Shear Firewood Processors

Shear firewood processors are a rather unique type of equipment but work on the basis of shearing the log into blocks and then splitting via wedges or with a single action of shearing and splitting.

The shear/split combined action allows for fast processing of small diameter wood and construction waste (less than 9 inches diameter). The first axe (spike) splits the wood in two and shears the wood the length.  The wood is then turned 90 degrees and cut again.  The crack from the first cut plus the splitting action of the axe (spike) yields 4 pieces of wood. Smaller diameter wood bypasses the axe (spike) and is just sheared off. Hand fed, simple to operate and portable (driven from tractor PTO).

Another type of shear uses a hydraulic shear to cut the log into blocks and then force the block into a standard wedge (2, 4, or 8 way). Processes logs near the ground, has integral winch system to gather logs/feed the shear and has an automatic cycle. Log diameters from 4 to 16 inches and production from 2 - 4 full cords per hour.

A few advantages of shear firewood processors exist over other types of processors. First because the wood is not sawn the wood cells don't close up so the wood dries faster. Secondly there is no need to sharpen the shear or worry about nails/rocks dulling or damaging equipment. Disadvantages of shears is that they do not cut well with dry hardwoods, are limited to smaller diameter wood and can shatter wood during shearing.

- Sixfold Fabricating Steel, Rainier Hydraulics Inc. images.