Larger processor for making smaller logs?

[Woodworks]

I have a little Farmi which is very quick with smallish diameter wood but when cutting wood over say 9"-10" and putting it through the six-way the logs become too chunky for our customers. The processor will cut up to 14" but I am spending much of my time picking out and re-splitting a lot of wood. It's slow going but it does give us the required log size. Now I know there are bigger processors which can take a 12 way blade but from what I have seen you end up with a lot of crumbs. The only machines I have seen that seem to do nice small logs are the Fuelwood Splitta and the Japa perfect cut but again this was making rather too chunky logs for my liking but I am sure with a new blade that could be resolved. Is there anything else out there that I may have missed? 

Edited March 25, 2019 by Woodworks

[arboriculturist]

Posch 360 with 8 way knife would be good. Or you are looking at a Tajfun 380 which is quite a bit more money wise. We use both and I am very fussy about quality control. ?

[SbTVF]

10-14" is ideal going through an 8 way on a tajfun 400. Any bigger and you're back to Resplitting. Still produce plenty at that diameter even so.

 

Needs to be on a 12/16 way wedge after that size in my opinion so you're in tajfun 480 territory then.

The Uniforest titan is in the same price bracket but circular saw, will take a 12 way wedge though at 16" capacity.

 

 

 

[Woodworks]

1 hour ago, SbTVF said:

10-14" is ideal going through an 8 way on a tajfun 400. Any bigger and you're back to Resplitting. Still produce plenty at that diameter even so.

 

Needs to be on a 12/16 way wedge after that size in my opinion so you're in tajfun 480 territory then.

The Uniforest titan is in the same price bracket but circular saw, will take a 12 way wedge though at 16" capacity.

 

 

 

No way would our customers want logs of that size. I started off making small logs and our customer base has grown based on the size we do. I would turn a 14" ring into around 12 logs if not more. I would put it through the 4way set quite low. Probably resplit the 2 bottom logs down the middle and set up the remaining pieces so they would both get split 4 ways. It may be unusual and labour intensive but that's the way we do it. The upside is they dry faster and go further ie tonnes per cube. Never had a complaint about overly small logs and one or two ask for smaller ones so guess we are doing it right for customers we supply. So many with dinky 4kw stoves these days. 

 

So how tidy are the logs of these big processors with 12 way blades? 

Edited March 25, 2019 by Woodworks

[arboriculturist]

That is why I flagged up the 480P which we have. 12" is the maximum I like to split 8 way if 12" logs, 10" dia for shorter spec. Anything larger then its the 12 way. That gives outer logs 51/2" x 2-2 1/2" as they will be convex on the outside of course.  Anything larger than 12" and it' s 16 way next. There is no lo-cost option unfortunately - the 480P is 25K. Just raised our prices by the way, so 100% hard 120,  like gdh I prefer small annual rises and customers seem to agree when asked.

[gdh]

The 12 and 16 way splitters are very good for big logs and make tidy stuff but they need a fair bit of power and they're only worth it for large diameters - putting logs through that are only slightly bigger than the inner ring just results in 4 nice pieces and a ring of kindling. 

 

We've got a 4, 12 and 6way currently on our 480+ and with a small amount of grading the logs to go through first and an extra sorting grate on the end of the conveyor we're making tidy stuff.

[arboriculturist]

I agree - its all about the grading. I grade out the non uniform timber, oval etc. for the larger 12" logs as those customers accept chunkier logs and keep the best timber for smaller log lengths. As you say 12" through the 12 way needs to be round or some of the outside logs are kindling. Decent timber is harder and harder to find though and you almost have to travel to sites 1st to check out the quality which is a pain and only really worth it for multiple loads.

[Woodworks]

Thanks, chaps. On my budget, looks like it would have to be the Fuelwood Splitta and keep the Farmi. I didn't think there was anything miraculous and new but it's worth an ask. I can't afford or justify a big machine for our small scale operation just like to make life as easy as possible.

 

[SbTVF]

Thanks, chaps. On my budget, looks like it would have to be the Fuelwood Splitta and keep the Farmi. I didn't think there was anything miraculous and new but it's worth an ask. I can't afford or justify a big machine for our small scale operation just like to make life as easy as possible.
 

You could set the splitta up so the outfeed went into your farmi conveyor and saved you the cost of second conveyor. With 2 workers you'd get through a fair amount in a day! There are 2 on ebay currently if you weren't already aware?

[Woodworks]

48 minutes ago, SbTVF said:

1 hour ago, Woodworks said:

Thanks, chaps. On my budget, looks like it would have to be the Fuelwood Splitta and keep the Farmi. I didn't think there was anything miraculous and new but it's worth an ask. I can't afford or justify a big machine for our small scale operation just like to make life as easy as possible.
 

You could set the splitta up so the outfeed went into your farmi conveyor and saved you the cost of second conveyor. With 2 workers you'd get through a fair amount in a day! There are 2 on ebay currently if you weren't already aware?

Yes, that was my thinking if I got one. Not sure why there are so many SH Splitters coming on the market recently. Any ideas?