Wearing myself out. (Newbie collecting wood)

[Backwoods Savage]

If I bought a splitter, vertical is the way I'd go. What is the downside?

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.

And our 20 ton MTD with 5 hp B&S engine has split well over 200 cord and is over 20 years old. And I'd bet there have not been more than 4 logs split horizontally on this machine.

Downside is you can't use a log lift? To me that is an upside! It is no more difficult getting a log onto a vertical splitter than onto a log lift! In addition, I believe most log lifts sell for $800 or more. So why spend $800 if it is not needed. As for getting those big rounds onto the splitter, that is where you use cant hooks. If you are cutting logs that heavy for sure you need a cant hook after you cut the log so it is not any additional expense. A cant hook can be man's best friend at times.

As for sitting on a milk crate all day; definitely if you don't sit right it can be uncomfortable. The way I do it, there is no discomfort and the best benefit is that I can use leverage to help turn the logs. If it is not the right height that you want, raise or lower it! That is simple enough. I tried sitting higher but it definitely did not work as well. But if all you want is to stand while splitting and have a cool tool, then get the log lift. It is your dollars.

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.

There is absolutely no problem splitting a round that is cut on an angle. It is simple and easy on a vertical splitter. I split a goodly number of logs every year and have never had a problem doing it.

 

[fabsroman]

And our 20 ton MTD with 5 hp B&S engine has split well over 200 cord and is over 20 years old. And I'd bet there have not been more than 4 logs split horizontally on this machine.

Downside is you can't use a log lift? To me that is an upside! It is no more difficult getting a log onto a vertical splitter than onto a log lift! In addition, I believe most log lifts sell for $800 or more. So why spend $800 if it is not needed. As for getting those big rounds onto the splitter, that is where you use cant hooks. If you are cutting logs that heavy for sure you need a cant hook after you cut the log so it is not any additional expense. A cant hook can be man's best friend at times.

As for sitting on a milk crate all day; definitely if you don't sit right it can be uncomfortable. The way I do it, there is no discomfort and the best benefit is that I can use leverage to help turn the logs. If it is not the right height that you want, raise or lower it! That is simple enough. I tried sitting higher but it definitely did not work as well. But if all you want is to stand while splitting and have a cool tool, then get the log lift. It is your dollars.





There is absolutely no problem splitting a round that is cut on an angle. It is simple and easy on a vertical splitter. I split a goodly number of logs every year and have never had a problem doing it.

I am going to build the splitter, so I seriously doubt the log lift will end up costing me $800. At the end of the day, after I build this thing I will be able to give an opinion based upon my experience of using both machines. After having split that 36" oak and hurting for a week afterward, I need to try something else other than a vertical splitter to see if it makes a difference, and I already have a cant hook. If it turns out that vertical is the way to go, I'll sell the splitter I build and go buy a Tractor Supply/Home Depot special.

As far as splitting a round that is cut on an angle, it all depends if one side is flat or not. If both sides are angled, it can be pretty tricky. If one side is flat/square, then it is a piece of cake almost 99% of the time.

 

[Bret Chase]

Why? My bet is that you have not run them correctly or else saw somebody else who didn't know what he was doing.

I don't care for them because I do not like spending all my time stooped over. I don't care for them.. Whom ever does.. good on you....

 

[eclecticcottage]

My husband has herniated discs in his back and runs the splitter verticle 100% of the time. I bring the rounds and he rolls them on. WAY easier than bending over for each round, which you'd do even with a log lift. Every piece in this pile was split verticle.

 

[fabsroman]

My husband has herniated discs in his back and runs the splitter verticle 100% of the time. I bring the rounds and he rolls them on. WAY easier than bending over for each round, which you'd do even with a log lift. Every piece in this pile was split verticle.

And how exactly do you get the rounds to the vertical splitter without bending over and rolling them to the splitter or bending over, picking them up, and carrying them to the splitter. Yeah, I never thought I would ever consider a horizontal splitter until I saw a log lift and work table on one. The log lift and work table changed my mind enough to make me want to give a horizontal splitter a shot with those options on it.

 

[eclecticcottage]

If he had to do it himself, he'd bring the splitter to the pile...if you pile it right, you can have a bunch within reach. Plus unless you're splitting small rounds, you're going to have to resplit, so either you need a place to put the bigger chunks while you split them down that's the same height, or you'll bend down for each piece, meaning a lot more bending.

Its personal preference. We prefer one that can run either way, although we only use it verticle.

