@jason01095 We are transitioning the "Firewood Guy" business which is our local operating name to the "FiveOaks Firewood" business over time to reduce any confusion with local customers it's an involved process we are working through.
There is a UK company called Fuelwood that have some nice equipment, there is a small YTber running the equipment if you want to have a look at how good it is, the channel is called Oak Farm Firewood.
My father was a professional blacksmith. He was also a good welder. In 1978, he build a wood splitter on an I-beam above a frame that rode on Chevy car wheels/tires. The hydraulic system was a closed system (the pump was in the oil reservoir) and the business end was an upright flared wedge a foot tall. The I-beam could be turned on a central pin to run inline with the towing vehicle, then turned sideways (in line with the wheels) to split wood. An 8hp Briggs and Stratton provided power. We had lots of timber on the family ranch in Montana, and we sold firewood as a sideline to keep us busy in the winter. I still have the machine and use it every year to work up firewood for my home. I'm on the fourth engine, the hydraulic system is the original, and I've painted it to look like a John Deere implement, complete with John Deere decals. I'm 76 years old. This splitter will be going long after I'm gone. How many splitters today can put up a record like that??
Ours is basically the same thing. It's sitting on some old wagon axle. Before my time it has a 2.3 ford engine on it. We put a few different Briggs engines on it over the years. I think the smallest was a 3.5hp and the biggest I remember was an 8hp. My brother still lives there and the house has only ever been heated with wood. I think it has a predator 212 on it now. I think we've replaced a couple hoses over the years but that's it. The tires are OLD but hold air just long enough to move it around the property. A buddy has one from tsc and is constantly working on it, had issues getting warranty stuff done and has had nothing but issues getting parts for it. Home owner quality equipment is junk after a few years now. We need to keep the old stuff going.
@@aaadamt964 The tires and wheels on the splitter my Dad built are from my Mom's 1953 Chevy Bel Aire, studded snow tires, of course. Isn't this old stuff great???
@robertodebeers2551 I was just talking about this on fb. I refuse to buy new stuff. I'm probably more "green" than the green people. I have an old dolly I got at a garage sale foe next to nothing. It's much better than anything made today. I have some left over metallic red base coat I'm going to paint it with. I'll have a custom painted,vheavy duty dolly for less than $20 painted professionally with left over professional paint.
Very cool machine......I don't worry about smaller pieces as most people want kindling anyway. Once heard a wise man say "You can build a big fire with small pieces, but you can't build a small fire with big pieces"
@@Fanta.... This machine was made to satisfy the picky snobs that think everything has to be a perfect size and visually appealing. He still has to find buyers for all of the off-sized pieces or send it over to the mulching machine.
@@Rattlerjake1 I agree ! The smaller the pieces the faster the wood will burn also. If the logs need to be split that small why not just grind them to dust !
With management..........you can build any sized fire you wish. After all.......a fire does start with a " spark " Thats about as tiny as a fire as you need ! Larger fire ? Add more wood !
Yeah, but if you want to heat a home like I do, I'm wanting larger pieces that'll burn for a few hours. That wood is closer in size to my kindling than my firewood.
Oak Farm Firewood has a complete processor that uses the same sort of splitter, but he also has a log table and an automated bucking station He basically only needs one person to babysit the processor, load the logs and rotate his toads or bags.
It's crazy when I think back into the 90,s I would get laid off from construction every winter and I would hand split firewood to sell to keep food on the table. Very impressive system 👍🏻
Those splits are about one-third the thickness of my biggest at home. I like having a variety of sizes, depending on the stage of the fire. When I go to bed, I throw in a big solid piece of hardwood.
The Austrian company Posch uses this X-style wedge for their processors. They have all kinds of setups, some fully automated, really magnificent. They are really a premium company.
Although it was an impressive machine, I'm also impressed with the video coordination showing the process and matching each scene with a detailed description, we'll done.
Most folks like projects. They like looking at the final product. The process to get there is immaterial. Then there are folks like Matt and I who love the process. Even if you magically get the result you want, if you don't understand how you got there, sooner or later, the process will break down, and you won't know how to fix it. Make the process precise, and then you can adjust it to make it accurately give you the results you want.
I just stopped video at the five minute mark when Matt started to talk about his new machine, because I literally thought it might have switched to a different person suddenly. I was wearing some low power magnifiers which weren't quite enough for me to see well at the time. Anyway, I just wanted to comment about this because it seemed like night and day when Matt started talking about his new splitter. I'm gonna way out on a limb and predict that he loves it! His energy has shifted so much. I hope I'm right because that would reflect that Matt is an authentic person. Such people are rare in my area, but such a joy to run into.
That is most impressive and a very clever design. Kudos to Pinosa for making such a fine machine and kudos to you for highlighting why it is such a good splitter. Great video Adam thumbs up.
A couple of thoughts on this: 1. The smaller splits are a whole new market for the camping world that is looking for that size. This could even be wholesaled to a bundler. 2. Design - if the splitting knives/wedges had 2 or 3 horizontal blades, followed by 2 or 3 vertical blades instead of an X, while using the same feeding/splitting process, I believe that would greatly reduce small splits. That feeding process would hold everything in place while the wood is being split. Something to consider.
You could add a camera or scale to the conveyor to recognize and deflect the chaff at a drop point. The tech is widely used in agriculture and manufacturing.
Those type of logsplitters have been around in Europe for a while. You can lookup the Posch 420 Autologger & the Fuelwood Splitta 400. Great for straight grained stuff, struggle with knots a bit though.
