1 man operation how much wood in a day

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dbowling

ArboristSite Member
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FAR WEST INDIANA
you guys that cut by yourself how much wood do you average cutting for a day...if I cut only for 5-7 hrs. I usually cut 7-10 6x10 ft. trailer loads..I cut for 4 hrs the last 2 days and probably have 6 trailer loads on the ground to be loaded.. just curious, I usually cut for a week straight then load and haul for a week then split it all at once.. or over a few days.
 
some days cut all day, some days couple hours & give it up
kinda lucky here though house is in the bush i cut so........
out the back door, get on tractor & grab saw & head back one of the trails
some times cut within sight of the house so if i get thirsty i can just walk back to kitchen for coffee ( beer ) comes in handy when something breaks or i screw something up & gotta walk back to garage for tools etc
lots of days i just walk into bush with saw & gas & cut & pile up chunks
then i just pick a day & spend all day back & forth with tractor picking it all up & dragging it home don't have to rush as i'm usually working on wood for a couple years down the road
bob:givebeer:
 
Weather permitting

I cut about a half cord to two cords per day (2-5 hours) when I go out, and it's usually toward the lesser amount. I'm sure I could cut more under different circumstances, but these are treetops (20" max) left from a timber harvest that are sometimes in moderate brush, and half of them are on hillsides (western PA).

I only cut on days it isn't raining or snowing, and I usually wait at least 48 hours after the last rain to haul it out. This is mainly because I don't want to make too many ruts out of respect for the property owner.
 
I have been cutting, splitting by hand, and stacking on a trailer a little over 3/4 of a cord by myself in 3-4 hours. Thats about average if i don't carry the wood far to load.
 
you guys that cut by yourself how much wood do you average cutting for a day...if I cut only for 5-7 hrs. I usually cut 7-10 6x10 ft. trailer loads..I cut for 4 hrs the last 2 days and probably have 6 trailer loads on the ground to be loaded.. just curious, I usually cut for a week straight then load and haul for a week then split it all at once.. or over a few days.

Just how full is your 6x10 trailer? And what is the size of the wood in it?

Myself, I've cut 6" locust, measured/cut to length at 80" and 60" to fill my short box F250 32" tall, and a 6x12 dump trailer to 32" tall. That includes the felling, measuring, bucking, carrying logs to truck/trailer, loading so they fill in tightly, lunch/saw breaks, and was home 7hrs from when I left, feeling beat. It was 70* and most of the work was in full sun, too hot, but sometimes that's just the way it goes.

My most fun, and productive day, was using a landowners little compact 4x4 tractor to transport my bucked rounds to the truck. After 3hrs my 80"x60"x42" truck bed was full with oak/cherry avg 12"dia. Again, lunch/saw breaks included.
On this occasion, being less weary than usual, I did split off the tailgate and stack right away, comes out to one cord+ in the end.
 
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I usually get to dedicate about 3-4 hours on my days off and end up with about 2/3rd's of a cord - 2 truck loads with my Toyota. Every once in a while if things go perfectly I'll get almost a cord and then there's the days when I return home with just one. No matter what I keep going back.
 
So much depends on how young or how your feeling your oats.
If I am feeling my oats I can cut split and load a cord in between 3 to 4
hours then haul and stack depending on how far, hour and a half to two
and I am back home. That is a day unless; I am really feeling my oats or
have a bill due that can't wait, then 2 cords are manageable but I am spent
after that and will probably not feel my oats next mourning.
 
Wood Cut Per Day

I can cut and split 1 cord in 5 hours. 2 hours to cut 2 hours to split and 1 hour to sharpen saws and move machines and rounds around etc. I can pile the cord in about 1 hour.
Here is a picture of my 6 x 10 trailer with a cord of wood in it.
 
I usually spend my weekends skidding logs out of the woods. Between 8-16 hours for a weekend if I am lucky and don't have other plans made for me. I'll then spend the 1-1.5 hours of daylight I have after work bucking, hauling, and splitting during the week. Too haphazard to know how much actual time I have in a cord. Sometimes I'll set up a worklight and split after dark if I am feeling my "oats".
 
trailer height

Just how full is your 6x10 trailer? And what is the size of the wood in it?

Myself, I've cut 6" locust, measured/cut to length at 80" and 60" to fill my short box F250 32" tall, and a 6x12 dump trailer to 32" tall. That includes the felling, measuring, bucking, carrying logs to truck/trailer, loading so they fill in tightly, lunch/saw breaks, and was home 7hrs from when I left, feeling beat. It was 70* and most of the work was in full sun, too hot, but sometimes that's just the way it goes.

