Wood conveyor build time!!

[Johndirt82]

Well ladies and gents not only does it work quite well it will throw wood pretty far too. even a 45 deg angle wood doesn't slip on the rough top belt. still need some love and final welds but works none the less. I will post a vid in a bit

 

[Johndirt82]

Well here she be in action! Hope you like it. Works well beyond expectation. Now for the cost side of the deal.
Used commercial grade treadmule -$300
steel tubing(new), wood and MISC-$200
used rough top conveyor belt -$136
Not too bad for $636 bucks.
I can do a cord in 1hour with ease so be the supply of wood is right behind me.
My neighbors are always facinated with what Im building next. I live in a pretty nice neighborhood 10 min from downtown sandiego surprized they don't hate me, free wood is always a good peace offering

[video=youtube;LtluSVAlFR8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtluSVAlFR8[/video]

 

[woodman6666]

Looks excellent!! Very good job. Always a good feeling when your projects work out. Very cool!


www.procutfirewood.com

 

[Iron man]

Cool.How far will it shoot a puppy?

 

[psuiewalsh]

Nice work. Any reason why you chose to have the splitter valve opposite the ram?

 

[GeeVee]

Yer SICK...

Great fabrication, congrats.

 

[Johndirt82]

It will shoot them over the truck if you go to 10 havnt tried 12mph haha. I just leave it on 2 works perfect.
Not sure what you mean valve opposite the ram? its a little off center from the end of it.
I really like the new setup works great. cuts splitting time down considerably.

 

[arlen]

great conveyor!

Wow John nice job on the conveyor. What kind of a splitter do you have looks very profeshional. I would really love to see your setup sometime. thanks David

 

[Johndirt82]

I built the splitter too. Your more than welcome to come down anytime. Your only 30min away. Im in Bonita just east of chulajuana.

 

[shelbythedog]

Not sure what you mean valve opposite the ram?

You have to move the handle in the opposite direction as the ram is moving. Great work on the conveyor, now I've gotta stay on the lookout for a working, used tradmill, thanks alot!

 

[Johndirt82]

Oh that , I did that so I could elbow it or whatever to actuate it and just pull to retract it. Made sense to me. Actually I mounted the valve upsidedown to keep the hoses out of the way and thats just how it worked out when I put the handle on upright. I like it though. I just got done modding the conveyor some more. I took all the delicate electronics circuit boards out of the lower part by the motor and made a sealed but vented box for them and mounted it where the display console is. Dont want that stuff gettin f'ed up. Then just extended the motor wires 6ft to re route them back to the motor. Get the highest Hp treadmule you can! and with a tilt/fold up deck. makes it so much easier. I got mine for 300 bucks with 3.5hp.

 

[Johndirt82]

Just an update after shooting bout 4 cords off this thing. It works awesome still. My biggest worry is damaging the circuit board that controls the whole thing but I made a protective case for it. This nice thing is to get the end of the conveyor just over the end of the stake side on the truck and use a higher speed to shoot the wood to the front of the bed and slow it as you go to it more evenly fills the bed without having to move the truck or get in and restack the wood.

 

[GeeVee]

Cool.How far will it shoot a puppy?

Ironhead- if you are unhappy with the wifey's new puppy, shoot the wife and divorce the puppy, but please do not run the pup through the splitter....

 

[Blazin]

Nice job dood! I'll be sure to get that plate if I ever own a ford

 

[Johndirt82]

Ok status update 10 cord through it so far and still works flawslessly , having a variable speed drive is priceless. Allows you to speed up or slow down the belt to shoot the wood further or shorter making less time for moving the truck or gettin in the back sorting wood around. glad I went this route.

 

[stole]

Sorry for reviving an old thread, but any update long term on this?

I just bought a treadmill with tilt and a beefy 3,75 HP motor. I'm getting it for 89 USD as the seller said the software is broken with no solution from manufacturer. Hopefully I can either:

• Fix the control unit / software
• Install a custom control unit with custom firmware
  • Would likely be quite a tedious project, but could open possibilities for remote control, run time logging, presets for different speeds, safety stop in case someone gets caught, etc.
• Use with no fancy control unit, minimum control.

I was thinking I would need to move the motor/drive to the top end of the conveyor so it would pull the belt instead of pushing it. I was afraid it might cause slippage or jamming, but it looks like yours was running just fine with the motor at the bottom?

Any other lessons that were valuable?