Winch Firewood Processor

[polemidis]

Finally I have some progress and some real photos for you guys! This is the 2nd processor I design. My 1st one with the live deck is on hold.


One engine for the saw motor / 6-way height adjustment / winch. 2 valves for the later, while the saw runs operates with a solenoid valve that gets oil from the PB port
One engine for the splitter, with auto retract valve, and a 2-stage pump
The splitter cyl is 5" diameter, and the beam is W-Beam 8-35.

No oil-cooling yet, I will keep a close eye on the oil temp, and I will add it only if needs it. Hopefully the big tank will dissipate heat fast enough.
I wish I could do the same with one engine for with the same cost, but I can't. A 30hp+ engine goes above $3000.
Any questions or suggestions are welcomed!

The design (with some errors and a lot of missing items)


And the progress as of yesterday



Hopefully i will have some videos soon.

 

[davedj1]

That looks really nice, I like the solar panels, should make for some quiet splitting and cutting
What motor are you using for the saw? I would love to do something similar except I would like a log deck as I have a tractor to load it.

 

[polemidis]

I have another post with my live deck processor but the fabrication is on hold since this winch type processor is a paid design!
For the motor I used the classic 0.58ci gear motor from surpluscenter. I haven稚 found any better option for that cheap , even though it does not take advantage of the full 18hp of the gas engine.
Paired with a 14t sprocket and a 0.404 harvester bar

 

[Stomper]

Looks great. Nice work. I am wanting to go the winch route also for dragging logs into it. It just makes sense to me, but I’m tossing around an electric atv winch. Simply because I can free spool it for hooking up new logs. Can your hydraulic winch free spool.

 

[polemidis]

Looks great. Nice work. I am wanting to go the winch route also for dragging logs into it. It just makes sense to me, but I知 tossing around an electric atv winch. Simply because I can free spool it for hooking up new logs. Can your hydraulic winch free spool.

Exactly. The customer has a skider and wants to process the whole logs. And also avoid having to haul another equipment to lift the sticks on a live deck. Electric is not an option because the gas motors will not be able to recharge the battery. The load is simply too much. The hydraulic motor free spools yes, it has an extra declutch port. In theory at least! I will know in a few days if it really works as expected

 

[davedj1]

How is the connection made from the winch motor to the drum? Thanks and the more I look at it the more I like it!

 

[polemidis]

How is the connection made from the winch motor to the drum? Thanks and the more I look at it the more I like it!

It痴 on the same shaft. I put a coupler on the motor shaft, and connected the drum axle. So on one end is the motor, at the other end is bearing. Now that I give it a second thought maybe I should had put a second bearing right after the motor so the load does not go to the motor bearings.

 

[MossRoad]

Itç—´ on the same shaft. I put a coupler on the motor shaft, and connected the drum axle. So on one end is the motor, at the other end is bearing. Now that I give it a second thought maybe I should had put a second bearing right after the motor so the load does not go to the motor bearings.

That's a good idea. Some hydraulic motors are not designed for side load.

 

[polemidis]

Finally I have some videos. I am still waiting the chain and the winching rope in the mail, and I have to put some safety features, but in general these videos show the idea. This is the 1st prototype, and has a lot of errors and imperfections though. I have make a list of things that I will change next time, and there are already some things changed. So the CAD is a bit inaccurate for the moment.
All the videos are on youtube. I have not explained anything there yet, I will make another video at some point later with a description.
Plz take a look and feel free to ask or suggest anything

Winch Firewood Processor - YouTube

 

[davedj1]

Looks good, one quick question, why not one more cylinder and circuit for the saw?