The world's best-selling firewood processors of all time are the Hakki Pilke 1X37 and 2X. It is interesting to note that these two are still talked about all over the world, says Anssi Westerlund, CEO of Maasel\u00e4n Kone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
still\u201c Anssi Westerlund's<\/strong> The quote implies that 1X37 and 2X entered the market over twenty years ago. Before Hakki Pilke, Maasel\u00e4n Kone Oy had manufactured equipment for feed processing and, for example, custom-made hydraulic cylinders. Varmolift feed machines can still be found in their product portfolio. Today, their significance to the company is small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 1X37 and 2X came to the market at a good time. Firewood heating was making a comeback as oil and electricity prices started to rise. In the 1990s, the use of firewood for ambiance also began, sales manager Veijo Kontro<\/strong> provide background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manufacturing over 1,200 firewood processors a year, Hakki Pilke is, according to Westerlund and Kontro, the global market leader in firewood processors. The domestic market now accounts for only about twenty percent of its 12 million euro turnover, as the machines are exported to 36 countries. The most important export destinations are Central Europe, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, North America, Australia, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company has around seventy employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Machines that are almost too good<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One reason for the immense fame of the first two machines is their durability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Our machines last almost too well, Westerlund jokes, adding that firewood processors with a reputation for durability are in high demand on the used market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n - Machinery dealers also gladly take them as trade-in machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quality is, of course, a conscious choice by the manufacturer, but from the perspective of Finland, there is also practical necessity behind it. The machines are designed to withstand the splitting of hard wood species used in export countries. Often, tree trunks are crooked and otherwise difficult compared to Finnish trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Since the machine can handle hard wood species, it can certainly handle Finnish soft wood as well, Anssi Westerlund continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJoin the winning team\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The robustness and longevity of the machines mean that there is also a long tail in the aftermarket. Spare parts must be available for machines over twenty years old, preferably quickly, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maasel\u00e4n Kone has built a winning team around Hakki Pilke. One of the core principles of its formation is a long-term partnership. Many spare parts dealers, importers, end customers and factory workers have indeed stayed involved for some twenty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The winning team has even become the company's slogan: join the winning team. According to Westerlund, in addition to long-term partnerships, this means that no one is left alone in the chain. In practice, this refers to, for example, investing in user training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ever more powerful machinery and the courage to internationalize<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Kontron and Westerlund, courage, foresight, and diverse marketing are required for a Finnish machine manufacturer to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One should not settle for the status quo. To succeed, one must internationalize strongly and boldly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"We don't want to be a marginal player where we start exporting. We always aim to be number one in the local market, or at least in the top three,\" Westerlund says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anticipation, in turn, is reflected in product development. Firewood production also has its trends that one must be able to seize, preferably before competitors. For instance, firewood is being produced with increasing professionalism and from ever-sturdier timber. The machines must be able to split large logs quickly and ergonomically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed is affected not only by the actual working speed, but also by the machine's susceptibility to malfunctions. Therefore, a lot of work has been done at Maasel\u00e4n Kone to reduce malfunction situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the traditional problems with log splitters has been that, especially the last log of the trunk tends to fall in front of the splitting wedge the wrong way around. The problem is accentuated if the log being processed is short relative to the diameter of the tree trunk. The newest Hakki Pilke machines feature guide plates, thanks to which even a short log falls in a controlled manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remembering recent product development insights, Westerlund and Kontro mention the automatic chain tensioner and the automatically adjusting lowering speed of the guide bar as well. Thanks to the automatic chain tensioning, no tools at all are needed for changing the chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n