3-Pt. Bandsaw Cuts Firewood Fast, Quiet

2014 - Volume #38, Issue #3, Page #17

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Patrick Burrington cuts firewood quietly, quickly and easily with his 3-pt. mounted bandsaw. Powered by a 3 hp Briggs and Stratton, it seems to run forever on a fill of gas.
  “With the bandsaw, I’m not bent over with a screaming chainsaw or burning up fuel with a tractor-powered buzz saw,” says Burrington. “It’s so quiet I can visit with someone while I’m slicing wood. It easily does as much work as a buzz saw without the noise, danger or expense.”
  Burrington notes that he has used the saw 6 or 8 times since building it in the summer of 2013, and has yet to refill the tank. That includes cutting up a cord of wood the first time he used it.
  “I can drive to a pile of wood, cut it up, pick up the bandsaw and move to the next pile,” says Burrington. “The motor only runs at a fast idle, but the saw cuts through anything while the tractor sits, not getting worn out running a buzz saw.”
  Burrington copied the general design of a standard bandsaw, adapting it to a 3-pt. hitch. The hitch portion of the frame is fabricated from 2-in. square tubing, with the remainder of the frame largely made from channel iron and scrap angle iron left over from other jobs.
  Most of the components were purchased online, including the motor, gearbox, pulleys and bandsaw blades. He also fabricated a few of his own parts, using his OMAX waterjet cutting table.
  “I buy a lot of components from Surplus Center in Nebraska,” says Burrington. “I bought 4 blades on eBay and sized the saw and placed the pulleys to match.”
  Burrington did the math to determine pulley size to get the bandsaw running at the right speed. He placed a worktable on the blade and added legs to the underside of the frame to get his preferred working height. A 6-ft. long, drop-down arm provides additional working area where Burrington can stack lengths of wood to cut.
  “It has saved my back immensely,” he says. “I stand up straight without bending over.”
  Burrington ran a belt drive from the Briggs and Stratton to a 20:1 right angle gearbox at the saw blade drive pulley.
  The bandsaw itself is about 6 ft. tall and a little wider than the 3-pt. hitch on Burrington’s model 60 Deere. The saw blades are 3:4 blades, the coarsest he could find.
  “I can cut wet green wood, even with sap, and not worry about plugging up the teeth,” he says.
  Since the saw was to be used on Deere tractors, Burrington painted it Deere green and yellow. The feet make it easy for him to pick it up and drive away or drop it where it’s needed just by pulling the pins.
  “I didn’t put safety shields on the saw when I built it,” says Burrington. “I expected to need to adjust tracking once I got it going. However, I haven’t had to touch it. I’m thinking about adding some shielding, and would definitely provide shielding if someone wanted one built for them.”
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Rapid Creek Cutters, 130 Garnet Dr., Stevensville, Mont. 59870 (ph 406 642-3155; rccwaterjet@aol.com; www.rapidcreekcutters.com).

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3-Pt Bandsaw Cuts Firewood Fast Quiet WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous Patrick Burrington cuts firewood quietly quickly and easily with his 3-pt mounted bandsaw Powered by a 3 hp Briggs and Stratton it seems to run forever on a fill of gas “With the bandsaw I’m not bent over with a screaming chainsaw or burning up fuel with a tractor-powered buzz saw ” says Burrington “It’s so quiet I can visit with someone while I’m slicing wood It easily does as much work as a buzz saw without the noise danger or expense ” Burrington notes that he has used the saw 6 or 8 times since building it in the summer of 2013 and has yet to refill the tank That includes cutting up a cord of wood the first time he used it “I can drive to a pile of wood cut it up pick up the bandsaw and move to the next pile ” says Burrington “The motor only runs at a fast idle but the saw cuts through anything while the tractor sits not getting worn out running a buzz saw ” Burrington copied the general design of a standard bandsaw adapting it to a 3-pt hitch The hitch portion of the frame is fabricated from 2-in square tubing with the remainder of the frame largely made from channel iron and scrap angle iron left over from other jobs Most of the components were purchased online including the motor gearbox pulleys and bandsaw blades He also fabricated a few of his own parts using his OMAX waterjet cutting table “I buy a lot of components from Surplus Center in Nebraska ” says Burrington “I bought 4 blades on eBay and sized the saw and placed the pulleys to match ” Burrington did the math to determine pulley size to get the bandsaw running at the right speed He placed a worktable on the blade and added legs to the underside of the frame to get his preferred working height A 6-ft long drop-down arm provides additional working area where Burrington can stack lengths of wood to cut “It has saved my back immensely ” he says “I stand up straight without bending over ” Burrington ran a belt drive from the Briggs and Stratton to a 20:1 right angle gearbox at the saw blade drive pulley The bandsaw itself is about 6 ft tall and a little wider than the 3-pt hitch on Burrington’s model 60 Deere The saw blades are 3:4 blades the coarsest he could find “I can cut wet green wood even with sap and not worry about plugging up the teeth ” he says Since the saw was to be used on Deere tractors Burrington painted it Deere green and yellow The feet make it easy for him to pick it up and drive away or drop it where it’s needed just by pulling the pins “I didn’t put safety shields on the saw when I built it ” says Burrington “I expected to need to adjust tracking once I got it going However I haven’t had to touch it I’m thinking about adding some shielding and would definitely provide shielding if someone wanted one built for them ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Rapid Creek Cutters 130 Garnet Dr Stevensville Mont 59870 ph 406 642-3155; rccwaterjet@aol com; www rapidcreekcutters com

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