 

[fabsroman]

If he had to do it himself, he'd bring the splitter to the pile...if you pile it right, you can have a bunch within reach. Plus unless you're splitting small rounds, you're going to have to resplit, so either you need a place to put the bigger chunks while you split them down that's the same height, or you'll bend down for each piece, meaning a lot more bending.

Its personal preference. We prefer one that can run either way, although we only use it verticle.

Or you might have read where I said "work table". The work table comes right after the splitting wedge and holds the pieces right there. You can either let them lay there until they are pushed off the table by the next set of splits or you can bring the larger ones around to be split again.

What I would love to hear is experiences from people that have used BOTH a vertical splitter and a horizontal splitter WITH a log lift and work table. Like I said earlier, I never would have dreamed of using a horizontal splitter until I saw one with a log lift and work table. I can guarantee that the majority of homeowner wood processors use the horizontal/vertical units from the big box stores WITHOUT the option of a log lift and/or work table. I would have to settle for one of those too if I was not going to build the splitter myself. The splitter I want with the log lift and work table is $6,000. Hard to justify that cost when all I am doing is splitting wood for personal use.

 

[firefighterjake]

Horizontal or vertical . . . it's all good . . . go with whatever is most comfortable for you. There is no right or wrong way . . . well maybe if you were attempting to split diagonally.

Me . . . I prefer horizontal . . . it's easier for me . . . but that said . . . I like the option of going vertical on occasion for some of those wicked big pieces.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I rented a 30 ton splitter for $30 a day. A good move since that was 3 years ago and im still not out of wood. WHen i want more wood ill pile up 3-6 cords worth of rounds and rent another splitter.

 

[fabsroman]

I rented a 30 ton splitter for $30 a day. A good move since that was 3 years ago and im still not out of wood. WHen i want more wood ill pile up 3-6 cords worth of rounds and rent another splitter.

On the stuff I have been getting lately, I would not be able to move it without splitting it before hand. Most of it has been 36"+ oak and now I am looking at something in the 60" range. I would have to rent a crane, tractor, or skid steer to move this stuff without splitting it beforehand.

 

[Machria]

On the stuff I have been getting lately, I would not be able to move it without splitting it before hand. Most of it has been 36"+ oak and now I am looking at something in the 60" range. I would have to rent a crane, tractor, or skid steer to move this stuff without splitting it beforehand.

Stuff that big I leave behind. Just tooooooo much work moving that stuff around.

 

[fabsroman]

Stuff that big I leave behind. Just tooooooo much work moving that stuff around.

Well, somebody has to clean it up and on the last tree that size we got 4 pretty good truck loads from the larger rounds that nobody wanted to deal with.

 

[Machria]

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.

The bar got pinched in a really heavy oak tree I was falling which was 1/2 way down, and tangled on some other tree's.... trying to get it down, I got caught up in it and had to jack the tree up with my trucks jack tp get the bar out. The chain was trashed from hitting the street a a few times trying to cut up some sandy wood on the street. What, a chainsaw can't cut blacktop?

Anywho, changed the bar and chain today, and MAN is it cutting better.

 

[Machria]

Well, somebody has to clean it up and on the last tree that size we got 4 pretty good truck loads from the larger rounds that nobody wanted to deal with.

Yes, "somebody", and as far as I can see, there is no "Machria" in somebody!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

And how exactly do you get the rounds to the vertical splitter without bending over and rolling them to the splitter or bending over, picking them up, and carrying them to the splitter. Yeah, I never thought I would ever consider a horizontal splitter until I saw a log lift and work table on one. The log lift and work table changed my mind enough to make me want to give a horizontal splitter a shot with those options on it.

You, sir may be excellent in your office but you have much to learn out in the woods. Your description of how one would split wood vertically is just plain baloney. Never would I be burning wood if I had to work the way you describe! Furthermore, if you want to work with a log lift, it sounds as if you have the very same identical problem. That is, bending over and rolling them to the splitter and bending over to pick them up and carry to the log lift.

You've no doubt seen one of my best friends whenever you see a good cant hook. Well, here is another of my good friends:


This is called a hookeroon or pickeroon. Mine is 36" in length. I use it in the woods and I use it when splitting. Especially when splitting! I can stay sitting and split wood for a long time without having to stand and roll a log to me. Just reach out with this little jewel and get what you want.

As for that bending and especially the lifting, that is something I do not do and I split all our wood vertically. I'd love to have you come some time and learn how to work a bit more efficient. But do not expect me to work as you described. I also will save a lot of dollars by not needing a log lift. Nice toy but totally unnecessary.