My most fun, and productive day, was using a landowners little compact 4x4 tractor to transport my bucked rounds to the truck. After 3hrs my 80"x60"x42" truck bed was full with oak/cherry avg 12"dia. Again, lunch/saw breaks included.
On this occasion, being less weary than usual, I did split off the tailgate and stack right away, comes out to one cord+ in the end.
My trailer is stacked 4 deep 24 in. long usually 8-20 in logs, its got the 3500 axle so I load it pretty heavy since Ive only got to travel less then a mile. My trailer holds about 2 pick up loads if stacked right.
 
Oh I forgot to mention, I cheat with my grapple truck is how I
get it done quicker! I use the grapple to hold the huge 40 inch rounds
up to the splitter and split them in manageable sections. I park my truck
right beside the splitter and toss the splits as I am going into a pile until
they start mounding up, then stack them tight and resume. I hate wasted
effort. I will pile them if they are not sold, I used to take the time to stack
them but really was wasted time, so; I learned to pile them and only handle
them to sell or burn. I do admit if I had way more time, I would stack them
neat as some of you fine gentlemen do but I do not have that option.
 
I hate to say it, but I never kept track of how "Much" cord wise. Pop and I measure by tankfulls. I have run through about 3 tanks fulls in the MS290 then split till the sun went down. (I split for therapy, not by hydraulics)
 
I don't cut from sun up till sun down, but about one cord a day. That includes cuting, hauling, splitting and stacking. Probably takes me about 5 to 6 hours maybe longer depending on where the trees are. Not every tree is right along the edge of the field. Some are easier that others. Have been cutting for over twenty years and it seems the older I get the longer it takes!
 
I always figure about an average of 2 hours per facecord. I know some people hate that term, but that's the terms of measurement everyone uses here in the thumb. They are 1/3 cord (16" length), so about 6 hours per cord. This includes loading up, fueling and oiling saws, driving back, cutting, loading in the Mule, running the wood out, unloading the Mule,trailer, or tractor, splitting, and stacking, with built in breaks to gas and oil the saws and for snacks. Sometimes I just split back in the woods so it can go from the Mule to stacked on the pile.

It all depends on what kind of wood and how easy it splits. If it's smaller rounds that aren't twisted or knotty, I can whack it out much quicker. I know my buddy and I filled my trailer with just a shade under 2 full cords cut and split in about 4 hours, but the wood was easy to get to and easy to split and we didn't have to unload or stack it.

I think ultimately it depends on the wood and how froggy you're feeling.
 
I always figure about an average of 2 hours per facecord. I know some people hate that term, but that's the terms of measurement everyone uses here in the thumb. They are 1/3 cord (16" length), so about 6 hours per cord. This includes loading up, fueling and oiling saws, driving back, cutting, loading in the Mule, running the wood out, unloading the Mule,trailer, or tractor, splitting, and stacking, with built in breaks to gas and oil the saws and for snacks. Sometimes I just split back in the woods so it can go from the Mule to stacked on the pile.

It all depends on what kind of wood and how easy it splits. If it's smaller rounds that aren't twisted or knotty, I can whack it out much quicker. I know my buddy and I filled my trailer with just a shade under 2 full cords cut and split in about 4 hours, but the wood was easy to get to and easy to split and we didn't have to unload or stack it.

I think ultimately it depends on the wood and how froggy you're feeling.

Ribit ribit :laugh: Why am I always feeling froggy after the day
is over?
 
Just depends

Now that I have my own splitter I pace myself. I used to cut/cut and then use my buddies splitter to get it split and wife would stack it. Hating to keep the splitter longer than a day I would work from morning till dark just to get it all split. Best might have been 4 cords for the day, splitting and stacking. Those were killer days! Now I usually bring home a load in the bed of my truck or if the trailer is hooked up I load it up, bring it home, split and stack it. No big rush. I just try to have everything split and stacked by May and then let it bake in the Kansas heat throughout the summer.
 
I need to figure out a way to do ten cords per day.
I was wondering if a mill would not do it faster 4+4s
and then cut them to length btw those would be true
cords no air space tightly stacked!
 
I usually get to dedicate about 3-4 hours on my days off and end up with about 2/3rd's of a cord - 2 truck loads with my Toyota. Every once in a while if things go perfectly I'll get almost a cord and then there's the days when I return home with just one. No matter what I keep going back.

+1 That's me also. Usually it's a sat morning on a nice day. Load up the night before, take off at dawn, have a hot breakfast and head up country. I'm usually home at lunch time with 1/3 too 1/2 cord. I'm not busting but I work up a good sweat. I've found that if I go all day and make several trips, it starts too feel like work instead of a workout. Plus, if I'm alone, there is the fatigue factor where injurys can happen after a while. This way, I enjoy it and I get a workout. Let me say that if i stumble onto a really nice score, I'll get it all or as much as I can because around here there allot of early birds and not allot of worms. :cheers:
 
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