# How long does it take you to split a cord?



## azsteven (Mar 7, 2010)

I found a neighbor who's in the tree service business, and this might be a source for free logs (apparently he drops off logs to several people around the area). I'm thinking about buying a log splitter (maybe the Ramsplitter 16 ton electric, but I really haven't looked at any yet), but I want to hear some opinions about how much you get done with yours. 

How long does it take you to split a cord? or How much do you split per hour?

Thanks!


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## wellbuilt home (Mar 7, 2010)

I can split a cord an hour to 3x4 x20" long leaving larger splits i can split 1.5 +-  I use a supper splitter . 
 With a hydraulic splitter i split about 1 cord in 3 hours +- . 
                                                                                       John


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## webie (Mar 7, 2010)

With my timberwolf and 4 or 6 way head I can ussually do a cord an hour with the girl friend .


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## azsteven (Mar 7, 2010)

So you guys think it's faster to split by hand? I've been learning to use a friend's maul, but it's slow going. I can't imagine I can go faster than a powered splitter.


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## smokinj (Mar 7, 2010)

2 people I can run about a cord an hour not stack...


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## webie (Mar 7, 2010)

azsteven said:
			
		

> So you guys think it's faster to split by hand? I've been learning to use a friend's maul, but it's slow going. I can't imagine I can go faster than a powered splitter.


 Depends so much on the wood you are splitting . If its nice straight grain you can split by hand probably  faster  than you can with a single wedge hydraulic splitter .  Now if you get into some knarly crotches and twisted trees or just some hard splitting wood such as elm , no questions down the hydraulic splitter will out do hand splitting if you even manage to get it split with out the use of wedges or a chainsaw .
  I split about 14 cord a year for me and my old man so with a little bit of help ussually me and one or two others we can get it done in 2 days .


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## LLigetfa (Mar 7, 2010)

azsteven said:
			
		

> So you guys think it's faster to split by hand? I've been learning to use a friend's maul, but it's slow going. I can't imagine I can go faster than a powered splitter.


Too many variables... a fast person against a slow splitter with easy wood, yes.


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## quads (Mar 7, 2010)

I never just split wood, I go out in the woods, cut a tree up, split the wood by hand with my wonderful 6# maul, then haul it home and stack it.  From start to finish doing that, I can complete a cord in less than 6 hours by myself.  In reality I never do a whole cord of cutting, splitting, and stacking in a day.


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## DBoon (Mar 7, 2010)

> 2 people I can run about a cord an hour not stack…


+1

My father-in-law and I will usually buck up the wood the same day we split it.  We can do two full cords in about 4 hours, including all the bucking.


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## Stevebass4 (Mar 7, 2010)

my rounds are freak'n huge and i really don't an an efficient set up yet BUT i think i spent about 6 hours splitting a cord of hardwood and 1/2 cord of pine this weekend by myself - not stacked yet - all splits very small due to the size of my insert


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## bogydave (Mar 8, 2010)

LLigetfa said:
			
		

> azsteven said:
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+1

experience
How it is set up
1 person (depends on work output & experience of that person)
2 people, 3 to 4 times faster,
 Splitter speed.
distance wood is to splitter
size of rounds
type of wood
etc
(I just did a little over a cord of birch split & stacked in less than an hour) (Me & Wife, Granddaughter)


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## billb3 (Mar 8, 2010)

When I was younger I could do a cord of oak in an afternoon ( a longish one).

I have preferred doing batches so I don't do any one thing for a long period of time since one of those afternoons. 

I can't swing a maul any more. Tugging if it gets stuck really, really starts to hurt.


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## SolarAndWood (Mar 8, 2010)

Hour and a half per cord by myself.  I like the electric powered splitter as long as you are set up for it.  All of my wood comes in on the trailer and is split directly adjacent to the shed so power cord length isn't an issue.  One less gas motor is a good thing.


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## wood spliter (Mar 8, 2010)

I do all my splitting by hand.  If I need the wedge it slows me down allot.  So wood type and size puts a big variable in it.


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## Adios Pantalones (Mar 8, 2010)

Straight fresh wood- faster by hand, but a serious cardio workout (I' have no prob with that).  Tougher stuff, knots, crotches,, dry stringy stuff- much faster with a hydro splitter.


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## Gunks (Mar 8, 2010)

wood spliter said:
			
		

> I do all my splitting by hand.  If I need the wedge it slows me down allot.  So wood type and size puts a big variable in it.


+1


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## Flatbedford (Mar 8, 2010)

Gunks said:
			
		

> wood spliter said:
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+2

My plan is to get far enough ahead that I don't have to deal with any of the more difficult to hand split species. Stay with Ash, Cherry, Red Oak, and Black Locust and hand splitting can be pretty fast and mentally satisfying as well. The way I see it actually splitting the wood is only a small  part of the whole process. Get me a machine that will load and unload the truck, split the wood, stack it, and then bring it too the front porch for burning, then I'll consider the investment. Moving and stacking, at least the way I have to work with the space I have to work with, is much more labor intensive than just splitting. I'd even say splitting is the easy part.
That said, I could, by hand, split, move, and stack a cord in about 6 hours. I rarely work for more than an hour and a half or so at a time. If I could split and toss in a pile, I could do a cord of the above mentioned easy wood in about 3 hours. I think.


