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You can now buy firewood cut into logs and even chopped wood, but the costs do not justify such fuel for heating a house. For this reason, many owners do this on their own. Equipment for firewood preparation, as well as hand tools.
Types of wood chopping machines
When there is a need for a large amount of solid fuel, it is wise to have a firewood cutting machine that will quickly help split thick logs 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 several questions:
- Machines for collecting firewood are divided into two classes: professional and household. You need to decide for yourself which one is suitable for the job. If you plan to prepare 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 is suitable.Such machines are compact, inexpensive and easy to transport.
- All firewood machines are powered by electricity or a gasoline engine. You should buy equipment for this parameter based on your personal preferences. An electric car is cheaper. During operation, noise comes only from the knives. The absence of exhaust gases allows the use of electrical equipment indoors. Machines with a gasoline engine are heavier, more expensive, and due to exhaust fumes they cannot be installed indoors. However, such equipment is much more powerful than its electrical counterparts. Electrical equipment is connected by cable to the mains. It cannot be used in a forest belt far from home. If it’s easier for you to collect firewood in the forest and transport the already chopped logs home, then it’s better to buy a machine with a gasoline engine.
- To obtain logs from a log, a wood splitter is used. When choosing it, you need to pay attention to the knives. A machine with a straight blade splits the block into two parts. That is, you will get lamellar firewood. A machine with a cross-shaped blade splits the log into several triangular logs. It has better performance, but also costs more.
Having learned the basic nuances, let's look at what types of equipment are available 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
By performance hydraulic wood splitters come first. 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 mounted on a steel frame.Depending on the machine model, the splitting knife is mounted on the cylinder rod or the frame itself. Another persistent element is the steel heel.
The operating principle of the wood splitter is simple. The block of wood is placed between the anvil and the cleaver. The motor drives the pump. It begins to pump oil, which pushes out the hydraulic cylinder rod with great force. The log located between the cleaver and the steel heel splits into logs. Their number and shape depend 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 dangerous, 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 wood up to 90 cm thick.
Cone splitters
A cone splitter is also called a screw splitter for firewood. The equipment received this 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 block. The log is placed in relation to the splitting cleaver not end-to-end, but sideways. The cone, like a self-tapping screw, is screwed into the block, splitting it into two parts. The resulting halves are placed on the machine again. The process continues until the logs reach the required size.
Most cone log 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 cone wood splitter can be made in the form of an attachment to a walk-behind tractor. It is connected to the motor by a belt drive.
Rack splitter
Harvesting firewood with a rack saw is fast. The equipment has a work table. A block of wood is placed on it. The control lever activates the pusher mechanism. He moves the log along the slats with great force. The knife is securely fastened on the opposite side of the pusher. Hitting the blades, the log shatters into separate logs.
Household rack and pinion machines are powered by a single-phase electric motor. Professional equipment is equipped with a motor designed for 380 volts. The most productive and powerful are gasoline wood splitters. There are combined rack and pinion machines that can operate from an electric motor and a gasoline engine.
Branch Shredding Machine
Many people believe that a firewood cutting machine should chop logs into logs. However, wood chips can be used as solid fuel. It is great for pouring into a boiler. The big advantage of such firewood is that you don’t have to destroy entire trees to get it. 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 attachments to other equipment, for example, to a walk-behind tractor or a mini-tractor. They operate from the power take-off shaft through a belt drive.
The operating principle of the shredding machine is simple. The operator loads branches into the bunker.They fall into a mechanism with knives, where they are chopped into wood 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 crushing round wood with a diameter of up to 12 cm. Some machines can automatically pack the chips into nets or direct them along a line for loading into the body of a car.
The video provides an overview of the equipment used for collecting firewood:
The saw is an indispensable tool for preparing firewood
Our great-grandfathers felled forests and sawed logs into logs with two-handed saws. It is difficult to work with such a tool and the productivity is low. Nowadays, a hand saw for preparing firewood can rarely be found on the farm. The current generation is accustomed to cutting trees with a chainsaw or electric saw.
Choosing a chainsaw for firewood
A gasoline saw for cutting firewood is an ideal tool. You can take it with you into the forest, as it does not require connection to an outlet. When looking for an answer to the question of which chainsaw to buy, you need to start from its purpose.
The tool is needed for preparing firewood at home. This means that a professional chainsaw is no longer needed. Preference is given to the household model. Here you immediately need to choose the right tire size. Its optimal length is 40 cm. Thicker logs will rarely be found. In extreme cases, they can be cut in a circle. The motor power for such a bus is sufficient within 2 kW. A firewood cutting chain will fit at 0.325 inches. 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 understand an important truth: using an electric saw will not work to prepare firewood for heating a large house. Firstly, the tool is not designed for long-term work without stopping. Secondly, it will not be possible to cut down trees in the forest with an electric saw, since it requires a connection to the electrical network.
The tool can be used to cut a small amount of firewood for a bathhouse or fireplace. This limitation is also related to the speed of rotation of the chain. For an electric saw, it is usually within 5 thousand rpm. For a chainsaw, this figure is 3–4 thousand rpm higher. This means that lower speeds of the electric saw chain reduce performance. The log will have to be cut longer, which increases wear on parts. As a result, there can be two consequences after harvesting firewood with an electric saw:
- cut 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 on the verge of choosing, it is better to take a chainsaw to prepare firewood.
