Only thing the fiancee said this morning when she left for work was "That's a F Ton of wood!" and I don't think she realized there was more wood there than over the weekend from my usual supplier. Haha.
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Wearing myself out. (Newbie collecting wood)
- Thread starter Bster13
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Well today I'm back to normal and I just got in from stacking for an hour and a half. While rest is what was called for, I just felt a little nutty with my wood yard such a mess and stacking is a different task than running a saw..... so I laid out the free pallets I got and stacked for a bit.
Oh...and just for kicks, my regular source of wood dropped off a pickup truck's worth this evening to add to the "to do" list. Haha. (But at least this stuff is generally already cut to manageable 18in lengths, and not 40in diameter stuff.) Don't tell my fiancee.... I bet when she gets out there tomorrow morning she won't be able to tell a difference.
Sometimes things get in the way of what we want to do. Last spring is one good example here. We usually split in March or April (usually after snow melt) and stack immediately following the splitting. Don't remember for sure but it seems the splitting was finished in March but it was during the summer before I got it all stacked. Didn't like it but other things got in the way so that is the way it turned out. I worried not.
There is still enough involved to honestly call it "work" even with a hydro, so you don't have to give up your "man card" or feel less adequate in any way.
Thank you, from the very bottom of my heart, Jags. I feel soooo much better now
To the OP, why not rent a splitter for the weekend, and invite the "lawn mower" club over to see the "toy". Many hands make for light work
Nice job getting ahead !!
Bret Chase
Minister of Fire
Hydraulics are your friend. Lots of folks on this site like to whack at wood. Not me...not anymore. Did it for years. It will take a toll on the average person. I know, I know...we have some human machines on this site, but as the years stack up, many have gone over to a hydro splitter. Don't wait till it is too late and you have already done damage.
There is still enough involved to honestly call it "work" even with a hydro, so you don't have to give up your "man card" or feel less adequate in any way.
struggling to get a 20" locust round onto the splitter definitely classifies as work, IMHO....
In my last rental I was splitting wood by hand.. and my uncle took pity on me and gave me his 2' splitter that he made when I was a toddler... now the only time I swing an axe is to split up kindling :D
Hrmmm.. http://www.woodsplittersdirect.com/...ter-HV20-4-2?gclid=CMmdj4vj_7QCFQSg4Aod0QIAPQ
But at 1/2 the cost of the stove insert I don't even have yet ...uhhh...
But at 1/2 the cost of the stove insert I don't even have yet ...uhhh...
Michael Golden
Feeling the Heat
Price wise it is comparable to the TSC gas splitters just with less power. Might be the ticket for keeping the peace with the neighbors!
That one looks like a RamSplitter. If you want a splitter thats as capable as a gas unit but electric, don't expect it to be any less expensive. If you feel like playing mechanic for a day, most gas units are easily converted to electric.
DR Power also makes bigger electric splitters.
And my dad was telling me this summer "You have 5 years of wood there" when I had 10 cords stacked. Yeah, he came over last week or so and was like "Wow, you went through a ton of wood. Now I see why you are anxious about getting more." Think I have already burned 3 cords easy.
With that said, it took me until the end of December to figure out the flue damper control and I was burning sweet gum and punky oak until that point. So, not only was the draft set too fast, but the wood was crap wood. Now, the stacks are ALL oak and locust with only a single tree of poplar in there somewhere. Going to have to find that poplar for the shoulder season in March/April.
Also, always better to have more wood and not need it than to run out in the middle of the winter.
Lastly, the savings on our utility bill has been huge and we keep the house at 75 degrees now instead of 68. I get to go around the house in shorts and not even feel a tiny bit cold.
Keep up the hard work and you will be rewarded, but I completely understand about the manual labor stuff. My rule of thumb is one hard day of manual labor followed by one to two days of pushing paper. Give the body some time to recover.
Exactly. No sense buying tools way down the road when you can buy them today and get 30+ years worth of use from them, make things easier, and have more free time.
