gdh
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Everything posted by gdh
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Interesting point about larger logs v quality. I actually prefer the logs you get from a 12 way as they're more uniform but we don't use the 12 way much because if you put medium logs through it you get a lot of kindling. Most the time we just re split with the 8 way.
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Haha, yeah I'm normally alright with stakes but there was no break doing slithers so I was stiff the next day..I might put it on a stand but then I would need to add a table after it to save lifting logs back on. We were using fairly big oak. Another job for the list this summer...
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That's what I call luxury!
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Thanks it was a one off for a friend but we're quite pleased with it. We've got an old posche splitter we use for fencing stakes, it does 7ft lengths by having 2 rams to double its length. There's a video here,apologies it's on Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=339701389765935&id=260687344334007 In regards to using 200hp tractors it's surprising how little fuel they use, we occasionally use ours for contacting and they'll run the processor just above idle with 1000/1000economic pto. I haven't measured it running on ours but it idles at 0.7 gallons an hour so it's hardly any more than our 50 year old massey. Obviously the depreciation of £12 an hour is the reason it only gets used when needed. :
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Out of curiosity, how much will the major lift? Will it move the machine? We use an old massey 35x on ours but it only drags it around on concrete. We've been pretty slow on the wood recently although we did split some oak to make a garden fence and I've been busy stocking up and chipping softwood.
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It's a not a 480 and I don't think it's a tajfun, older binderburger maybe? They should make us all guess Interesting conveyor arrangement but a shame it doesn't look like it works at that angle.
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Could try here Products Archive | Bag Supplies I can only see the ones with flaps in smaller sizes though.
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I thought breathers had vents in them to only allow movement in but maybe there's different types. The only time I've had a perished pipe was on a new saw that has sat empty in the shop for a while so I lean towards leaving saws full but to be honest I just leave them where I finished. What's the best price on aspen? It seems very overpriced for every day use. A quick look says £18 for 5L as opposed to about £6 for mixing my own. Even if anyone did have issues you could buy a lot of saw parts with that £12 change each time. :-)
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I meant while stored, I don't think breathers are constantly open?
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Never had a problem personally and I use strimmers after the winter with no issues, same with the odd saw I pick up after a couple of months. Only time I've ever been hesitant is when a neighbour gave us some 10 year old leaded petrol but that went through the quad no problem. Perhaps it's to do with how airtight the tanks are but I'd never heard anyone with any problems before I read about it on threads here.
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That's pretty much my argument, although kiln-dried does have its benefits. There's, thankfully, no official definition of either and for personal use I work off; under 30 burnable, under 25 good, under 20 perfect rather than how it's produced. The only reason kiln-dried is so popular is because it gives a degree of guarantee. Seasoned can be anything so people buy wet wood and assume that's how it all is whereas kiln-dried is nearly always good because it tends to be sold by larger suppliers and people complain when it's not bone dry. Also in some places people can't air dry to less than 20% so kiln-dried has an advantage there for more sensitive fires. We kiln dry but only because we sell so much now it's easier to cut and dry through the winter than do it all in the summer and need vast amounts of storage. We don't mention it much in advertising, just that we sell dry wood all year round.
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I don't think there is a definitive answer but in the winter if we dry wood to below 10% and put it in a dry shed for a month it goes back up to 16. It doesn't go much above that after though and that's ideal for burning anyway. As long as the garage hasn't got water in it or blowing in I can't see it getting damp to the point where it becomes an issue, arguably after a few years wood gets really dry and light instead. Out of a few hundred customers it's only the ones who have outside stores who have any problems in my experience.
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I tried to sell bulk loads last year but only managed 2. The problem is finding someone close enough to take it but far enough away to not take your customers. We can do unseasoned for £62 a cube plus vat from the yard but it was delivery that wiped out the profit selling it on for most people (they charged 85).
