That really sucks it didn't work,. Sounds like it would be far more frustrating trying to make it work then it would be doing it the old fashion way. Did they give you a refund as it wouldn't work?
Yea, the only way to make it "work" would've been to cut off a short piece on every log. I'm not interested in making chunks on 40 cord. No matter the length the last piece stood up in the splitter tray & had to be man handled into place, that would require a man on the opposite side at all times reaching through the access door. That's way too dangerous with the operator at the controls, one wrong move & lose a limb or worse, no way I'll even think about going there! As to the rental fee, I only put just over an hour on the meter. The guy that owns the rental place is a good stand up guy that I've known for decades. I just told the mechanic to have him call me Monday, my guess is I won't even get charged. I'm not concerned about that.
As an aside, I took a couple pics of my operation from another angle if anyone cares. EDIT: And forgot to click full image.
Yep for sure, although from what the mechanic said, the older models had a lot better feed & clamp set up that worked pretty well. No clue why they changed it, but I'm betting they shot themselves in the foot. It's really too bad because they're a relatively local company that I'd like to support. I will be in the market for a processor in the next 2-3 years. I hate to say it, but these machines are now out of the running for good.
Thats too bad AC as i was hoping as im sure you were it would work out for you. What is its "average" production rate when running correctly? Did you complain about the undersized dingus too??? If i was closer id gladly come help make firewood for a day or three. Future GTG maybe? I wonder what model Stlshrk used when he rented a processor. Maybe he will chime in.
That’s to bad. I’m sure you had high production expectations. I would have for sure. Thanks for the info
They claim 2 cord/hr. I find that hard to believe if you've clear the splitter trough constantly like I did. Maybe if you had 16' by 8" straight poles. Thanks Zap! Yep, I was planning on having 40ish cord split into a couple big piles by Monday night. At 2 cord/hr on a 24hr/3day rental I planned on some "wiggle" room for learning the machine etc. I'm re strategizing now lol. Likely solution is to spend the processor money on some labor if I can find some.
Three men is getting closer to efficient. This gives you a man opposite of the operator station to help with holding the log from falling in the splitter trough on the last cut for the clamp to grab. It is sometimes hard for the operator to reach over the guard to push it back up if it is a 20" log... This a grabbed quote from Stlshrk 's thread. This was exactly the issue I had, but at 24" there was no way to hold, shove a 16" Oak log back up. It's also possible to activate the saw while the other man's hand is inside that access opening. We discussed trying that, but it just seemed as though the machine should've been designed to not need a man's arm inside the saw & splitting chamber while in operation. I'm gonna look for a better designed machine as opposed to "work arounds" on a machine that expensive.
I don't blame you, I do some dumb stuff with little regards to my safety at times but all it takes is one slip or miss timing and it wouldnt turn out well. I would say you made the right choice and called it quits with it.
