Hey everyone. I am hoping to get a gas powered splitter in the somewhat near future. I am in the early stages of looking- just checked Sears and Home Depot so far. I am not looking to spend much, I would actually like to find one used if I can. I will be using it to split about 3 cords a year. My wood is almost always oak, and do get some large rounds. Just looking for general advice here. Any reccomendations? I put my location of Long Island in the Title in case anyone knows of any good places around here to find something nice.
Splitter Advice- Long Island
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I disagree, by me it is 100 bucks to rent it. If you split like heck you can do 3 cords in a day. If you own it you can split at your convienience. Also, at least by me you can usually sell the splitter for almost what you paid for it. Buy it, and by year 3 you are ahead.
Woodburn, over on the "Gear" forum of Hearth.com you'll find splitters and every conceivable aspect of them discussed ad naseum. I'll not be surprised, in fact, to find that a moderator has moved this thread over there shortly. I own a gas-powered splitter, and I love it. Rick
Thanks for the advice Rick. I will check that out. I would rather buy than rent because I would like the convenience, and I never get all 3 cords at once. I get my wood myself with my pick-up truck, so I get about a half a cord at a time. rather than pile it all up, and wait to rent a splitter to do it all in one shot, I could split as I get it. Termites are bad around here, so I like to split and get it up off the ground asap! I am with you burntime, but I was thinking it would take a lot more than 3 years to get ahead. Those suckers are over $1,OOO! But I guess you mean if you turn around and sell it after 3 years, you will get enough return on it. Well anyway, my plan is to get one and run that thing into the ground! That should take a liftime splitting only 3 cords a year. I hope.
It's been to wet this year... Lordy the humidity here !!
Buy the splitter, and thank yourself in the fall, because you have a good shot at it getting dry before winter.
I have access to a free splitter, just have to tow it home, use it, and bring it back. And, of course, fix it if it breaks whilst I use it !
**Nice new avatar, Rick
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Buy the splitter, and thank yourself in the fall, because you have a good shot at it getting dry before winter.
I have access to a free splitter, just have to tow it home, use it, and bring it back. And, of course, fix it if it breaks whilst I use it !
**Nice new avatar, Rick
*
My advice is to buy a splitter if you plan on burning wood for a long time. For one thing you're saving money burning wood and most imp like was already mentioned you can split at your leisure...It's probably been over 15+ years since I ran a full tank of fuel through my splitter at one time. After dinner I'll go split of 20-30 minutes...or I'll split for 20 min then cut grass or paint a part of the house or find something else to do. Multi-tasking is the key to avoid the monotony out of the wood burning life style. Also splitting wood is one the few things I can do outdoors in the rain. If you can just find 30 minutes a day for wood before long you'll be up to your armpits in wood...and that's a good thing. But to do that you need the proper equipment.
Savageactor7 has it 100000000000000000% right. If you make it a chore you will burn out. Sure some days I split for 5 hours, but I would not want to have to kill myself! Look at what you save in a year. The splitter will be more than paid for! Also look at oportunity costs. If you have a big pile and no more room you will let some wood go unless you have a big yard. You were right with using it for 3 years you can sell it and be ahead. Another big plus is you get another toy! People may laugh but I am proud to be self sufficient. I could afford the gas but its a game and I need the exercise so I burn!
Thanks for the validation burntime ...just say'en I figure I save 3k a year heating this civil war era farmhouse to my wifes requirements. Now 3k to me is a lot of coin, you'd have to earn more than 4k to put 3k in your pocket so if there's a tool out there to make the job easier like a splitter or what ever...I'll get it cause after 30 years of burning wood that's a lot of dough I've saved this household and my puppet master wife appreciates the productivity and having prime seasoned wood to burn when it gets cold.
savageactor7 said:
I'm quite surprised at some peoples hesitation to buy a stove ,saw,splitter, other gear or insulation for their home. At this point in my life if I wasn't already set up with a furnace ,well insulated house and gear I wouldn't hesitate to mortgage the farm for say, $15,000-$20,000 to get set up and upgrade insulation.It would be a fairly fast payback. Energy may stabilize in price sometime down the road but I doubt we will ever see $2/gal gas or HHO again. Hindsite is 20/20 and I bet we will hear alot of praise and gratitude from newbies on the hearth that recieved advice here . Those of us who have been burning for a few years or more will stand by the window laughing, doin' a jig, and watching the bank statement grow every time the oil man drives by the house this winter. I have been around wood and stoves my whole life and even I have learned a few things here.
Good points Lee right about now I'm very grateful we have all this wood at our disposal. With the price of energy I can see big problems in the city this year with people that can't pay to keep warm, governments telling power companies they can't turn off the power of poor people and rising prices for the rest of customers that have to pay for the people that can't...it's gonna get ugly and we're all lucky to removed from that vicious circle.
Did you see the article posted from portland Ma about the lack of firewood available? We were all predicting this in a topic here back in jan/feb.
Did you see the article posted from portland Ma about the lack of firewood available? We were all predicting this in a topic here back in jan/feb.
savageactor7 said:
Yep I read the article. I'm not gonna break out with "I TOLD YOU SO's" until Nov or Dec. But when I do I have a few peoples "name and #"
! LOLI haven't seen the piles of wood here that I normally do this time of year so I think this fall people will be scrambling for a source.
I pulled all my advertising(had to cut expenses) 2 months ago and am still getting plenty of orders. Demand for raw pellet material has brought the price up enough to make it worth my while to haul some product that we usually market as camp firewood to a pellet maker for grind feedstock. It will be an interesting heating season indeed!
savageactor7 said:
I remember that post where people on these forums were predicting firewood shortages. Around here, there aren't actually shortages, but the price is jumping way up. I hear a lot more people talking about getting a stove, and that will only increase demand and make the problem worse. Free Firewood is the way to go!
I agree with what everyone is saying about the benefit of owning. Does anyone have experience with those 8 ton gas splitters? Are they any good?
Right Woodburn we were pretty much all agreed that wood is like any other commodity subject to the laws of supply and demand and with all energy prices climbing wood would too as more people looked to wood as an alternative.
btw mine might be an 8 ton the way shudders into the Elm...I got it back in about 82 and it was the only one the farm store carried and you had to look hard to find them for sale back then...it didn't even come with a manual. It's a 5hp BS motor made by Great Bend up near Watertown. Anyway it's splits everything OK...the elm ya have shave it in thirds or less or it may get stuck...when that happens I just bash it off the wedge with a sledge. Think I paid about 800 for it and it has served me well cutting 20+cords of wood yearly.
btw mine might be an 8 ton the way shudders into the Elm...I got it back in about 82 and it was the only one the farm store carried and you had to look hard to find them for sale back then...it didn't even come with a manual. It's a 5hp BS motor made by Great Bend up near Watertown. Anyway it's splits everything OK...the elm ya have shave it in thirds or less or it may get stuck...when that happens I just bash it off the wedge with a sledge. Think I paid about 800 for it and it has served me well cutting 20+cords of wood yearly.
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