Horizontal vs. Vertical Log Splitter Use?

[apn73]

If I was doing 100 cords a year or any where near it I'd have more than a spliter I'd have a processer .

If you can justify it financially a wood processor is the only way to go over the goofy stuff we're going back and forth with in this thread.

 

[Whitespider]

Ok guys.. Your gonna have to clue me on. For those of you that are Horiz only. All I can think of is that you are cutting and splitting some rather small stuff. 18" or less. What do you do when you get into the big stuff.

Yeah, I do a lot of "small" stuff...

OH... here's some of that "small" oak I convert to firewood...

 

[jack_90125]

I am a vertical guy.I have a system where I buck right to left and split left to right. pull up to the pile and split everything in reach. move the splitter and continue on. no bending stooping.and it goes fast no strain no pain just piles of split wood.

 

[AIM]

Yeah, I do a lot of "small" stuff...

OH... here's some of that "small" oak I convert to firewood...

Ya now tell me you lifted them right up onto your splitter...

Is that metal thingy in the middle of the pic the tool that makes Horiz splitters SOOO much easier?:jester:

 

[turnkey4099]

Ok guys.. Your gonna have to clue me on. For those of you that are Horiz only. All I can think of is that you are cutting and splitting some rather small stuff. 18" or less. What do you do when you get into the big stuff. Noodling sucks and takes forever. I've done a bunch of it and no way is it faster than just splitting. I still have to noodle on occasion but avoid it at all costs.

I just recently cut up a huge ash crotch. Likely 4'-5' width across the longest part. It was branching with 2- 30" or so diameter limbs. I was able to noodle it one time down the middle and then split it up. Oh don't get me wrong. The two halves were a REAL bear to get tipped up on the splitter but I'll bet within 60 secs or so after the noodling I was splitting. I would have noodled for another 10+ minutes to make them light enough to lift.
How would a horiz been better for that?

I don't know. Maybe I'm just young and limber enough that getting up and down doesn't bother me.

There might be a case like you made for those people who get chunks delivered. For ones hauling wood home? If you haul it, you have to load it. that means for me there has never been a chunk too big for me to pick up. I wedge/sledge or noodle the big ones to a size I can load - that is around 130-150 lb per chunk.

You did point out one problem with the verticle - stuff piling uop around you, another one is having to stop splitting to bring more rounds within reach of the operator. When using the splitter on 'just brought int stuff' it comes off he truck onto the splitter using a hookeroon. very little lifting involved.

Harry K

 

[blades]

Ok guys.. Your gonna have to clue me on. For those of you that are Horiz only. All I can think of is that you are cutting and splitting some rather small stuff. 18" or less. What do you do when you get into the big stuff. Noodling sucks and takes forever. I've done a bunch of it and no way is it faster than just splitting. I still have to noodle on occasion but avoid it at all costs.

I just recently cut up a huge ash crotch. Likely 4'-5' width across the longest part. It was branching with 2- 30" or so diameter limbs. I was able to noodle it one time down the middle and then split it up. Oh don't get me wrong. The two halves were a REAL bear to get tipped up on the splitter but I'll bet within 60 secs or so after the noodling I was splitting. I would have noodled for another 10+ minutes to make them light enough to lift.
How would a horiz been better for that?

I don't know. Maybe I'm just young and limber enough that getting up and down doesn't bother me.

It'll kecth up to ya sooner than later.

 

[Whitespider]

Ya now tell me you lifted them right up onto your splitter...
Is that metal thingy in the middle of the pic the tool that makes Horiz splitters SOOO much easier?:jester:

Now you tell me... how do you lay those big rounds (weighing several hundred pounds) down and slide them into position under your vertical splitter?? Hmmmmm??
Me, I "noodle" about a third of the way through, set a wedge, and smack it once with that wooden-handled "metal thingy" in the pick... 9 times out'a 10 that will give me two halves I can convert to quarters with a couple swings of that wooden-handled "metal thingy" in the pic.

 

[cmsmoke]

Nope, just roll them near the beam, push it over and it lands on the plate. It is pretty easy to judge and in the few instances that it needs adjusted, grab the timberjack and use it sideways to manipulate.

