Bucking table mostly done

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
@Sandhill Crane

II saw these at the local depot this morning.

0aed0eaed6e9036510fd1b645440bce1.jpg
 
Looks like dunnage off a semi truck that you set a load on so you can fork lift it on and off. Low grade hardwood, usually bowed, bent, twisted and possibly seriously stresses. They may be cheap but they are not good for much except dunnage and fire pits. Cribbing maybe if cut short. Never seen them for sale in a box store before.
 
That's quite expensive if the timbers are not "A" grade. We sell a rough cut 8ft 4x6 for about $18... a straight usable one!
 
Looks like dunnage off a semi truck that you set a load on so you can fork lift it on and off. Low grade hardwood, usually bowed, bent, twisted and possibly seriously stresses. They may be cheap but they are not good for much except dunnage and fire pits. Cribbing maybe if cut short. Never seen them for sale in a box store before.

Cheaper than a sacrificial PT 4x6.
 
bump

this is the ideas I am looking for. Good to see what works and potential trouble spots.
 
Here is some food for thought. for 750 with no wood on top that's not too too bad. when you consider the price of the metal, blasting and powder coat. i think the metal would give it a bit stiffer frame and just replace the wood as they rot out on top, or get eaten up on top by the chainsaw.

Almost thinking one of the Mennonites around me could make a frame sorta like it and throw would ontop of it too, and maybe my compact tractor could lift it maybe

https://wolferidgemfg.com/wolfe-ridge-mfg-professional-grade-firewood-splitters/cutting-tables/
 
Post number 7 shows a log deck/bench I built several years ago out of wood.
The top has been redone a couple times, each with a few improvements.
The sides are 4"x 6" sheeted with 3/4" treated, fastened with #10 or #12 screws and fender washers.
Cross ties are bolted 2" x 12"s.
The feet need to sit on a board because of the weight when loaded, which is about a quarter cord.
What I would do different is make it 3 1/2" shorter in height. Then double the thickness of the cutting bench, double 4" x 6", and add filler on the rest to make the deck even.
The deck slopes slightly, but not much.
Also the cutting bench is cantilevered so the frame is not in the way of feet.
When cutting the top gets cut up pretty deep and becomes more flimsy than I like when there is bigger stuff on it. Doubling would make replacing the top easier and stretch out the need for replacements much longer.
You do need a way of moving it to clean out bark and dirt from underneath. I clean mine a couple times a year, usually if I have to move it to get a log truck in.
If you know someone with a saw mill it could be built a lot cheaper.
Some photos ( all repeats)IMG_9979 (1).jpg IMG_5233.jpg IMG_5139.jpg IMG_9981.jpg IMG_0084.jpgIMG_5134.jpg IMG_5136.jpg
Takes about four hours to do a cord (four pallets) from the log pile to covering and staging pallets.
Edit: Decking over the smaller one makes it more difficult to roll logs at times. I have to keep it clear of loose bark.
 
Comments on the WolfRidge video and pictures.
They are showing ideal conditions with pole straight logs.
Anything other than straight and the saw binds in the kerf. Keep your noggin back, and place a plastic felling wedge in the kerf.
First thing I notice in the video is the log deck needs to be turned 90º so he is not walking so much.
The obvious one is a round rolling on the ground because there is no lip.
In the photos the logs ends are all nicely lined up. In real life that doesn't happen unless they are pushed or pulled with muscle or a peavy.
They show double stacked. Right. Looks productive but again, the reality is screwing around to place logs that way, and then saw binding in the cut, and possible kickbacks.
This is why I reposted the photos post #128.
 
Agree with you Sandhill. Mine is similar to yours with the only difference being I don't use a 4x6 on the end. I use a 2x10. I don't use a production table so my bucked pieces sit on the ground until I am ready to split them. Mine is a tich high so this spring I will lower it about 10".

I never have perfect logs. They are never 8' on the nuts and they aren't round. This load we were lazy and have way to many knobs where I didn't cut branches flush enough so it is more of a pain. rolling them. I'll get a picture when I can get out in the daylight.
 
the only difference being I don't use a 4x6 on the end. I use a 2x10.
I did that also but after somewhat short use, the 16" sections between saw cuts split off from rolling logs against them. Sometimes I get a log roll off the front when loading with the forklift. Have to make sure the saw is clear from front and sides when loading deck. For what it is it works pretty good.
This photo shows a 2" x 10" across the front of the table with short 2" x 4" vertical supports. I would cut half a cord of rounds and then split.IMG_0064.jpg
 
