Firewood Processor build

[tpmx]

Thanks Frank on the idea of wrapping the rollers.
I was concerned about the drive belt slipping and that solves that concerned.
As far as that cylinder I just havent got the steel plates welded on for the cylinder yet
I have some 3/8 x 3 plate to weld vertically to protect that little guy just havent welded them on yet
Made some spacers this morning for the hydraulic tank.
Lots to do yet but its getting there
Thanks for the roller idea,I will use it.
The chain/bar is a 404 harvester

 

[skeets]

Outstanding,,

 

[Tooljunkie]

Yup, you are definetly putting lots of thought into it. That 404 harvester bar/chain is pretty robust. Looking forward to finished product. Looks like it will handle some big logs.

 

[ShaunBlake]

That is awesome! But 5 control levers? <sigh> It's outta my league!

Question: why the big drop from the saw to the wedge, and does the "lap" the cut off log is sitting on lower it, or does it just tip and fall down?

I'm eager to see a vid of it running.

 

[tpmx]

If I understand your question correctly the distance from where the log is cut
Down to the splitter is just enough so the conveyor belt clears the hydraulic
Cylinder

 

[Tooljunkie]

That block should land flat, the speed of cut through block holds it vertical until gravity takes over. A pick can straighten block pretty easy.
Otherwise block may flip and land pointing opposite direction.
Had wondered about heigt from cutting deck to splitting deck too, but one i used to run was 20" if i recall and blocks landed flat most often.

With guards to protect operator, squaring block may be an issue and its good practice to not place hands where they are easily crushed or removed.

The older one (guillotene style)had a dead man switch to prevent unwanted operation. It had two valves.

 

[firefighter222]

You have done a great job on your build. I have seen the Black Creek processor it is a nice machine well built but to pricey for me so I will try and build one . Could you let me know the diameter of the drive and tail rollers and what is the width of the infeed deck as I want to have a Belt deck like Black Creek. Did you use 2.5 square tubing .250 wall again very go build .

 

[tpmx]

The drive rolls are 7",the main deck is indeed 2.5 box tubing .250 wall
Sorry I haven't got back to you sooner but I have been working on the processor
pretty hard for the last 2 weeks and am about to try it out
I thought I was going to have it running this weekend but a couple small issues are holging it up
It is almost completely plumbed except 1 return line where I ran 3 feet short on hose and 2 hydraulic hoses that I bought that should of been 48" long and I ordered 24.
Not sure what I was thinking there
Still need to wire the bar oil pump and the electric clutch up
I have tested the bar oil pump and it seems to oil fine
It is really close to running and I am anxious to test it out
Probably won't be until next weekend now
Tomorrow I am going to button up the wiring and a couple small items
I will post a picture tomorrow of it with all the plumbing
What a lot of hoses and connections
I am real happy with the results so far
After a good test run I am going to completely disassemble it to finish all the welding/sandblast and paint it and reassemble it
I do have a question for you oil experts out there
Today I picked up 4 5gal pails of Tractor Supplys Travellers Universal Tractor Trans/Hydraulic Fluid,do you guys think this will be ok to run in this?
I have read a lot about it and I found it is better then TSC iso46 hydraulic oil
What do you guys think?

 

[tpmx]

Worked all day on the processor and have everything finished except 2 hoses and a section of return hose
Back to Surplus Centers website to order again
Heres some pics I took today:
Not the best pictures but something to look at

 

[tpmx]

Heres a few more

 

[tpmx]

Last 3 pictures
Next will be a video of it running cutting and splitting wood(I hope)

 

[firefighter222]

Last 3 pictures
Next will be a video of it running cutting and splitting wood(I hope)

Thanks for the reply could you let me know where you purchased the belting from and how wide did you cut it .Thanks Peter

 

[tpmx]

The belting is 8" wide and its from an Ebay seller that usually has several listings for different belting
This was the only one he had that was long enough at the time

 

[firefighter222]

Thanks for the reply .I will look on ebay Canada might find some there will also look up the US site also .It will be nice to see it all painted Thanks Peter

 

[firefighter222]

Could you tell me the name of the person on ebay that you got the belting from .There are so many and it would help finding that persons listing thanksPeter

 

[tpmx]

Had to do some digging but this is the EBAY seller I purchased the
belting from :industrial-etc
I purchased the alligator connector from this fellow:romack2
I paid about $60.00 plus shipping for the belting and $23.00 for the connector

 

[tpmx]

Ok after a couple short test runs and heres what I found with the processor:
The adjustable wedge that slides up and down has a slight miscalculation
The cylinder has more travel down then the wedge can travel
Basically the wedge bottoms out before the cylinder is out of stroke
This is an easy fix just need to relocate the cylinder bottom mount,this will in turn raise the wedge a bit higher when extended so that is good
The conveyor runs perfect but the log will roll around after it is unclamped,
this is partially a result of the whole processor not setting level but I can see this needs addressed,I am going to add guides the length of the conveyor
The biggest issue is driving the saw with 1 belt,while it worked pretty well most of the time if I got into a knot I could slip the belt.
the clutch seems to work just fine.
I have another 12v clutch that has twin pulleys and I think I will look into
changing to it.
This means I will have to machine a new shaft for the saw,probably go to a larger diameter shaft while Im at it
All and all Im happy that it worked as good as it did
No hydraulic leaks,had to reverse a couple lines to get things to run the directions I wanted
Going to take a little time to get use to the levers
I did make a short video but it came ou so bad I couldn't post it,its blurry and dark
I will make another

 

[firefighter222]

Thanks for the reply found the one for the fasteners but could not find the person for the belting .Look forward to seeing the finished pictures and video .

 

[tpmx]

Try this link
http://stores.ebay.com/industrialetc/
He has some belting listed

 

[firefighter222]

Try this link
http://stores.ebay.com/industrialetc/
He has some belting listed

Thanks for the link will check it out .