 

[saxman]

Well I am a 99% vertical guy and I tend to split big rounds. I noodle them with a saw if they are really big but generally I find a round that is the right height to sit on, I place the splitter next to the rounds to split and as I split I throw them into a pile opposite the rounds. I just sit and split and listen to my work tunes, with no lifting or having splits fall off on my feet. I can get a lot done by myself and have fun doing it but whatever works the best and safest is the way for you to go.

Steve

 

[blades]

Wood gathering/splitting/stacking = Gym Membership for me, deep knee bends , weight lifting. twisting- gotta work that doughnut off the mid section - otherwise I aint going to be able to keep up with my springers and them feathery varmints. Sittin on stump is huntin time for those four legged, sticks on head, varmints.
Gave up on the two legged painted variety , too expensive!

 

[GVS]

As I said earlyer I have one of each( one horizontal,one combo).I use the combo 99% of the time and 99% of the time in the hor. mode.When I come across a piece 2+ ft. in diameter and 20 in. long I'm not about to lift that beast onto the beam and Im' not going to noodle it either. I'll wait til I have 3 or 4 BIG UNS to split ,switch to vert.,roll them to the unit and stand them up on the foot plate and split,turn an eighth of a turn and split again. Works real well for me.

 

[VW Splitter]

Ok guys.. Your gonna have to clue me on. For those of you that are Horiz only. All I can think of is that you are cutting and splitting some rather small stuff. 18" or less. What do you do when you get into the big stuff. Noodling sucks and takes forever. I've done a bunch of it and no way is it faster than just splitting. I still have to noodle on occasion but avoid it at all costs.

Hydraulic Log lift. Will pick up whatever you put on it. That's how I do it. The lift doubles as a tray to hold the ones that need to be split again. The only problem is when the rounds get bigger than 30". Once they are split, 1/2 a round is too heavy to deal with. That's when I noodle. I don't mind noodling, I use a ported 372xp to noodle with. It's a screaming noodle making machine.

 

[apn73]

Now you tell me... how do you lay those big rounds (weighing several hundred pounds) down and slide them into position under your vertical splitter?? Hmmmmm??
Me, I "noodle" about a third of the way through, set a wedge, and smack it once with that wooden-handled "metal thingy" in the pick... 9 times out'a 10 that will give me two halves I can convert to quarters with a couple swings of that wooden-handled "metal thingy" in the pic.

Roll over like you're wheeling a 55 gallon drum, hand truck, or Kubota. It sits right there on the bottom pad, wedge comes down, splits and you either pick up the pieces and resplit, or you turn it. Not sure what the difficulty is.

 

[Whitespider]

…just roll them near the beam, push it over and it lands on the plate. …the few instances that it needs adjusted, grab the timberjack…

Roll over like you're wheeling a 55 gallon drum, hand truck, or Kubota. … Not sure what the difficulty is.

Yeah… OK… I get it.
But remember, I don’t move he wood to the splitter, I move the splitter to the wood.
And also remember, I think about time when making firewood.
If I have a dozen (or a few more) rounds too big to easily flop on my (low) horizontal I walk through and noodle each ¼ to ⅓ of the way, grab the wedge and swing the maul a few times to finish them into halves or quarters (depending)… then start rolling my splitter right up next to each hunk (using one hand, beer in the other). I’m bettin’ (a friendly bet, say a box-o-beer) that’s a lot faster (and likely less work) than rolling 400-600 pound, 30-60 inch rounds around on soft ground… and then trying to turn/rotate them after the first split while on your knees!!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Vertical

I'm outvoted by a longshot here, but most of the time I split vertically. Most of the rounds I have are enornmous, and lifting them atop the beam would be almost impossible. More important, about four years ago I tried working too fast while horizontal and somehow got my left hand between the log and the foot of the splitter (my splitter's wedge moves). That broke three bones in two fingers on my left hand. They healed, but it scared the pea out of me.

