Injuries or chronic problems related to wood harvesting/splitting

[NSMaple1]

I have a semi-wonky back also. As far as the wood stuff goes, I find it feels much better after a splitting session (therapy-like, almost), not quite so much after a saw session, and what should be the easiest part - stacking - can really get me sometimes. I spent most of the weekend putting our winters wood inside, about 3 cords, and I'm feeling it today. I try to slow myself down a bit and be deliberate with my movements, that helps, but it still usually gets me to some degree.

 

[SuperDuty04]

I have a semi-wonky back also. As far as the wood stuff goes, I find it feels much better after a splitting session (therapy-like, almost), not quite so much after a saw session, and what should be the easiest part - stacking - can really get me sometimes. I spent most of the weekend putting our winters wood inside, about 3 cords, and I'm feeling it today. I try to slow myself down a bit and be deliberate with my movements, that helps, but it still usually gets me to some degree.

this is why I plan to buy a hookaroon. Help from bending over as much!

 

[c5rulz]

First off, great post @alleyyooper . You are correct, use it or lose it.

I used to have back problems frequently. Now since I cut a fair amount of wood, have lost 50#s, walk about 7 miles a day in Summer (golfing season for 120 rounds) and cut firewood all Winter and walk 40 to 60 min. /day with the dogs.. Other injuries come and go. My left knee is killing me right now, I iced it before walking the dogs this morning and will go get 2 cord of wood due to my logger buddies are near and will load the trailer with the forwarder. The knee problem is from golf.

I got a new log landing to work and will take a look at it Thursday.

You have to keep going and work smart. I only cut log cutoffs and they are mighty big. A man has to know his limitations and have BIG saw to make things small enough to handle.

An example.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I just don't know what to tell all you children

Yeah...that didn't go over well!

Edit: "Use it or loose it." is a motivational power statement.
Haironyourchest post #58, has content that may actually be helpful. Thank you very much Haironyourchest.

 

[sb47]

I have been a dare devil all my life, I have been athletic all my life having played all manner of sports as well as rodeo and motocross. Plus having worked heavy labor most of my life and been a truck driver for 30+ years. I'm 59 and I hurt all day every day.
I live on pain pills most of the time and need them just to get moving. Once I hit 40 everything started catching up with me and it has gotten worse the older I get. I can't even sleep at night because I hurt no mater how I lay down.
My advice is to stop pushing to hard and listen to what your body is telling you. Use every thing at your disposal to help you work smarter to reduce the stress on your body. It will catch up with you and it's a dark road living in pain all the time.
Stay active and don't stop working and doing what you love, just do it smarter.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I am a 47 year old female. I was helping my dad in early spring get firewood. I picked up an ax and tried to split a log. I discovered I was a pretty good log splitter even with a plain ax. I just went out an bought a couple new axes. One was a 8lb wood splitting Maul. I love this thing.
I discovered I loved going to the wood and grabbing my maul and splitting a load of wood.
What happened a couple weeks ago caught me off guard. I swung with my maul and felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I tried to swing again. This time was worse. I babied it the rest of the day. The next weekend I wore a back brace and still babied it.
I was feeling much better this weekend. I still had my brace on. On swing three, I was hit with a blinding pain right in the middle of my stomach. It hurt so bad I could not catch my breath. Minutes later it was still bad pain. I rested and decided I would not swing anymore. I did try to pull to start a chainsaw and the pain hit me worse than ever. I was done.
I got home and managed to get a shower. I managed to get into bed with some work. I tried to roll over and could hardly bear the pain. The next morning I could not get up. I had to get my son to come sit me up. I discovered I can no longer use my stomach muscles because it is just to painful.
I do not see a sign of a hernia. I don't really know what to do. I do not have health insurance. I am just hoping the pain gets better if I try to be very careful.
I am sure my wood splitting days are over. I feel broken

You have stated several very positive things in your post. Helping your dad; finding enjoyment(enough to find this website); that you have a son who is helpful. Perhaps a doctor visit would be a good idea regardless of not having insurance. This is a set back, no doubt, but only a small part of your larger, continuing, 47 year young story.

 

[user 166448]

@Freedomins01 Sorry to hear of your problems that developed while trying to put up some wood. Welcome to the site, also. Many of us develop aches and pains from working with wood and we all have to learn how to listen to our bodies and quit when we get tired or a bit sore. Maybe some good rest for a few days will help. Good luck with your recovery.