 

[fabsroman]

You, sir may be excellent in your office but you have much to learn out in the woods. Your description of how one would split wood vertically is just plain baloney. Never would I be burning wood if I had to work the way you describe! Furthermore, if you want to work with a log lift, it sounds as if you have the very same identical problem. That is, bending over and rolling them to the splitter and bending over to pick them up and carry to the log lift.

You've no doubt seen one of my best friends whenever you see a good cant hook. Well, here is another of my good friends:

View attachment 91375
This is called a hookeroon or pickeroon. Mine is 36" in length. I use it in the woods and I use it when splitting. Especially when splitting! I can stay sitting and split wood for a long time without having to stand and roll a log to me. Just reach out with this little jewel and get what you want.

As for that bending and especially the lifting, that is something I do not do and I split all our wood vertically. I'd love to have you come some time and learn how to work a bit more efficient. But do not expect me to work as you described. I also will save a lot of dollars by not needing a log lift. Nice toy but totally unnecessary.

I guess we can agree to disagree. However, I am willing to try something new to me and see if it really makes a difference in efficiency. I use the cant hook to put the large logs in a position to roll them. At 36", I really do not have to bend over to roll them to the splitter. Getting them on the splitter plate is an entirely different matter, and if you want to tell me that you can sit on your milk crate and manipulate a 500 pound log without getting off your milk crate, just by using hand tools like a cant hook and pickeroon, I am always willing to watch a video to see it. If you can indeed split 36" oak logs weighing 500 pounds while sitting on a milk crate the entire time and never bending over or standing up to deal with them, I would love to see the video. Seriously, I can follow a video pretty good. Looked at a couple last night about adjusting the carb on saws and they seemed pretty simple. Been watching all the ones I can find about splitting wood and still cannot understand how people can split 2+ cords of wood in 6 hours solo with a vertical splitter. If I can figure out how to do that, my life will become a lot easier as far as this firewood stuff is concerned.

Also, when it comes to rounds 24" or less, I really do not have an issue throwing them on the splitter plate, splitting them in half, and then going from there. The main issue is with the rounds that are over 24" in diameter.

 

[Machria]

fabsroman,
I have a really easy solution for you! To split 36"+ rounds that weigh 500+ lbs, I do it sooooo easy. This is a great trick I can't believe more folks don't use it. There are two methods:
1. Pay somebody else to do it for you.
2. Don't take them that big!

 

[fabsroman]

fabsroman,
I have a really easy solution for you! To split 36"+ rounds that weigh 500+ lbs, I do it sooooo easy. This is a great trick I can't believe more folks don't use it. There are two methods:
1. Pay somebody else to do it for you.
2. Don't take them that big!

Hey, I have a really good trick for you to deal with the entire firewood situation. Makes it really, really easy and fast. Just pay the electric company, heating oil company, propane company, or natural gas company to heat your house. Walla, you don't need to touch another piece of firewood whatsoever. If I really get sick of this wood stuff, I will just run the furnace on natural gas and pay for it. If I am ever so busy that I can bill $165 an hour all day long, all year long, you can bet I will no longer be cutting firewood to heat the house other than for the challenge that it brings. Just like my desire to build a splitter and a trailer. I could easily buy them and avoid buying a MIG welder and learning to weld with it versus the stick welder, but I like the challenge. Could have paid somebody to install the furnace too.

Then again, I tend not to pay all these people because I am not busy 24/7 and I like keeping the money in the bank and learning how to do new things. I split the 36" stuff because I can do it. Is it as simple as taking the 18" logs and smaller? Nope. You need some muscle for the big stuff. However, there are so many people that leave all the larger stuff behind because they do not have the ability to deal with it that it allows me to split and take the wood when I feel like it. I had a lady hold 36" white oak for me for 2 weeks after I spent just one day working on it. Took the rest of the tree the next day I worked on it. I am going to start working on a 5 foot red oak on Wednesday because nobody is willing to do it. I am guessing that just from that tree I will get 3 to 4 cords of wood in a couple days, which is what I use in a year to heat the house. Another guy has two 36" oaks that he wants me to come take a look at to see if I can get them out of his backyard. Did I mention that all these trees are oak. I will have over 10 cords of oak when I am done with this stuff and 2 cords of locust in the racks. So, there are advantages and disadvantages to taking the big stuff.