50+ Years ago, a fellow with a small sawmill on the river decided to make firewood, but he had a plan from beginning to end. He already had a ladder into the river which brought the logs up to the mill, so it was simple to build the firewood operation off to the side. He began by measuring the width of the alley ways he was going to deliver to. This dictated the lengths of the trucks and bins he built. His bins held 8 cords and had 8 compartments.. Buy pulling the pins he could deliver 2 or more cords to the same address. The trucks had driver standup cabs, like some garbage truck, but were custom built to be shorter. The bins rode on a track, so the wood came out of the water, filled the bins and the bins moved along the track to where the trucks picked them up. One man ran the entire fire wood side. He started with 6 trucks, 12 bins, but quickly built 6 more. He was purchasing "pulp" for $20 a cubic meter. The slabs from the mill also fed into the fire wood productions. Most of the machinery was built on site from green chains and "junk" dragged out of the bush. This operation produced a net of $1m+ the first year. IIRC the owner retired after 4 years. The Hometown Acres operation has too many people, handles the wood too many time and makes a huge mess requiring cleanup.
I have the Posch version of that, I adjust to run kindling, cook wood and regular firewood. Amazing system to traditional splitters. Rabaud makes one too!
Very nice organized business very well thought out, and he grew with it overtime…. Out of his experience and I saw the kind of equipment he has. He definitely thought outside the box, but he maximized his profit down on a lot of the things that he can get away with. That was a very smart concept he used with that Pinosa.
I don't like how the man picking the firewood off the cutter has to pick up and then turn to load the splitter. If at all possible, rearrange to get that in front of him so it is up and forward. That fellow loading is older than me and my back and knees start hurting after half an hour of that. I worked at an engine plant doing Lean Manufacturing for a few years before I moved over to software development so this isn't a criticism, just a suggestion of what I would have recommended to the facilities folks that are in charge of floor layout. BTW I love Matt's attitude. Reminds me of the steel tycoon, Andrew Carnegie, who had just had new furnaces put in at a tremendous cost. When he learned they were not the most up to date and replacing them would generate more profit in the long run, he had the latest technology installed. He understood the efficiency gains would far outweigh the sunk cost. He also would drive his furnaces at race speed then just swap them out in 3 years. Other companies would baby their furnaces to get 12+ years out of them. But he would make more profit and get the newest tech every 3 years. This let him leave the competition in the dust. I have no doubt Matt is doing the same.
GOOOOOOD MAAAAAAAAWNIN EVERYONE!!…. Adam that is one bad ass machine & operation. Talk about production…Unfrickinbelievable Thanks for sharing Have a day😊
Great video, both of you share some fascinating insights, really appreciate Matts willingness to give us a glimpse into his business. Wannabe wood mill owner here in UK
Neat to see the progress. I am one of those guys who like to dial in the process, continually improving it, and making 1 step of progress at a time. Matt seams to be the same way. Great video Adam
Cool machine, very productive and robust. We never split firewood that small for our fireplaces or stoves, it burns up too fast and you have to keep feeding it all night. We made big chunks and kindling.
Exactly....... small pieces burn too fast ! I no longer spit firewood. Built my own wood stove......it has a 3x3 foot door .....I use the tractor and loader to fill it. Semi tires work great ! With a fire box 4x4x5 foot... just fill it once a week. All is good !
@@JimHerman-o3q Yeah, a wood furnace is awesome, but most people have fireplaces and small to medium stoves. But even medium stoves can use 5-6" wood more efficiently than the little 4" stuff.
@@JimHerman-o3q Most people in the US don't heat their homes with wood stoves. Depending on your location, there is a much bigger market for smaller splits and ultimately more profit.
It's no problem to sell the small pieces from that wood as kindling its done in Norway i saw a British company that had a similar system except that the cubes where automatically transferred to the splitter
Good day Adam! I’m impressed with that machine yet so simple using a X pattern and advancing rounds forward. Why has no one else thought of this? Great video my friend. 👌🏻🔥🇨🇦
Wow that machine is amazing. Also, i dont understand how the smaller pieces are "waste". Those dry faster and burn just as good, plus it adds some variation for a customer. Its a win win. As a customer and a producer, i would want those smaller pieces mixed in with the wood i buy
Love to see improvements in technology. Where in this process is the chaff removed from the finished product. Does he send the chaff through the kiln? The box wedge and this process both seem to produce a lot of chaff. You should have brought neighbor Doug with you for his review of this new process. Great video.
I hope those guys loading bucked wood into the machine are wearing hearing protection deep inside their ears. If not, they sure should be wearing inner ear plus 35 db rated headphone protection. Exposure to constant whining and machine noises like that over years will result in significant hearing loss. My Dad was a pressman and worked next to a 4-color offset Heidelberg for many years. It didn't seem that loud, but the daily day-long exposure gradually made him extremely hard of hearing. Thanks for the cool video. I'm still doing a combination of machine and hand-splitting for heat, generating about 7-8 cords a season. Best hack for hand splitting was putting a doughnut of two stacked tires around a low stump. Catches and holds the wood until you split it as you like it. No bending over to pick it up every time or trying to balance it in place. The tire surround does that for you.
What a cool video, Adam and Matt! Matt, I am blown away with your equipment and processes. I just purchased an Allwood Log Splitter and bought an old grain conveyor. Our process is fast, but nothing compared to yours. Thanks for sharing sharing the video! Cheers
If you lower the splitter unit you can auto feed it with the roller type conveyor tables, no need to lift and turn every single piece... for not more than maybe 150 to 300 usd ..
It looks like you guys could place another log on top of the first row coming down and double your production for the same movement of the splitter. Hope this helps your production:)
Very nice for easy splitting straight wood at consistent size. I grew up old school with wood we cut right out of the woods or where ever wood was available. For us we used a Prentice later called LaFont wood splitters with a 13 inch knife. When the wood was to tough to split it would sheer it off. We would sell 300-400 full cords a year all made the same way….