Hello all,
I did go to Dr. This morning. Seems I have torn an abdominal muscle. Who knew you could even do that? I am told it will heal but I would NOT be splitting anymore wood this year. What I can say to others so they do not go through what I am going through (because this is horrible) is, When your body gives you the first warning. lISTEN.. I tried to play tough guy(girl) and pretend I was ok and keep working. I even got a second warning and even though I did put on a brace I continued working. If I had just took a few weeks off I might not be in this mess. I am told if I am careful. I might be able to split wood next year. ;(
It could of been worse, so I have a plan for this year. I am getting dad a log splitter. I will just pick up the pieces and stack them.
Take care everyone, and be careful.

 

[alleyyooper]

At 72 and posting a reply to most who are under 50 makes you children. My own children are nearly 50 now.

I drove semi also and one thing I can say about that job is you are spending a huge amount of your life on your soft tush.
Many truck stops in the Eastern USA are not safe to take walks in after dark either. Spent 3 days in Paulsbour NJ once and the Gun fire at night there was nearly like what you hear at a local rifle range on a Sunday morning.

I got out of that truck thing and started a job doing auto repairs. pretty safe if you follow all the safty things like always use the tall jack stands when a car is on the hoist. Some don't and die like a fellow I worked with. Always hoot the postive side of the battery first and the negtive last to avoid a battry blowing in your face.

Any way again Loose it if you don't use it.

Once you get my age you really do take the time to stop and enjoy your suroundings. today I trans planted 20 Maple trees and will do a bunch more tomorrow hope to do at least 30 but supposed to be freezing and possiable snow.


Al

 

[sb47]

At 72 and posting a reply to most who are under 50 makes you children. My own children are nearly 50 now.

I drove semi also and one thing I can say about that job is you are spending a huge amount of your life on your soft tush.
Many truck stops in the Eastern USA are not safe to take walks in after dark either. Spent 3 days in Paulsbour NJ once and the Gun fire at night there was nearly like what you hear at a local rifle range on a Sunday morning.

I got out of that truck thing and started a job doing auto repairs. pretty safe if you follow all the safty things like always use the tall jack stands when a car is on the hoist. Some don't and die like a fellow I worked with. Always hoot the postive side of the battery first and the negtive last to avoid a battry blowing in your face.

Any way again Loose it if you don't use it.

Once you get my age you really do take the time to stop and enjoy your suroundings. today I trans planted 20 Maple trees and will do a bunch more tomorrow hope to do at least 30 but supposed to be freezing and possiable snow.


Al


I drove off road trucks with tree spades and I spent a lot of time slinging plywood over lawns so I wouldn't destroy the grass or get stuck in the mud. And picking up sheets of 3/4'' ply that is water logged and covered in mud and putting them back on the truck for every tree I planted is not easy. I only spent no more then a few hours driving on long runs and short runs I was in and out of the truck a lot. Pruning trees and tying down trees and tarping them was a lot of work as well. Then sanding them in and mulching them after they were planted.
No air ride ether on the old R model Mack with tripple frame with over sized springs made for a ruff ride. We even ran Tera tires in the winter when it was wet.
I did do some over the road trucking in the early days till I got tired of that and found a day driving job.

 

[SS396driver]

Well I really have no aches or pains but I have broken a few bones doing firewood this was the worst one

 

[SS396driver]

Broke the finger in three places had to be pinned

 

[Camper]

this is why I plan to buy a hookaroon. Help from bending over as much!

My son bought a hookaroon At the Paul Bunyan festival at the Paul Bunyan festival in Ohio this month. I wish I would have bought one years ago. Its a lot easier on a old wore out back like mine than bending over and picking up every piece of wood. You won’t be disappointed with it.

 

[sb47]

My son bought a hookaroon At the Paul Bunyan festival at the Paul Bunyan festival in Ohio this month. I wish I would have bought one years ago. Its a lot easier on a old wore out back like mine than bending over and picking up every piece of wood. You won’t be disappointed with it.

After I noodle down my rounds I use a hand dolly to roll the noodled rounds to the splitter then if I lay the dolly down on it's back side the round is about a foot off the ground and that little head start helps keep from dead lifting a round from ground level.
My dolly has 10'' wheels so the rounds are about a foot off the ground and that helps a lot. So I'm basically lifting from knee height instead of from ground height and I'm right next to the splitter so it's much easier.

 

[Camper]

After I noodle down my rounds I use a hand dolly to roll the noodled rounds to the splitter then if I lay the dolly down on it's back side the round is about a foot off the ground and that little head start helps keep from dead lifting a round from ground level.
My dolly has 10'' wheels so the rounds are about a foot off the ground and that helps a lot. So I'm basically lifting from knee height instead of from ground height and I'm right next to the splitter so it's much easier.

I’ve got a lot of back and neck problems the last couple years fire wood has caused me a lot of pain but I like doing it and don’t want to stop. I finally pulled the trigger and bought a eastonmade 12-22 splitter with the new box wedge and pull back arm. We’ve split about 6 full cords of all hard wood with it between it and the hookaroon my back didn’t give me any problems. The machine with the pull back arm takes all the work out of splitting that and my wife has split almost every round and several of them has been more than 30”. I mostly load the lift and put the splits on the tractor trailer.