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## azsteven (Mar 8, 2010)

How about sugar maple?
I've got 2 trees coming down, about 4 cords total.


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## Adios Pantalones (Mar 8, 2010)

If you are swinging a maul- start as soon as you can.  Fresh wood splits easier than dry.


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## Backwoods Savage (Mar 8, 2010)

When splitting wood it is not too smart to try to hurry. That is how injuries happen. That said, I know for sure that I've split a cord per hour with the hydraulic splitter. I also know for sure it has taken me a whole day or more to split a cord of wood with they hydraulic splitter. The same can be said for an axe or maul; I know because I've used them all (no charge for the poetry).

Each species of wood splits with its own characteristics no matter if you split by hand or hydraulic so asking the question on how much anyone can split per hour is almost meaningless. And for the guys who split by hand it has been my experience that sometime they have timed themselves and had some really nice wood to split; no crotches or knots, etc. and something like ash which a child can split. I would still match a hand splitter with my little 20 ton hydraulic splitter for a few hours; I pick the wood and the loser buys the drinks.


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## Adios Pantalones (Mar 8, 2010)

Backyard Savant- damn straight.  Fresh oak or ash and a sharp 8#er- The momentum of the thing falling, just guided by my hand without "swinging", and I can pop 10" rounds open all day.  Satisfying stuff when you have it.

Any tree from the edge or the middle of the yard- it has more knots etc than is fun for hand splitting.


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## mark123 (Mar 8, 2010)

I will second that is is not smart to hurry, last Oct. my brother lost 2 fingers on my wood spliter. I built a copy of a Splitfire which cuts in both strokes. One  guy running the control lever and 2 feeding the spliter. The blade cut off 2 fingers and didn't cut his glove. Take your time.


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## CrawfordCentury (Mar 8, 2010)

azsteven said:
			
		

> How about sugar maple?
> I've got 2 trees coming down, about 4 cords total.



Tough splitting wood in my experience. Completely different from red or silver maple. 

If 0°F crotchless red oak rates a 10 on the ease of splitability and elm clocks in at zero, I'd give sugar maple a range of 3 (green) to 6.5 (if dead standing).

I split by hand. And I do indeed take my time. Split a bit of the easy stuff to start out. Then whack a couple burley pieces apart. Stack what I've got done. Have a beer or a swig of water depending on the time of day. Split some more. Stack some more.

If any bucking or noodling is involved, the beer stays in the fridge until the saws are put away for the day.


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## Danno77 (Mar 8, 2010)

mark123 said:
			
		

> I will second that is is not smart to hurry, last Oct. my brother lost 2 fingers on my wood spliter. I built a copy of a Splitfire which cuts in both strokes. One  guy running the control lever and 2 feeding the spliter. The blade cut off 2 fingers and didn't cut his glove. Take your time.


that's a bum deal. 8's all you need anyway, though. bet he wasn't happy about that.


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## mark123 (Mar 8, 2010)

The worst part was that it was our father that was running the control lever. It has been 5 months now and his hand still has some healing to do.


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## mainstation (Mar 9, 2010)

I try not to split any firewood by hand as much as possible.  I do the hydraulic splitter thing, take my time and have a few beers.  I usually get about 3 cord of blocks ready, and draw the splitter right up beside, piling on the fenceline as I go.  I only swing the 8#er as required, no more, no less.  A Honda engine is a beautiful thing.


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## Todd (Mar 9, 2010)

Now that I'm a few years ahead I just took my time this winter and went out about every other day or so and split about 5-10 rounds by hand. It was nice to get out and work off some of that winter fat and cure cabin fever. Also found wood splits even easier when frozen. I still have a few gnarly rounds that I left for the hydraulic splitter.


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## mhvond (Mar 9, 2010)

I split about 70% by Fiskars, an hour or two at a time.  The other 30% (knots, bends, etc) goes through the hydraulic splitter.  I can make a good pile (half-cord+) in about 90 mins or one gas tank full.  The knotted and bent logs take a bit more time.


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## msalvatore (Mar 9, 2010)

my friend and I hustling can split a cord in a little less than an hour.


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## RowCropRenegade (Mar 10, 2010)

A little muddy today and some really big rounds to deal with made splitting slower than usual.  Silver maple 1.35 cord.  We hit 60 degrees here today.  Took two of us about 2.5 hours to split/stack.  Nice to be outside stocking up for the next winter.


