Skip to Navigation Skip to Content
Decorative woodsy background

PTO-Driven Firewood Processors

As a thirty-something year old guy who came of age in the boom years of the 1990s, I’ve been bombarded with advertising pretty much since the day I was born. That I grew up in a small town in southwestern Vermont didn’t matter, the ads were still there: on television, in the newspapers, on the billboards when I crossed the border into New York state.

While you’d think this would have made me a practiced consumer, it’s actually had the opposite effect. I’ve noticed that this aversion to consumerism is fairly common in my generation. Whereas my grandparents, and to a lesser extent my parents, could be goaded by a car salesman’s call to come on down and check out the low, low, low pricing, people my age regard such pitches with the squinted eyes usually reserved for barking carnies on a midway. We don’t trust salespeople. As a result, corporations are bending over backwards to use new media – social networking sites, twitter – to influence this cynical new crop of consumers.

If I’m coming off as a little too proud of my anti-consumer impulses, I don’t mean to be. In fact, I wish I were a little more trusting. I wish it were easier to buy things. Because I have such distaste for the “dance,” I dread big purchases; I get no joy out of them. When I read product reviews in my favorite magazines, my cynicism doesn’t allow me to digest the information, even though much of it could undoubtedly be useful.

With this in mind, I thought I’d use this blog to talk about a backyard firewood processor that my friend Billy just bought. It strikes me that many Northern Woodlands readers might be interested in such a product, and now that we’ve established an appropriately neutral environment, maybe the information that follows will be of interest to people looking to buy a firewood processor.

You’ll see Billy’s machine pictured here. He paid about $13,000 for it new. It’s a Wood Beaver 1X37 made by Maaselan, a Finnish company. Overall, he likes it. It’s PTO driven, and the old Ford Tractor in the picture has no problem running it. It’s easy to move and set up. When he’s rolling, and has a guy helping him load it, the rig will process a cord, cord and a half an hour. The way he sees it, he gets to have fun playing logger, he gets to spend time improving his woodlot, he saves money by not having to buy a gym membership, and he gets free fuel to boot. Through this lens, it’ll take him about 70 cords to have the machine pay for itself. Of course, if you don’t like hard work, this math won’t apply to you.

Some drawbacks to consider: The crooked nature of many firewood stems is sometimes an issue. The machine will take a 15 inch log but works best with 12-inch wood. Billy’s unit doesn’t have hydraulics, so processing is labor intensive.

By writing this blog, I’m simply communicating to you what Billy’s conveyed to me. I’m in no way endorsing Maaselan or the Wood Beaver machine. One of the advertisers in our magazine, Oesco Inc., advertises a similar 3-pt. hitch processor made by Tajfun. Anyone considering such a purchase would be wise to look into this model as well and compare notes.

If you have anything to add about backyard firewood processors, pro or con, I’ll give you the floor.

No discussion as of yet.

Leave a reply

To ensure a respectful dialogue, please refrain from posting content that is unlawful, harassing, discriminatory, libelous, obscene, or inflammatory. Northern Woodlands assumes no responsibility or liability arising from forum postings and reserves the right to edit all postings. Thanks for joining the discussion.