Justme

I thought on the backpack it limited the max power to about half? If you have the 500 charger even running the saw hard 3 bats would keep you cutting solidly all day with no rests. I use 2 bats & when cutting big stuff (I have the bigger bar) by the time I have used both I am ready for a rest so they catch me up ready to start with 2 again. Pushing them less hard on smaller stuff & 2 bats will keep up. The first (and last) part of the charge cycle is a cool down air flow session. If you have not run them hard or have let them cool naturally they will charge in less than 20 mins each (300s). I find using it less effort & less vibration. Plus my elbow loves not having to pull start it. You do have to learn to let the chain speed do the cutting & not bog it down.

Love mine

No, to get D1E and C1E you need two tests.

We with C1 you have more than half a chance of the vehicle not being overloaded unlike a 3500kg one. I would guestimate that most arb trucks are over loaded most of the time. The C1E will give you BE but not D1E. (it used to but not any more) Initially to get the C1 CPC you will need to take two tests. After that then the courses you do for the D1 will also cover the C1 unless they are specific to minibus / bus use as the DVSA are now tightening up on the suitability of the courses you do. Too many people repeating the same course 5 times.

Instead of BE what about C1 & C1E?

Hire one & see the difference in output & physical work level. Here are some pics of recent jobs I have been on. But do watch out some especially the bigger ones are not suited to doing arb waste / arisings.

The newer one with the right bolt removed means you can leave the guard up. Or so I am told. Re doing arb waste with the Farmi. I did a job recently with my son. We did two 3 day blocks. On each block we did 74m3 all hand loaded short lengths. Best day was 30m3 but we also have a day when the clients loader we were using suffered a puncture so we could not move the boxes for a few hours so that dragged the average down.

We can cover the UK if there is enough to do. However currently only doing local due to covid lockdown. Even though we can move areas I dont think its a good idea currently. How much do you need doing & how soon does it need done?

Oddly our biggest customers are people with processor's who see the value of hiring in with operators as we produce more per hour than their staff do as the need arises. The whole tax deductible thing is crazy when you drill down. You dont save the total cost just the tax you would have paid (ie 20% if on lower rates) in the first year only. You will be loosing that much in depreciation on it every year. Add in running costs of fuel, spares, repairs and replacement and the stats are even worse. Ps you should be making £50 proper profit per IBC on top of all your costs. Even after paying a contractor. More if using arb waste / arisings. There is money in firewood if you do it right.

Build a pile & hire in a processor & man as you need to clear the pile. For occasional use its not worth while having your own.

Just the same as now on the 4 way & 6 way. You often get a log that is one sided & makes the knife try to twist. The knife holder is quite substantial.

Thats a bit of a monster. Yes I will be setting them at a slight angle & using the single sided knife method rather than a two sided wedge.

Already bought a 1m off cut from ebay but thanks for the link.

Yes a length of bucket edge & attack it with the bench grinder. One sided points for the ring & two sided for the additions. Bloke on ebay selling add bits of edge.

Like I said virtually all the 8 way splits are happening at the same time. Plus they are double sided wedges so squeezing the log through a smaller gap than cut it. Mine will be staggered in split & single sided so the expansion happens on the open side.

It has a fair amount of vertical travel. You can loose the cross on the 4 way & the lower two on the 6 way dropping it down. Lifting it up a 8" would go under the 6 way & just split in two. Before I cut & weld I will draw it out on actual rings to see what the sized could be.

Mine is 11T did not know they did a 13t on the 420. I have a 2.8 from an Iveco daily. I am torn between using the diff & welding one side up once I see what rotation / gear I will be using & a 90 deg box. What design is your 8 way? Some I see have all the wedges level so its trying to do all the splits in one go. Stepping each set back reduces load dramatically. Just did half a lorry of seasoned mixed hardwood up to the max that would fit. Only time the 6 way had issues was if it fell in wrong & we missed it & still hit split. If I did longer logs then I would not think about using a high split wedge but on the 250mm stuff its an easy split. Smaller processor only has 3 or 4 t with a 4 way & that manages fine.

3 pin sockets are rated for oh yes 13 amps per outlet. Pulling up to 20 for sustained periods is bad advice. Lots of modern 13 amp plugs are made crap & get hot any where near that current. Especially the ones with the plastic safety cover on the pins. An inverter mig that also has the tig & arc kits you recommended cant be had for a couple of hundred (cheapest I found for a 250amp was just over £300). You even recommend one thats a good £600+ & will still need extra bits too. Same brand inverter stick is £95. He wants a cheap option. A stick (inverter or not) is just that option. Personally I would multi pass MIG it. But I already have the kit to do so. For occasional use with low start up & running cost stick are hard to beat. If they have mastered MIG they will so get the hang of arc.

Cost of a new one is a big factor. As I said Duun do sell them but making your own stuff is half the fun. Stuck in lockdown so might as well get something done.

Yes I get that. The way round it is two fold. As you say a gentle splay & then only have the edge cut on one side on the inner ring so the cut size is the same size as the gap. The expansion happens on the outer side of the ring.

And I would have to disagree with using a bolt to replace a safety device. Wire it in properly from the start. The stick bit of the combi machine will still out perform the mig amp for amp so my advice is still spot on. Rtec are great machines but not everyone has £700-£1k to drop on a multi process inverter machine when an inverter stick can be had for a few hundred.

With a limited 240v supply you will get more bang for your buck with a stick welder but you will need to get some practice in if you have only mig welded before.

So your saying make the center 4 squares smaller, say 3" x 3"? I have done some mock ups of log diameters starting at 150mm & going up in 50mm to 400mm. Trying to get the sweet spot so your not changing splitter heads or even the height of it all the time. For some reason the square cut got lost but the hex does look better.

I am finding that on the 6 way with over 10" the bits are too much like a pizza slice ie thin but long. I think that 4" in any direction is about the sweet spot. I could always make this a square center. I think then I would not bend but cut & weld as a 90 deg might just be a bit to far to get a tight bend on 20mm without heat / a lot of tonnage. Not sure what the benefit would be to have 4 from the center that are squares. If its a failure then so be it I can always grind it off & go back to the 4 way. I dont have a price on a new one but based on prices for other makes it would be £6-900 + VAT ish. This adaptation will cost me less than £150 so worth a punt.

Has anyone made their own wedge / knife? My Duun came with a 6 way & a 4 way. They do have higher split units available & my Duun is the higher tonnage one so should be ok except on really knotty stuff. Having used it a bit The 4 way is redundant as the way the 6 way is set up you can 4 & 2 way split with it. On larger stuff you need to re split the large pizza slices it makes. Initially I was going to make the 6 way into a 12 way. However now having used it I feel the 4 way has better size options. Smaller stuff can be split in two, next size up can be 4 way split, potentially get a 6 way out of it as well before going full on 12 way. This is one of the multi ways they offer as standard. My plan is to add the bits in yellow to my 4 way. I think I can bend the 20mm thick hardox & then weld the other bit to it. If not I can weld all 3 bits together. Anyone already done similar?