Firewood processor , mechanical log feeders???,

[cessna]

Are the above help or hindrance??

I ask, as in the real world ,cordwood is never all straight as die as used at demos’s , and in sales promotion videos!!!

I do not do a great amount of firewood with my old Japa 2100 processor, but am wishing to make life as easy as possible as 68yrs young and I am a one man operation.Just wondering if a mechanical ( hydraulic motor/s driving feed chains ) may be a great help. Cost may make it prohibitive.

 

[gdh]

You mean a powered infeed to the machine, not a log deck?

 

I would say a definite yes, they make life much easier for 90% of logs and at worst you'll be in the same position as before for the awkward ones.

 

Go for a conveyor not chains or rollers, you don't want to snag clothing or hands when you inevitably wedge it on to push a log in by hand.

[cessna]

7 minutes ago, gdh said:

You mean a powered infeed to the machine, not a log deck?

 

I would say a definite yes, they make life much easier for 90% of logs and at worst you'll be in the same position as before for the awkward ones.

 

Go for a conveyor not chains or rollers, you don't want to snag clothing or hands when you inevitably wedge it on to push a log in by hand.

Many thanks for putting me correct as to what I really require. Can you recommend some one who may make one to use with an old Japa2100 processor,thank you.??

Edited January 1, 2019 by cessna

[MattyF]

Both make processing 100 times easier especially if you load the deck with a crane.

[Billhook]

17 hours ago, cessna said:

Are the above help or hindrance??

I ask, as in the real world ,cordwood is never all straight as die as used at demos’s , and in sales promotion videos!!!

I do not do a great amount of firewood with my old Japa 2100 processor, but am wishing to make life as easy as possible as 68yrs young and I am a one man operation.Just wondering if a mechanical ( hydraulic motor/s driving feed chains ) may be a great help. Cost may make it prohibitive.

 

I feel your pain , being only three years behind you!

Mainly through natural idleness if there is an easier way to do something, I will find it.

Lifting heavy logs is the worst thing a we grow older.  

As I have mentioned elsewhere I have an old Palax Combi with manual feed via rollers and a multi toothed circular saw followed by an automatic Splitter and elevator into one ton boxes

I built a simple log feed table with just a slope and a manual stop for the logs.  I load about twenty at a time with the Teleporter.

The main idea is to pick up usually wind blown ash in the woods and cut into 8 foot lengths held by a muck grab . The Teleporter does all the lifting if I have done it correctly.

As you point out not all wood is straight and indeed many Ash limbs are far too bent to go through a mechanically fed processor.

I find it easy to slide or roll the logs down the table to a set of rollers and it is easy again to slide sideways into the Palax

If the wood is bent it is again easy to hold it in the right position to present it to the saw.

Sliding is a hundred times easier than lifting!

Sometimes I bypass the splitting knife with smaller branches and I can cut half a dozen lengths without operating the Splitter ram which speeds up the process no end.

I also find that I need a moderate amount of activity in these colder periods and I would not like to be standing or sitting in front of a load of hygraulic controls which in fact give me less control and keep me cold.

Sliding activity is perfect for this

I have never so far caught any clothing in the rollers but am careful how I dress for processing

[cessna]

A fantastic reply,many many thanks. Great to find someone on the same wave length???

May you have a non back breaking 2019.??

[Woodworks]

You don't need much slope for a log deck to work either. Mine is just two telegraph poles on a round. Any steeper and the nice round logs can roll down too easily! This is at floor level as the Farmi processor has a lifter to get the lengths off the floor onto the infeed but could be made higher with some simple construction.