Interesting thread. Some of the equipment you guys got makes me jealous.
four man hrs. per cord.
- Thread starter Sandhill Crane
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Crane.... Something else to think about in regards to cutting into the sacrificial lumber on the deck...
I found that after I start a cut, if I dog into the 2x12 I'm using on the front of my cutting deck and then pivot the saw down, I have drastically eliminated the amount of times I actually get into the deck. SO here is what I am thinking... Find the horizontal plane on your elevated 2x6 on the front of your cutting deck that will line up with the bottom of your saw bar when the bar is parallel with the top of the deck and nail on a 2x4 or some other aparatus that you can set the dogs on and then pivot the saw down to horizontal and you end up in the same place every time.
Make sense?
Great idea! The kerf in the front is getting a bit wide for the dogs already so that would really help. I should get the 357xp back from the shop on Wednesday.
Last year I did 26 cord in May, and 26 cord the rest of the year for a total of 52 cord, presently seasoning. Health issues, summer heat, deliveries, some equipment issues, and a, new to us, travel trailer all were distractions from processing. All in all, for the most part, is was a good year. Last week however, my minivan of twelve years gave up the transmission, and the combination of our MI rust belt and almost 248K on the odometer, it isn't worth fixing. Could be an interesting year going forward. Doing income tax with a new person this week. Still reaching for a one hundred cord year... or roughly four hundred hours of processing, two hundred in deliveries, and two hundred hours in miscellaneous (buying pallets, fixing pallets, chips and bark clean up, equipment maintenance/repair, and going to the Paul Bunyan Show again in Ohio).
jrider
Addicted to ArboristSite
My goal is to keep better track of my time and expenses. I generally start out with good intentions but that goes away shortly. The new TW6 should really cut back my time but it does like the fuel much more than my old splitter.
Yes, the twin cylinder Honda like fuel. The five gallon gas tank means the guys can keep working vs multiple fueling times with a one gallon engine mounted fuel tank. The TW also has a 500 lb. rated log lift and packs a six way wedge, so the increased fuel consumption may well be a wash compared to your Iron and Oak splitter. The SuperSplit does pretty good on fuel running the 7 hp Subaru.
Yes it does too well! I used to tell my wife that I'm going out and split a tank full of gas, it was a 2 1/2 gallon-20 h.p. Honda. Now I tell her that I'm going out for a couple of hours, because I can't get through a tank of gas by myself in the Super Splitter. Must be getting old!
I stack the log lengths all year and around March, cut it all to length, 16", and loose pile it. In the fall, as needed, I'll split the logs for delivery, not big into it, maybe 20cord a year. Split time for logs only and thrown loose into the truck, 1 1/2 hrs for 1/2 cord, just under 3 hrs split only for a cord.
jrider
Addicted to ArboristSite
I was thinking about that last night and am thinking you're right. I was a little shocked when it was out of fuel the first time considering the size of the tank. BUT then I compared the amount of wood split on that tank to how much the I would have gotten split with the old Iron and Oak and I do think it's pretty darn close. It took longer with the old splitter to run out of gas but it also took much longer to make the same pile of splits.
I usually have the logs ready to be bucked when my two helpers show up for a Saturday of making firewood. The helpers are all over 50 and myself and one is close to 60. We usually can buck and split and stack on a big trailer three cords in a 8 to 5 day with probably a hour of breaks and a lunch. If the one's 18 year old son comes and helps we usually will get at least another cord extra as we can keep two people splitting and other two will buck and stack in the trailer. We usually do 15 to 20 cords a year. I don't sell any.
Anyone ever use a Wood-mizer splitter? They look super productive and easy to use. I've seen where they do make a bit more waste and shavings but the production is touted at 2 cords an hour!
KiwiBro
Mill 'em, nails be damned.
They bought Tempest and rebadged the splitters from what I can gather. Closed box wedge creates too much crap and produces more load than necessary, IMNSHO
There used to be an old expression that still applies: the more splits that you try to make in a single pass, the more waste you will create. Rounds very considerably in size. I try to estimate the number of splits on each round before I process it: 2, 3, 4, 5, ... monster. Sounds a bit goofy but it seems to work. One of my friends even stacks his rounds in groups for drying based on the estimated number of splits from each round.
jrider
Addicted to ArboristSite
I will back up that idea of more splits in a single pass the more waste BUT when I see how much faster I can get the work done I don't care....I used to think I would Haha!