Instead of a constant increment in the feed belt, add a feedback loop to advance the belt to align the center of the next log with the center of the cutting "X" (using machine vision and the video we saw here). That might make the output sizes more uniform and reduce waste.
High quality video! Great machine, very interesting. An illustration of how much time and effort and expense is involved with selling firewood... I find it interesting that they're selling 0.72 cu ft of the small firewood for $54. If my calculator is correct, that's over $9,500 per cord, lol. If I were someone with a pizza oven, I think I'd buy an axe. I guess some people are just too lazy. More power to the seller's, capitalism at its finest! (And what's crazy is they're probably not even 'getting rich' at it!)
You did an excellent video how you describe this this gives you some idea common people how to figure out their businesses which I have one already is delivery service out of East Tennessee based out there and it’s amazing to see your kind of things you’re doing…
The Machines biggest problem is the materials handling in and out. Seriously need to realise how inefficient the process is. Rounds are cut, at that point the unit is known and can be handled automatically but the drop, randomising. So some blokes need to grab and orientate for the splitter. The splitter splits in a known size and orientation but then pushes it onto a conveyor that bulk manages it and again it's randomised. Conveyor unloads into a truck, bucket or ground again randomising and increasing volume. Take out the randomising, maintain control of the pack. Allows for a number of selling options that cost nothing after the initial material handling fix and allows for added value.
Hi Adam: Firewood is a major part of our business. We just got a contract for producing bundled firewood, so I’m looking for options. I will be taking a look at this company to see what they offer.
Pretty amazing. If they make all the other equipment that was mentioned, he could clearly improve the process with a log deck and cutter that's set to automatically feed the logs to the splitter. I'm guess that might be in the future after he gets some time and ROI on the splitter. Seems like his process might also benefit from a chaff separator on the conveyor. He also didn't mention what happens to the chaff or splits that are too small. Does he sell those as some other type of wood, or does all that waste get fed to the mulching operation?
Nomatter what size, nomatter what wood type, 1 kg of wood has 4,3kw in it(in Norway). For some reason, in UK it has 5,1: As a biomass fuel, logs will generally deliver 5.1kWh per kg, depending on moisture content and type of wood (hardwood or softwood, and species). And copy/paste the best comment below: "Very cool machine......I don't worry about smaller pieces as most people want kindling anyway. Once heard a wise man say "You can build a big fire with small pieces, but you can't build a small fire with big pieces""
It seems to me like it would make more sense, rather than buying a whole new machine, to simply run the firewood from the processes over a large gap screen. The wood that falls through is good, the wood that doesn't needs to be resplit. Seems like quite a luxury to be running 2 machines
All the slivers/shards from the splitters can be bundled up and sold as kindling to some and given to the repeat and loyal customers with their order. When I cut down a tree for fire wood I use the entire tree, one inch dia wood and branches are cut with a chop saw and used for kindling.
Holy smokes does this fella process wood Curious wHo is the Gentlemen and how do get in touch with him 100% by far the best firewood cutting tool ive seen simple and fast &lasting= Good engineering
Seems like it needs a way to overcut to break the final strands holding the splits together (esp on certain species). A very basic control input to keep it from cutting near the edges of the rounds would avoid a lot of that waste. Could have a little finger drag along and if it's lower than say an inch above the center of the 'x' then keep moving until it picks back up.
I've got a splitter, but looking for something a bit easier. I am only splitting for myself and a couple neighbors also. This is obviously much more than we would need. But I see that the Pinosa does make a lot more "waste" stuff. I've been burning wood for 50 + years. I have 3 active burners myself. Two wood stoves, where I can feed with up to 20" logs, though 16 to 18 is nicer. I wouldn't mind some small stuff as it starts more easily. But I also have a larger stove for my shop where I do much better with large firewood. up to 10" diameter, and 20" is fine. If I put in smaller stuff, it burns too fast. So I separate out large chunks and keep those for that stove. Might be that Matt might have a market for larger logs. But I suppose that is not profitable for him to have multiple skus like that.
You can package your "chaff" and just sell it a little bit cheaper and I bet it would sell just as much.. because it's slightly less quality, but slightly less price-- so it would still get bought up. I hope you're not just throwing it away, that would be crazy. You would be surprised at how many people buy this wood and still split it down further at home, right before they put them in the fire.
Nothing will make kindling or mini firewood faster or more efficient than this machine. Ive seen other producers have a conveyor frim the processor with 2-4 people doing resplits grabbing the bigger junks and splitting them down then back onto the conveyor up into a truck, or kiln baskets. Less labor is key to making more profit tho
Very cool machine. Big question when are you going to hook up with Spinoza to demo one in your new barn? Spinoza needs so visibility here in north America and you just helped them big time.
Looks to me like that thing works about as good as it gets! Speed could probably be improved, but then you’d have an even harder time keeping up. Neat video!
No no no, you’re doing it all wrong. I’ve watched the experts in Pakistan do this and it’s completely different as they have strict rules. First you need a team of guys unloading the logs off the truck onto the ground. Then you need another team to pick them up again and carry them to a bandsaw to be cut to length. Then you need another person to pick up the shorter logs from the bandsaw and carry them to someone with a log splitter and throw them on the ground again. If it’s a high tech outfit they will have a home made log splitter but if it’s not there will be some poor slob wielding an axe. Then there will be another person to pickup all the split wood and throw it in a random pile. Then when the truck comes to collect the wood another person picks pieces off the pile and throws it in the truck. All employees must wear safety flip flops or sandals, and the floor must never be cleaned, that way the employees have a track to follow through all the random shit so they’re less likely to trip over.
