Firewood processor with winch

[OneUp]

Being new to hydraulics, I was hoping to get some constructive criticism on a project that I am stating to layout. The goal is to design/fab a firewood processor for home use. I burn anywhere from 4 to 6 cords a year, here in the northeast USA and the labor force (kids) will be leaving the nest soon.
Some parameters;
* Cycle time is not critical unless you are talking the two wheel kind.
* Current operation is mostly manual
* Given the terrain, I will winch the logs to the processor (no loading table)
* logs are mostly maples (red, sugar, striped), silver birch, cheery, and beech in the 12 to 14" diameter range
* hydraulic chain saw, log clamp, winch, and splitter for the main components

I was hoping to automate as much as possible so I was looking at the splitter directional valve - Prince Part number 9-6587-PB to handle the auto out and back. The winch would be it's own directional valve to handle retract, free wheel, and maybe a hold function. (not sure what valve) For the rest, I was thinking I could use sequence valves to handle the log clamp, saw motor, and cut arm piston.
Not knowing anything about the hardware side of hydraulics;
- are there directional valves with built in sequence valves
- if not would I need a manifold for each
- is that an efficient way of handling those related functions
- what kind of pressure drop or heat buildup is expected with sequence valves
- are the valves adjustable or do they come in set actuation pressures

There has been discussions regarding the automated chain saw feed cylinder but given the wood I have, it should be easier to find a 90% functional solution for the feed rate/pressure. I could give each function a valve but I'm sure there is a more efficient and eloquent method and I would like to learn some of the practical tradeoff between them. Reading the other posts have helped but I have not seen this combination before which changes too many variable to apply their methods.
any guidance would be appreciated, thanks

 

[oosik]

Welcome to TBN OneUp. Just my humble opinion - I think you are going WAY overboard for just 4 to 6 full chords.

I would recommend a more "standard" operation. Gas powered chain saw - cut the logs to length. Gas or PTO powered chipper - move the cut logs to the chipper and split. Trailer the split wood to it's storage location.

 

[Rustyiron]

Sometimes its equally about the coolness of the fab project as much as it's about breaking down some firewood.
There are a few good hydraulics guys here, hopefully they will hop on to this one. I've always wanted to build a processor but without some serious technical assistance in the "plumbing", I'd be wasting my time and money.
There's also a pretty experienced group over on

Firewood and Wood Heating

Page 1 of 59: The Forestry Forum

forestryforum.com

 

[Gordon Gould]

This has the potential of being a really interesting thread !

gg

 

[ruffdog]

Firewood processors work great if the logs are straight. If not, it is more work than it is worth. Now, if you built one that would work with most logs.....that would be $omething!

 

[OneUp]

Oosik, thanks.
Is there really such a thing as overkill?
Fair point but it seems like I spend a lot of time on firewood and last week the first fire was with wood that was greener than I would have liked. Part of that was due to the splitter being down waiting for the 4-way to be re-welded. I seem to be challenged in getting wood put up for anything but the up coming season. Just looking for something that can help with that.
If this works out, maybe I’ll sell a cord or two…

 

[OneUp]

Firewood processors work great if the logs are straight. If not, it is more work than it is worth. Now, if you built one that would work with most logs.....that would be $omething!

Ruffdog, where do the processor designs fail with crooked logs? I was going to use a Wallenstein WP835 as a starting point.

 

[OneUp]

Sometimes its equally about the coolness of the fab project as much as it's about breaking down some firewood.
There are a few good hydraulics guys here, hopefully they will hop on to this one. I've always wanted to build a processor but without some serious technical assistance in the "plumbing", I'd be wasting my time and money.
There's also a pretty experienced group over on

Firewood and Wood Heating

Page 1 of 59: The Forestry Forum

forestryforum.com

Rustyiron,
Thanks, I have been lurking at the forestry forum also. Yes, a large knowledge hole for me is the plumbing side. There seems to be a lot of valve configurations and considerations.

 

[Everhard]

Your comment about being challenged to get ahead of more than the season - For myself the answer to that was having more than enough place to store multiple years in advance. With that in place (and easy to fill) as others have mentioned a regular splitter (gas stand alone unit that goes horizontal/vertical in my case) does the trick. (I burn the same amount as you) Then for me it comes down to getting the most efficient method so I handle the wood the least amount of times. Generally I'll cut a pile of logs down to firewood lengths, then move the splitter to the pile then split and throw the splits directly into the trailer - that then goes to the storage and stacked directly out of the trailer.
I've thought about a processor as well, but ultimately I don't know that the cost is worth the effort. Still, I'm on the bandwagon with those saying do it! There's certainly a lot of pleasure in making something like that. If you get it done, it would help speed up processing the long logs, and if you first cut off the ugly Y trunks etc you could process those chunks separately with the regular splitter.
Alternatively I've dreamed up a "feed system" for my stand alone splitter where I could cut those long logs and then the cut rounds would feed onto the platform of the splitter which I could then grab, split, throw into trailer, repeat till the cut rounds from that log are complete then process the next log. not as "fully automated" as a processor but would certainly speed the process up if you're working on your own.

 

[Root Cause]

Great thread. I have just cleared some land and have 10' long logs stacked that will yield about 30-40 cords of wood.
So I need a good plan to chew through this but it is a one time situation. After that, I too am looking at 6 cords/year useage. I am hopeful that you figure this out for all of us.