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Chopped into chocks and even chopped firewood can now be bought, but the costs will not justify such fuel for heating a house. For this reason, many owners do it themselves. Firewood harvesting equipment, as well as hand tools, helps to speed up the work and facilitate work.
Types of machines for cutting wood
When there is a need for a large amount of solid fuel, it is wise to have a wood chipper that will quickly help to split thick chocks into logs. There are also machines that grind tree branches into small chips. In the future, such fuel is excellent for filling into the boiler. Before you buy one of the devices, you need to decide on a few questions:
- Firewood harvesting machines are divided into two classes: professional and household. For yourself, you need to decide which one is suitable for the job. If you intend to harvest a large amount of firewood for sale, then preference is given to professional equipment. Such machines are more expensive, but they are highly productive. When the need for firewood is limited to heating a country house or bathhouse, household equipment will do. These machines are compact, inexpensive and easy to transport.
- All firewood machines are powered by electricity or a gasoline engine. It is necessary to buy equipment according to this parameter, guided by personal preferences. An electric car is cheaper. During operation, the noise comes only from the knives. The absence of exhaust gases allows the use of electrical equipment indoors. Gasoline-powered machines are heavier, more expensive, and because of exhaust fumes, they cannot be placed indoors. However, such equipment is much more powerful than electrical counterparts. Electrical equipment is connected by cable to the mains. It will not be possible to use it in a forest belt far from home. If it is easier for you to harvest firewood in the forest, and transport already chopped logs home, then it is better to buy a machine with a gasoline engine.
- To get logs from chocks, use a wood splitter. When choosing it, you need to pay attention to the knives. A machine with a straight blade splits the chock into two parts. That is, lamellar firewood will turn out. A machine with a cross-shaped blade splits the chock into several triangular logs. It is more efficient, but also more expensive.
Having learned the basic nuances, let’s look at what kind of equipment is used for harvesting firewood. Let’s start the review with machines that allow you to get ready-made logs or wood chips from chocks.
Hydraulic wood splitters
In terms of productivity, hydraulic wood splitters are in the first place. This explains the great popularity of this equipment. The machine consists of a hydraulic cylinder with an oil pump. The system is powered by an electric or gasoline engine. The hydraulic cylinder is fixed on a steel frame. Depending on the model of the machine, the cleaver knife is mounted on the cylinder rod or the frame itself. Another thrust element is a steel heel.
The principle of operation of the wood splitter is simple. The chock is placed between the anvil and the cleaver. The motor drives the pump. It starts pumping oil, which pushes the hydraulic cylinder rod with great force. The chock located between the cleaver and the steel heel splits into logs. Their number and shape depends on the design of the knife.
By design, wood splitters come with a vertical and horizontal hydraulic cylinder. The first option is usually household firewood machines. They are less traumatic, characterized by low power and low cost. Vertical wood splitters are more of a professional class. These machines are powerful, less mobile and capable of splitting chock up to 90 cm thick.
Cone splitters
A cone wood splitter is also called a screw wood splitter. This equipment got its name because of the shape of the knife. A steel conical tip with a sharply sharpened end is used as a cleaver. During operation, it rotates at high speeds and moves towards the chock. The log relative to the cleaver is placed not end-to-end, but sideways. A cone like a self-tapping screw is screwed into the chock, splitting it into two parts. The resulting halves are once again put on the machine. The process continues until the logs acquire the required dimensions.
Most cone splitters are household models powered by a single-phase electric motor. There are also more powerful firewood machines that operate on a three-phase power supply. Another conical wood splitter can be made in the form of a nozzle on a walk-behind tractor. It is connected to the motor by a belt drive.
Rack splitter
Harvesting firewood with a rack and pinion machine is fast. The equipment has a desktop. A chock is laid on it. The pusher mechanism is actuated by the control lever. He moves the log along the rails with great force. On the opposite side of the pusher, a knife is securely fixed. Hitting the blades, the chock shatters into separate logs.
Household rack machines are powered by a single-phase electric motor. Professional equipment is equipped with a motor rated for 380 volts. The most productive and powerful are gasoline wood splitters. There are combined rack and pinion machines that can be powered by an electric motor and a gasoline engine.
Branch shredding machine
Many people think that a wood harvesting machine should chop chocks into logs. However, wood chips can be used as solid fuel. It is excellent for filling in the boiler. A big plus of such firewood is that you do not need to destroy entire trees to get them. Chips are obtained from branches left after autumn or spring pruning.
The machine consists of a crushing mechanism – a grinder. It is powered by an electric motor or a gasoline engine. Electric models are equipped with a single- and three-phase motor. There are also crushing machines without a motor. Such models are considered nozzles for other equipment, for example, a walk-behind tractor or a mini-tractor. They work from the power take-off shaft through a belt drive.
The principle of operation of the grinder is simple. The operator loads the branches into the bunker. They fall into the mechanism with knives, where they are chopped into chips. As a result, the output is finished solid fuel. The choice of thickness of branches for processing into firewood depends on the power of the machine. Professional models are capable of chipping round wood with a diameter of up to 12 cm. Some machines can automatically pack chips into nets or direct them along the line to be loaded into a car body.
The video provides an overview of the equipment used to harvest firewood:
Saw – an indispensable tool for cutting firewood
Our great-grandfathers felled the forest and sawed logs into chocks with two-handed saws. It is difficult to work with such a tool and the productivity is low. Now a hand saw for cutting firewood is rarely seen on the farm. The current generation is accustomed to cutting trees with a chainsaw or an electric saw.
Choosing a chainsaw for wood
A petrol firewood saw is the perfect tool. You can take it with you to the forest, as it does not require attachment to an outlet. In search of an answer to the question of which chainsaw to buy, you need to proceed from its purpose.
The tool is needed for home-made firewood. So, a professional chainsaw immediately disappears. Preference is given to household models. Here you immediately need to choose the right tire size. Its optimal length is 40 cm. Thicker logs will rarely come across. In extreme cases, they can be cut in a circle. The motor power for such a tire is sufficient within 2 kW. A chain for sawing wood will fit in 0,325-inch increments. It is designed for short-term operation, but does not create vibration.
Choosing an electric saw for cutting firewood
From the very beginning, you need to learn an important truth: it will not work to prepare firewood for heating a large house with an electric saw. Firstly, the tool is not designed for long-term work without stopping. Secondly, felling trees in the forest with an electric saw will not work, since a connection to the mains is required.
The tool can cut a small amount of firewood for a bath or fireplace. This limitation is also related to the speed of rotation of the chain. For a power saw, it is usually within 5 thousand rpm. For a chainsaw, this figure is 3-4 thousand rpm more. This means that from lower revolutions of the chain of the electric saw, productivity decreases. The log will have to be cut longer, which increases the wear of parts. As a result, there can be two consequences after harvesting firewood with an electric saw:
- sawing logs quickly without rest, but then the tool will fail;
- sawing logs with rest, but for a very long time.
The cost of an electric saw is not much less than a gasoline tool. If you are still only on the verge of a choice, it is better to take a chainsaw to harvest firewood.