Years ago I made a four way wedge for splitting on my cradle splitter with a 60,000 lb capacity ( 6'' ram ) and 18 HP with 28 CFM. It did not work well at all. Knots would come up too often and cause the splitter to twist way too much. For those that have easy wood to split you have my blessings. I have never seen it work in California. I used to work with some one who had a guillotine to split large hardwood and he struggled with two 6'' rams a 60 HP Perkins so did not feel bad about my process. Four hours to process wood is totally impossible period and every body knows this. Some aspects could be done in four hours, but not all. Walk up to any tree 2' or 5' tree and drop it in 1/2 hour, limb it in 1 hour, cut it to rounds in 1 hour, load it on to a truck in 1/2 hour, process the wood to split with the best splitter in the world 1/2 hour, stack the wood onto a truck 1/2 hour if you are superman for the rest of the human world will take 1 hour, deliver the wood with a dump truck or dumping trailer 1 hour for the real world it take close to 2 1/2 hours. So in a fantasy world it is possible to process wood in 5 hours, but in real life after putting fuel in the splitter and saw then sharpen a saw it is possible for one guy to go though a cord in 6 or 7 hours. Several companies boasted that they go through 5 or 6 cords a day per person so I called them out on it. I volunteered my time so I could learn how to move faster. Never was any claim ever supported. The largest operation in the world as far as I can tell was one I worked at for several years. They had an unlimited budget for trucks equipment and manpower. The sawyer could cut 12 cords a day of Oak, the mechanic could sharpen about 60 chains a day, the service man could overhaul about 2 saws a day, the cook and assistant could prepare about 300 meals a day every one I knew ate 4 times a day, the loaders could scoop up about 30 cords a day, the dump truck drivers could haul about 30 cords a day, the splitters could process about 50 cords a day, then there were office people to order food and replacement stuff including tires and oil. 55 people in all. 50 cords a day for months. Thanks
Everybody does things different and has different tools and even different species of wood. I dont think anybody here can go to the wood and harvest a cord, haul it home and process it in 4 hrs. I do believe processing the wood only in 4hr per cord is very possible. Splitting small wood into half splits with SS splitters, probably get a little more than a cord in 4 hrs. Trade those half splits into 10-12 splits on the same splitter, and I venture to guess the 4 hrs per cord might be hard to get. I see a lot of setups on this site where folks have made things as efficient as possible. They are buying logs delivered, have set up sawing benches for bucking, have conveyors and fel's to handle the wood. Most here are not setup like that and probably cant reach the production numbers of those that are. I am old, delapidated and partially disabled, no way I am going to hit the 1 cord in 4hr mark. Not with my current setup, but I aint trying to get production numbers either. In the past, with helpers, I have hit a adverage 1 cord per 4hrs several times. Did a cord that was already bucked, split and stacked in 15min once, but I also had friends and family hanging around with drinks in their hand not doing anything but watching. But those that where working had their tongue,s hanging out. No way we could have kept up that pace for 4 hrs. I have also hit 4 cords in 4 hrs, but again, I had plenty of help and man hr's would have been close to the 1 cord in 4 hrs. Now throw a full blown processor in the mix and the production levels should far exceed the 1 cord in 4 hrs with one person, as long as you have the support equipment to go with the processor.
You have to add in yet another time variable. Today it took me about an hour to get the log splitter's engine started because of the high humidity from melting snow and ground thaw that surrounded it. After a dozen or so useless pulls, I found an old 1200 watt hair drier and held it near he engine here and there for 10 minutes. Then the sun came out and I waited another twenty minutes for solar heat magic. Only then did the engine fire on the second pull, and after that it ran flawlessly.
My Honda knockoff is a sun worshiper with a mind of its own.
My Honda knockoff is a sun worshiper with a mind of its own.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
I was hoping to do 400 cords this past year. Ended up doing about 300. Hopefully I get a few more trucks setup, that was the biggest holdup.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
Best day I did was 6 cords cut, split and stacked in tge truck. Was a fairly long day and I had help.
By myself I can do 2 cords without pushing hard.
By myself I can do 2 cords without pushing hard.
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