Started a new cutting table....

[CaseyForrest]

I’ve had the steel laying around for awhile.

Something I learned with the original station was I built it too high. It’s also become fairly unstable.

Plan is to run some 12’ I beam across the horizontal pieces and then top it with PT lumber indicate where my cuts need to be.

 

[ri chevy]

Cool. So you place the sticks on the top? Or across both?

 

[CaseyForrest]

I’ll cut this Ibeam down to 12’, but on top of this will likely be 4x4 running perpendicular to the ibeam.

I may need to make the legs a little shorter. Forgot to account for the height of the ibeam.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Changed it a little. Gonna put the wood deck directly on this and eliminate the I beams.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Some fork pockets maybe? Some way of moving it, to pick up one end and drag it, to clean up chips easily with your fel.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I use a rake and a shovel on a daily basis to clean up saw chips. When I have logs delivered I need to move my log decks to allow the five axle straight truck (plus steer axle), and five axle pup room to swing and head out the drive, which is ultimately a large u-shape entering and exiting the road five hundred feet apart.

When I pick up the decks with extension forks and double stack them out of the way, I find an accumulation of months of bark that needs cleaned up, which is pitchforked into the atv trailer. The further deck is decked almost completely, so the mess is not under it, but around it, and the bark is more accessible to clean up more often.

 

[Blaze Queen]

Looks like it’s going to be heavy duty. Nice job so far.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Some fork pockets maybe? Some way of moving it, to pick up one end and drag it, to clean up chips easily with your fel.

I think it’s going to be too heavy for my little tractor to lift, so I’m going to weld on a couple D rings to pull it.

Intention is to not need to move it.

 

[Wood Hound]

This is good and i am interested-but how do you deal with logs with sweep or crown in them,that tend to pinch the saw ?

 

[CaseyForrest]

There is usually at least 2 of us working. Lay the log on a side where it won’t roll and work the curve as the cuts are made.

We do sometimes have to use the short peavy to lever the logs up so the saw doesn’t get pinched.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

This is good and i am interested-but how do you deal with logs with sweep or crown in them,that tend to pinch the saw ?

If the log diameter permits, the bar self feeds far enough before the kerf begins to close enough to pinch, that I can chase it with a plastic felling wedge in the kerf to keep it from closing further and actually pinching. Special attention to keeping my head to the side as sometimes the wedge can shoot ten feet or more away from you, or back at you, or up in the air. And it does so more quickly than you can move to avoid it. Being careful and observant pretty much eliminates this, but is a real possibility each time. I cut on two log decks, each side of the splitter, and use a plastic wedge with most logs in one or more kerfs per log. Again, keep you body and head to the side. Not doing so will result in injury.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Rain day today. This is an annual replacement for my sacrificial cutting bench/log deck. The gaps are for chips to fall through, otherwise they build up and need more frequent hand clearing. The orange designates where there will be lag bolts anchoring it to the bench. There is a fourth 4" x 6" piece that is far enough back that it doesn't need replacing, so in total there is three gapped 4" x 6" x 10' pieces laying flat. An 18" bar loses the first 3 1/2" due to the front piece, which is a log stop. A longer bar tends to get into the next log and create kickback. The 4" x 4" piece is an end stop to index against for 16" cuts. A short 30" peavey is used with the tip in the holes to push, pull, or walk an 8' log endwise against the stop. I've yet to lay out the 16" cut marks plus kerfs. One of these last a year until the cuts deepen, and an odd log with a flared butt breaks the ends. The material underneath these is for a second sacrificial bench for the other side of the splitter. I've found a spade bit, or paddle bit, for the larger holes works well in a drill press. The holes for the all-thread requires a long bit, or sometimes called an aircraft bit. My drill press quill travel is maxed out on these, but really helps to line thing up.

Before loading the log deck with the forklift I make sure the chainsaw and other tools, say a pulp hook or whatever, are off to the side and out of harms way. The front edge or log stop is quite low. I typically roll a log in place and cut it, and leave it. This helps prevent logs loaded from rolling off the front edge. Also, some times I use the forks to advance the logs on the longer deck, sliding them to the front so I can load more on the back end. If I push a log against the front log, kickback when cutting is a real issue. That is why I cut the first log and leave it, as the cut pieces are easily removed, giving adequate room without crowding or tension, to advance and cut the next log. Regardless, I often roll a log off the front of the log deck when loading, it happens several times a week, requiring a chain and the quad to drag it out where I can pick it up with the lift again. The few times that I've worked with someone else we have taken the time to stop and get completely out of the cutting area when loading the log deck, without exception. Sometimes a lower log will skew somewhat, and a top log will glide over it and off the log deck quite quickly. There is little room between the log deck and splitter, so loading fewer logs more often is the key, rather than heaping them up. I sometimes set 4" x 6" blocks against the front edge for more stopping height if I'm rolling a larger log into place, and I keep to the side using the peavey. This is also why I use a short handled peavy. Rolling logs can torque the peavey, and the less handle length the better. One of the decks is decked over completely. I did this larger footprint for noodling larger pieces. The second row of holes is new this time, to help align larger or awkward logs.

