# How to increase splitting speed & efficiency?



## richg (Apr 18, 2014)

Gang, 

I was hoping some folks could chime in with tips to increase splitting speed and efficiency. I've got perhaps 2 cords of white oak rounds, with the diameters going from 16-24 inches. Nothing overly stringy or crotchety. Despite having a 28 ton Huskee splitter, it's going painfully slowly. I'm splitting vertically and making little headway. The rounds are too dang big to continuously lift and split horizontally. What to do? quarter them vertically and then finish them horizontally?


----------



## Razo (Apr 18, 2014)

Well this is an easy one, just get the [URL='http://www.vipukirves.fi/english/index.htm']KIRVES: Heikki Vipukirves! ......................................
[/URL]
Sorry I had to.

Well I only split by hand so the best technique I could offer to save time is the tire method but that won't help much here if you are using a hydro. Maybe you could do something like this. Place them vertically and keep rotating the round as you let the wedge come down and split. Like come down a 1/4 of the way into the round, rotate it 90 degrees, come down on it again, 90 degrees, again, and then the old the last downward split it would all come apart. 

I don't know I've seen a video of someone doing it before, it would probably helpful if I found that.


----------



## Whitepup (Apr 18, 2014)

Sounds like you need a 4-way or a 6-way wedge to speed up splitting.

https://www.google.com/search?q=6+w...GR8AHJuYDgDA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1920&bih=976


----------



## Applesister (Apr 18, 2014)

Find a helper to run the lever on the splitter and you just position the rounds. Goes way faster.
When you get fatigued you can just switch.


----------



## yooperdave (Apr 18, 2014)

Richg-I tried to find out just where it is that you are located since if you are close enough, I can show you just how fast I can make those rounds disappear!!    Happy Easter and don't get discouraged-sometimes if you try to take shortcuts or hurry up the job, accidents happen.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Apr 18, 2014)

richg said:


> Gang,
> 
> I was hoping some folks could chime in with tips to increase splitting speed and efficiency. I've got perhaps 2 cords of white oak rounds, with the diameters going from 16-24 inches. Nothing overly stringy or crotchety. Despite having a 28 ton Huskee splitter, it's going painfully slowly. I'm splitting vertically and making little headway. The rounds are too dang big to continuously lift and split horizontally. What to do? quarter them vertically and then finish them horizontally?



That is a good size and I love splitting those. With that size I usually split in half first. What this means is that it will almost split apart. From this point you either turn it little by little and split or turn it 180 degrees and finish the splitting into halves. I like to split completely in half and then splitting the rest is super easy plus it is prime for making rectangular splits. Those splits make stacking super easy and make the stack stronger plus when loading the stove, you can pack them in tighter for those long cold winter night burns.


----------



## richg (Apr 19, 2014)

I was back at it this morning and found a system that worked...quarter the rounds vertically, build up a good size pile, and then finish them horizontally. This is looking like a lot more than two cords....


----------



## paul bunion (Apr 19, 2014)

I think you might be wasting more time than you realize re handling your splits.  I would just get a milk crate or sit on the unprocessed piece of wood and keep splitting slabs out of those chunks.  Do you have a pickaroon and/or pulp hooks?    They make it real easy to handle wood without bending over and killing your back.


----------



## BoiledOver (Apr 19, 2014)

The easiest and quickest might be with your Fiskars. No heavy lifting involved. Stand em or leave em lay and start at the edges. Would help if outdoor temps are below 20F.


----------



## woodsmaster (Apr 19, 2014)

4 way wedge, or drill the holes out on the hydro a little to speed up the cycle time. I use one of those that a friend of mine owns and it is painfully slow. It has the shaft coming out of the bottom of the motor and sometimes when you pull start it it kicks back and about rips your arm off. Now they all come with a horizontal shaft motor.


----------



## Driver (Apr 19, 2014)

paul bunion said:


> I think you might be wasting more time than you realize re handling your splits.  I would just get a milk crate or sit on the unprocessed piece of wood and keep splitting slabs out of those chunks



I split everything vertical, much quicker and easier to sit on a piece of wood and just roll what you are splitting around instead of picking them off the ground.


----------



## BobUrban (Apr 20, 2014)

All about getting a system and rhythm -there really is no wrong way unless you are not enjoying it.  Then it is all wrong.  I try to pace myself and split some here and there until I am tired or sick of splitting - then I quit.  After a week or two of evenings and the split pile is bigger than the rounds pile.  Kind of how I stack too. 

I like vertical for everything with the milk crate and a boat cushion - split through a tank of gas, let the machine and I cool down  split another tank.  Bigguns get 1/2'd and then work splits off the 1/2's - Shoot for squares and rectangles like Dennis said - they are nice in so many ways for a wood burner.


