gdh
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Everything posted by gdh
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Just use a normal chain, unless I'm missing something it shouldn't need sharpening more than once. Just watch out for nails, everyone hammers them into stuff around the garden.
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It would be interesting to know if the 40hp requirement takes into account the lower pto speed. Unfortunately we use the tractor to drag it around. Something to look into if we ever go bigger though.
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Yeah thanks everyone, it's fine how it is and the tractor's not working too hard so best leave it be. It's only ever been a problem cutting 18inch diameter oak and even then it's just a matter of not cutting and splitting at once
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I know that, my logic was that it would be like putting it in a lower gear. Appreciate all the advice but it looks like a no go.
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It runs the machine at 420-30 at rest, that's about 2 thirds revs on the tractor. The machine is rated to be used between 400 and 430rpm, any more could overheat the hydraulic motors (and presumably run the chainsaw much too fast). I'm wondering if gearing it down 80% so I can run the tractor on higher revs would increase the power going through the pto from 40 to 48hp or if it would make no difference between the torque would be the same.
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The above posts are why I like arbtalk, it's nice seeing the different ends of the spectrum. Sales are good for us, just struggling to keep up with the cutting. We did about 120 tons in February which is the best yet. It's a nice combination of cold,dry weather.
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I know what you mean, it's nice to hear the revs drop to tell the strain on the machine. I'm not planning to do anything, the 35 has done 50 years here so it deserves to take it easy. I was just wondering if my theory was right. Interesting that you say about your tractor, I've been meaning to run our deutz 180 on 1000 economy and see how much fuel it uses compared to the massey.
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Oops I put the cogs the wrong way around in my original post, I should have said small to big so I run the tractor at higher revs and the machine at the same speed as now.
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Hydraulic guillotine style firewood processors
gdh replied to tcfengineering's topic in Firewood forum
It's clever but I would stick to a traditional processor myself. If you're wondering how long the edge would last going through the grains it might be worth researching the hydraulic tree shears you can get for 360s. Edit: Just saw Tom Ds post and I've changed my mind, that might be on softwood but it looks really impressive. -
A bit of background first. We've got a new firewood processor that requires 40hp and we run it off our old Massey 35x. That tractor is 40hp on the PTO shaft but as they say on top gear 'I think a couple of horses have escaped over the years'. It runs it fine but you can hear it struggling when you split a big log 12 ways and use the chainsaw simultaneously. The tractor only runs the machine at 420-430rpm so I wondered if I put a cog on the tractor PTO and an 80% smaller (ish) cog on the processor and ran a chain round them then ran the tractor at 540 (ish) would that give me more power? Or am I missing something really stupid? To be honest I don't need to do this now I'm used to the machine but I'm curious if it would work.
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Worth my time to extract alder
gdh replied to Marsh Monkey's topic in Forestry and Woodland management
It's not my favourite wood but it burns well enough, only issue I can see is size - there's not many people who want it that big. Might be worth finding a buyer first in case you can't shift it straight away. -
This is what I was thinking of when I said dry alder. It's by some oak for comparison. I'm not saying the original picture isn't alder, I'll leave that to people more qualified than me. I was just delivering some earlier so took a picture.
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Yes, they're good tractors. We converted from masseys when pallisers, the dealer did because we wanted to stick with a dealer we knew was good.
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It's possible that somethings come loose inside. Have you tried sticking it straight up and shaking it gently to get it down. Just please don't flip the trailer.
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I'm not sure now, we dried alder and it came out really bright but as you say ours was summer felled and I have seen some go lighter thinking about it. Presumably the orange is the sap coming to the surface so it depends how much is in it.
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I thought alder always went more orange as it dried?
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Have you got a dealer who will sell them in the UK? Quality should sell but people usually want a demonstration first. Maybe you could be have one at the APF show this year.
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Been busy on woodchip today, it's nice to be using straight softwood for a change. Some of the wood is slowly drying outside now but the oak we've got to cut next hasn't got enough air flow where it's stacked so that could be fun.
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To me nothing beats a kramer for being compact, powerful and maneuverable. We use a smaller one for loading logs and a bigger 750 telescopic for our box rotator. Admittedly we can only justify that because they have a lot of farm work as well. Picture of our 280:
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Would it pass health and safety in this country if it works without your hands on the controls? Personally I prefer your way, saves having to modify it anyway.
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It's still going well, only issue is that anything under 8 inch diameter seems really slow and splits a bit too small with the 12 way splitter but as long as there's bigger stuff it makes nice quality wood. We cut to keep our drying shed full and replace what we sell but we're selling 30 loads a week at the moment (1.8 - 2.4cube) and we're lambing 450 sheep plus all the other farm work so we're just cutting a few tons every day to try and keep up.
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In case you didn't know if you put the second box on its end in the first and a third upside down on top you can get more on a load.
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Did you want a machine that can do wood and kindling in one or two machines? The best firewood processor for that price is the tajfun 400 (to me). That will take 40cm logs but the downside with it is that the splitter has a permanent back plate so if you want to cut rings you would have to lift them out of the chamber. Maybe you could make a splitter that will split small enough for kindling if you're cutting softwood, it does have a 15ton splitter.
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It all depends on the size of the farm and more importantly which job you would enjoy. Assuming that the farm has no debts (a big assumption these days) you could run it with very low stocking levels and just check on the animals in the morning and do a full day each week for the important jobs which would leave you time for your current business.
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Ah, makes sense the machines hold their value quite well for the first few years. The 480 was out around October.
