Firewood processor build thread

[woodchipper]

Ken,
Many of us here on TBN are anxiously waiting to see that first log coming out of your processor fully split and ready to get stacked!
I have been following your blog since the begining, and can certainly appreciate your efforts and dedication you'r putting into building such a big peice of usefull equipment! Well done Sir!

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

....
Since I won't be ordering logs until at least the middle of January....

I think we might have a couple weeks to wait yet....

 

[kiotiken]

I have certainly enjoyed watching the build of your processor, do you mount this on a trailer or do you plant it somewhere and haul the logs to it. the machine your building looks like a artwork . Very nice . I haven't read all the posts but I gather you are running a gas powered saw with this and your pump runs the infeed conveyor and the splitter . Really looking forward to the post to see your dream in action all the best .

Very kind words, thanks. The processor does not mount on a trailer. I don't have plans on taking it off my property as it comes as a package deal with my tractor, you can't use one without the other and I don't have a trailer or vehicle capable of moving my tractor. I don't know the weight of the processor but I'm sure my tractor will be able to lift it with relative ease. Guess I'm in for a rude surprise if I'm wrong :laughing: The saw is my trusty old Stihl saw that I added a 20" bar to for this processor. My idea was to try and simplify the design and operation of the processor, not to mention reducing the cost of building it. Somewhere in the 20 pages of this thread there's a better description with pictures but basically, there is no infeed conveyor, the ram is attached to a sled that advances the log as rounds are split. This has been the subject of a little debate in this thread, we'll see if it actually works, otherwise I will have to add an infeed conveyor that will use the same 2 stage pump.

split any wood yet?

Yeah....split any wood yet??? Come on, lets get cracking!!! We want to see some results after all it's been 19 pages of reading so we need to get some return from all the brain juice that's been used up reading this. Come on, Santa has come and gone so it's time to get to work!!

Nope, no wood has been split in the making of this processor :laughing: Still waiting on that one $4 part to arrive so I can attach the pump to the engine, not much happens with out it. I've also been away for the last couple weeks for Christmas. Please go back to post #1 and read the disclaimer, "...as I slowly build this thing"

Ken,
Many of us here on TBN are anxiously waiting to see that first log coming out of your processor fully split and ready to get stacked!
I have been following your blog since the begining, and can certainly appreciate your efforts and dedication you'r putting into building such a big peice of usefull equipment! Well done Sir!

Thank you, I really appreciate these comments. I share in the anticipation of seeing something come out of all this work. I picked up all (I think) the missing or incorrect fittings, I just haven't gone out to install them since I'd still be missing that one critical part of the coupling.

I think we might have a couple weeks to wait yet....

Bingo. The original plan was to order logs for about the middle of January but as CDN Farm Boy can attest to, this isn't an ordinary year around here. I jumped the gun and brought in logs around the first week of January last year. When the snow melted, I was amazed at the ruts left in my lawn as a result. These trucks are so heavy there needs to be several feet of frost in the ground before they drive on the lawn and this year has been very warm. We had snow, then lost it all. It may be the end of January before I can get logs, I'll just have to see what happens with the weather.

When the coupling shows up (I'm thinking another week at least), I'll make a video of the first start up and test of the processor. I'll show what happens even if the processor binds up and bends which is my biggest fear.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Yes, the weather has certainly been out of ordinary. Mind you, it has been nice to work in my unheated shop without a coat on. Built a hydraulic dump wagon, tomorrow I'll weld up a tube bucket for picking up anything from logs to brush to split firewood. This morning picked up a 3pt splitter that needs rebuild. Hopefully before the snow returns I'll be able to cut some standing dead off the neighbour's property.

If you get eager to try things out, I've got some logs here and could bring a couple over

 

[kiotiken]

Yes, the weather has certainly been out of ordinary. Mind you, it has been nice to work in my unheated shop without a coat on. Built a hydraulic dump wagon, tomorrow I'll weld up a tube bucket for picking up anything from logs to brush to split firewood. This morning picked up a 3pt splitter that needs rebuild. Hopefully before the snow returns I'll be able to cut some standing dead off the neighbour's property.

