Hauling Wood As You Get Older...What Changes Have You Made?

[J.W Younger]

Well, hubby & I are on the other side of 60 so I guess that makes both of us a little older. Hubby was in construction all his life and strong as an ox until he had his chest opened up 3 times. Me? Office worker, sales, etc. - nothing much physical. Due to medical bills we had to find ways to cut costs and wood heat entered our lives.

Triptester, a member here, did a fantastic re-do of ousplitterer which included a log lift - that lift is a wonderful back saver for me as hubby can't help much with the rounds. I have found we don't call "Union Break" as often now that we have the splitter.

We don't have any heavy equipment here other than maybe the splitter. Keep in mind we are small peanuts firewood processors compared to most of you.

If I could setup splitting wood like this every time I would feel like I was in heaven:

Suburban firewood processing:

Drop the gate on the trailer to near level.
Lower splitter lift to just below gate level.
Use the pickeroon to roll rounds onto the lift.
Lift & split.
Push off to (in this case) a wagon or another trailer.
Pull wagon or trailer (with the riding mower) over to stacking area.
Stack.

Ideally I should be splitting right next to my stacks - but I've got too much wood right now and can't get the equipment in the backyard right now. This will be corrected by the end of this heating season.

The above photo/steps means nothing touches the ground until it is stacked. Bending is something my back likes less and less as I get older.

Shari

You've come long way Sherry, thats for sure. I don't have a log lift but can still move a 150 lb round from the tailgate to the splitter. Sometimes I will use crotches as ramps to get em up to knee height before lifting. Any stuff bigger I have to saw in half or more times in order to load.

 

[sawinredneck]

43, I cut with my dad, he's 72 and in much better shape than I! Now that I have a broken back I mechanize every thing I can! I bought a mini skid steer with a log grapple three years ago, some of the best money I ever spent! It's my back! I can cut, load, and haul home two cords of wood in two hours by myself (being baby sat now of course!) and be on my way! Small, light, nimble, and carries a LOT more wood than you would think it can!

 

[bowtechmadman]

Two best things for me was an ATV and log splitter that will split vertically. After getting an OWB only took 2 yrs of throwing as big of rounds as I could fit through the door in for me to require a hernia surgery. Now at 41 I split on location and have stopped trying to move big rounds.

 

[turnkey4099]

That's what sweatbands are for. I use these since my SIL keeps me in stock from Canada. They don't look like much but they soak up a whole lotta sweat before it begins running. Take off, squeeze out, hang on a bush to dry and put on a dry one. I have had as many as 4 at a time going in rotation but I don't work that hard any more.

Harry K

Nuts, photo didn't post:

Harry K

 

[Miles86]

I'm trying to design a welded mounting plate for a Warn electric winch (smaller model say 1500 lbs?) and a rotating davit mounted near the front of my trailer.

I then can get the larger rounds to the side of the trailer and using a log tong on the winch cable, use the davit to lift & swing the rounds onto the trailer, then I can reposition them on the flat bed.

I would rather noodle these large rounds at home than in the forest to save daylight for cutting in the woods.

 

[RPrice]

I am a young buck at 37, but sit on my arse all day. So I am a wee bit out of shape! I cut green pinon pine(pinyon pine in my neck of the woods), 3 seed juniper(we just call it juniper) and what ever else I can scrounge up. I will never try to hand split green pinon because it is to stringy and tough! I split it green and stack it to season for the following years firewood. Juniper seasons up pretty fast and splits super easy, but tough on chains.

I am in the process of buying some husky 8" and 12" log tongs to speed up the loading process.

Mike

Mike,
Yes, when I would cut pinyon, I'd cut it green, and I'd typically start cutting as soon as the snow melted enough in the spring. I'd bring it home and split it with my log splitter and stack to hopefully dry enough during those short summers when I lived in east central NV. I like Utah Juniper, which has the real shaggy bark that seems to collect dirt and often dulls chains pretty quick. I touch up my cutters at each refueling "break", and that fixes the "hard on chains" issue for me.

The log tongs I have are the Husky brand, they work great!!

Take care,

 

[RPrice]

Nuts, photo didn't post:

Harry K

I love the elastic "strap"! Very stylish. I'm gonna do a search for them right now.

Thanks!!

 

[Somesawguy]

What ever happened to a good old fashioned bandana? A sponge with a rubber band? Seriously? :msp_unsure: Whatever works I guess :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[turnkey4099]

What ever happened to a good old fashioned bandana? A sponge with a rubber band? Seriously? :msp_unsure: Whatever works I guess :hmm3grin2orange:

That sponge with rubber band will do a 100% better job than any bandana you have ever used.

