Logan

Can you sample fell a few, to help TRUE up the maths, or is cutting a few now out of the question?!

Hi Alycidon, We use a 20t posch, have push on 4 way but found it hard to use on billets, ok for rings. Because hard to stand / balance log in the right place to get good split. Find splinning them about easier. Yeah those winches look useful hey. The side loader is ok, can roll 2 x 12" logs side by side too. We crane logs onto it, have split 1m logs ok but have to lower one half back down to make space for splitting the other half into quarters. Gets bit crowded!

We use a balfor 700 with conveyor, with spare blade and some bits and bobs, del, etc it was about £3000 plus vat four years ago. I looked at many, and this seemed the quickest to use, being open to blade so you don't bring blade out far to saw log but I don't let many use it as must pull rocker back before tossing last log else will lose fingers/ hand... For 20t that is about the valve of the finished firewood? But will last a while...

Hi guys, I am with you on this. Must continually strive to reduce the load each year, both for the body and mind. I like the quality that the billet system gives, and for me there is also the low infrastructure costs in a rented yardspace. It is horrible hard work indeed. A lot of our hardwood is bent and knotted and hardly suited to a graded billet, really does look easier to cut short and split in processor. But I reckon that to improve on the 3-400 tonnes I am currently splitting, would cost a lot to achieve- the machines, storage method, prob need a yard with more breeze. Up til this year have been stacking billets on bearers (just) off the mud in 20-30m long rows about 3m high. This year trying out the bundle method, bought strapping for 500 1m3 bundles, so far done about 300. Stacks 4 high but stacks end up leaning against each other. Will persevere with this idea for a while, not sure it's quicker but is less strenuous. Have got 300tonnes more to split this season so, need to get finger out. This system suits 2 people really, on my own is too slow! Did prob 150 bundles on my own by splitting into large heap for couple days, then going through bundling. This part seems like a waste of time. If the bundle idea doesn't work out shall probably end up stacking up using the 360 and grab, but want to get away from loose rows- want to put saw under a sheet of tin and have a "sawing station" and bring bundles to it once a week or whatever. Billets stacked high with grab (loose) don't seem to travel well, not that I can see. For sawing I currently place cords over bearers working all around the 360, and if I'm lucky someone follows round sawing using forest tape measure (slow but not wasteful) or more usually i switch off and wander round cutting. Apart from the larger stems, most logs are far from waist level so is a backache job. Apart from a processor head or a frame that i can drop log in which has a end gate to push log quickly to correct position and a saw that cuts off the 1.1m. I guess i should make one from a chainsaw bar and motor off a firewood processor... Decks to raise logs to waist height, would you saw a few then split a few, or somehow stockpile them for splitting later? By the way, the strap on the bundles works out at something like 45p a cubic m, and no pallets, just the same muddy bearers that get topped up each yeah, so some cost there too. Haaa, yes, what a system! Cheers, John.

yeah, far to simple! If you're in billets, it's hard to walk away from it! One day, I might do as you say. But I can't get my head round it. If you process say 500 tonnes a season, how many crates do you have to buy to get it all seasoning? We let our billets dry for about a yr on average, that's a lot of crates to buy. Are they cheap? Was planning on vented bags but put off by the yeah cost. I guess it gets made up on the time saving.

I dream of building a bar slash saw, or whatever they call them, with the hydraulic butt gate... CSI | DL-4400 Slasher Saw Seems to work well in super straight pole length timber. How would it manage in bendy old hardwood? Ha.

yo difflock, you mirror my thoughts exactly. I am in the billet world, and most of us wonder why. For me it's because I have plenty of tree covered mud but no barns, breeze or security of any type. So have to stick with billets. If you find answers to the marking for cutting I would love to hear it. Have tried guessing (wasteful) attachment on chainsaw (clumsy) a stick (backache retrieving it all the time) 2nd person with stick (great but expensive) and forest tapemeasure. The fastest output was 2 people sharing the stick and saw with me on grab laying logs down and piling up for splitting after. Could get 25 tons sawn in the morning and then swap to splitting. Cheers, John.

Nice one James. You got it out mate. Compared to your preliminary reckoning of 2 man x 5 per day x 5 days = 50 loads, it seems you actually did something like 15 days x 3 per day = 45 loads which wasn't far off on the load count. How many people did it though, if 2 x 15 = 30 man days then you were x3 out on that element maybe. You must have a better idea of what output is achievable with your set up. Was your 280m3 stack volume the total including air space? Anyone got a good guess on air space for that product?

We have both and use vertical one for rings or resplitting chunky billets that went through the 4 way on the horizontal. If you do rings on a horizontal, have to keep retrieving log from behind knife. Unless got a 24 way knife.

Jay, maybe your brochure was more interesting than mine!

Hello mate, I made some up years ago and posted them out to landowners, but I'm not sure whether they did any good- I think it must depend on your customers (I'm forestry based). For the time put into making them, I felt that I am better doing personal visits, if they like your face they might try you... Since then I've gone with word of mouth, recommendations, personal visits and just being out there where things happen. Webpage and business cards may be more suitable. Cheers, John.

