Bucking and splitting platforms using metal scaffolding

[KiwiBro]

Trying to find a versatile way of turning logs into split wood loaded into bags.
Have tractor with PTO winch and soon to have pallet forks with log grab.

I'm thinking about buying some used scaffolding gear so I can make up on site some platforms about 12 feet long, load logs in the top one with the tractor and buck them into rounds (obviously the platform has a sacrificial wooden base), roll the rounds onto the next platform (with hookeroon) a few inches down so they can be staged there ready for splitting and this keeps the log platform clear ready for loading of more logs. Then the next platform many feet down has my splitter on it with the table just a few inches below or the same height as, the platform holding the rounds so the rounds roll easily onto the splitter. Off the end of the splitter is a ramp that allows split wood to fall into bags that are on the ground. These bags are set up along the whole length of the platform so I can roll the splitter along the platform filling up bags until they are all full and the bags need to be moved by the tractor.

This is either a one or two person operation.

Here's a side view:

View attachment 265925

The idea is using the tractor to get the weight up at a height that I can then use gravity to let the wood fall through the other stages of the process into the bags. And to minimise handling along the way. Using scaffolding and plywood means I can configure it various ways based on site conditions.

Am I nuts? Apart from being nuts, are there any 'gotchas' in this approach or better ways?

 

[D&B Mack]

I think it is a good idea, just a couple of questions.

Where are you going to stand while you are bucking up the logs?

I am assuming you are going to have solid planks across your scaffolding at both the log level and the round level?

How about instead of having your rounds roll down to the next level, you make it so the logs and rounds are on the same level and as you load logs, this will push the rounds to the splitter? This will save you from having to design a second level system that keeps the rounds from rolling off the sides or back underneath the first level.

 

[KiwiBro]

Where are you going to stand while you are bucking up the logs?

The plan was a set of flick-out steps on the tractor side of the platform to get me up to a comfortable height and so that the chips don't end up being shot back in with the rounds. But I'm rethinking that now.

I am assuming you are going to have solid planks across your scaffolding at both the log level and the round level?

Either that or plywood and a few short scaffolding braces under it.

How about instead of having your rounds roll down to the next level, you make it so the logs and rounds are on the same level and as you load logs, this will push the rounds to the splitter?

good idea. I am now thinking of simply a wider platform that's at the splitter table height, but with a slight decline to the splitter so it promotes the easy moving of the rounds to the splitter. The tractor can place logs on the non splitter end of this platform and they can be bucked there. It will need a set of bunks about 30" from the end as my bar is 32".
I'd probably need some sort of removable re-bar or wood cage that can be fixed to the outside bunks so they don't topple out when bucking, rather fall the other way, onto the platform.

Would probably still need a small step/platform on the log side of the platform to stand on when bucking the logs. Or perhaps I could just build a separate set of log bunks out of scaffolding that sit on the ground that I drop logs into and then lift with tractor and dump the rounds onto the main platform. That might be more versatile, because I can probably make up a few so that when I'm working by myself, I can do more tractor work before getting off to buck and then back on to load onto the platform.

Need to be mindful that tractor can only lift 1t so not many logs once the forks and bunks weight are considered.

 

[dave_dj1]

^^^^^^^ this sounds like the plan!

 

[D&B Mack]

Would probably still need a small step/platform on the log side of the platform to stand on when bucking the logs.

Or, just buildup the area of the log holder, round holder and splitter, so they are on the same level. Maybe a dirt ramp up to load the logs, either way, have everything at/near splitter height. Then have your drop off after the splitter. Maybe build a retaining wall between your splitter and the bags? Not sure of your terrain if this is possible. I wouldn't want to be bucking on a platform if I had a choice.

Or you could buy a conveyor, but that would cost more money and would be no fun planning. :biggrin:

 

[KiwiBro]

Where there's scope to build up the area without annoying anyone about piles of dirt in their paddocks or yards, I agree that would be preferable to any steps or step platform to stand on when bucking the logs.. I guess would need a fair bit to avoid losing reach with the forks on the FEL if the dirt rampo was too steep an angle though.

Having no clue as too how much log wood the tractor could lift, I'm still unsure whether I would be better off just building the on ground but lift-able log bunks. I do like the idea of working a saw on solid ground and when doing lots of small logs it would be great to "stack' em high" in bunks near where they drop and move those bunks to the splitting platform for bucking, then when I've got as many bunks dumped there as my budget can afford to build in the first place, I can break out dolly with the 32" party dress and mow through all those bunks stacks of logs.