You should try something before knocking it.

Harry K

 

[cheeves]

Well, hubby & I are on the other side of 60 so I guess that makes both of us a little older. Hubby was in construction all his life and strong as an ox until he had his chest opened up 3 times. Me? Office worker, sales, etc. - nothing much physical. Due to medical bills we had to find ways to cut costs and wood heat entered our lives.

Triptester, a member here, did a fantastic re-do of our splitter which included a log lift - that lift is a wonderful back saver for me as hubby can't help much with the rounds. I have found we don't call "Union Break" as often now that we have the log lift.

We don't have any heavy equipment here other than maybe the splitter. Keep in mind we are small peanuts firewood processors compared to most of you.

If I could setup splitting wood like this every time I would feel like I was in heaven:

Suburban firewood processing:

Drop the gate on the trailer to near level.
Lower splitter lift to just below gate level.
Use the pickeroon to roll rounds onto the lift.
Lift & split.
Push off to (in this case) a wagon or another trailer.
Pull wagon or trailer (with the riding mower) over to stacking area.
Stack.

Ideally I should be splitting right next to my stacks - but I've got too much wood right now and can't get the equipment in the backyard right now. This will be corrected by the end of this heating season.

The above photo/steps means nothing touches the ground until it is stacked. Bending is something my back likes less and less as I get older.

Shari

Shari, My heart goes out to you!

i had a slight heart attack in the early 90's. I'm 61 now and been thru the mill health wise. But am fine now sxcept the back, but deal with it. Shari, I don't know what is wrong with your husband, but it sounds like heart. #### Quinn wrote a book called "Left For Dead" about a messed up by pass surgery. He healed himself with essentially cayenne pepper, garlic, hawthorn, and CoQ10. Hippocrates used it to strengthen the heart. You can get these all at Wal-Mart. I've done this regimen and it does work! Anyway felt I must try and help somehow. All the best. Bob

 

[olyman]

I gave up trying to lift 150+ lb logs onto the tailgate. Best bet is to noodle cut them in half and save your back. I bought a 25" bar and chain for the big puppies, and my MS 361 chews them up nicely.

Crotchwood is a PITA anyway, and noodle cutting the crotch in half saves the splitter as well. I also stopped maul splitting a few years ago. Needless to say, my back troubles have subsided for awhile.

Aging is relentless. You cannot fight it, but you can ease the pain by reducing the load.

you know the ramps for a pickup,,to load a atv or the like? well, i used two treated 2x8's..6 foot long,,and had a guy bend 2, 1/4" thick pieces of metal 8" wide x 12 in long,,with a ??23?? degree bend in them, at the middle..they are bolted to the 2x8..youd be surprised how big a rounds you can roll up onto the truck!!! set them 2X8's about 10 inches apart... just enough to step thru on the way to log roll to top..

 

[dhopkins55]

I'm 56 (57 in April) and in pretty good shape for my age. Career military guy, I now teach high school, but can still put my jogging shoes on and do three miles at the track in 27 minutes. To that end I heat my home in the Upper Peninsula of MI with coal and wood. I actually enjoy humping 40# bags of anthracite, as well as splitting & stacking wood. I have 6 chords split & stacked for this winter, with another 11 chords of uncut logs that were just delivered for cutting up and use during subsequent winters. The one modification I'm going to make is to put a chute or rolling ramp (like you see at the post office) from outside through a basement window not far from my coal/wood furnace. That way I can haul the wood or bags of coal to the chute and load directly into my basement without having to carry it all in. I think that will save me a lot of work and frustration as I get into my 70s down the road. Until then, all the manual labor is good for me and I enjoy it!!

 

[XTROOPER]

Pickup truck crane

I am thinking about getting a pickup truck crane from Harbor Freight for about $130 and mounting it on my small wood trailer that I haul with my Kubota RTV 1100 side by side RTV. I lifted some really big black walnut this year and have to do something different.

XTROOPER

 

[Photog95]

I should still be going crazy at 41 but I beat my body up in my younger years in the motocross lifestyle. These days I have slowed down a lot. I built a splitter a few years ago, bought a smaller saw for a firewood saw, and am now looking into a tractor. Today I went out with the intention of getting a couple small trees on the ground. It was pretty windy here today so extra time and caution were needed. I got a couple down, bucked them up, and went over and sat on the tailgate for about a half hour listening to the birds and squirrels. I sat there long enough that a group of deer walked up on me and didn't even notice me. I sat and watched them for a few minutes before I decided to sneak to the cab for the camera. I made one step and they were gone. I may have to do that more often.