This is freakin hilarious… and I say that as an American-Pakistani! Well done sir 😂. Seriously you make an excellent point but I believe the process can be simplified.
That's a very impressive machine. I guess I'm old or something, because I don't identify with the mass production aspects of firewood. When I cut and split firewood, it's a much more personal process, and somehow that matters to me.
Wish they had* one of these in their garage cause that thing costs arms and a leg, not to mention the older processing unit, loaders, harvesters and logging trucks... thats least few million$ of equipment even used and here i am thinking loader would be so nice to prevent back issues, but alas cheapest i have run into was 3k€ and would have needed full piston refurbish so least several K more of tens of liters of expensive hydraulic oil lost. Unless you make firewood to sell in volume like this, there is no cost benefit for processing machine like this, specially with all the accessory equipment needed to run it efficiently. Basic small tractor and with loader trailer wont be enough and most people dont have enough logs least here in their property to get enough, specially since usually you already get same amount from forestry companies to come and take them into wood industry material. 10-20€ more per cubic meter is not worth the equipment and work that goes into that. Only if you already have used equipment like loader trailer you can hire the harvesters to run your own pile next to road and then make that to your own fire wood, but at that point why waste the logs, when you still need to clear the brush and thin clear regrowing areas of old and get more than that in volume and have them be far easier to handle being downwards of 15cm thick, load them up to trailer, go trough the pile with chainsaw or tractor rear cutter and the run trough the splitter what needs to be split. Unless you have insect or disease damage forest, there really isint use case to invest this much for splitter for basic small farm or house. Only thing would be large farm that needs firewood to keep animal shelters and what now heated and have forests to back it up by massive margin, so you can just pay for the harvester costs ether hired or your own god forbid by selling the logs for forestry industry. Least here i only know harvester company owners running their machines to collect logs for firewood, but its cause they already have other uses and stable income from the machines so its just little extra, no one else can even dream about it.
Great machine, comes into its own on larger timber. A "rex 800 log saw" from whitlands engineering is the type of machine that would compliment it. Whitlands engineering have a distributer in new york state somewhere.
I wonder if it would handle our Jarrah and other hardwoods in Western Australia. Some of our timber is har to split with an axe if the grain is a bit twisted.
I like your wood. I got lots of firewood too. But I can always use more. Sorry to see foreign stuff. Looks like kindling cuts. Amazionia is plagued with knock offs and copies.
Interesting that you've never even heard about such a device. Those splitters are known in Europe since many years. Granted, they're no choice for a small business or even private person just splitting their own firewood. They're definitely an industrial size machien, and the price tag is just too high to get one and have it sitting idle for most of the year. But for people in the bigger business it never was a secret that machines like thist exist. There's a number of companies making them, and in some cases there are also automatic saws connected to them. So you literally need one person to load logs on the table, supervise, and remove the full IBC totes or big bags or whatever you use from the end of the conveyor.
This is awesome!!! I am at the 15:42 mark and after watching the guys loading it andhow fast they have to keep loading it, if he is going to be keeping this new machine, does he have plans to build up a rack system or something, kinda like the cradle/self feed system he has for the kiln in one of your last vids you did at this location? This way possibly one or two operators can process instead of 3? either way that is pretty cool! This is the stuff I like seeing! It teaches me something new even though I may never apply it. Its just big kids with big toys at the end of the day!!
Yes, the saving is not having to manually pass it back. The multiple strokes happen for each log as it is advanced. The second big saving was he easy adjustment or length and size.
Link to Matts mini firewood on Amazon
www.amazon.com/shop/hometownacres
Matt's company == FiveOaks Firewood == FirewoodGuy, Adam? Thanks
@jason01095 We are transitioning the "Firewood Guy" business which is our local operating name to the "FiveOaks Firewood" business over time to reduce any confusion with local customers it's an involved process we are working through.
😊😊😊😊@@jason01095
There is a UK company called Fuelwood that have some nice equipment, there is a small YTber running the equipment if you want to have a look at how good it is, the channel is called Oak Farm Firewood.
You are calling it??, it has ears and understands what you say, even with that voice!, is its name 'Guy' by any chance?
My father was a professional blacksmith. He was also a good welder. In 1978, he build a wood splitter on an I-beam above a frame that rode on Chevy car wheels/tires. The hydraulic system was a closed system (the pump was in the oil reservoir) and the business end was an upright flared wedge a foot tall. The I-beam could be turned on a central pin to run inline with the towing vehicle, then turned sideways (in line with the wheels) to split wood. An 8hp Briggs and Stratton provided power. We had lots of timber on the family ranch in Montana, and we sold firewood as a sideline to keep us busy in the winter. I still have the machine and use it every year to work up firewood for my home. I'm on the fourth engine, the hydraulic system is the original, and I've painted it to look like a John Deere implement, complete with John Deere decals. I'm 76 years old. This splitter will be going long after I'm gone. How many splitters today can put up a record like that??
thank you for sharing .
it'd be really cool to see a video of it in action.
Ours is basically the same thing. It's sitting on some old wagon axle. Before my time it has a 2.3 ford engine on it. We put a few different Briggs engines on it over the years. I think the smallest was a 3.5hp and the biggest I remember was an 8hp. My brother still lives there and the house has only ever been heated with wood. I think it has a predator 212 on it now. I think we've replaced a couple hoses over the years but that's it. The tires are OLD but hold air just long enough to move it around the property. A buddy has one from tsc and is constantly working on it, had issues getting warranty stuff done and has had nothing but issues getting parts for it. Home owner quality equipment is junk after a few years now. We need to keep the old stuff going.
@@aaadamt964 The tires and wheels on the splitter my Dad built are from my Mom's 1953 Chevy Bel Aire, studded snow tires, of course. Isn't this old stuff great???