Splitting vertically, I have never injured myself. To make it more comfortable, I have a dedicated and strong old chair that I sit on rather than kneel. It also seems that I have more control of the wedge position and the size of the split log when splitting vertically.

However, to each his own.

 

[AIM]

I'm not really arguing here. This is actually kind of a fun thread.

You may move your splitter to the wood but rolling the rounds around isn't really that hard. Especially if they are pretty round. (like the ones in spideys pic) Then you just get em to the right position and shove em over like someone said here and your splitting.
I won't lie though. You'll bust a nut sometimes just shoving them upright.
Split up a huge sycamore tree a couple years back with my buddy's splitter and all I can say is WOW!!! That stuff is HEAVY when green! Took 2 of us just to shove them upright. (this tree was close to 48" or so diameter though)

I'd love to take spideys bet but it's to damn hot to split anything right now. If I remember it this fall maybe I'll do up 2 equal rounds in each position and compare times.

 

[WidowMaker]

Ok guys.. Your gonna have to clue me on. For those of you that are Horiz only. All I can think of is that you are cutting and splitting some rather small stuff. 18" or less. What do you do when you get into the big stuff. Noodling sucks and takes forever. I've done a bunch of it and no way is it faster than just splitting. I still have to noodle on occasion but avoid it at all costs.

I just recently cut up a huge ash crotch. Likely 4'-5' width across the longest part. It was branching with 2- 30" or so diameter limbs. I was able to noodle it one time down the middle and then split it up. Oh don't get me wrong. The two halves were a REAL bear to get tipped up on the splitter but I'll bet within 60 secs or so after the noodling I was splitting. I would have noodled for another 10+ minutes to make them light enough to lift.
How would a horiz been better for that?

I don't know. Maybe I'm just young and limber enough that getting up and down doesn't bother me.[/QUOTE

=======
Hydraulic lift, Noodle, hydraulic lift, in that order.

Our splitter hasn't seen verticle since I built the lift....

 

[memory]

We always split wood in the vertical position. I don't see how anybody can split horizontal unless they have all the lifts and such. Unless the splitter is at the right height(I doubt most box store splitters are), that would kill my back having to be crouched over just to run the control.

On our splitter, if we split horizontal, the pieces could fall off and hit the engine. I would have to build some kind of protector and split catcher if I were even to think about splitting horizontal. I do not have a problem splitting in vertical. I just put some knee pads on and I could split all day and it does not bother my back. One thing that helps with splitting in the vertical position is I made the bottom foot plate bigger which really helps with the bigger rounds. With bigger rounds, you have to hold it up until the ram hits it. With the piece I made, once you get the round on there, you don't have to hold it until the ram hits it and the rounds slide around pretty easy too since the top is made out of a piece of stainless steel.

There are certain things that bothers my back and splitting in the horizontal position would be one of them, at least with our splitter it would be.

 

[Tiewire]

View attachment 302027View attachment 302026
When I built splitter I thought that I wanted both horizontal and vertical. After splitting some bigger rounds vertically I knew that something had to change so I added the boom as an afterthought. It could not make me or my back any happier. Would not be worth a crap without table. Hookeroon is life saver also.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I'm not really arguing here. This is actually kind of a fun thread.

You may move your splitter to the wood but rolling the rounds around isn't really that hard. Especially if they are pretty round. (like the ones in spideys pic) Then you just get em to the right position and shove em over like someone said here and your splitting.
I won't lie though. You'll bust a nut sometimes just shoving them upright.
Split up a huge sycamore tree a couple years back with my buddy's splitter and all I can say is WOW!!! That stuff is HEAVY when green! Took 2 of us just to shove them upright. (this tree was close to 48" or so diameter though)

I'd love to take spideys bet but it's to damn hot to split anything right now. If I remember it this fall maybe I'll do up 2 equal rounds in each position and compare times.

There was nothing fun about running my splitter horizontally and almost losing two fingers on my left hand. I've never busted a nut postioning a round but I have almost busted my back several times by lifting a huge round onto a horizontal splitter beam. 48" dia.? Noodle cut that thing into 4 to 6 blocks. That's what I do.



Hey guys, to each his own.