 

[Wood Hound]

So,do you guys split directly from this table,not letting the rounds hit the ground ??

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I feel like I'm hijacking Casey's thread.
Yes, that's how I do it.

The SuperSplit runs, as does the conveyor.
Start the saw and cut two logs, one each side of the splitter.
Split six rounds on one side, and roll another log against the front stop. The peavey is upright at the end of the cutting table, and used to push or pull a log to the end stop using the holes drilled in the bench.
Once positioned, I split the opposite side of six rounds and position another log.

The nursery wagon is used as a tool cart and bench for the saw when cutting so I am not setting the saw on the ground or on the log deck itself. It is also convenient to either cutting bench and out of the way when loading the log decks.

Start saw on nursery wagon, and cut two logs and shut the saw off.
(Any junk when splitting gets tossed in the plastic row- pack or crate. When the four crates I have are full, the junk wood, shorts and punky stuff, is hand loaded onto the conveyor and bundled on a pallet. We burn the junk in an out building.)

Chips build up quickly and need mucked out about every cord, or for me four pallets with the PackFix. Bark is dealt with as it builds up. I think I said I have to move the log decks for log deliveries to get the truck out, which is two or three times a year, and cleaning up around them as needed.
If noodling, the splitter gets shut off.

Edit: These are photos from earlier this spring. The log pile sat for nine months or so before I got to this truckload. That is why the bark is peeling off so much. Normally, little bark comes off when processing. This made for a lot of extra cleanup, but the barkless firewood customers love as it is much cleaner for them. It also seasons nicely, and probably quicker.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I feel like I'm hijacking Casey's thread.
Yes, that's how I do it.

Nah, I'm still learning from your process and building a cutting deck is such a back and time saver.

Im fortunate to be a steel scrounger and like welding.

 

[CaseyForrest]

So,do you guys split directly from this table,not letting the rounds hit the ground ??

I originally got my inspiration from Crane, and this thread was born...

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/bucking-table-mostly-done.307764/
Here is what I eventually ended up with .... The Super Split got stationed at the end of the rollers....

I am not sure how I will reconfigure the process once the Wolfe Ridge gets here, but I knew the height of the deck needed to come down and I want it to be a single piece rather than 2 pieces like my existing set-up.

But yes, wood never touches the ground.

 

[Philbert]

I feel like I'm hijacking Casey's thread.

Those photos are really helpful. Thanks.

Philbert

 

[CaseyForrest]

This is how I will handle splitter trash that isnt suitable for kindling. Its the middle of a 500 gallon propane tank I picked up from a local welder friend. This is stationed within our splitting area so it will serve double duty by also providing a place to get warn should splitting activities venture deep into winter.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

More pictures.
I've tried many different things.
Some work better than others, and the process evolves.
Some were more hazardous than other, as with the scaffold staging splits. Removing pieces created caverns and cave ins which shot out the front access at my hips. They were predictable and using a hook-a-roon reduced reaching in to produce a cave in. Not ideal, but saved from piling on the ground, to be picked up and stacked.

Some constraints were, and continue to be, financial as far as upgrading and repairing equipment and support tools, as with the shipping container. Purchasing a container set back other wanted items, like a dump trailer.
I've ordered a dump trailer a few weeks ago, but means pushing the purchase of a processor back considerably.

Welding and metal fabrication skills would go a long way. My log decks are built of timbers, as is the rounds staging table I used to use when cutting a half cord and then splitting a half cord. The trailer is still in use for odd jobs.

The more firewood you do in a season the more handling compounds, and becomes a challenge to eliminate overlapping of steps, like cutting rounds that drop on the ground. Or bulk bags, aiding seasoning and handling larger quantities, and eliminating scooping firewood and dirt when working the bottom edge of a pile.
We keep trying things and revising...

 

[Sandhill Crane]

We keep trying things and revising...

Casey had a dump trailer and switched to a flatbed to haul logs.
Sounds like it's a huge improvement.
He sold his SuperSplit and ordered a big hydraulic.
My flatbed truck is for sale and I've ordered a dump trailer for firewood deliveries.
I sold my TW-6 and kept the SuperSplit.

Experiment with whatever works best for you...at the time.
There is no one way, or best way. Better maybe, or as my son used to say when he was five, "more gooder".