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## Wood Duck (Mar 10, 2010)

I think I spend more time moving the rounds around, stacking the splits, and other wood handling than I do actually splitting. i guess i could easily split a cord in an hour or two by hand if I had a stack of rounds and simply tossed the splits aside, but if I take time to stack neatly it takes a lot longer. so for me, the time to split, whether by hand or with a hydraulic splitter, is not the only variable to consider. One nice thing about splitting by hand is that all i need to do to get started is take the maul out of the shed, and all I need to do at the end is put the maul back. If I had to uncover, move, and start up the splitter it would take longer to get started, then I'd have to recover the splitter, maybe move it somewhere, etc. to finish up. The few minutes to start up and put away the splitter might not matter much if I planned to spend a few hours, but i normally spend a half hour here, 15 minutes there, so it is important to me to be able to quickly set up and put away my tools.


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## Flatbedford (Mar 10, 2010)

Wood Duck said:
			
		

> I think I spend more time moving the rounds around, stacking the splits, and other wood handling than I do actually splitting. i guess i could easily split a cord in an hour or two by hand if I had a stack of rounds and simply tossed the splits aside, but if I take time to stack neatly it takes a lot longer. so for me, the time to split, whether by hand or with a hydraulic splitter, is not the only variable to consider. One nice thing about splitting by hand is that all i need to do to get started is take the maul out of the shed, and all I need to do at the end is put the maul back. If I had to uncover, move, and start up the splitter it would take longer to get started, then I'd have to recover the splitter, maybe move it somewhere, etc. to finish up. The few minutes to start up and put away the splitter might not matter much if I planned to spend a few hours, but i normally spend a half hour here, 15 minutes there, so it is important to me to be able to quickly set up and put away my tools.



I agree. I also don't think I would like the constant noise of the splitter either. Splitting by hand is time spent outside, alone, and quiet too.


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## firefighterjake (Mar 10, 2010)

I don't really know how long . . . I pretty much buck up a good portion (or all) of the wood and then split it . . . I never have bothered to try to figure out the SPH (split per hour) factor . . . after splitting I stack the wood and see how much I ended up with . . . plus I figure it's not really a race . . . some weekends I'll work a good portion of the day and then other times I'll simply putter for an hour or so in the evening.


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## azsteven (Mar 10, 2010)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> I don't really know how long . . . I pretty much buck up a good portion (or all) of the wood and then split it . . . I never have bothered to try to figure out the SPH (split per hour) factor . . . after splitting I stack the wood and see how much I ended up with . . . plus I figure it's not really a race . . . some weekends I'll work a good portion of the day and then other times I'll simply putter for an hour or so in the evening.



Agreed, it's not a race, especially when I've got most of my 2010-2011 wood stacked up already... but I have two small kids (4 and almost 2), and my "leisure" time is very rare and precious.  Yes, handling firewood is deducted from my leisure time. So I need to plan carefully how much time I need to get anything done, and always compare against how else I could use that little bit of time.


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## fyrwoodguy (Mar 10, 2010)

the fastest time so far with my riggin'.....11 minutes


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## smokinj (Mar 10, 2010)

fyrwoodguy said:
			
		

> the fastest time so far with my riggin'.....11 minutes



Wow got any video of that beast flying?


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## fyrwoodguy (Mar 10, 2010)

gosh, i do not.....'cause when i timed it,i had no camera. i'll try to video it again sometime,but when i timed it the first time i had to pick over about 250-300 cords of tree length wood(6-8 months) to get 2+ cords(1 load) of purfect stuff to time.every piece on the log deck= 24" in diameter 21' ft long and someone loading the deck with wood so as not to run out during time trial. so i beleive the video is not going to be available any time soon. the normal time to do 1-2 cord load is 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. so the 22 min load is few and far between.


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## smokinj (Mar 10, 2010)

fyrwoodguy said:
			
		

> gosh, i do not.....'cause when i timed it,i had no camera. i'll try to video it again sometime,but when i timed it the first time i had to pick over about 250-300 cords of tree length wood(6-8 months) to get 2+ cords(1 load) of purfect stuff to time.every piece on the log deck= 24" in diameter 21' ft long and someone loading the deck with wood so as not to run out during time trial. so i beleive the video is not going to be available any time soon. the normal time to do 1-2 cord load is 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. so the 22 min load is few and far between.



I would just like see it run it sure doesnt need to be a record time by no meens....


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## fyrwoodguy (Mar 11, 2010)

okey dokey,here's one of my son (age 11 at the time) learning the controls & way's of the beast





and here's me at the helm




i am doing 2ft wood,almost all wood is sawed 16"


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## smokinj (Mar 11, 2010)

fyrwoodguy said:
			
		

> okey dokey,here's one of my son (age 11 at the time) learning the controls & way's of the beast
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just when you think you have it all.........Awesome!


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## ohio woodburner (Mar 11, 2010)

holy crap fyrwoodguy.   what do you do with all the saw dust?   you could sell it to pook, he burns it  :lol:


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## fyrwoodguy (Mar 11, 2010)

if pook comes and gets it....IT'S FREE !


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