Surely someone has come up with a FEL hydraulic bucking saw?

[KiwiBro]

Pick up log in tractor forks, close grapple to hold it in place, use a moveable hydraulic saw/s to buck it from log ends inwards, without getting off the tractor.

Perhaps the forks could side-shift so could always get the last bit of log bucked.

Hydraulic saw/s could be shifted hydraulically along axle to any position.

Say, about a 12' max range for complete bucking but obviously could pick up whatever log length the FEL could handle and cut to any length.

Would a tractor have the needed hydraulic flow to run one let alone more, hydraulic saws? Looks like about 14GPM is considered a minimum flow, so perhaps tractor would not have enough flow, or only just enough for one saw?

Hurry up, somebody. Build it already.

 

[Otahyoni]

Add a splitter and you've come up with this:

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Those run about a 40k price tag just in case your wondering.. about same cost as a medium sized processor.

 

[Joesell]

Those array about a 40k price tag just in case your wondering.. about same cost as a medium sized processor.

Not to mention you need a pretty big skidsteer with high flow just to run it!

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Not to mention you need a pretty big skidsteer with high flow just to run it!

Yup, they said my S250 std flow was about the smallest, and that's a large skid steer, weighs about 9000lbs and 75ish hp.... brand new a 50k machine at the time. (2003)

One option is a slasher or bucking saw. They get put by the shovel loader for doing CTL wood when it's hauled out tree length.
Not sure how common they are now since most CTL guys use a processor head on the feller buncher and a forwarder... or a harwarder.

 

[KiwiBro]

Add a splitter and you've come up with this:

yeah nah

 

[KiwiBro]

One option is a slasher or bucking saw.

thanks. They are getting closer but need a rotating grapple to feed 'em, are stationary, generally won't handle bigger wood.

If handling smaller wood, say, creating firewood from tops or a thinning operation, then something like this looks pretty cool (but I would expect darn expensive too):


But in my case I'm looking into a process that can handle bigger wood and one operator can effortlessly feed a radio controlled splitter rings without getting on/off tractor.

 

[blades]

You can have anything built you want- provided you have a deep enough pocket that is overflowing. The more complex a machine the more complex a breakdown is- more time it takes to repair- always a tradeoff somewhere.

 

[KiwiBro]

Yeah baby:

This is getting closer. Not sure how, if at all, they feed the billets through the grapple, but that's about the size or slightly longer bar than I was thinking of.

 

[benp]

We had this for a while. It's a prototype that we were testing out and giving feedback for the guy that built that skidsteer processor in the first video.

Pretty handy and cut a lot of wood in a short period. still have to split the stuff that needs splitting but that was a non issue for me.

 

[KiwiBro]

Thanks for those photos. Does the beam supporting the grapple extend out and by how much? I'm trying to figure how many rounds could be bucked before having to drop and pick up the log again.

 

[benp]

I finally got a video that I had to work. So, this will explain it.



The way the saw behaved at the end was a quirk that it had. It was either on or off, no feathering into the cut. My neighbor discussed a solution to this issue with the builder of it.

Aside from that, it worked awesome.

 

[slowp]

It's called a processor. Such a machine has been around for a while, and will set you back in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It'll also do the falling if you have flat enough ground, which most of you have. They do not need a farm tractor to move around. Most are mounted on tracks, but some are on tires.

Go for it.

 

[KiwiBro]

I finally got a video that I had to work. So, this will explain it.



The way the saw behaved at the end was a quirk that it had. It was either on or off, no feathering into the cut. My neighbor discussed a solution to this issue with the builder of it.

Aside from that, it worked awesome.

Thanks. Aint no way I'd want something like that on a tractor FEL though.
Don't fancy dropping and picking up to advance the log relative to the bar. I don't fancy, on a tractor FEL, not being able to slew sideways to do that.

If a processor had the ability to cut a 3' long round into 3 x 1' rounds when it is placed on the bed (I have seen a home-made one that does that - it has two bars that buck the billet simultaneously), then something like the above posted tractor FEL bucking set-up could work out OK. Just slide the forks under the log, positioning the tractor at the end of the log, close log grab, give a little upwards lift to the FEL but no so much as to overload one arm, buck the 3' long section off the log, carry over to and place on the processor bed, hit a remote control to start the auto split process where it will buck the billet and split the wood.

It still means more movements with the tractor and would be a better system for a digger with bucking grapple because the digger can stay put and slew the arm and better pluck logs off a pile or trailer.

Here's a video of the processor with the multi bars:


Where such a system wouldn't work too well is multiple small diameter logs that still need splitting rather than just bucking to final firewood length.

I can't afford a digger, darn it, let alone a full on processing head. and the log sizes are often such that they are beyond such set-ups anyway unless a rich benefactor like slowp can be found to fund it all.