 

[SuperDuty04]

My dad surprised me with a fiskars splitting axe last weekend. Man that’s another priceless tool to have. It splits way better than any maul I’ve ever used! A hookaroon is the very next purchase I’m making.

 

[Capitalist]

At 40 years old I still have never injured my back, but I am starting to sense that I push my luck more often than I should. I was unloading a load of red oak rounds this weekend and starting getting signals from my lower back that the twist and heave was a bad idea.

Can you guys trace injuries or chronic conditions to firewood splitting/lifting? I am wondering whether I am inviting a retirement as an invalid by pushing my luck here?

What about shoulder/back injuries connected to manual splitting (axe/maul/sledge)?

I am 6'4"/250lbs and have always figured my body was just about indestructible, but little aches and pains (6 months to recover from some sort of shoulder pain last year) suggest that I am mortal now.

Square cube law.
A little guy is better suited to take the abuse. Actually have an 80 year old patron that is about 5'4 and works alone as a plumber and electrician still. Usually the smaller the guy the longer the duration they can bounce around.

Flesh and bone is flesh and bone. Same basic strength per weight of muscle or bone but in larger quatities it strains harder on joints especially. Overall the cube is bigger and not as self sustaining as a smaller cube.

From google because I am not that smart: "When a physical object maintains the same density and is scaled up, its volume and mass are increased by the cube of the multiplier while its surface area increases only by the square of said multiplier. This would mean that when the larger version of the object is accelerated at the same rate as the original, more pressure would be exerted on the surface of the larger object."

Arthritis is a given.
Extremities hit hardest usually unless direct injury or genetic. In time its all gonna hurt.

My fingers and elbows have been affected most. Back injuries unrelated.

I may be sore and roughed up but I get a disgusted look when I shake most males hands my age. I want to show them why I am hard and they live with their mommy after their divorce.

As a bigger guy I would advise you dont jump down from your truck or do any more high impact than you have to.

When I was 160- 170, I could jump down into a 10 foot hole with tools.

Now I cant get off my truck without feeling for a footing carefully.

Size is great for moving larger objects at a low impact. Little dudes seem to get more done either with speed or with longevity.

Though your height and weight is a great match in my opinion. Overly muscular guys burn up the quickest on average. There is a healthy balance.

I will be checking out in 20 years or so and I will be a sore sob lol.

Done with care, patience, and smart thinking you will last a long time.

 

[sbhooper]

65 and no issues, except a sore back once in a while. I try to really be careful how I do things, now. It is harder to heal now. I have had both shoulders fixed, so I don't want to screw them up again.

 

[allstihl]

64 real soon . surived a massive heart attach this summer .told I did so cause I was in such good shape .everything hurts but not gonna let that stop me .ill cut till I cant lift a saw .

 

[SamT1]

Football did a lot worse on my body than 16-17 years of firewood have. I used to hand split 4-500 cords a year I don’t do that much now, But I’m on strict rules from my chiropractor to not stop. He says the muscle in my back is all that’s holding my jacked up disks (6) in place. Disks are jacked from football and a job I had for 5-6 years where I rode an ATV that had too weak of suspension for me almost daily.
I don’t haul big rounds though. I just stand them up where they lay and split, or if it’s green or very dry just pop them where they lay on the ground. I do suffer some this time a year from muscle soreness that never heals. My lower back muscles take it the hardest from all the up down. I start feeling the burn after 2/3 a cord right now and it doesn’t stop until I do. I only cut 1 yesterday, wind was 20 and it was cold and wet. Maybe today will be better.
I take BCAA for muscle recovery and load up ibuprofen before I start. May crack a few cold ones after the sawing and axe running is done.

Honestly my worst fear cutting wood is Rattlesnakes. Not a deal this time of year, but in the summer filling bbq restaurant orders it’s a real issue. I have a few places overstocked with cattle that I can atleast see the ground in. Not the best wood, but the good wood is always 4’ in weeds during the summer.

 

[motorhead99999]

Around ten years ago now I had a 16-18 inch maple get hung up on a stump I was hooking a chain to it so my buddy could pull it off with my doodle big as soon as I hooked the chain on he jumped in and kicked the front tranny in gear thinking they were both in neutral and it jumped off and landed on my foot I’d say i made out pretty good just permanently loosing my big toe nail also broke my big index and middle toe
The dark spot on the left side is from stepping on a 20 penny nail at work that some idiot pulled a 2/4 brace off the wall and left it there. That was three weeks ago Couple weeks ago