@robertodebeers2551 I was just talking about this on fb. I refuse to buy new stuff. I'm probably more "green" than the green people. I have an old dolly I got at a garage sale foe next to nothing. It's much better than anything made today. I have some left over metallic red base coat I'm going to paint it with. I'll have a custom painted,vheavy duty dolly for less than $20 painted professionally with left over professional paint.
Very cool machine......I don't worry about smaller pieces as most people want kindling anyway. Once heard a wise man say "You can build a big fire with small pieces, but you can't build a small fire with big pieces"
yeah the concern about the small pieces is a bit weird. its all getting burned to ash anyway.
@@Fanta.... This machine was made to satisfy the picky snobs that think everything has to be a perfect size and visually appealing. He still has to find buyers for all of the off-sized pieces or send it over to the mulching machine.
@@Rattlerjake1 I agree ! The smaller the pieces the faster the wood will burn also. If the logs need to be split that small why not just grind them to dust !
With management..........you can build any sized fire you wish. After all.......a fire does start with a " spark " Thats about as tiny as a fire as you need ! Larger fire ? Add more wood !
Yeah, but if you want to heat a home like I do, I'm wanting larger pieces that'll burn for a few hours. That wood is closer in size to my kindling than my firewood.
Oak Farm Firewood has a complete processor that uses the same sort of splitter, but he also has a log table and an automated bucking station He basically only needs one person to babysit the processor, load the logs and rotate his toads or bags.
I’ve seen it, FULLY automated, very cool setup.
I was coming in the comments to say the same thing. Oak Farm Firewood has a killer automated set up over in the UK
Thanks guys!
Also, Oak Farm Firewood is a really enjoyable channel, recommended. A very slick professional set-up, plus good video editing.
What toads?
It's crazy when I think back into the 90,s I would get laid off from construction every winter and I would hand split firewood to sell to keep food on the table. Very impressive system 👍🏻
Those splits are about one-third the thickness of my biggest at home. I like having a variety of sizes, depending on the stage of the fire. When I go to bed, I throw in a big solid piece of hardwood.
Those little pieces are not waste! They make great kindling to get a fire going and even if you throw them in an established fire they burn fine.
The Austrian company Posch uses this X-style wedge for their processors. They have all kinds of setups, some fully automated, really magnificent. They are really a premium company.
Although it was an impressive machine, I'm also impressed with the video coordination showing the process and matching each scene with a detailed description, we'll done.
Thats pretty impressive. Looks like the mini fire wood is dialed in with that machine.
Most folks like projects. They like looking at the final product. The process to get there is immaterial. Then there are folks like Matt and I who love the process. Even if you magically get the result you want, if you don't understand how you got there, sooner or later, the process will break down, and you won't know how to fix it. Make the process precise, and then you can adjust it to make it accurately give you the results you want.
I just stopped video at the five minute mark when Matt started to talk about his new machine, because I literally thought it might have switched to a different person suddenly. I was wearing some low power magnifiers which weren't quite enough for me to see well at the time. Anyway, I just wanted to comment about this because it seemed like night and day when Matt started talking about his new splitter. I'm gonna way out on a limb and predict that he loves it! His energy has shifted so much. I hope I'm right because that would reflect that Matt is an authentic person. Such people are rare in my area, but such a joy to run into.
That is most impressive and a very clever design. Kudos to Pinosa for making such a fine machine and kudos to you for highlighting why it is such a good splitter. Great video Adam thumbs up.
Thank you very much!
It's nice to finally see this in "person." I've only seen it from the manufacturer's as well. Really impressive.
Nice machine Adam, Thanks for sharing the process of how it works.
Excellent video In matt's operation is so cool thanks for taking us along
A couple of thoughts on this:
1. The smaller splits are a whole new market for the camping world that is looking for that size. This could even be wholesaled to a bundler.
2. Design - if the splitting knives/wedges had 2 or 3 horizontal blades, followed by 2 or 3 vertical blades instead of an X, while using the same feeding/splitting process, I believe that would greatly reduce small splits. That feeding process would hold everything in place while the wood is being split. Something to consider.
You could add a camera or scale to the conveyor to recognize and deflect the chaff at a drop point. The tech is widely used in agriculture and manufacturing.
Those type of logsplitters have been around in Europe for a while.
You can lookup the Posch 420 Autologger & the Fuelwood Splitta 400.
Great for straight grained stuff, struggle with knots a bit though.
50+ Years ago, a fellow with a small sawmill on the river decided to make firewood, but he had a plan from beginning to end. He already had a ladder into the river which brought the logs up to the mill, so it was simple to build the firewood operation off to the side. He began by measuring the width of the alley ways he was going to deliver to. This dictated the lengths of the trucks and bins he built. His bins held 8 cords and had 8 compartments.. Buy pulling the pins he could deliver 2 or more cords to the same address. The trucks had driver standup cabs, like some garbage truck, but were custom built to be shorter. The bins rode on a track, so the wood came out of the water, filled the bins and the bins moved along the track to where the trucks picked them up. One man ran the entire fire wood side. He started with 6 trucks, 12 bins, but quickly built 6 more. He was purchasing "pulp" for $20 a cubic meter. The slabs from the mill also fed into the fire wood productions. Most of the machinery was built on site from green chains and "junk" dragged out of the bush. This operation produced a net of $1m+ the first year. IIRC the owner retired after 4 years. The Hometown Acres operation has too many people, handles the wood too many time and makes a huge mess requiring cleanup.
That’s pretty dang cool, thanks for bringing it to us on here to watch!! 😃
I have the Posch version of that, I adjust to run kindling, cook wood and regular firewood. Amazing system to traditional splitters. Rabaud makes one too!