I think everyones process is going to be different depending on equipment available, how much room they have and how fast they are trying to get the job completed. To me the cutting table seems like an unnecessary/extra step but that all depends what your trying to accomplish. For a homeowner its probably fine if their just splitting for themselves, but I would think for anybody selling, trying to make money it would take more time and energy then its worth. Im probably on the same scale as Sandhill, maybe a little smaller. Here is our process which works for us, may not work for anyone else but it is what it is. When we split, that is all we do is split. When we are bucking rounds, we buck rounds for 8 hours. We bring the logs over to the splitting area, splitter and conveyor are put away, and we cut our rounds. Keep dropping logs on the pile and cut right on the pile. Push the pile up every so often with the tractor so it doesn't get to large. Do that all day. Never handle a round until you put it on the splitter. If I cut for 8 hours that is usually enough rounds for me to split for 2 days straight at least. Usually about 4-5 cords depending on how hard I go at it. Then get the splitter and conveyor out and go to town. We switched over to the bags at the end of the season this year so we only stop to switch out a bag. Can usually split 6-8 bags a day once again depending on how things go. I would think the starting and stopping with the cut table and moving them to the splitter would take some time and un-needed labor. I think anytime you can save yourself a step or a couple of minutes in the process, it adds up because of the repetition of firewood production.

View attachment 567805 View attachment 567806 View attachment 567807

Curious... How much splitter trash do you find ends up in the bags? Does the grate at the end of the splitter sift out a good bit of it?
 
Nice old photos. Ellianna is no longer a young pup. Yep same log deck, modified a time or two. Decked it over and eliminated staging rounds. Cut two logs, one on each deck, and split. I added a second row of holes for the point of the peavey to move larger logs endways by push or pull, to the bump end stop.
T.Mainus is correct, loading the log deck does take time. The log deck does a couple things for me that may save time in other ways.
First, everything is cut pretty much 16". The logs I buy are 100" so my deck is indexed at 16 1/2". There's that. I don't have to "lift" the rounds from the ground. This save a lot of bending over and lifting, which over time is a lot. A cord of green oak is approximately 5,800 pounds times whatever amount of wood you cut/split in a day, or week, etc. From the ground to 30" high is a lot of strong back work. For a young buck, maybe up to fifty years old, that's fine. That's seventeen years in the rear view mirror for me, and there's a 120 cord in the wood lot cut/split. Green, that's almost 350 ton. What's the formula for work, lifting something 30" high? So there's that.
Then there is breaking up the routine. It's like working a line in a factory these days. Every hour people rotate to a different spot. Companies do this for profit, because people work more efficiently (although working on a moving line the line speed doesn't change) but people are happier, miss less work, are more pleasant to work with, etc.
I could split,split, split, because I like it. But my body, muscles and joints, enjoys the break up and rotation of doing the other stuff that is part of the flow. I used to not like some parts. I used to not like dealing with customers for one. Or stacking. I like everything about the same now. I alway have had (past tense) some difficulty saying no. No I don't stack wood when I deliver. Last week I could have sold a total of 14 cord. I've learned to say no without feeling bad, and that's really good feeling.
I have copd, no sales for over a year and no sales until I get both vaccines. If they don't get that then that's okay too. I've learned a long time ago in construction, safety is ultimately up to each person. It's cost me two jobs along the way, and last week $4,000. is sales. Does it make sense to every one? I don't expect it to. But the log deck is all part of that for me. Saving my back, because previously I strained it a few times, and then thought, you idiot, you know better. You know your beard is down to your pockets, that's carrying a few years since retiring. Prior to that, like most, it was a hard honest living. So although the log deck does take a bit of time to load, for me it seems easier. Especially since eliminating the round staging, and go straight to splitting. But it shifts strong back work to shoulder work, starting the chainsaw every two logs. So far not an issue with my everyday saw, a 562 xp. When I have used the ms661 day after day, my shoulder feels it.
 
I'm like you, I have to break it up. I have two dump trailers. I cut my wood 18". If I put the 5' drive on ramp down, and put two 18" logs under the corners, it makes a deck. I can split off the deck onto the other trailer, or split and stack. But, after one deck load my back has had it, so I'll stack another load on the deck. I also have a hernia almost the size of my fist above my belly button. If I lift too much sometimes it will pop out, and I have to push it back in, then that's sore the rest of the day.
 
The size of your fist :oops::oops::oops: WOW!

I guess I won't mention mine then...
It's bigger than a que ball, smaller than my fist. I can take two fingers and it pops back in. Doctor says I need to loose weight before they will operate. When I had both knees replaced I gained 40 pounds. I've been able to shed 10 since New Years, but it's hard.
 
Hey Casey, haven't seen you post in a while, always good to see you!
Thank you!

Lots of changes here as well as some other developments have deterred me from posting and sharing information here.

I feel for your hernia situation. Ive had 2 inguinal hernias before I was 23. The first one I had for quite a while before I even knew what it was. Getting that repaired hurt like hell. The second one I knew right when it happened and had it fixed within a couple weeks.
 
Been there, got it fixed. In fact that was just before my SuperSplit was shipped. And why I made forklift tubes for it, and a bit later, the four wheel mod.
They can be very serious, so don't give up rarefish383.
You have quite a load of rounds on that trailer.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top