Pilkemaster EVO36HC – The professional all-hydraulic firewood processor

The Pilkemaster EVO36 HC Lite firewood processor is an upgrade to the user friendliness compared to the standard EVO36. The EVO36 HC Lite has a hydraulic up/down movement of the splitting knife. The knife can therefore be effortlessly placed at the middle of the wood that is being split, resulting in firewood of equal size. Like all the Pilkemaster EVO-series firewood processors, the EVO36 HC Lite can run on tractor PTO or have its own 18hp gasoline engine. It is able to cut and split logs up to 14.5 inches (36cm) in diameter.

The Pilkemaster EVO36 HC combines the power of hydraulics with the legendary ease of use of the Pilkemaster EVO-series firewood processors. The EVO36 HC is the professional version of the processor, with both saw and splitting knife up/down movements powered by hydraulic cylinders. The EVO36 HC includes also the hydraulic feeding roll that is synchronized with the feeding table.

A full-hydraulic firewood processor

Like the whole Pilkemaster EVO-series, the EVO36 HC can be powered by tractor PTO or have its own 18hp gasoline engine. The EVO36 HC has exactly the same control handle as the other EVO-series processors. The difference is that when le control handle is pulled, it does not mechanically drive down the saw bar but is simply the actuator for the movement. The sawing of the logs does not require any force.

An adjustable valve controls the speed of the up/down movement of the saw bar. The movement can be optimized depending on the species of trees that are transformed into firewood.

Easy splitting with no waste

The Pilkemaster EVO36 HC firewood processor is equipped with the standard 2/4 splitting knife. The knife can be easily changed for one of the optional 0/2, 2/6 or 2/8 knives like on the picture above.

Behind the splitting groove, a sturdy metallic grate will let the sawdust and all the small wood-waste particles to fall below the processor. This way, only clean firewood will move to the conveyor.

Technical specifications of the Pilkemaster EVO36 HC

Main specsPowerFeeding of the logSawingSplittingConveyor
Maximum length of firewood: 24 inch / 60cm
Maximum diameter for log: 14.5 inch / 36cm
Splitting speed for 13 inch / 33cm log: 3.0/1.5/1.0 seconds (powerful/normal/fast)

Capacity of hydraulic oil tank: 50 liter
Type of hydraulic oil: VGA 32

Weight with PTO: 1466 lbs / 665kg
Weight with gasoline engine: 1631 lbs / 740kg

Tractor PTO (Power Take-Off): 400 rpm maximum
PTO output: about 15 to 20 hp

Gasoline engine: Vanguard (Briggs & Stratton) 18 hp
The gasoline engine’s warranty is provided directly by the authorized service network of Briggs & Stratton Canada.

The machine has either the PTO or the gasoline engine

V-shaped patented infeed table: standard equipment

Log-lifter: optional
Log-deck: optional
Hydraulic infeed roller: standard equipment

Options described in the table below

Height of the control handle: 39 – 49 inches (100 – 125cm)
The handle has a fixed position on the machine, the height of the frame can be adjusted.

Patented sawblade: 15 in.
Dimension of the saw chain: 18 in. / 72 loops
Rotation of the saw chain: hydraulic
Movement of the blade: hydraulic

Saw chain lubrication: automatic

Splitting wedge: hardened steel 2/4 parts
Other splitting wedges available as options.
The splitting wedge has a knife which is profiled like an arrow and the horizontal splitting is located about one inch at the rear. This reduces a lot the amount of power needed to split the wood, allowing the use of smaller and faster cylinders.

Fast movement / slow and powerful movement: standard equipment

Splitting force: 2 to 8 tons
The splitting force adjusts automatically depending on the position of the control handle.
A bigger hydraulic cylinder is available as an option.

Height adjustment for splitting wedge: hydraulic

Independent splitting: optional

Fast change of the wedge: standard equipment
The wedge is unlocked when lifted to the upmost position. It will lock again once it is put in any other position.

Conveyor motor: hydraulic

Dimensions: lenght 13.1 inch (4 meter), width 9.5 inch (24cm).

Winch to adjust height: standard equipment
5-position turning conveyor: standard equipment

Video of the Pilkemaster EVO firewood processors

Available options

Log-lifterLog-deckHydraulic feeding roll10-ton cylinderSplitting wedgesIndependent splitting

The log-lifter makes it easy to work with logs that are on the ground: roll the log near your Pilkemaster EVO36 HC and put it between the two bars of the lifter. Then just activate the locking mechanism of the infeed table to avoid it to move backwards, hook the table with the hook of the log-lifter and use the control handle to move the infeed table forwards. The log-lifter will lift the log at the height of the machine.

The log-deck places the wood at the correct height to be fed directly to your Pikemaster EVO36 HC firewood processor. The Pilkemaster hydraulic log-deck has two hydraulic rolls which are synchronized with the infeed table and controlled by the control handle of the machine. The height of the log-deck can be adjusted. The rear of the table is adjusted to be a bit higher so the logs will roll to the machine. The patented handle on the table will pick the first log out of the deck while blocking the next one.


The hydraulic feeding roll will help the infeed table of the Pilkemaster EVO36 HC. It is synchronized with the infeed table and will push the log into the machine at the same time the table moves forward. It is mainly useful for heavy and long logs. This roller is always factory mounted on EVO36 HC processors.

If you use a lot of hardwood or would like to use the 2/8 splitting wedge, we recommend that you replace the standard 8-ton cylinder on your machine with the optional 10-ton cylinder to give it some extra power.

Pilkemaster EVO36 HC is always provided with the standard 2/4 wedge which allows to split the wood in 2 or 4 parts. Optionally, it can be equipped with 2/6 or 2/8 wedges to produce smaller firewood or kindling.

If you are looking only to cut-to-length your wood without splitting, the optional 0/2 wedge will not split the wood at all if used at its lowest position.

The independent splitting option adds handles near the splitting groove of the Pilkemaster EVO36 HC firewood processor. These handles transform your machine into a horizontal wood splitter. You can simply put wood in the splitting groove, close the cover and use the handles to split the wood instead of having to go all the way to the control handle of the machine. This option comes handy when you wish to split a log again or if you have logs that have already been cut to length.