I'm now going off on a tangent but am thinking I can stack 'em logs into these bunks right on some landings and make up a trolley/trailer to lift the bunks onto so I can move them out to the processing area in those situations where the landing and processing areas aren't the same. Beauty being they are handled once, at the landing into these bunks, and then they are simply dropped at the processing area without actually having to touch the wood again with my hands until they roll down the platform ready to be split. There are plenty of times where trails are not wide enough to handle just forking the logs out to the road, but with multiple bunks of logs on a trailer, the wood is orientated better. But I digress.

Yes, sure is good to try and nut these things out. actually it's good to have the time to nut them out.

Thing for me and why I like the scaffolding idea, is that I need to stay versatile and what works on one site may need to be reconfigured on another. that's easier to achieve with scaffolding and easier to move it from site to site in the back of my ute/pick-up truck too.

 

[clarksvilleal]

KiwiBro - Your post gave me a great idea - may not work for you, but I think it might for me, and I could get it set up pretty quickly. Here is my idea:

I have a carryall platform that I can attach to the 3PH on my tractor. I can raise it up to about 3' high with the tractor hydraulics. The carryall has a metal frame with 3 - 5' long 2 x 8 boards lumber bolted onto the bottom legs of the frame to form the base. So right now the base is 5' wide x 2' deep, but I could bolt on longer 2 x 8's to make it, say up, to 8' wide. That's probably the longest logs I'll be handling.

I also happen to have 2 10' long x 30" wide Baker Scaffold units that have large heavy-duty casters. So, I set up one or both of the scaffold units with the platform at about the same height as the splitter's log cradle.

Then I roll 1, 2 or 3 logs onto the carryall, depending on the diameter of the logs. I will have first attached several 2' long 2x4's onto the carryall platform to keep the logs raised above the platform boards. I then raise the carryall with the logs on it to the height of the scaffold platform and position it alongside the scaffold. Then I buck the logs right on the carryall and roll the rounds onto the scaffold. The 2x4's keep the logs raised enough so I can avoid hitting the platform with the chainsaw (assuming I haven't previously had too many beers ). I then roll each round onto the splitter in turn, splitting it and either let the split wood fall to the ground, or push it onto the second Baker Scaffold positioned on the opposite side of the splitter. I'm splitting for myself, not as a business, so I can live without automating the last step of yours, i.e., bagging them automatically. I roll the Baker scaffold one round length after each round is split to position the next round alongside the log cradle on the splitter. (Or I can roll the splitter along the length of the scaffold - whichever seems easier.) When done with the log or logs that were on the scaffold, I roll the scaffold back to the original position, then rinse and repeat.

Not quite as intricate or automated as yours, Kiwi, but for my situation adequate and much simpler to implement. And I think I could handle the whole operation alone without much trouble. It would sure beat the heck out of manual lifting of the logs and rounds. I'm sure my 66-year old back would agree.

Watcha think?

 

[KiwiBro]

Hey clarksvilleal, that sounds like a plan. Load up the carry all, buck the rounds, then back up to the scaffold platform. Do you have a tilting ram on the top link to help dump the rounds onto the platform, or were you planning on rolling them out by hand?

Can you lift the logs with forks and drop them in the carry all - so you can get a heap of logs in there within the lifting capacity of the 3PH?. Then mow through 'em with your saw. But I guess you'll need a hinged flap/side on it to stop rounds toppling out as you buck the logs. Then you could back up to the splitter directly without needing the platform that would otherwise be holding the rounds.

I haven't enough experience with my tractor to know how much log wood I can stack in bunks and still lift the FEL, but i'll find out soon enough. I figure the 3PH will lift more though, so if you can stack logs into it and buck, then that's a fair amount of rounds each time and going to keep you splitting for a reasonable amount of time before needing more.

I've got this thing about not letting wood go to ground once it's off the ground, unless that's going to be it's drying place for some time to come. Otherwise it just has to be lifted again and that to me sounds like more work than optimal (whether that be achieved by mechanical means or otherwise). It's just the trip I'm on at the mo' - trying to stop working against gravity any more than I have to or is practical.

Would you be leaving the wood on the ground straight off the splitter to season or would you be coming back around with the bucket on the FEL and scooping it up or maybe you've a conveyor/elevator? I've found the table height on my splitter is about the highest I want a pile of split wood to be on the ground anyway as otherwise the stuff in the middle sdoesn't season as well and leads to inconsistent moisture contents of the split wood in the pile. So when I'm splitting to ground, I just roll the splitter along a bit once splits can't fall off it any more, producing around 3 or so feet high windrows of split wood.