Very nice organized business very well thought out, and he grew with it overtime…. Out of his experience and I saw the kind of equipment he has. He definitely thought outside the box, but he maximized his profit down on a lot of the things that he can get away with. That was a very smart concept he used with that Pinosa.
Amazing video Adam! The simplicity of a processor that size is very impressive. To be able to change the size direction within five minutes is crazy.
I don't like how the man picking the firewood off the cutter has to pick up and then turn to load the splitter. If at all possible, rearrange to get that in front of him so it is up and forward. That fellow loading is older than me and my back and knees start hurting after half an hour of that. I worked at an engine plant doing Lean Manufacturing for a few years before I moved over to software development so this isn't a criticism, just a suggestion of what I would have recommended to the facilities folks that are in charge of floor layout. BTW I love Matt's attitude. Reminds me of the steel tycoon, Andrew Carnegie, who had just had new furnaces put in at a tremendous cost. When he learned they were not the most up to date and replacing them would generate more profit in the long run, he had the latest technology installed. He understood the efficiency gains would far outweigh the sunk cost. He also would drive his furnaces at race speed then just swap them out in 3 years. Other companies would baby their furnaces to get 12+ years out of them. But he would make more profit and get the newest tech every 3 years. This let him leave the competition in the dust. I have no doubt Matt is doing the same.
If you had listend to the video, they are testing the splitter and this is ther second day doing it.
GOOOOOOD
MAAAAAAAAWNIN EVERYONE!!….
Adam that is one bad ass machine & operation. Talk about production…Unfrickinbelievable
Thanks for sharing
Have a day😊
Great video, both of you share some fascinating insights, really appreciate Matts willingness to give us a glimpse into his business.
Wannabe wood mill owner here in UK
Yep, pinosa, pezzalato and posch from europe have been doing this style for decades.
Neat to see the progress. I am one of those guys who like to dial in the process, continually improving it, and making 1 step of progress at a time. Matt seams to be the same way. Great video Adam
Cool machine, very productive and robust. We never split firewood that small for our fireplaces or stoves, it burns up too fast and you have to keep feeding it all night. We made big chunks and kindling.
Exactly....... small pieces burn too fast ! I no longer spit firewood. Built my own wood stove......it has a 3x3 foot door .....I use the tractor and loader to fill it. Semi tires work great ! With a fire box 4x4x5 foot... just fill it once a week. All is good !
@@JimHerman-o3q Yeah, a wood furnace is awesome, but most people have fireplaces and small to medium stoves. But even medium stoves can use 5-6" wood more efficiently than the little 4" stuff.
@@JimHerman-o3q Most people in the US don't heat their homes with wood stoves. Depending on your location, there is a much bigger market for smaller splits and ultimately more profit.
It's no problem to sell the small pieces from that wood as kindling its done in Norway i saw a British company that had a similar system except that the cubes where automatically transferred to the splitter
Good day Adam! I’m impressed with that machine yet so simple using a X pattern and advancing rounds forward. Why has no one else thought of this? Great video my friend. 👌🏻🔥🇨🇦
I’m hoping some other manufacturers start coming out with something similar
Wow that machine is amazing. Also, i dont understand how the smaller pieces are "waste". Those dry faster and burn just as good, plus it adds some variation for a customer. Its a win win. As a customer and a producer, i would want those smaller pieces mixed in with the wood i buy
Love to see improvements in technology. Where in this process is the chaff removed from the finished product. Does he send the chaff through the kiln? The box wedge and this process both seem to produce a lot of chaff. You should have brought neighbor Doug with you for his review of this new process. Great video.
I hope those guys loading bucked wood into the machine are wearing hearing protection deep inside their ears. If not, they sure should be wearing inner ear plus 35 db rated headphone protection. Exposure to constant whining and machine noises like that over years will result in significant hearing loss. My Dad was a pressman and worked next to a 4-color offset Heidelberg for many years. It didn't seem that loud, but the daily day-long exposure gradually made him extremely hard of hearing. Thanks for the cool video. I'm still doing a combination of machine and hand-splitting for heat, generating about 7-8 cords a season. Best hack for hand splitting was putting a doughnut of two stacked tires around a low stump. Catches and holds the wood until you split it as you like it. No bending over to pick it up every time or trying to balance it in place. The tire surround does that for you.
Very interesting machine. Great video Adam, thank you for providing it for us all!! The firewood guy has a great setup!
What a cool video, Adam and Matt! Matt, I am blown away with your equipment and processes. I just purchased an Allwood Log Splitter and bought an old grain conveyor. Our process is fast, but nothing compared to yours. Thanks for sharing sharing the video! Cheers
If you lower the splitter unit you can auto feed it with the roller type conveyor tables, no need to lift and turn every single piece... for not more than maybe 150 to 300 usd ..
It looks like you guys could place another log on top of the first row coming down and double your production for the same movement of the splitter. Hope this helps your production:)
Very nice for easy splitting straight wood at consistent size. I grew up old school with wood we cut right out of the woods or where ever wood was available. For us we used a Prentice later called LaFont wood splitters with a 13 inch knife. When the wood was to tough to split it would sheer it off. We would sell 300-400 full cords a year all made the same way….
Instead of a constant increment in the feed belt, add a feedback loop to advance the belt to align the center of the next log with the center of the cutting "X" (using machine vision and the video we saw here). That might make the output sizes more uniform and reduce waste.
