Why Do You Use A Conveyor?

[Wayned24]

I would love a conveyor because my OWB is uphill from where I stack/cut my wood. I can't get a truck up to my burner so I have to carry a lot of it. Even a 4 wheeler with a wagon on the back is tough bc there's a sharp turn. A conveyor would save me a ton of work.

 

[CentaurG2]

I used to run a processor that could push 4 cords an hour. Without a conveyor, you would bury yourself in under ½ an hour. Shutting down to load a loader bucket or dump a truck takes up a lot of run time. You can store wood in piles as long as they are not too large. If you have the land, 1 or2 cord piles will work but it takes up a lot of space. You can get by with larger piles but you need to work them like an onion.

 

[Wood Hound]

We all know a conveyer is a must have, you do not need to split for more than two hours and your buried in wood-the big question is- belt or chain ??

 

[rancher2]

We all know a conveyer is a must have, you do not need to split for more than two hours and your buried in wood-the big question is- belt or chain ??

I had a couple old farm conveyor's with the chains and steel paddles and they just were a pain to keep going. I bought this old gravel conveyor probably ten years ago and its a belt with hyd drive at the top and its been zero issues.

 

[cantoo]

York. Like I said I have several conveyors. My favorite one is a grain conveyor so it's chain drive with 2 1/2" high metal paddles about 3' apart on it. It runs well but because it is steel on steel it eventually wears out. Right now it just wore thru the bottom slide where it turns. I plan to build a heavier gauge steel turn slide for it this winter. Everything else work good on it I put a Chinese 3 or 4 hp gas engine with a chain drive clutch on it that just runs above and idle. Hardly uses an fuel and will just slip if it jambs. Splits dent the crap out of the chute as they fall onto it, I keep saying I'm going to build a slide style hopper for it but never do.
My other one is a Black Creek commercial built one with single chain drive in a trough. It's shorter than I would like but it works good for filling the pick up truck and dump trailer. I used it for a couple years and loved it then this year it became a pain in the azz. I cut almost all ash and now that we are is the final dying stage of the borer here a problem came up that I wasn't expecting. The trees are now mostly dead and the bark is falling off the rounds and splits all the time. This bark is now getting under the chain and binding it as it goes over the top single idle sprocket. This stalls out the engine if it's a big enough piece.
The other two conveyors I have are old farm hay elevators and are just used for back up so hardly used. They are both double chain driven with 4" high paddles about 4' apart and are both electric so far. Hay elevators are getting expensive here as we are surrounded by Amish. I buy them for spares when they are cheap.
I have never used a rubber belt style but have heard that snow can be a problem with tracking. I would think they would be pretty reliable and trouble free.
I would like to try out the type with single heavy chain with paddle on it that Eastonmade sells. I have looked at them and I don't think you can get a better firewood conveyor. If I was paying employees to do firewood I think this is the type I would have. It's a purpose built conveyor whereas the ones I use were designed for something quite different so of course they don't preform as well.

 

[nathan4104]

Cantoo, I have a rubber belt conveyor and have no issues with snow. Not far from you, in Proton Station, there was a welding shop, Feversham Mfg. Couple mennonite guys, all they build is conveyors. I had them make me one a few years ago and it’s been great. (Not the cheapest tho) but it’s heavy duty!

 

[Wood Hound]

Hey thanks..

 

[cantoo]

Cantoo, I have a rubber belt conveyor and have no issues with snow. Not far from you, in Proton Station, there was a welding shop, Feversham Mfg. Couple mennonite guys, all they build is conveyors. I had them make me one a few years ago and it’s been great. (Not the cheapest tho) but it’s heavy duty!

Hi Nathan, I'm getting old and forgetful. I forgot 3 other conveyors that I have. 2 are from sawdust ones made by Feversham Mfg, I bought them a few years ago but have never done anything with them. Maybe this year. I also have a truck mounted type minus the truck. It is a shingle loader from a shingle supply company. Again bought a few years ago and sitting on my fence line waiting for me. Here is a picture of them in the auction yard. They look exactly the same only sitting on my fence line now.

 

[panolo]

Here are a couple pics of my converted one. We split from the side and I have the trough off currently. Was going to shorten it but decided to leave it for now. Tow it with the SxS usually if we need to move it. Run it with a generator or plugged into the garage outlet with a heavy duty cord.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Planolo: Could you post more photos of your set-up please?

 

[panolo]

Sure. Next time I cut I will take more. This is pretty simple. Table, Splitter, conveyor. We move to the table with a grapple bucket and cut from there. Easy enough that 1 or 2 guys can handle it.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Panolo:
When I first got my SuperSplit I had just had hernia surgery. I could lift the table end, but I could not push it, even on concrete in the garage.
I added these forklift tubes, which also made it easier to butt up to the conveyor. The SuperSplit four wheel mod using go-kart spindles and other parts, axle and wheels from SuperSplit, modified, is by far the best for the wood lot.
.The tongue unpins when splitting. Sometimes I use a ball coupler, bolting it on with one bolt through the standard drawbar/pin coupler, when towing directly with quad.This is the back of a Kory 3000 nursery wagon. I ordered some components, including the tongue, from them for the splitter mod. This is the splitter pinned to the wagon, and in the container. Doors both ends, acting as a pull through.

 

[panolo]

I saw your setup on that and I was impressed! I don't know if I ever will set mine up like that even though it makes a ton of sense. I've been kicking around a more commercial splitter like an Eastonmade or Wolfe Ridge. I usually run my SS right up to the side of the conveyor and slide the splits on to it. We run sideways mostly rather than straight on as the conveyor is long and our wood piles are set parallel, Normally not like the pile of elm a tree guy dropped you see in the one pic.

 

[cantoo]

Picked these up today. I have some plans for some of them.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

We are getting rain/snow tomorrow so I wanted to get this cleared out. Not a lot of splitter trash, mostly saw chips from cutting both sides of the splitter. The chips that end up on the splitter table, then get pushed off when splitting and end up here. Every few days I may have to reverse the belt to clear a piece of splitter trash.This area needs cleared every other day. This is a good shot of the mod needed to hinge the mesh guard. As is it is very hard to clear snow packed into ice, on the bottom drum.Three days of cutting chips, a few hours each day.

 

[Circle B MN]

This one used to be owned by a roofing company. Was chain driven but now the engine has been relocated, hyd motor installed and the hopper added. Works pretty darn nice and makes a big pile.