As soon as the furnace was ordered, so were the saws. Just got my chain sharpener and 6 new chains for the MS660 yesterday. I cannot remember the last time I split a lot by hand. Must have been in my teens, and that was plenty enough to last me a lifetime. My dad bought a splitter about 18 years ago and trust me, it is still a TON of work to split wood, especially the large rounds.
With that said, going to try to build my own splitter probably this fall or next spring so I can get another stamp on my man card and so I can put a log lift on it because honestly, moving large rounds around to get them on my dad's vertical splitter's plate is too much work. The thing works great for the smaller stuff, but I want a log lift for the big stuff. Might lose a stamp for that statement.
eclecticcottage
Minister of Fire
Bret Chase
Minister of Fire
This is why you should get a splitter that can do verticle
i don't care for verticle splitters...
Machria
Minister of Fire
BEST advise I've seen in a while! I used to do it all by hand, especially moving the rounds around... Even when I got an electric splitter, I was still moving the rounds with no tools. After reading a thread here about all the great tools that make it all easier, I splurged a few hundred bucks on tools. Man has that made it easier, and faster, and I'm processing much more wood in the same time. Back feels a lot better.
Regarding an electric splitter. I have the cheapest one you can buy, Home Depot for 300 bucks. I' had it 4 years now, countless cords of wood split. You can almost not hear the thing 10' away from it. I have yet to have a normal round I could not split of Red Oak, Black Locust, Maple, Pine, Beachwood, Birch, Cedar and lots of other un-identified stuff. I saw normal rounds because I do have two large 20 to 24" knuckles I was unable to split with the splitter. They are both laying in the woods in my back yard. I also could not split those two pieces with an axe and grenade.
The splitter and all my tools all paid for themselves with one cord of wood.
Cross Cut Saw
Feeling the Heat
It's funny, during the mowing months, the second one guy finishes mowing, it seems like that queues another guy to start mowing. Perhaps in the Winter they are all welcoming the break.
That's what it's like in my neighborhood, it seems every Saturday and Sunday in the summer I can hear a mower going somewhere for 10-12 hours straight.
I've looked at some electric splitters but they seemed to be for the smaller stuff, I really don't split enough to justify the cost. You could always rent one from the Home Depot, not sure what it costs but if you get the wood all lined up and ready to rock 'n roll I'm sure you could efficiently crank it out and return the thing before it cost too much.
I'm new to this too and scored a little maple the other day, I've never split a lot of wood and it's a learning experience for sure! Some of the rounds are over 30" across and just figuring out how to tackle something like that with a maul can be a challenge. The tree was taken down at my work and I've been spending a little time each day splitting it so I can haul it home split since almost every piece was too big to lift.
![[Hearth.com] Wearing myself out. (Newbie collecting wood)](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/90/90828-b74c6a270f9d4a635cebb9fe171ab13b.jpg?hash=JoU7RolWRn "[Hearth.com] Wearing myself out. (Newbie collecting wood)")
The horizontal/vertical splitters are probably the cheapest on the market and they are pretty darn good. My dad has had one for over 15 years and we have split a ton of wood on it. I would guess 100+ cords have been split with that 25 ton Yard Machine by MTD and all of it has been split in the vertical position. The down side to a vertical splitter is that you cannot use a log lift on it and a log lift would be really, really nice on the 500 pound rounds because trying to get them onto a vertical splitter plate can be painful. The other downside to working with a vertical splitter is having to kneel down all day, or sit on a milk crate all day. I NEVER would have even dreamed of a horizontal splitter until I started thinking about buying a new splitter and some people on here gave me links to some high end splitters wherein I saw horizontals with a log lift.
I'll link some horizontal splitters for you. The first one is the one that I really want to build myself.
http://timberwolfcorp.com/log_splitters/video.asp?id=12
When I was trying to get 3 years ahead I was in a similar position that your in now, I had rounds and limbs all over the place. I scored a few cords of some huge oak rounds and was splitting them with my fiskars, got 2 cords split but developed tendinitis in my elbow and shoulder, bought a small electric splitter used from a member here and split more of the rest of the wood with it, I had some rounds as big as yours, maybe even some bigger and it was no problem to get it on the splitter since they're so low to the ground and split those rounds no problem.
