Saw-splitter
A saw-splitting machine is a machine that produces firewood faster than was possible with previously common methods.
Procedure without a machine
For the pure processing with an ax, five work steps were necessary to produce firewood:
- A tree has to be felled and limbed.
- The harvested tree must (as a rule) be fetched from the forest.
- The tree must be cut to the desired length with a saw.
- The trunks shortened to the desired length must be split.
- The split firewood must be stored.
Procedure with machine
Steps 1 and 2 have not yet been made simpler. Steps 3 and 4 can be combined with the help of an automatic splitter and the work can be made faster and easier.
The tree trunk is transported to the machine by means of a log lifter, a log support or a chain conveyor using a feed belt. Depending on the setting, the desired length of the firewood (usually 33 cm) is cut to this length. A saw chain or a saw blade can be used for this. Then the sawed trunk is pressed through a splitting wedge with the aid of a hydraulic cylinder. This can be exchanged with different splitting tools (e.g. for splitting into 2 parts, into 4, 6, 8 or 12 parts). This can also be used to control the strength of the firewood. The split wood is automatically removed by a discharge belt.
In order to be able to work even more effectively, a container system was developed for step 5. This is equipped with a special UV-resistant wooden bag. The filling takes place automatically by placing the container system under the discharge belt and the split firewood falls into it. For storage, only the pallet on which the wooden sack is standing has to be removed with a pallet truck or similar.