----------



## lindnova (Apr 20, 2014)

I only split vert if too big then switch to horz for 90% of the time.  With the log catcher goes pretty fast. I am 6'-4" so too much bending over. I also don't like someone else running controls. I like to keep my fingers and have control to stop fast if pinched - I haven't pinched a finger yet thankfully.  If I have a helper they move logs to and from splitter and stack. 

A log catcher or table makes it go much faster.


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Apr 20, 2014)

richg said:


> I was back at it this morning and found a system that worked...quarter the rounds vertically, build up a good size pile, and then finish them horizontally. This is looking like a lot more than two cords....



Why not just leave the splitter vertically? It saves a ton of work. You can even sit while working like I do. Look at my avatar. This is how I split all our wood.


----------



## kevin85 (Apr 20, 2014)

My buddy made me a table for my splitter...as someone else said, it saves a lot of time.


----------



## stephiedoll (Apr 20, 2014)

In case you can't weld. Works great and very portable.


----------



## bmblank (Apr 20, 2014)

I'll do vertical for those to big to lift, but I can't stand it. Horizontal is way faster and way easier on my back.


----------



## red oak (Apr 20, 2014)

When I'm using a splitter at my FIL's I like to halve or quarter the rounds by hand rather than kill my back to try to lift them up.  Even when splitting vertically, you still have to maneuver the round into position.  If it's too heavy just whack it with the maul.


----------



## smokedragon (Apr 20, 2014)

Applesister said:


> Find a helper to run the lever on the splitter and you just position the rounds. Goes way faster.
> When you get fatigued you can just switch.



I find that this GREATLY speeds up my splitting........I know some don't want another person running the controls, but I trust my helper and it adds a great deal of speed.



paul bunion said:


> I think you might be wasting more time than you realize re handling your splits.



Absolute ditto.......the number one way to speed up is to handle the wood as little as possible.



bmblank said:


> I'll do vertical for those to big to lift, but I can't stand it. Horizontal is way faster and way easier on my back.



I can't either.......I think horizontal is faster for me.  But on the really big stuff, gotta find a way to wittle it down first.


----------



## webie (Apr 22, 2014)

Get a 4 way wedge and put that on the huskey . Once you do you will kick yourself so many times over on why you have not done that before . With a good helper on the timberwolf I  can split  a full cord an hour ,provided they can keep up throwing the wood off the delivery table .  A 4way wedge on there will speed you up 3 or more times as fast and save your back .


----------



## bobdog2o02 (Apr 22, 2014)

have a friend run the maul while you run the machine.........

Last night in about 2hrs my father in law and i made about a cord.  He ran the machine with the bigger and knarlyer( spelling?)  splits, and i ran the fiskars with the tire trick.  I was pumpin out as much wood as he was. sometimes more.  Put 2-3 smaller rounds in a tire on top of your splitting block, whack whack whack.......  stack stack stack.


----------



## smokedragon (Apr 23, 2014)

bobdog2o02 said:


> have a friend run the maul while you run the machine.........


You have better friends than me 

Most friends would be much more likely to run the machine for you 

But I would still go with that setup, cause free help is still free.


----------



## maple1 (Apr 23, 2014)

I don't think you can improve much on doing it vertical, and just keep rotating the round while it's in place on the foot. Should go pretty quick, actually - can't see any advantage in doing it partly vertical then going horizontal, that's just more work moving wood around. Do you have any help? They can just roll rounds to you if you do. If not, get a bunch of rounds around you on their sides before you start, when you're ready for a new one hook it with a hookaroon & pull it to you. Turn it upright right onto the foot & you're good to go. Just toss the finished splits into a pile out of the way - if your aim is good, and everything is positioned right, you can toss right onto a stack. Procurring a comfy seat should be the first order of business.

But can you reach your splitter control when seated at the wedge in vertical mode? If not, that's likely the difference maker - I can with mine.


----------



## Corey (Apr 23, 2014)

I can't think of anything much faster than splitting vertically and throwing the splits right to the pile.  I'm not much on having a 'helper'... even if you manage to double your speed, you've tied up two people, so 'man hours' are about the same.  Plus if trying to go fast, it's way too easy for a miscue and someone getting a finger or hand mashed off, or clocked in the face with a piece of wood.  Maybe if they could help stack, but then that is just speeding up the entire process, not necessarily the 'splitting'.

Probably the best way to increase speed is to control the stroke of your splitter.  You often only need to go a few inches into the wood for the 'split', then retract the wedge just high enough to get the next round or chunk of wood in.  Especially with straight oak, I'd think you probably only need to have the ram moving 6-8 inches and at that pace, you can dice up wood pretty quick.


----------



## bobdog2o02 (Apr 23, 2014)

bobdog2o02 said:


> have a friend run the maul while you run the machine.........
> 
> Last night in about 2hrs my father in law and i made about a cord.  He ran the machine with the bigger and knarlyer( spelling?)  splits, and i ran the fiskars with the tire trick.  I was pumpin out as much wood as he was. sometimes more.  Put 2-3 smaller rounds in a tire on top of your splitting block, whack whack whack.......  stack stack stack.



