One-Man Firewood Processor Mounts On Skidsteer

You can start a one-man firewood operation with a new processor that quick-attaches to a skid steer loader. With the new Hahn HFP160 Firewood Pro, you can pick up whole logs, saw them to firewood lengths and split the blocks, all without leaving your seat.

"This is the only one-man firewood operation I know of," says Gary Olsen, President of Hahn Machinery in Two Harbors, Minn. "It usually requires someone on a loader and someone to run the processor. Our system takes the processor right to the woodpile, and there's nobody on the ground."

The 2,020-lb. processor needs a big enough loader to handle its weight. In addition, the processor needs a standard auxiliary hydraulic flow of 20 gpm for optimum performance and three hydraulic connections. "All functions on the processor are operated by 8 push buttons," Olsen says. They are on control modules tied to the skid loader's joysticks and connected by a detachable cable to the processor.

Logs are picked up with the processor's forks, rolled onto the in-feed trough, and moved up to a butt plate by a chain conveyor and roller. Once in position, a high-speed chainsaw activates. When the block is cut, it falls into the splitting trough and is split with a 4 by 24-in. cylinder. The processor can cut wood into lengths up to 20 in. and can split the wood into 4, 6, or 8 pieces, depending on the choice of splitting heads. While it's designed for a skid steer loader, some customers are making modifications to put the processor on excavators and tractors.

The HFP160 was in development for two years. In January 2009, it completed an extensive 6-month field trial on a commercial woodlot. Improvements were made, and Hahn began selling the processor last spring.

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