Homemade Feller-Buncher

[polemidis]

PMed you

 

[Ivan49]

Sure, not sure what exactly you need help with, but I am all about sharing and helping others. My experience has always been fabricating and welding so I have an knack at looking at something complicated, breaking it down into something buildable in the home-workshop, and making a go of it. I will warn you though, I am more adapt with working with cardboard and hot glue guns then I am with computerized drawing programs.

I am not sure how you feel about your neighbors, but I do a lot for Teen Challenge Maine located in Winthrop...so I know where they are located! I never got into that lifestyle, but had a lot of friends that did, and have two friends and a brother-in-law who are under the sod because of choosing the wrong path. I am all about helping someone change their life for the better. Either way, I am 40 minutes from Winthrop, but drive through it every other Friday and Sunday.

As for logging, I understand your frustration. I am in the midst of clearing 80 acres from forest into field, and this feller-buncher is part of the answer. Some of the trees could be pushed over, but a lot of them makes for a huge mess after the bulldozer goes through: a tangled up mess. Why not use them to heat my house instead? Add in 100% mechanization on a micro-scale and it only makes double-sense.

I am working with our Regional Forester now to do a Micro-Forestry Equipment Demonstration Day, most likely at my farm here. We have done forestry workshops in the past with the Maine Forest Service and it was nice. We talked about doing a land clearing class too, as around me there are tons of farmers clearing land. It just is the way it is; loss of income from forest products (1/3 in 3 years time), and increased property taxes; a landowner just cannot afford to stand still and wait for forestry to come back. I teach a class on raising sheep, and it shocked me the people that wanted to clear their land of forest; people with 10 acres all the way up to 70 acres.

I like that idea you came up with. You want to do a write up and look up Farm and Show paper and if they publish t they give you money for it

 

[Jstpssng]

Interesting project. I really envy talented people. It sounds like you are farther along in the design stage now, but have you considered a hydraulic operated chainsaw similar to what they use on a cut to length tree processor?

 

[BrokenTrack]

Interesting project. I really envy talented people. It sounds like you are farther along in the design stage now, but have you considered a hydraulic operated chainsaw similar to what they use on a cut to length tree processor?

Yeah I did a little research into that, but did not like the price. A bar alone is around $115, then the chain, hydraulic motor, and linear actuator on top of that. It would however have one great advantage: swing out of the way so that I could grab a tree that was in a horizontal position then bore into it. I can cut a horizontal tree, it is just that my saw is affixed into position so it makes it a little harder to do.

 

[polemidis]

Yeah I did a little research into that, but did not like the price. A bar alone is around $115, then the chain, hydraulic motor, and linear actuator on top of that. It would however have one great advantage: swing out of the way so that I could grab a tree that was in a horizontal position then bore into it. I can cut a horizontal tree, it is just that my saw is affixed into position so it makes it a little harder to do.

I think there are even more, you need oiler pump, power supply to the pump, and a switch to start the oiler when chainsaw starts,

 

[BrokenTrack]

I think there are even more, you need oiler pump, power supply to the pump, and a switch to start the oiler when chainsaw starts,

All true.

I went with a chainsaw mounted rigid to the frame because it was just easier, but I won't lie, it is scary having a $750 chainsaw hanging out there, even though it is a 562 Husqvarna and is a disposable chainsaw as my dealer called it. Being frugal, I would hate to spend money on a new chainsaw, but losing that saw would not exactly be a loss. :thumbdown:

I do have other options, like having a "carrier" as I call it that I built for my upside down woodsplitter. That houses and PTO pump, hydraulic reservoir, seat and hitch for my trailer so that I could power my woodsplitter ram with more hydraulic flow. It also gave me control with the splitter valve on my left armrest. (The right one has the cup holder...yes I know how to build things). I could press that into service and go with a hotsaw or a shear, but for now it works with the chainsaw. I would have to mount the "carrier" to my tractor's 3 point hitch however, and attach the trailer to it if I used that as a extra hydraulic power source. Not a big deal, but more to do on hooking everything up.

Here is that "carrier" and upside down woodsplitter so you can see what I am talking about.

 

[Oldpath05]

I think to cut trees down the F-B has to clamp on to a tree and then the saw has to swing into it so's not to pinch the bar, as the saw cuts, an upper arm has to clamp tighter, then you lay the tree down and crush the saw, that would be my luck.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I think to cut trees down the F-B has to clamp on to a tree and then the saw has to swing into it so's not to pinch the bar, as the saw cuts, an upper arm has to clamp tighter, then you lay the tree down and crush the saw, that would be my luck.

It depends on where the cut is made.

It does not matter if it is a home-made feller-buncher, or a $250,000 Timbco; the tree should always be grabbed as close to the machine as possible, otherwise the weight of the tree causes the machine to tip forward and pinch the saw. This can bend the bar on my feller-buncher, but on a real feller-buncher, it can cause spider cracks in the saw head. It actually takes a fair amount of skill to operate a feller-buncher, you cannot just put anyone in one.