Big rounds, vertical splitter, turn them things

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Natster

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I have been thinking. If I had a device to pick up those big rounds, and spin them, it would be nice. They weigh about 400 lbs ea.
Or a device mounted on the stationery end of the log splitter, that could pick them up, and rotate them. Even a pry bar, with a kink in it, and a flat bar on the ground. Just some way to lift and rotate those big rounds. Often the splitter does not succeed in separating the 2 halves in one pass. I usually make one split with the hydraulic splitter, then whack the other side with my old splitting maul, until they separate. Even getting those halves back into the splitter is a job. Is there a mechanical solution? I could sure use one. Thanks!
Nate
 
I can see flipping them aver being a back killer. But rotating them can be done with a Pickaroon or peavy

A Pickaroon can possibly get one flipped


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]
 
I usually lay a smallish round or piece of limb wood on the ground in front of the foot before I tip the round onto it. Just a tiny bit higher than the foot. Makes tipping the round up onto it easier, and also gives a bit of a pivot point for spinning the round around on.
 
This very thing is the reason I swore off vertical splitters long ago. After I work my butt off to shove a 400 lbs round onto a splitting foot then I have to move it back on several times when it fails to split and only shoves it off. Then after finally getting it to bust I have to move 2 different 200 lbs pieces all while bent over or working on my knees!

If you can't afford a splitter with a log lift, noodle the big rounds.
 
I usually lay a smallish round or piece of limb wood on the ground in front of the foot before I tip the round onto it. Just a tiny bit higher than the foot. Makes tipping the round up onto it easier, and also gives a bit of a pivot point for spinning the round around on.
Oooh! A lazy susan idea...
Edit: It could be 6' in diameter, for multiple rounds. Where the round would sit there would be a centered high spot so individual rounds could be spun.
Edit #2: You could put a swivel seat, like a bucket kind of seat, in the middle.
 
The reason I prefer vertical splitting is because I can do it sitting down. It helps to be long-limbed, I suppose. I set a round for a seat (12--15" dia.) in the right distance behind the splitter, then roll each round into position. The splits, as produced, get flung into whatever pile I'm building. Only time I'm on my feet is when the supply at hand runs out--everything is split. Then chuck or roll more rounds (I'm usually surrounded by them) into range where they can be reached from my seat. Rinse & repeat.
 
I way prefer going vertical vs noodling, if my rounds are that big. I can usually do a whole round while sitting down on another one. Or get it into manageable halves or quarters to finish horizontal. Some bodies and backs can stand different techniques better than others.
 
Noodles are your friends.
I used to wrestle those big rounds up to my splitter in vertical mode, but not anymore. If it's too big to lift, it gets popped with a maul. If the maul won't do it in a few swings, it gets noodled. Haven't put my splitter vertical in a long long time.
 
I run a PowerKing kinetic 34 ton splitter. It does not go vertical so I have to split my big rounds first. I noodle a 1"-2" slit in two or more directions (+) in big rounds and hit it with 4 wedges. Even the hardest/biggest rounds pop. I had a very large butt cut Sitka Spruce round which was stringy. As the split opened up I used a piece of split Hemlock firewood as a wedge. Wow, that worked great!

We did a church project for a widow. We had my kinetic splitter and a hydraulic splitter and plenty of helpers. I had one helper lifting big rounds and telling me when to pull the lever. He would take half off, I would rotate the half and he would adjust and tell me when to go. The other guys had an operator and 2 helpers. We smoked them 2:1 !!
 
I was dealing with some very big (for me) rounds of Ash a week ago (40"-48" Dia) x 20". My solution was to make a plunge cut into the end grain with the bar nose perhaps 4-5" deep and 1/3 the way across the round, then insert a steel splitting wedge and drive in with a sledge. Even the nastiest pieces could be reduced to manageable proportions for my splitter with minimal effort. I find that noodling produces copious quantities of stringy waste and firewood which has split up awkwardly for stacking. ......your mileage may vary !
 
We have a 20 ton MTD vertical and horizontal splitter with no lift. Did put a table on the beam and wish I done that years ago. On the bigger rounds, we split vertical and one thing I did was make a platform out of plywood that fits around the base. It is the roughly the same thickness as the base and guessing 2ft x2ft. While I still have to manhandle the rounds, it does make it easier. If the rounds split easy enough, I will split them in half or quarters before going to splitter but doesn't always happen. Will have to get some pics of it, might get some today since I will be splitting. It is holding up pretty well for the beating it takes.
 

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I seldom do stuff bigger than 30" but when I do I either noodle or load with my tractor forks. This is my Speeco modified splitter. That wedge is about 24" tall. I put my forks on an angle so that I can easily flip the round on it's edge then split it in half so I can work one half and the other sits on the extended table or the forks. I also have a 36" stroke splitter with a 4'x 6' table but I don't use it for big stuff.
 

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I seldom do stuff bigger than 30" but when I do I either noodle or load with my tractor forks. This is my Speeco modified splitter. That wedge is about 24" tall. I put my forks on an angle so that I can easily flip the round on it's edge then split it in half so I can work one half and the other sits on the extended table or the forks. I also have a 36" stroke splitter with a 4'x 6' table but I don't use it for big stuff.
 
I was dealing with some very big (for me) rounds of Ash a week ago (40"-48" Dia) x 20". My solution was to make a plunge cut into the end grain with the bar nose perhaps 4-5" deep and 1/3 the way across the round, then insert a steel splitting wedge and drive in with a sledge. Even the nastiest pieces could be reduced to manageable proportions for my splitter with minimal effort. I find that noodling produces copious quantities of stringy waste and firewood which has split up awkwardly for stacking. ......your mileage may vary !
If you think about it, noodling doesn't make any more waste than a cross cut... just the chips are long noodles and make a big fluffy pile... but there is no more wood in those noodle piles than there would be in a crosscut pile.

What do you mean when you say "split up awkwardly"? Just trying to get the same picture in my head that you have in yours. I haven't had a problem stacking noodled splits.
 
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