Hello woodchopper, because they fill up with debris from filling up from cans etc also moisture builds up. A couple years ago our cat 312 (13Ton excavator) suddenly stopped, after a lot of faffing found it was this debris had caused the hose from tank to block solid. Cleaned about 1/3 bucket of crud from tank and replaced hose run, about 15m of hose. Cheers, John.

test thermostat more accurately by having a jam thermometer or similar in the water with 'stat. Somewhere around 97 degrees should be fully open. other method is remove 'stat and simply run machine without, to see what difference. If water pump has lost it's vanes, engine will heat up quickly and radiator should be fairly cool ( not cold as some thermo cycling takes place). Would do these tests first before dropping all fluids etc. If it's control system wiring etc or sensitive oil level sensor etc you could have a goose chase, in which case scratch head and drink tea. Usually helps. All the best, John.

Even new chains can have variation on lengths and depths, even stihl to my horror! I would try filing a bit off and see if it smooths up, before buying another bar. As Eddy said, our old 08s 21" ran 404rs, what were they? 65cc? RS 404 is never a comfort chain!

Hi there Spuddog you must be covering a fair old area, sounds good that you got more lined up, nice one. John

Hi there Tristan, Did you price it yet? Probably hardest part is the hiking about, especially if it's a large site. What's the ha? Based on dense patches being 0.2ha / day/ man, Thinner patches help push average up, depends how many days in a row you've gotta keep pace up. 5 good cutters for 4 days sometimes pushes pace along better than 2 for 2 weeks, somehow. Maybe work out the lowest day rate you can handle, and factor say 0.2ha/day and see whether that stacks up/scares job off. Cheers, John.

Even tractor based forwarders ( even with drive trailer) bog down and cut rides up in real wet... Your plan may work if: Grade and mow rides and go in on proper dry days (most years there are 2 or 3 such days...) On wet but not soft ground, leave trailer by road, take truck in and handball logs on truck to whatever it can manage without ruining everything, unload truck onto trailer couple of times and get one more load leave on truck, hook up trailer and hit the road, jack. Wet soft days (i.e. last winter) leave trailer in a home for unwanted kit, and take backpack and hike in so as not to create more wet spots. ?

Cheers Eddie, will take a look at that later, am holed up in the woods at the mo geeking at poor signal phone! Appreciate the invite. Cheers, John.

yeah, I hear you, but it wasn't just the tooth count, it was the "slop" in all the machining that made the most difference. Sometimes that slop means you're struggling, when there's no room for a sticky finger in there to take up the slack. You know what I'm saying. Will look out for those 2 you mentioned, put em to the test if I see them.

Going to have a look and see what you want for it. Might be THE last serial number 660W.

Noooo Jon, don't sell it, keep it, it'll be a classic saw one of these days, I'm sure of it! John.

oh yes, if you do have a go, try and set to factory settings, then get it started and keep it running, get the saw properly hot so have some big logs handy or just keep it running ten mins, then make minute I mean totally tiny adjustments and try it out, rev it up, you might get it better than factory setting if you have understanding of the role of the 2 screws plus the tick over screw, which you might need to wind in a bit initially, then out later when you've tuned it better. If not, see above post! Cheers, John.

Hi there mate, sounds like you've had fun!? The factory settings are on stickers next to the screws, but if it were me I would take it to a chainsaw repair pro of good repute and get it tuned up! I used to adjust saws years ago, but I know a man who does much better job of it so these days am happy to let him do it and they run well! Good luck, John. Ps where abouts are you?

That is a well thought out setup esp. the swivel and self connecting aux. Reminds me I must order APF tickets soon, will look out for your machine. Am saving up a lot of questions so will be looking out for you too!

Hi there Woodworks, Halfords sockets were good in 1988 when I got mine, but the case broke in '89 when it jumped out of wheelbarrow in a rut! Only one socket (19mm) cracked so far. They all on those clip rails mentioned earlier, all in a metal cantilever box with spanners too. The ratchet didn't last very long, then it became a handy 1/2" drift. On subject of ratchets once saw a display case in a pro tool shop, had several almost identical looking 3/8 drive chrome ratchets priced between about £25 and something like over £100, yes this was the snap-on. This bugged me, so I asked for the case to be unlocked and I weighed them all up, spun them a bit, and couldn't work out why anyone would spend the money. But then I noticed that if you held them out in the air by holding the square drive, you could click the snap-on up one and it stayed there exactly when let go, where as the cheaper ones fell back varying amounts (the worst had to move far to click and then fell back more than half way). When I got home I found that the several ratchets I have all fall into the cheap category! So, next time you're in a tight spot and can't get the ratchet to click and gain ground, you'll wonder "would a snap-on help here"!? Cheers, John. (PS I'm still using the crap ones)