 

[kevin j]

I think it was John Morrell or one of the slaughterhouses that had that idea a century ago: let the pigs and cows walk up a long ramp to the third floor, then the trip down through the processing was by gravity conveyors as they cut up the meat.

can't comment on the log application of the gravity processing, but it seems similar.

 

[clarksvilleal]

Hey clarksvilleal, that sounds like a plan. Load up the carry all, buck the rounds, then back up to the scaffold platform. Do you have a tilting ram on the top link to help dump the rounds onto the platform, or were you planning on rolling them out by hand?

I don't have a hydraulic top link, if that is what you mean by tilting ram. I may decide to get one, as it could also be useful for some of my other implements. But initially I plan to just roll them out by hand. Again, I'm just cutting my own firewood. If I was commercial I would probably want to automate more.

Can you lift the logs with forks and drop them in the carry all - so you can get a heap of logs in there within the lifting capacity of the 3PH?. Then mow through 'em with your saw. But I guess you'll need a hinged flap/side on it to stop rounds toppling out as you buck the logs. Then you could back up to the splitter directly without needing the platform that would otherwise be holding the rounds.

Don't have forks nor do I have a FEL, so I'll be rolling them onto the carryall by hand as well. I'll probably make a simple plywood ramp to make it as easy as possible.

I haven't enough experience with my tractor to know how much log wood I can stack in bunks and still lift the FEL, but i'll find out soon enough. I figure the 3PH will lift more though, so if you can stack logs into it and buck, then that's a fair amount of rounds each time and going to keep you splitting for a reasonable amount of time before needing more.

Would you be leaving the wood on the ground straight off the splitter to season or would you be coming back around with the bucket on the FEL and scooping it up or maybe you've a conveyor/elevator? I've found the table height on my splitter is about the highest I want a pile of split wood to be on the ground anyway as otherwise the stuff in the middle doesn't season as well and leads to inconsistent moisture contents of the split wood in the pile. So when I'm splitting to ground, I just roll the splitter along a bit once splits can't fall off it any more, producing around 3 or so feet high windrows of split wood.

Again, no FEL, so initially I'll just be scooping them up by hand and throwing them into a trailer. I may consider getting a 30" 3PH dirt scoop that may work for scooping them up and dumping them wherever, though that may turn out to be more trouble than it's worth. OTOH I sometimes also need to move dirt or gravel, so the scoop would be useful for that as well.

But again, thanks to you for the initial idea of using the scaffolding, which led me quickly to this variation on your theme.

Now, I just need to get that splitter here that I've had my eye on - hopefully soon after the start of the New Year. Splitting with the maul and wedges has gotten old (like me).

 

[D&B Mack]

Where there's scope to build up the area without annoying anyone about piles of dirt in their paddocks or yards, I agree that would be preferable to any steps or step platform to stand on when bucking the logs.. I guess would need a fair bit to avoid losing reach with the forks on the FEL if the dirt rampo was too steep an angle though.

Oh, sorry, I didn't catch that you were doing this at various sites. I assumed this was on your lot and a fixed application.

 

[KiwiBro]

I think it was John Morrell or one of the slaughterhouses that had that idea a century ago: let the pigs and cows walk up a long ramp to the third floor, then the trip down through the processing was by gravity conveyors as they cut up the meat.

can't comment on the log application of the gravity processing, but it seems similar.

There was a crew I noticed a while ago that had a similar idea but instead of getting the wood up, they left it at ground level and they themselves went down. They picked a spot on a hill just below the skid trail. Skidder dropped the logs on the side of the trail, they bucked them right there and rolled them overboard into a small cut in the hillside where the rounds could land. That cut then stepped down another 3 or so feet to their splitter so the table was level with the rounds cut. Below all this was another trail where they parked their trailer. Splits came off the splitter into a large plastic culvert that directed the splits to wherever on the trailer they needed. Worked super for them except for every now and then having to push rounds from the back of the holding tank to the front so they could reach them from the splitter (I didn't see an extended hookeroon or such like there but I suppose that could work too). The trailer trail was a short one back up to the skid trail.

Didn't see a plywood floor in the holding tank, but that would help keep some dirt off the rounds if that was a concern.

 

[KiwiBro]

Oh, sorry, I didn't catch that you were doing this at various sites. I assumed this was on your lot and a fixed application.

Sorry, I didn't make that clear.

I'm still debating with myself about getting a yard close to market and either processing logs and arborist's giveaways there and/or storing split wood only. For now though it all happens 'on location' .