Firewood Processor

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

Hi all

I have been looking at road towable firewood processors and looked into the Japa 305BE but don’t really want to pay £13,500 for a daft idea what might turn into a waste of time so is there any other machines something similar to this one and also if i was to buy one and hired it out with operator what sort of pricing should I be looking at and also don you charge by the hour / cord / day ect? Thanks

 

Jack

 

 

[Justme]

Japa 305 Mobile Firewood Processor - Ben Burgess

WWW.BENBURGESS.CO.UK

---

• Road tow • Honda petrol engine • 300mm chainsaw cutting diameter • 5.6 ton splitting force • 3.8m output elevator

 

£12.4k

 

I do contract processing.

 

I think that machine will be too slow & only handle small stuff so affect what you can charge per day.

You not going to be doing lorry loads of processor friendly stuff with that.

 

Best one out there is the WP36 but its well out of your price range in road tow spec.

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

It’s just a daft idea I’ve had but want to have a go and see if I can make it work just as a sideline to my landscaping & groundwork’s I’ve also just bought a Timberwolf tw230 for man with chipper hire just trying different things that do this works out great if not I’m thinking about buying a mini skip lorry and going down that route I just want to expand and make more money what sort of day rate would you expect with a little processor like the Japa?

 

Jack

[Justme]

2 minutes ago, Jwoodgardenmaintenance said:

I just want to expand and make more money what sort of day rate would you expect with a little processor like the Japa?

 

Jack

Dunno about the Jappa.

 

I would see just how much you can produce in a day & set the rate based on that.

Excluding travel & accommodation I charge £250 with one operator & £350 with two.

With two operators on good wood / good site we produce 25+ IBC's per 8 hours onsite.

Thats over 30m3.

 

With a 300mm max cut you would already be potentially 36% down on production compare to a 350mm max oif all logs were at max size.

 

Especially on lorry loads as they tend to be nearer the top end of size spec.

Then comes cycle time (cut to next cut).

The Japa looks ok on that but lots of down time sorting the next length.

 

I am oddly in the same situation as I have a second processor I am bringing online very very soon.

 

Currently I dont know what it will produce in a day so cant set the rates.

 

Lucky for me I have a very local firewood dealer mate so I can do a day or so there & iron out any issues & see what it is capable of compared to my first machine. Then I will set a rate pro rata based on production & running costs.

 

I already know travel costs will have to go up as towing a full 3500kg will cost more than 750kg.

 

In your position I would buy the best machine you can afford for your needs.

Thats how I ended up with my first machine. 

 

 

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

12 minutes ago, Justme said:

Dunno about the Jappa.

 

I would see just how much you can produce in a day & set the rate based on that.

Excluding travel & accommodation I charge £250 with one operator & £350 with two.

With two operators on good wood / good site we produce 25+ IBC's per 8 hours onsite.

Thats over 30m3.

 

With a 300mm max cut you would already be potentially 36% down on production compare to a 350mm max oif all logs were at max size.

 

Especially on lorry loads as they tend to be nearer the top end of size spec.

Then comes cycle time (cut to next cut).

The Japa looks ok on that but lots of down time sorting the next length.

 

I am oddly in the same situation as I have a second processor I am bringing online very very soon.

 

Currently I dont know what it will produce in a day so cant set the rates.

 

Lucky for me I have a very local firewood dealer mate so I can do a day or so there & iron out any issues & see what it is capable of compared to my first machine. Then I will set a rate pro rata based on production & running costs.

 

I already know travel costs will have to go up as towing a full 3500kg will cost more than 750kg.

 

In your position I would buy the best machine you can afford for your needs.

Thats how I ended up with my first machine. 

 

 

Thanks for the info it’s appreciated I’ve just been looking through a old thread and seen woodworks has a wp36  like you said are the best what’s the difference in price between the wp36 & the Japa rough cost is ideal and are 2nd hand processors common or are they like rocking horse teeth see plenty of PTO ones but it needs to be self powered 

 

Jack

[Justme]

16 minutes ago, Jwoodgardenmaintenance said:

Thanks for the info it’s appreciated I’ve just been looking through a old thread and seen woodworks has a wp36  like you said are the best what’s the difference in price between the wp36 & the Japa rough cost is ideal and are 2nd hand processors common or are they like rocking horse teeth see plenty of PTO ones but it needs to be self powered 

 

Jack

A mate has just had a quote for a road to wp36 10 ton but without any extras & it was about £18k inc the VAT.

[Justme]

You dont see road tow WP's for sale that often & they sell quick.

 

I nearly sold mine to buy a higher spec version.

 

Could have sold it 10 times over.

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

10 hours ago, Justme said:

You dont see road tow WP's for sale that often & they sell quick.

 

I nearly sold mine to buy a higher spec version.

 

Could have sold it 10 times over.

That’s far too much just for a idea but for you as a established contractor it’s worth every penny  I’ve found a dominator v12 in going to ring today and see when there due back in and order one of all goes well and the idea works out I’ll look into a better one but for starting up this one will do cheers for your help 

 

Jack

[Justme]

1 hour ago, Jwoodgardenmaintenance said:

That’s far too much just for a idea but for you as a established contractor it’s worth every penny  I’ve found a dominator v12 in going to ring today and see when there due back in and order one of all goes well and the idea works out I’ll look into a better one but for starting up this one will do cheers for your help 

 

Jack

Oddly another mate asked about them yesterday. Before you do anything watch a video of it in action. Its slow and a faff to use. A full cycle has the operator, reach up high with one hand while holding log clamp down. Pull down to a low position, reach left to split. Lean right to feed log in. Last 3 cuts have to be manually pushed in. 

 

Ps remember to as to see the IVA certificate that proves its road legal.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Justme

[Jwoodgardenmaintenance]

17 minutes ago, Justme said:

Oddly another mate asked about them yesterday. Before you do anything watch a video of it in action. Its slow and a faff to use. A full cycle has the operator, reach up high with one hand while holding log clamp down. Pull down to a low position, reach left to split. Lean right to feed log in. Last 3 cuts have to be manually pushed in. 

I’ve just been watching one then it does look awkward but I’d rather spend £6k and be no good than spend £13,000 and come to the same conclusion I’ll order this and if any good comes of it I’ll eventually look into the wp36 because that’s the one this start up is just a learning curve 

 

Jack