This was the same routine today....


----------



## tfdchief (Apr 23, 2014)

*How to increase splitting speed & efficiency?* 

Get old, then you don't care about that chit!


----------



## begreen (Apr 23, 2014)

bobdog2o02 said:


> This was the same routine today....


Why are you splitting so small? That whole stack would be kindling sized for our stove. I would think the BK would handle much thicker splits. We typically are burning splits 2 to 3 times thicker.


----------



## bobdog2o02 (Apr 24, 2014)

That's just they way we do... Dries far and easy for the wife to handle.. With the old e/w drive she was burning herself loading big pieces


----------



## osagebow (Apr 24, 2014)

If you have a slope, someone on here (BBart?) showed a pic that got me going. Line the rounds up uphill and let them come to you. Any woods tree i cut on my hillside, or pickup load of big stuff, gets done this way now if possible. her's a pic from a few  oaks I did this way


----------



## Tinder (Apr 24, 2014)

*Increase speed and efficiency?!*

Get a saw big enough that noodling is fun. Noodle rounds that are too big to pick up. Then trade in the slow splitter for a Super Split. 

Splitting is the most fun part of the process for me - only complaint is that I get it done so darn quick!


----------



## bobdog2o02 (Apr 24, 2014)

Tinder said:


> *Increase speed and efficiency?!*
> 
> Get a saw big enough that noodling is fun. Noodle rounds that are too big to pick up. Then trade in the slow splitter for a Super Split.
> 
> Splitting is the most fun part of the process for me - only complaint is that I get it done so darn quick!


How does the super split handle knotty pieces, i had a piece yesterday that the 22ton was not happy about and was thinking the inertia splitters probably would have laughed at it.


----------



## smokedragon (Apr 24, 2014)

bobdog2o02 said:


> That's just they way we do... Dries far and easy for the wife to handle.. With the old e/w drive she was burning herself loading big pieces


I found myself splitting smaller over the last year.  Easier to handle, dry quicker, the wife is more apt to load the stove too

I think if you have good air control, smaller splits will last nearly as long as big splits (if you pack em in tight).  I will give up a little burn time for the convenience......



Tinder said:


> Noodle rounds that are too big to pick up


I am gonna make a chain just for this..........supposedly if you grind the teeth somewhere between 0 and 5 degrees (as opposed to the normal 30) you get this


----------



## paul bunion (Apr 24, 2014)

osagebow said:


> If you have a slope, someone on here (BBart?) showed a pic that got me going. Line the rounds up uphill and let them come to you. Any woods tree i cut on my hillside, or pickup load of big stuff, gets done this way now if possible. her's a pic from a few  oaks I did this way


My backyard has a slight slope that I take full advantage of.   Logs get delivered on the high side and the stacks are on the low side.  It is real nice having a 24" round roll clear across the yard from a firm push with the boot and a few taps as it rolls to keep it on course.


----------



## tsquini (Apr 24, 2014)

Splitters are slow. You can streamline your process to make it slightly quicker. The reason to use a splitter is not for speed. it is to split wood with minimal physical effort.


----------



## richg (Apr 25, 2014)

Folks, thanks for the replies. I got the whole thing done last weekend using the vertical & horizontal method. Part of this can probably be traced to the splitter; supposedly the Huskee 28 ton has a very slow cycle time, and the wedge design is pretty lame: It is vertically very shot, meaning it "nicks" a lot of larger rounds rather than splitting them. Further, the leading edge of the blade stops about 4 inches from the foot which leaves me with many unfinished splits that need to be turned around and re-split. Every time I get a load of rounds in and do some splitting, I swear that a custom-made wedge will be ordered. Every time, I just say, "A, the heck with it" and keep on splitting.


----------



## Tinder (Apr 25, 2014)

bobdog2o02 said:


> How does the super split handle knotty pieces, i had a piece yesterday that the 22ton was not happy about and was thinking the inertia splitters probably would have laughed at it.


If it can't separate the grain, it can shear through it. The trick is to recognize when it isn't going to power through, tap the handle to disengage the rack for a couple seconds, let the KE build up in the flywheels, and then engage the rack again. 

However, it's even better to just learn how to split in a smart manner. Instead of going right into the knot, split off the left side, then the right side, then sometimes you can split off the interior, and the piece remaining where the core of the knot is, is small enough to fit in the firebox itself. Every now and again I see a big enough knot that isn't worth the time to mess with, I'll just set it aside to block up with the saw or save for a bonfire.


----------



## Tinder (Apr 25, 2014)

tsquini said:


> Splitters are slow. You can streamline your process to make it slightly quicker. The reason to use a splitter is not for speed. it is to split wood with minimal physical effort.


That's far too broad of a statement. It depends on the splitter.


----------