 

[cjnspecial]

A tractor with FEL and grapple really helps. I bring 6 foot logs to a table next to the splitter that is the same height. I buck the log into 4 rounds while on the table and then easily roll them onto my splitter. Once split, I just toss them into a pile and later push them in front of the wood shed or dump some in the back of the truck. Most of the wood I split is 15-20 inch diameter green pecan or oak and my back thanked me immensely after buying that tractor.

 

[moose5180]

I consider myself a pretty good welder/fabricator and have built my own splitter and my own wood trailer.
I always thought a splitter station built on a trailer would be cool. I would rather do all of my firewood work in the mountains.
Its cooler and prettier. You could save another step in the handling process with this. You could come home with a load of split firewood ready for stacking.
I would really like to build one someday.

 

[Photog95]

I consider myself a pretty good welder/fabricator and have built my own splitter and my own wood trailer.
I always thought a splitter station built on a trailer would be cool. I would rather do all of my firewood work in the mountains.
Its cooler and prettier. You could save another step in the handling process with this. You could come home with a load of split firewood ready for stacking.
I would really like to build one someday.

I always had a dream of doing this with a dump truck. I though it would be cool to have it function as a rear bumper. When needed just pull a pin and swing it out.

 

[rwoods]

I'm sure that I am just fooling myself but I still consider myself to be young at 55. Biggest thing I have done is try to learn more, primarily by paying more attention to what others do and what tools work and what doesn't. I also joined AS. Hand splitting for example: knocking off small chunks is usually less work than trying to split a round in half first; some wedges aren't ground correctly and tend to bounce instead of driving in; same thing with mauls; and a good light maul is better than a bad heavy maul. Just because you have always done something a certain way and your father before you doesn't always mean it is the best way.

Best tool decisions of mine: buying a bigger saw, buying a bigger cant hook (4' although I still use my short handle the most), building a 3 point hitch lift using old fork lift arms for my small utility tractor (tractor is for mowing - I couldn't justify it for my cutting alone), and keeping a new chain for each primary saw for emergencies.

Best advice I can give: Take your time. Be extra careful if you are injuried, and especially if you are hurried or tired (is either possible?). Always take extra sharp chains and change them when dull instead of simply powering through. Know your limitations and be a Boy Scout - always prepared.

Best bad example I can personally give: Last Thanksgiving before the big meal I rushed out to try my then new to me SP125C on a downed 4 foot plus red oak (just a warm up for my extra day off - Friday). The SP125C is a good 10# heavier than I was accustomed to using. I was in a hurry and ended up straining by neck and left shoulder. I couldn't work at all on Friday due to the pain. I felt well enough to try again on Saturday but had other appointments so once again I was rushed. I cut an 18" or so thick round (52" in diameter) which slid down the bank in to the narrow county road. I had to go but I couldn't leave it in the road - near a blind curve. Due to my previous injuries, I tried to move it with the cant hook using only my right arm. After many attempts I was only able to get it to the edge of the shoulder. Ended up quartering it. About an hour later, I have the worst headache I have ever had. Couple more hours later I am vomiting unexplainably. Wife and kids tell me there is a bug going around and of course, there are no doctor's offices open on the weekend so I don't go to the ER. Fast forward to the next Thursday, I am in an ambulance being transported to another city for possibly neurosurgery - I had shredded the lining of my cartoid artery while trying to move that round one-handed. The injury was found to be inoperatable due to it location. The best news the doctors could give me was "You're survived the weekend and you are still alive." I missed about six weeks of work and the entire wood cutting season. I went to my first GTG and couldn't even carry my saw much less run it. All because I was working with an existing injury and while in a hurry. In hindsight, if I were in that situation again I should have chained the round to my Landcruiser and just dug it down the road to a safe spot. But my point is I should not have gotten in that situation to begin with, the cutting could have waited until I was healed and I had more time.

I need to use my head more and my body less.

:bang:

Ron

 

[tomtrees58]

this saves my back

 

[s219]

Ron, I hurt just reading your post! I've been in the same kind of situation before, trying to do too much by myself, and it is a great way to get hurt as you noted. To this day, I still flirt with trouble like that, and I am sure I am headed for a hernia or some other sort of pressure/strain injury one of these days. I need to slow down and think rather than throw my body at problems sometimes.