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Didn't make it. Took a chance and went down in spite of the weather. Only got a few drops. At the 3 hour point I could see the end but the saw chain had dulled down to needing to be ridden and the splitter ran out of fuel. I was too pooped to put on a new chain and fuel up. Another 3.5 hours for 19.5 total. THIS JOB WILL END!! Sucking coffee and trying ot work up enough energy to either sharpen or change the chain...probably sharpen.
 
I sure hope someone appreciates all your hard work , time and expense .

They did make a $45 deposit at the John Deere dealer. That about covers the expense part of it. Put in another three hours this morning but I wasn't pushing so hard. About 2 months ago I fell and torqued my left hip. It was still bothering me when I started splitting this stuff. All the heavy lifting hasn't done it any good. Left with a small batch still to do but it is reasonable size, not those 36" rounds.

Odd, "Theresa", the gal running the operation, has been turning away customers who wanted to buy the wood before it was even stacked. She won't do it. I'm guessing she wants it stacked to be measured so she knows how much is there. Frank, the maintenance man and general all around guy, is stacking it. I'll get some pics of the stacks when it is done. I'm still guessing in the 3-4 cord range but it may run higher.

Harry K
 
Is there a camping firewood business there ?
They might be able to make a bit more selling bundles or even get a better return on kindling , all of it packaged with a brochure from the Perkins House .
 
Is there a camping firewood business there ?
Not so much in Colfax. It's pretty much all wheat fields. A couple hours farther north, yes. Firewood should be an easy sell there. It's a fair drive to anywhere to go cutting. There's a lot of rural houses still burning wood in these parts.
 
Not so much in Colfax. It's pretty much all wheat fields. A couple hours farther north, yes. Firewood should be an easy sell there. It's a fair drive to anywhere to go cutting. There's a lot of rural houses still burning wood in these parts.

I have often thought of doing a "tailgate wood bundle" stand at the end of my driveway. It is right on one of the major highways leading to WSU, home of eht Cougars. Game days the traffic is heavy.

I do have one mexican who stops by 1 or 2 time/yr to get pit barbecue wood. Likes my black locust for that.
 
Prepared breakfast, put plate on table, sat down and knocked the paring knife off table, clamped legs together to catch it. They did, Knife stuck well into my right inner thigh. 4 stitches later and I was outa there. I had debated not even going to the ER but though better of it since the blood persisted.

Sorry, but this really made me chuckle! I can see myself doing something like that. Hope all is well.



About 2 months ago I fell and torqued my left hip. It was still bothering me when I started splitting this stuff. All the heavy lifting hasn't done it any good. Left with a small batch still to do but it is reasonable size, not those 36" rounds.

Goodness! You ought to take it easier. You're no spring chicken, you know. Most people your age sit and do crosswords and watch Jeopardy all day long. You work like a 20-year-old.
 
Sorry, but this really made me chuckle! I can see myself doing something like that. Hope all is well.





Goodness! You ought to take it easier. You're no spring chicken, you know. Most people your age sit and do crosswords and watch Jeopardy all day long. You work like a 20-year-old.

Man, ya gots to or you lose it fast. You got to keep moving and exercising to keep the bones stronger, you need that "resistance training". Besides muscle tone, you keep bone density up by grunt work. That's the primary reason I do firewooding.
 
Man, ya gots to or you lose it fast. You got to keep moving and exercising to keep the bones stronger, you need that "resistance training". Besides muscle tone, you keep bone density up by grunt work. That's the primary reason I do firewooding.

Very true but that red fir splitting job was waaayyyy overboard! Doc visit in the morning to follow up on the stab wound and I'll ask about a referral to the orothopedic doc. Feel a lot better today, got rained out and made a 100 mile round trip just to get out of the house and have a gab fest with my brother in Clarkston. Tried him out with a story about a guy an me getting into a "discussion" and a knife stab. He didn't buy it.

Back to the splitting in the morning after the doc visit. I will finish that job if I have to crawl on my knees and chew it apart with my dentures!!
 
DONE!!! After 26 hours. For once my estimate was fairly accurate. I guessed 2 hours to finish, made it in 2:20.
Frank says that rough measure of the stacks shows 5 or 6 cords - he isn't done stacking yet. I forgot to take pics, will do tomorrow if it is still there.

Now I need to find some other way to amuse myself, hitting myself in the head with a hammer would be better than that job was :)



 
the piles:

5x5_zpspincbgva.jpg


5x5 with this pile still to be added:

to%20pile_zpscmxykuha.jpg


10x10x3_zpsxmcou3zo.jpg


10x10x3 there is another small pile still to be added.

They are guessing 6 cords. I have my doubts, I don't think either tree would have made 3 cord. Takes a huge tree to produce that much.

I took me 26 hours to split that much and I was humping every minute of it. Definitely not an economic way to make any good wages.
 
You got me beat. Since I got the new big fiskars and got well enough to start splitting again, I got maybe 3 cord done. Every single piece of oakzilla is twisty and multiple hearts, plus punky on the outside. Great wood on the inside though, tough, dense, just great. So I am shaving and chipping off the punk and bark, then beating on the wood. Last night took me maybe 20 minutes to do one medium, not even starting to get big, round, and that was it, no mas! This is the nastiest biggest wood project I ever attempted. I am seriously considering going a mechanical splitter route....just considering so far. It might be easier once I have a big noodle party though. I think my best evening was round 3 wheelbarrows full, the worst..well last night. Oakzilla junior is easy splitting though, just nasty cutting one round per sharpening (two cuts from opposite sides) Dang funny on how one big red oak yard tree is easy to split, and another one next to it is an SOB.
 
You got me beat. Since I got the new big fiskars and got well enough to start splitting again, I got maybe 3 cord done. Every single piece of oakzilla is twisty and multiple hearts, plus punky on the outside. Great wood on the inside though, tough, dense, just great. So I am shaving and chipping off the punk and bark, then beating on the wood. Last night took me maybe 20 minutes to do one medium, not even starting to get big, round, and that was it, no mas! This is the nastiest biggest wood project I ever attempted. I am seriously considering going a mechanical splitter route....just considering so far. It might be easier once I have a big noodle party though. I think my best evening was round 3 wheelbarrows full, the worst..well last night. Oakzilla junior is easy splitting though, just nasty cutting one round per sharpening (two cuts from opposite sides) Dang funny on how one big red oak yard tree is easy to split, and another one next to it is an SOB.

I cheated. The Fiskars stayed in the truck and everything ran through the hydraulic splitter. Tru that the Fiskars would have handled a lot of it but those trees were knots from bottom to top.
 
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