Hey, brother. That is one amazing machine! But I bet it would change Your heart rate to write that check! Hope you have a Blessed day. Chip
High quality video! Great machine, very interesting. An illustration of how much time and effort and expense is involved with selling firewood... I find it interesting that they're selling 0.72 cu ft of the small firewood for $54. If my calculator is correct, that's over $9,500 per cord, lol. If I were someone with a pizza oven, I think I'd buy an axe. I guess some people are just too lazy. More power to the seller's, capitalism at its finest! (And what's crazy is they're probably not even 'getting rich' at it!)
You did an excellent video how you describe this this gives you some idea common people how to figure out their businesses which I have one already is delivery service out of East Tennessee based out there and it’s amazing to see your kind of things you’re doing…
The Machines biggest problem is the materials handling in and out. Seriously need to realise how inefficient the process is. Rounds are cut, at that point the unit is known and can be handled automatically but the drop, randomising. So some blokes need to grab and orientate for the splitter. The splitter splits in a known size and orientation but then pushes it onto a conveyor that bulk manages it and again it's randomised. Conveyor unloads into a truck, bucket or ground again randomising and increasing volume.
Take out the randomising, maintain control of the pack. Allows for a number of selling options that cost nothing after the initial material handling fix and allows for added value.
100%
Hi Adam: Firewood is a major part of our business. We just got a contract for producing bundled firewood, so I’m looking for options. I will be taking a look at this company to see what they offer.
The only thing I'd add would be some sort of paddle on that final conveyor belt to keep the pieces from rolling off or back down the conveyor
Pretty amazing. If they make all the other equipment that was mentioned, he could clearly improve the process with a log deck and cutter that's set to automatically feed the logs to the splitter. I'm guess that might be in the future after he gets some time and ROI on the splitter. Seems like his process might also benefit from a chaff separator on the conveyor. He also didn't mention what happens to the chaff or splits that are too small. Does he sell those as some other type of wood, or does all that waste get fed to the mulching operation?
Nomatter what size, nomatter what wood type, 1 kg of wood has 4,3kw in it(in Norway). For some reason, in UK it has 5,1: As a biomass fuel, logs will generally deliver 5.1kWh per kg, depending on moisture content and type of wood (hardwood or softwood, and species).
And copy/paste the best comment below:
"Very cool machine......I don't worry about smaller pieces as most people want kindling anyway. Once heard a wise man say "You can build a big fire with small pieces, but you can't build a small fire with big pieces""
It seems to me like it would make more sense, rather than buying a whole new machine, to simply run the firewood from the processes over a large gap screen. The wood that falls through is good, the wood that doesn't needs to be resplit. Seems like quite a luxury to be running 2 machines
very smart little technique. cool stuff
Improving the loading of the splitter would be the next step solid start.
great video. thanks for showing the new splitter and explaining it. its pretty cool and seems to be a beast, not to mention versatile.
This was an awesome video. Like they say, more tools make lighter work.. TY for sharing.👍🇺🇸
Your content is always fresh. That splitter is out of this world!
Thanks Harold!
Awesome video, I enjoyed seeing that machine in action.
All the slivers/shards from the splitters can be bundled up and sold as kindling to some and given to the repeat and loyal customers with their order. When I cut down a tree for fire wood I use the entire tree, one inch dia wood and branches are cut with a chop saw and used for kindling.
I am neither disappointed or impressed. I would like to see another version. I do like the way it splits the cooking wood better than the standard...
Great video and looks like a great piece of equipment
Holy smokes does this fella process wood Curious wHo is the Gentlemen and how do get in touch with him 100% by far the best firewood cutting tool ive seen simple and fast &lasting= Good engineering
I love wood and wood spliting - super video
Man idk? The one you have works good for your setup. It is an awesome machine.
Love seeing new ways to do things. Thx Adam! That machine is pretty slick! Best, -- J. Andre. / Old Iron Acres
Seems like it needs a way to overcut to break the final strands holding the splits together (esp on certain species).
A very basic control input to keep it from cutting near the edges of the rounds would avoid a lot of that waste. Could have a little finger drag along and if it's lower than say an inch above the center of the 'x' then keep moving until it picks back up.
I've got a splitter, but looking for something a bit easier. I am only splitting for myself and a couple neighbors also. This is obviously much more than we would need. But I see that the Pinosa does make a lot more "waste" stuff. I've been burning wood for 50 + years. I have 3 active burners myself. Two wood stoves, where I can feed with up to 20" logs, though 16 to 18 is nicer. I wouldn't mind some small stuff as it starts more easily. But I also have a larger stove for my shop where I do much better with large firewood. up to 10" diameter, and 20" is fine. If I put in smaller stuff, it burns too fast. So I separate out large chunks and keep those for that stove. Might be that Matt might have a market for larger logs. But I suppose that is not profitable for him to have multiple skus like that.
GREAT VIDEO, LOVE TO SEE WOOD BEING SPLIT. Should get into wood pellets too.
I've never seen something like this. It is pretty dang cool. Thanks for sharing this! Both of you guys.
You can package your "chaff" and just sell it a little bit cheaper and I bet it would sell just as much.. because it's slightly less quality, but slightly less price-- so it would still get bought up. I hope you're not just throwing it away, that would be crazy. You would be surprised at how many people buy this wood and still split it down further at home, right before they put them in the fire.
Nothing will make kindling or mini firewood faster or more efficient than this machine. Ive seen other producers have a conveyor frim the processor with 2-4 people doing resplits grabbing the bigger junks and splitting them down then back onto the conveyor up into a truck, or kiln baskets. Less labor is key to making more profit tho
Very cool machine. Big question when are you going to hook up with Spinoza to demo one in your new barn? Spinoza needs so visibility here in north America and you just helped them big time.
That would be cool
Love this machine. Wish you had mentioned the cost or if the only way to acquire it is direct from Italy
Looks to me like that thing works about as good as it gets! Speed could probably be improved, but then you’d have an even harder time keeping up. Neat video!