If you get eager to try things out, I've got some logs here and could bring a couple over

Can't say I remember having snow, then loosing it all this late in the year, not to mention it being green into the new year. Up until yesterday I was wearing a spring Jacket with no gloves or hat, definitely not normal for Ottawa this time of year. Sounds like you've stayed pretty busy over the holidays. Post some pictures, I think people are starting to get restless here with nothing new to see, you'd take some heat off me :laughing:

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Lol.

For your viewing pleasure, dump wagon thread started: http://http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/328346-dump-wagon-build.html

 

[kiotiken]

Well, I parked in my garage tonight for the first time since I started the processor. It's not all good news though...

I finished off all the little odds and ends today. I got the coupler earlier this week and installed it, but couldn't get a bolt to fit the engine mount to the engine properly. At first I just figured it must be a 5/16 fine thread since my coarse didn't seem to fit properly, but I kind of had my doubts because I could thread a 5/16 coarse a few turns before it got uncomfortably tight. Of course the 5/16 fine thread I made a special trip for didn't turn at all so I went back to coarse thread and managed to get two in to hold it while I finished mounting the pump. It finally came to me that this engine is a Chinese knock off of a Honda and that it was probably a metric bolt. I managed to pick up some M8 30's (almost the exact same thing as a 5/16 1") and it fine perfectly. I replaced the two 5/16 bolts I used and it didn't seem to be any worse for wear. I couldn't get grade 8 metric bolts on a Sunday though.

After adding fluids and checking everything over a couple more times, I fired it up. The engine ran for a seconds, then died when I took the chock off. I fired it up again, it ran a little longer, then died when I took the chock off again. I did a little inspection at that time and discovered that the fitting coming into the bank of 3 valves was leaking. I tightened it up, figured out I'd turned the fuel off instead of on, fired it up again, but it still leaked and not just a little. It's obviously the wrong fitting, something I've had several problems with so far. All the parts, except for the pump are from Princess Auto, and I asked for help since hydraulics are new to me, but their hydraulics "expert" might just be the guy that drew the short straw, this will now be my 4th trip back.

The fitting I can deal with, but that's not my big problem. While I had it running the second time, I tried the small cylinder to raise/lower the cutting head (without the cutting head installed). It extended down very quickly, but when I tried retracting it, it almost stalled the engine. Next I tried the splitter cylinder. It extended, although not very smoothly, but would not retract. It didn't bog the engine down like the other cylinder did, it just didn't do anything. I didn't keep trying it since it was leaking like a sieve and I figured something wasn't connected properly. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Then I went to fold the legs up so I could move it and realized I welded the brackets on backwards :ashamed: Now the legs will not fold up and there's a 4 - 6" gap between the trough and the deck, so it's going to make it interesting to drag logs into the trough. I'll have to live with it this winter and I'll fix it in the summer.

Here are some pictures of it coming out of the garage and then fully assembled. Now if I can figure out the hydraulic issues, I'll be ready to give it a try.

 

[dbaer78]

Looks great!! I've learned to expect and accept such setbacks when I'm working on projects even remotely as complicated as your processor. You'll get er whipped into shape. Still very much looking forward to seeing it in action!

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Not sure about the smaller cyl but I'm guessing with the splitter cyl its just air. 5" bore is a lot to bleed out. When I connected the 4" one on my dump wagon, I put a gallon and half in thru the port with a funnel before connecting the hose.

Yup, the 'pros' at PA certainly leave some to be desired. We now have a new hyd shop in the west end, Freco Fluid Power off Carp and Richardson. For a few parts, sure beats the drive to the other side of the city

 

[Scooby074]

ANy closeup pics of your plumbing? I looked back a couple pages and didnt find one.

I think I see that there is a needle valve restrictor in there? Its not choking something off to cause your weird performance issues? Is it installed in the right direction? Its not in a return line is it? Could be air too, but you got to get the leak fixed first. Air can cause jerky , erratic movements.

What valve is the 3 spool? With that info we can determine what the proper fitting is. The PA website is pretty good at listing that for their valves.

Do you have a pressure gauge installed?

My PA has a pretty good hyd department. Most of the ones there know a bit and have been in the dept (and with PA) for a while. Monctons PA is awful! They built me a couple hoses with no swivels on either end lol. Impossible to install