Japa 700 vs Palax combi

[baz]

The Japa has thin metal on it. As an example, it you drop the conveyor from a few inches it'll buckle the resting plate and splay the sides. Because the metal is so thin its easy to reform but after a few times of bending in and out you wonder how much weaker the metal is becoming.

 

The shield pins are weak and liable to break off.

 

The plastic slats that the split wood feeds through catch in the splitter so get cut away.

 

The rubber sheet at the start of the conveyor that feeds the logs into the conveyor tears at the fixing bar so needs replacing regularly.

 

I've also experienced gease nipples that pull out of their sockets when attempting to disconnect the greaser.

 

We had the conveyor belt overheat and break due to sawdust build up. Now we clear the the sawdust every 2m3 processed to prevent a reoccurance.

 

The OE hydraulic oil on our PTO machine cooked. We are now replacing the oil charge every 50 hours due to the factory supplied oil discolouring and burning.

 

We found our blade retaining nut impossible to remove so had to angle grind it off. This was apparently a never heard of before problem according to the supplier. So the Hugo who tightened it at the factory must have been a strong boy.

 

I'm sure every machine has its little quirks but these are the things you should look out for/inspect with a Japa 700. I'd sum our Japa as being OK and just about OK for the price.

[baz]

One problem is that the wood moves to the blade, therefore anything over about 6 foot long does not clear the loading rack if you have one, therefore it needs chainsawing in half or lifting clear of the loading rack for the first couple or three cuts.

 

We have a Fuelwood supplied rack that we purchased with the Japa and using the two rollers at the front plus the extension of the Japa feed arm we have managed to process 75 tons of of a lot we received in 10 foot lengths (just).

[ewd ripper]

The Japa has thin metal on it. As an example, it you drop the conveyor from a few inches it'll buckle the resting plate and splay the sides. Because the metal is so thin its easy to reform but after a few times of bending in and out you wonder how much weaker the metal is becoming.

 

The shield pins are weak and liable to break off.

 

The plastic slats that the split wood feeds through catch in the splitter so get cut away.

 

The rubber sheet at the start of the conveyor that feeds the logs into the conveyor tears at the fixing bar so needs replacing regularly.

 

I've also experienced gease nipples that pull out of their sockets when attempting to disconnect the greaser.

 

We had the conveyor belt overheat and break due to sawdust build up. Now we clear the the sawdust every 2m3 processed to prevent a reoccurance.

 

The OE hydraulic oil on our PTO machine cooked. We are now replacing the oil charge every 50 hours due to the factory supplied oil discolouring and burning.

 

We found our blade retaining nut impossible to remove so had to angle grind it off. This was apparently a never heard of before problem according to the supplier. So the Hugo who tightened it at the factory must have been a strong boy.

 

I'm sure every machine has its little quirks but these are the things you should look out for/inspect with a Japa 700. I'd sum our Japa as being OK and just about OK for the price.

Sounds like you've had fun with that one!.........Think i'll pay the extra and go with a posch!

[StephF]

Bur Jappa 700 was a good starting point, it earned us enough dosh to buy the Posch!

[timberluver]

Get a Palax Combi, there really is no comparison.

The combi easily does 4 cube per hour, 5 or 6 if the wood is all 4-8" diameter. it can split 15" rings for the stuff that's too big to cross cut.

A blade lasts a long time, I get it sharpened after maybe 100t, costs about £15 and the TCT teeth can be replaced if you lose one.

Can't recommend it enough!

[cornish chough]

jappa every time ,i bought mine new in 2003 it has processed around 700tons ayear - 35 tons of sycamore sycamore in 4 days a fortnight ago - didnt miss a beat .only changed hydraulic oil once since new easy to repair excellent backup from fuelwood keep two blades and sharpen regularily .Ideal for bendy cordwood

[Alycidon]

jappa every time ,i bought mine new in 2003 it has processed around 700tons ayear - 35 tons of sycamore sycamore in 4 days a fortnight ago - didnt miss a beat .only changed hydraulic oil once since new easy to repair excellent backup from fuelwood keep two blades and sharpen regularily .Ideal for bendy cordwood

 

You obviously read the maintenance manual well then !!. Hyd oil and filter, yearly change or after so many hours. But I suppose yours shows what it is capable of.

 

I do agree with the comments about bendy panels under the elevator, easy to catch with loader arms holding a bag. Fuelwood back up is also good.

 

A

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Prefer Japa over the Palax. Neighbour has the palax combi - nothing wrong with it as such but slow oh man was it slow; every flippin log falls upwards and you have to upguard and flop log to split - obviously not right but in this case quicker with chainsaw and splitter!

[Wood wasp]

We had a palax combi and couldn't fault it, total simplicity and good build quality. Only the need to upgrade to machine that could handle long lengths off log deck prompted change.

 

For chap above saying was slow and logs fell at wrong angle, just a guess but might be pretty blunt so not a fast clean cut.

 

All in all we wish we'd kept ours for doing the short lengths not suited for deck.

[renewablejohn]

Palax combi no problems to date apart from twisting log cradle on gate post but that was down to operator error and me not checking the pin on the extending log roller. Only niggle I have is with regard safety with blade being left exposed due to guard not fully returning.