RIGHT- Luke Squiers is shown recently when he was making logs to donate for firewood for the winter to a Tama family. Squiers is operating a “Blockbuster Firewood Processor” which was added to the family logging business equipment earlier this year. News-Herald photos/John Speer

“How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”

That old riddle comes to mind with the machine now in use by Squiers Logging, rural Tama.

Luke Squiers and his father, Brian, added a “Blockbuster Firewood Processor” to their operations this year.

“On good diameter logs, I can cut six pickup loads (of firewood) an hour,” Luke says of the device. That beats by far the use of a conventional log-splitter or, of course, any method by hand or “woodchuck.”

The Blockbuster will handle logs up to 20 feet long and up to 24 inches in diameter.

The Blockbuster now used by Squiers Logging is seen in this view from where the logs are loaded through the cutting and splitting process and onto the conveyor for loading.

Luke demonstrated how it works on a recent day when he was cutting up firewood to be donated to a Tama family.

A long steel bed is loaded with logs which rotate onto a steel conveyor belt and are fed to a spot where Luke drops a chain saw onto to them. He sits behind a safety Plexiglas panel and uses hand controls to complete the task. After the logs are cut into the right length they drop onto a splitter. It is interchangeable allowing for wood to be split into pieces for use in fireplaces or larger pieces for fire pits.

The firewood is then transported by a 30- ft. conveyor- elevator from the splitter to a waiting pickup bed or trailer for transport.

A 44 horsepower Kibota diesel motor powers the device.

The Blockbuster is manufactured in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

Logs ready for use drop off the Blockbuster conveyor onto the waiting trailer for transport. Luke Squiers says the equipment has made a tremendous difference in time for making firewood.

The power and convenience of the device did come with a price, Luke said. It cost $52,000.

Luke said they split firewood at locations where they are doing logging operations or will bring the Blockbuster to locations to do custom work.

Brian Squiers has been in the logging business for 30 years. Luke joined him 14 years ago upon finishing school.

Contact Squiers Logging at 641-751-3926.