 

[osagebow]

Well done - take 'er easy Bster

 

[Machria]

Hey, I have a really good trick for you to deal with the entire firewood situation. Makes it really, really easy and fast. Just pay the electric company, heating oil company, propane company, or natural gas company to heat your house. Walla, you don't need to touch another piece of firewood whatsoever. If I really get sick of this wood stuff, I will just run the furnace on natural gas and pay for it. If I am ever so busy that I can bill $165 an hour all day long, all year long, you can bet I will no longer be cutting firewood to heat the house other than for the challenge that it brings. Just like my desire to build a splitter and a trailer. I could easily buy them and avoid buying a MIG welder and learning to weld with it versus the stick welder, but I like the challenge. Could have paid somebody to install the furnace too.

Then again, I tend not to pay all these people because I am not busy 24/7 and I like keeping the money in the bank and learning how to do new things. I split the 36" stuff because I can do it. Is it as simple as taking the 18" logs and smaller? Nope. You need some muscle for the big stuff. However, there are so many people that leave all the larger stuff behind because they do not have the ability to deal with it that it allows me to split and take the wood when I feel like it. I had a lady hold 36" white oak for me for 2 weeks after I spent just one day working on it. Took the rest of the tree the next day I worked on it. I am going to start working on a 5 foot red oak on Wednesday because nobody is willing to do it. I am guessing that just from that tree I will get 3 to 4 cords of wood in a couple days, which is what I use in a year to heat the house. Another guy has two 36" oaks that he wants me to come take a look at to see if I can get them out of his backyard. Did I mention that all these trees are oak. I will have over 10 cords of oak when I am done with this stuff and 2 cords of locust in the racks. So, there are advantages and disadvantages to taking the big stuff.

You forgot to mention the amount of time you spend at the Chiropractor?

I "could do it". But I prefer not to. I am looking at 10 coords of Oak and Black locust right now, none of which required lifting anything larger than about a 25 or 30" diameter round. Most was 6 to 20" rounds. I left you all the 36"ers!

Hey, go for it! More power to ya man. I wish I had the equipment and space to do it myself.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Or you might have read where I said "work table".

And you might read, in the very part you quoted, where I said "so either you need a place to put the bigger chunks while you split them down that's the same height".

I'm not trying to argue, you asked what we did, and I answered. It's all personal preference, on how to split. By hand, with an electric spliter, with a gas splitter, dynamite...

I want to know how people are getting 500lb rounds home to even split them. We've been considering a trailer with something yet to be decided on to skid them onto it for the bigger pieces, to save on lifting. I like heating with wood, I certainly like the savings of it, but I'm not wanting to do extra damage to ourselves to do it!! I'd still save money buying wood if I had to, over propane, but I'd rather not beat myself up to that point!

 

[Woody Stover]

You're all soft.

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[Bster13]

I was looking at a 16-tom electric splitter for ease of maintenance and use in suburbia (close to neighbors). It was a little over $1k. It would piss me off if I invested all that only to get stuck on a gnarly piece of wood though.

 

[muncybob]

I want to know how people are getting 500lb rounds home to even split them. We've been considering a trailer with something yet to be decided on to skid them onto it for the bigger pieces, to save on lifting.

I'm not sure if the 30+" oak rounds I obtained lately weigh 500 lbs, but they were too heavy whatever they weighed. My solution is either I noodle them with the saw to sizes I can manage or if I happen to have my buddy's trailer with me I roll them into it. This works so well that I'm keeping an eye out for a trailer with a ramp. I can manage even large rounds without risking injury. Now, when I get them home it's a careful roll off the trailer to get them as close to the splitter as possible leaving room to work and I too get on my milk crate. With this said my preferred splitting method is horizontal. I use to unload my truck onto the ground and then split. Now the truck gets unloaded from the tailgate directly onto the splitter, no bending at all. If you cut and split long enough you will find your own preferred method I'm sure.

 

[Jags]

OH FER CRIPES SAKE....




Dealing with the big ones don't get any easier.

Edit to add:
It doesn't matter if you split vertical or horizontal. Its a comfort thing. There is no way that I could sit on a crate and work the splitter vertically. It would kill my lower back in short order. Just as Dennis states that there is no reason to stand and split...it is simply preference. Dennis is my senior by a few, has had health issues and deals with stuff I don't. I am 6' tall and weigh about 240 and have the upper body strength of a gorilla. Different situations require different approaches.

I still do not see an easy or efficient way to take a round like the one in my pic and drop it on its cut face and slip it onto the pad of a vertical splitter. Split then move...repeat. But if it works...Split on.
(I would guess the one in my pic to be around 400 pounds and I have split bigger/heavier)