No no no, you’re doing it all wrong. I’ve watched the experts in Pakistan do this and it’s completely different as they have strict rules. First you need a team of guys unloading the logs off the truck onto the ground. Then you need another team to pick them up again and carry them to a bandsaw to be cut to length. Then you need another person to pick up the shorter logs from the bandsaw and carry them to someone with a log splitter and throw them on the ground again. If it’s a high tech outfit they will have a home made log splitter but if it’s not there will be some poor slob wielding an axe. Then there will be another person to pickup all the split wood and throw it in a random pile. Then when the truck comes to collect the wood another person picks pieces off the pile and throws it in the truck. All employees must wear safety flip flops or sandals, and the floor must never be cleaned, that way the employees have a track to follow through all the random shit so they’re less likely to trip over.
This is freakin hilarious… and I say that as an American-Pakistani! Well done sir 😂. Seriously you make an excellent point but I believe the process can be simplified.
@@phredziphell8242 Thank you and thanks for not taking offence and seeing it in the way it was meant, humour. Cheers mate👍
I haven’t cut firewood since the early eighties, but damn this is cool.
That is a big operation ! But site shots show large heaps of bark that could be utilised instead of rotting .
That's an ingenious way of doing it. At the end of the day, taking square sections out of a circle is always going to create waste.
Very cool splitter. Thanks for showing us
That's a very impressive machine. I guess I'm old or something, because I don't identify with the mass production aspects of firewood. When I cut and split firewood, it's a much more personal process, and somehow that matters to me.
Could you please tell me where you got your Pinosa FAM500 and how much it cost?
Proof of the Italian ingenuity.
Every homeowner will have one of these in their garage😂
Wish they had* one of these in their garage cause that thing costs arms and a leg, not to mention the older processing unit, loaders, harvesters and logging trucks... thats least few million$ of equipment even used and here i am thinking loader would be so nice to prevent back issues, but alas cheapest i have run into was 3k€ and would have needed full piston refurbish so least several K more of tens of liters of expensive hydraulic oil lost.
Unless you make firewood to sell in volume like this, there is no cost benefit for processing machine like this, specially with all the accessory equipment needed to run it efficiently. Basic small tractor and with loader trailer wont be enough and most people dont have enough logs least here in their property to get enough, specially since usually you already get same amount from forestry companies to come and take them into wood industry material. 10-20€ more per cubic meter is not worth the equipment and work that goes into that. Only if you already have used equipment like loader trailer you can hire the harvesters to run your own pile next to road and then make that to your own fire wood, but at that point why waste the logs, when you still need to clear the brush and thin clear regrowing areas of old and get more than that in volume and have them be far easier to handle being downwards of 15cm thick, load them up to trailer, go trough the pile with chainsaw or tractor rear cutter and the run trough the splitter what needs to be split. Unless you have insect or disease damage forest, there really isint use case to invest this much for splitter for basic small farm or house. Only thing would be large farm that needs firewood to keep animal shelters and what now heated and have forests to back it up by massive margin, so you can just pay for the harvester costs ether hired or your own god forbid by selling the logs for forestry industry. Least here i only know harvester company owners running their machines to collect logs for firewood, but its cause they already have other uses and stable income from the machines so its just little extra, no one else can even dream about it.
Great video explaining a very interesting machine.
The SC-16 Rapid splitter would have exceeded your expectations.
Great machine, comes into its own on larger timber. A "rex 800 log saw" from whitlands engineering is the type of machine that would compliment it. Whitlands engineering have a distributer in new york state somewhere.
What a great idea real time saver 🇳🇿❤️
Amazing machine!
I wonder if it would handle our Jarrah and other hardwoods in Western Australia. Some of our timber is har to split with an axe if the grain is a bit twisted.
Cool Video
That will get back 40 Dan excited I'm sure.
Thats not waste thats kindling i have an axis for my bundle business that machine is awsome
Cool machine
I like your wood.
I got lots of firewood too.
But I can always use more.
Sorry to see foreign stuff. Looks like kindling cuts.
Amazionia is plagued with knock offs and copies.
Interesting that you've never even heard about such a device. Those splitters are known in Europe since many years.
Granted, they're no choice for a small business or even private person just splitting their own firewood. They're definitely an industrial size machien, and the price tag is just too high to get one and have it sitting idle for most of the year. But for people in the bigger business it never was a secret that machines like thist exist. There's a number of companies making them, and in some cases there are also automatic saws connected to them. So you literally need one person to load logs on the table, supervise, and remove the full IBC totes or big bags or whatever you use from the end of the conveyor.
That's a very impressive machine to say the least...
Great review of a remarkable splitter.
Really looks well designed and efficient. Would like to see how it is in the long term.
One blade on pusher offset 60° 'wood, make less waste 😅
Seriously impressive
Awesome wood splitter. Where did you buy & how much does one like yours cost, if you don’t mind me asking. Thanks
This is awesome!!! I am at the 15:42 mark and after watching the guys loading it andhow fast they have to keep loading it, if he is going to be keeping this new machine, does he have plans to build up a rack system or something, kinda like the cradle/self feed system he has for the kiln in one of your last vids you did at this location? This way possibly one or two operators can process instead of 3? either way that is pretty cool! This is the stuff I like seeing! It teaches me something new even though I may never apply it. Its just big kids with big toys at the end of the day!!
With the new machine, it's still requiring more than one ram with the splitter per round. Hope it works out well for him and his customers.
Yes, the saving is not having to manually pass it back. The multiple strokes happen for each log as it is advanced. The second big saving was he easy adjustment or length and size.
I save the waste for kindling or use it in my smoker. So it's not really wasted 😊