Bought A PTO Arm Remover..........

[Ductape]

Or, at least that what my wife would call it.

We've been burning wood for heat for years. I feel I spend too much time setting wood into a sawbuck and using a chainsaw to cut to length. A few winters ago I worked on a local farm and got a feel for how much faster a cordwood saw is to cut to length on the smallish stuff. I'm hoping this will save me a bunch of hours every year (and hoping I keep both arms attached ). I tried it on some oak this morning, my B3030 seems to have no problems powering it.

 

[JMynes]

That's an interesting looking arm remover. Does the v-shaped cradle rock the log into the blade, or does the blade move to cut the log?
I've got a vision.....
How about a longer supported cradle, with a stop on the other side.
Load a log onto the cradle, slide it up to the stop (set to the desired log length), rock the cradle to cut the log. Cut piece falls away, slide the long log up to the stop and repeat.

 

[JMynes]

I took a closer look and see the swing of the cradle now. It would require a little more engineering for log support, but the sliding log concept could work.

 

[Ductape]

I took a closer look and see the swing of the cradle now. It would require a little more engineering for log support, but the sliding log concept could work.

The guy I bought it from bolted I small piece of flat stock (maybe an inch wide?) to use as a visual guide for cutting to length. Slide the piece of wood till its even with the end of the steel, make your cut....... let the cradle return (its spring loaded and self-returns), slide the wood to the right again, etc.

 

[Altex]

Looks a lot sturdier that this one:
YouTube - Cordwood saw in action

Or this one:
YouTube - Ferguson Cordwood Saw Demo 1

Show your wife this and she'll see what a Real "PTO Arm Remover" looks like.

 

[JMynes]

The guy I bought it from bolted I small piece of flat stock (maybe an inch wide?) to use as a visual guide for cutting to length. Slide the piece of wood till its even with the end of the steel, make your cut....... let the cradle return (its spring loaded and self-returns), slide the wood to the right again, etc.

Park it next to a pre-existing 'bump stop' at the right distance from the blade and that takes the eyeball to length step out of the operation. A wall, fencepost, whatever. Might be a good use for one of those "Back-up Balls" I use when hitching up my trailer.
The part I puzzle about is supporting a long log, anything more than six feet and you'll have to wrassle it too much.

 

[rambler]

That looks pretty new, a lot of very old ones around here. I have one that bolts to the front of the IHC H tractor, runs off the belt pulley. Takes a whole to mount, it seems! No sheilds at all. Spent a lot of my youth catching the cut off pieces & tossing in a wagon or truck or stacking.

What brand/ age is that thing?

--->Paul

 

[rambler]

I took a closer look and see the swing of the cradle now. It would require a little more engineering for log support, but the sliding log concept could work.

Well, for a real wood furnace, you have at least 2 feet you cut off hanging off to the right. The table holds about 4 feet, and you let 2-4 feet hang off the left side. That balances just fine. More than 10 feet, you are getting pretty long or heavy to handle all day long? Might sound good in print to buck 20 foot long logs all day, until you've tried it.

Best to have 3 people, possibly 4, for cutting a mess of wood. One bringing logs, one running the table, and one handling the cut pieces. If you need to walk a ways ot stack in a truck, might need a 2nd person on this side. The person bringing the logs can hold the far end of the log for the first cut, thus supporting the far end - no need for a bigger table.

It doesn't really work to let the cut pieces drop on the ground if you are doing a lot of cutting. The ground fills up with firewood pretty quick, and piles up to interfere with the table action or the blade itself.

The real debate is the solid table top or one made with openings. This solid one the logs will slide by much easier; but he will find a lot of bark & small branches get into the saw opening - real pain in the rear. But if you have more of an open table, the small bits will drop away and not get to the saw blade - but every knot on the logs will catch on every rib of the table, making it hard to slide the logs to the right. The ying & the yang.

All depends how serious you are on wood making. Dad used to spend winters in the woodlot making firewood for 3 houses (ours, unkles, and grandmas) that were heated 100% with wood in this Minnesota climate. He didn't need a gym membership.

That is a nice rig, if I came across one I'd be real interested. As I'm mostly by mydself now, I haven't mounted our old unguarded belt driven saw in years, just use the chainsaw.

--->Paul

 

[Ray2210]

With the back window open like that I bet the cab makes one heck of a dust collector. Emptying it would be a pain though

 

[charlz]

I feel I spend too much time setting wood into a sawbuck and using a chainsaw to cut to length.

Sawbucks are nice but as you found out they are pretty slow and you have to manhandle the logs. The fast way to cut logs into blocks is to leave it on the ground. Go down the log cutting about 3/4 of the way through for each block cut, roll it over with your foot and go back cutting the rest of the cut. Keeps your chain out of the dirt and it's fast. Long bar helps as well (less bending).