have adapted. It’s had to have some TLC and as i have some time iam able to really go over it and bottom out lots of little things i have been meaning to do for a while... first up was i noticed the saw arm was fouling on the left hand timber clamp arm on bigger diameters, i suspected something had moved so decided to pull the clamp arm out, it’s a really simple job, literally 5 mins, i got it outside and saw some small cracks,
and also the geometry of the arm needed to be reset, so i set about setting it up and running the square and a couple of steel rules, i could see it needed to move about 15mm towards the centreline of the machine, i used a 9inch superthin and cut almost all the way through the joint this allowed me to keep the baseline alignment which was ok, whilst tweaking the arm in the direction needed, i ground out the crack and found some rolled channel which formed the basis for a reinforcement
the phosphorus bronze bushes are huge and were in tip top condition, i managed to blob some weld around and stick it all back together
and give is some paint
Now while is was down i though it was an ideal time to change the oil, was not sure how bad the oil was going to be, i changed the filters last year, oil was an unknown however it was surprisingly clean however as i had the fresh oil it went in, next was the transfer shoot which had become misaligned and it had broken away from a temporary weld that was done last year, easy fix bit of cutting and welding and all good, i then spoke to Pete at Fuelwood and we discussed tweaking the flow on the splitta timber feed carriage down a bit just to try and see if it would make the return stroke a bit less frantic, that’s working well and it’s a bit quieter too, i have some more mods to do which involves making the infeed have a bit more clearance, i think the newer machines have most of these mods already incorporated, and it’s important to remember that this machine is 20 years old, if i can cut a 1000 rings a day i dread to think how many it’s cut over its life ! i will get some pictures of the mods to the infeed when i get to it, [emoji106] Happy chopping !

[richardwale]

The Thor you sold me is still going strong. Can't fault it. Hope all is well

[Bustergasket]

The Thor you sold me is still going strong. Can't fault it. Hope all is well

That’s great Richard, all ok here thanks, are you using it with the table and the wide wedge ? iam pleased you are happy and that it’s all going well, hope you are all good mate [emoji106]