I would still spend an hour or so some days with the fiskars but it was nice to go to the electric splitter when I was sore. Ive since bought a gas powered splitter so lifes even easier.
As far as vertical electric thats not too pricey, Ive seen these around used
(broken link removed to http://newlondon.craigslist.org/for/3428855898.html)
I would still spend an hour or so some days with the fiskars but it was nice to go to the electric splitter when I was sore. Ive since bought a gas powered splitter so lifes even easier.
As far as vertical electric thats not too pricey, Ive seen these around used
(broken link removed to http://newlondon.craigslist.org/for/3428855898.html)
All you can do is pace yourself. I have a goal (Was a cord) Now its a half cord in a day once a week. Cutting season only. Game time starts This Sunday at 8:00 A.M. Got a score on a cemtary all rounds. Will set up the splitter and one guy just making runs back and forth two splitting.
Machria
Minister of Fire
One more comment regarding Verticle vs Horizontal splitters;
If you often have a lot of un-even / angled cut rounds, they can be difficult to get in and should in a Verticle splitter. Whereas a Horizontal splitter you just drop it on, and it has nowhere to go. Almost ALL my rounds are un-even and or angle cuts. I don't know how I could ever split with a Verticle.
Check these out:
http://www.ramsplitter.com/
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If you often have a lot of un-even / angled cut rounds, they can be difficult to get in and should in a Verticle splitter. Whereas a Horizontal splitter you just drop it on, and it has nowhere to go. Almost ALL my rounds are un-even and or angle cuts. I don't know how I could ever split with a Verticle.
Check these out:
http://www.ramsplitter.com/
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Not really understanding how almost all rounds would be uneven like that, but I will say there was no way I was splitting my huge a** white oak rounds in any other way than vertical last week! My preferred method is horizontal...off the tailgate and onto the splitter. But, as my buddy Clint said...a man's gotta know his limitations.
One of my neighbors rented a splitter and the splitter droning on was a lot quieter than the pressure washers all these mcmansion owners run at least once a year washing the mold and mildew off the vinyl siding.
What was noticeable was the sound of cracking and popping white pine.
Another neighbor runs a sawzall and circ saw cutting up pallets till about 8 in his driveway just about every night.
I've rolled some big uns on top of a little electric splitter, haven't crushed it yet .
What was noticeable was the sound of cracking and popping white pine.
Another neighbor runs a sawzall and circ saw cutting up pallets till about 8 in his driveway just about every night.
I've rolled some big uns on top of a little electric splitter, haven't crushed it yet .
Machria
Minister of Fire
Between me being a terrible chain saw operator, a bent bar and screwed up chain, and scrounging miss-cut wood after the hurricane, its rare I split a piece that the end is straight on!
Yes, alread bought a new bar and chain, just havent stuck it on yet. Maybee tonight....
Between me being a terrible chain saw operator, a bent bar and screwed up chain, and scrounging miss-cut wood after the hurricane, its rare I split a piece that the end is straight on!
Yes, alread bought a new bar and chain, just havent stuck it on yet. Maybee tonight....
Yeah, I would straighten out those mis-cuts from Sandy and then split them.
Now, bending a bar while cutting, I have no idea how that happens, but I guess it is possible. I would guess the chain would still be good unless you really bent the heck out of it too. Now, I can see poorly cut wood if the chain is sharpened unevenly and it pulls to one side or the other.
That's it right there. Vertical is the least expensive way to handle big rounds. You could set-up a ramp for a low-slung horizontal machine but you're still working too low to the ground. Vertical is a breeze if you have 2 guys (true of vertical or horizontal splitting), one running the machine, the other in charge of in-feed/out-feed.
But once you've run a machine with a log lift, you'll be forever ruined for anything else.
Why? My bet is that you have not run them correctly or else saw somebody else who didn't know what he was doing.
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