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Good firewood, we've sold hundreds of tons with no complaints. Helps that it looks and burns like Ash. ;-)
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IIs it stuck fully out or a little bit? If it's fully out they can jump out of the runners as they get older. It's hard to fix but the easiest is to look down the ram to where it comes out and see which way it's bent then use a long bar/hammer to straighten it and it should pull back in. I do it with the machine on. If it's very slightly out, it's nearly always bark behind the ram and you can hear it hissing. Leave the machine on and sledge it back and it will work temporarily. To fix it put the tractor on minimum revs, use the splitter then turn off the engine while the splitter is fully out. It takes about an hour and a long screwdriver to unblock it but you can just get in through two square holes under the machine and a 2inch gap above the splitter. Or as said if it's lifted up it could be a slither you need to get out or you might get lucky with a sledge.
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how much to charge an hour for a tractor with cone splitter?
gdh replied to Martin du Preez's topic in Firewood forum
I think it works if you don't include the tractor, they normally take a bit more than 200 days. -
I expect you've looked at them already but 12 way splitters are only good on large diameter timber, for smaller logs you have to switch back to a 6 way, or similar, or you get logs that just make an outer layer of kindling on the ring. If you're going to make one it should be splayed out at the back so it gets bigger as the log goes through and avoids blockages. Edit: just watched a video of the 450 and it looks pretty good. Only things that let it down are the splitter isn't dual speed (faster on smaller logs)and the controls are a bit scattered instead of a one handed joystick. Also noticed it runs a harvester bar, it might be quicker on a standard bar but I guess it's faster than the splitter anyway.
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We use a tajfun 480+ on our old 35x which just powers it with 2 men and a loader (the big tractor below was a one off for contracting but I deleted all my decent pictures). With that we do 5cube/10 bags an hour into boxes to dry it in. With large diameter straight timber we'll be more and we peak on 50cm softwood on the 12 way splitter which is very rare but we can do 16cube plus an hour. All of those increase if we're just doing it into a heap and it's worth mentioning that we chip anything under 6 inch to save messing about with it. This is it working ; https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=337726996630041&id=260687344334007 If that doesn't work just scroll down the page a bit; https://www.facebook.com/hormannsfirewood/
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That seems very high unless they're for milling. It's normally £30+ for felling/extraction (by hand on banks) so with delivery it would cost £85 a ton for someone to buy. For tidy firewood logs we're paying just under 60. I would pay 15, maybe 20 the way prices are going but if you can sell it for milling or get cheap extraction good on you ;-)
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Fuelwood Transaw 350 - 8/4/2way splitting knife
gdh replied to Bustergasket's topic in Firewood forum
That's what I was thinking of, should be on all the bigger machines in a few years. They all nick the best ideas from each other -
Fuelwood Transaw 350 - 8/4/2way splitting knife
gdh replied to Bustergasket's topic in Firewood forum
I quite like those splitters instead of changing knives, our 12 way is horrible to lift out, only problem with those is the 4 way part isn't very good, I would prefer to have one that lifts really high and has the 4 way on the bottom. -
Copy of my post on the other thread : As always with prices it depends where in the country you are but I wouldn't advise charging by cube except for regulars because you don't know what the logs will be like - having a lot of small or short/knotty logs will really reduce your production. If it's production speed you're after it's usually better with someone on the loader unless you're doing softwood with a big table. I try to avoid going out but with all new machinery, including a telehandler and 2 men we needed £70 an hour plus transport. That meant we couldn't compete with the people who charge £30 an hour and tow their processor for small jobs but for commercial, as I assume you want, we worked out at 10-15 a cube which is fine
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I've pretty much switched completely to rotatech now for all our saws and tajfun 480 processor. They have a few minor issues like the initial stretch but they match the performance of other chains and beat them in value. I've lost the odd tooth but never snapped one, although I've snapped a few oregons
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As always with prices it depends where in the country you are but I wouldn't advise charging by cube except for regulars because you don't know what the logs will be like - having a lot of small or short/knotty logs will really reduce your production. If it's production speed you're after it's usually better with someone on the loader unless you're doing softwood with a big table. I try to avoid going out but with all new machinery, including a telehandler and 2 men we needed £70 an hour plus transport. That meant we couldn't compete with the people who charge £30 an hour and tow their processor for small jobs but for commercial, as I assume you want, we worked out at 10-15 a cube which is fine.
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I think it would probably be fine... Right up to the point that one dodgy box snapped and landed on your pickup We use one with a top and side bar which works well but as you say they're not cheap and a decent one will weigh the same as the ibc so you'll want a stable loader.
