How to split big wood efficiently?
- Thread starter Sandhill Crane
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
c5rulz
Addicted to ArboristSite
I deal with a lot of logs that are cut offs from log landings. Routinely they are in the 20-28" range. When the boys are working they load my trailer with the forwarder. When they aren't I cut the rounds, roll them up the ramp into my trailer, roll them off and split vertically if they can't be picked up, into small enough pieces that can be. Then finish horizontally. Large wood makes a lot of splits in a hurry.
Typical product:
Typical product:
KiwiBro
I did not hear from Tempest. I could have called and did not either. Looked around YouTube a bit and found another video and comments.
It was posted two years ago and offered new for $22,000. (Sliver V model) Seems like a lot...
I did not hear from Tempest. I could have called and did not either. Looked around YouTube a bit and found another video and comments.
It was posted two years ago and offered new for $22,000. (Sliver V model) Seems like a lot...
lindnova
ArboristSite Operative
That is one he!! of a load for that trailer!I deal with a lot of logs that are cut offs from log landings. Routinely they are in the 20-28" range. When the boys are working they load my trailer with the forwarder. When they aren't I cut the rounds, roll them up the ramp into my trailer, roll them off and split vertically if they can't be picked up, into small enough pieces that can be. Then finish horizontally. Large wood makes a lot of splits in a hurry.
Typical product:
c5rulz
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yes it was. I only hauled .5 miles to my house. When the boys have the log forwarder, it's just too easy to say "one more".
KiwiBro
Mill 'em, nails be damned.
Ouch
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2002
- Messages
- 4,799
- Reaction score
- 12,593
- Location
- North of Goderich, Ontario, Canada
I have lots of toys to handle any size wood. Most efficient for me is 12 to 20" ash. From standing trees to splits piled off my conveyor this is the most productive for me and my body. Bigger wood is too hard on my body, smaller wood is also hard on my body, you know jumping off the tractor to hook onto small logs, cutting for an hour to only add up to a little pile etc. The bush I'm cutting in now only has trees up to about 24" so I'm pretty productive here. I've been leaving the 10" and under stuff for winter when the extra physical work will keep me warm. And I can use the buzz saw on the smaller stuff.
Limb wood pics.
Bigger stuff will add up fast. This load might be poplar but the ash is the same size.
Limb wood pics.
Bigger stuff will add up fast. This load might be poplar but the ash is the same size.
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2002
- Messages
- 4,799
- Reaction score
- 12,593
- Location
- North of Goderich, Ontario, Canada
Kiwi, I forgot all about that burl, I noticed it in the pics before but keep forgetting to look for it in the bush. There are some smaller ones that I did look at.
Rarely noodle. If i do it is a bulky crotch. I split in vertical position 90% of the time. Can push the big rounds close to splitter with skidloader or just move splitter, which is always hooked up to 4 wheeler and can back in about anywhere I need. Usually pop the bigs into 3-4 manageable chunks and roll them to the side. Lifting and wrangling the big rounds on the splitter is a waste of time in my opinion. That's just me. I have debated on building a log cradle for splitting horizontal but feel it would be in way when vertical. Good back and knees yet....
I did just pick up a hayrack trailer that I will only use to haul wood. May split off that but have too much wood on the ground already.
Skidsteer splitter seems a touch cumbersome, but have thought about building one to try, can always sell. Plus putting hours/wear and tear and burning a lot more diesel fuel on a 58 hp engine versus gas in a 6.5 hp....
I do like big wood just for the fact it has minimal bark, and can make a big pile in a hurry as you are continuously splitting,
I did just pick up a hayrack trailer that I will only use to haul wood. May split off that but have too much wood on the ground already.
Skidsteer splitter seems a touch cumbersome, but have thought about building one to try, can always sell. Plus putting hours/wear and tear and burning a lot more diesel fuel on a 58 hp engine versus gas in a 6.5 hp....
I do like big wood just for the fact it has minimal bark, and can make a big pile in a hurry as you are continuously splitting,
mga
wandering
if i can't lift them myself, i'll split them by hand since i'm always working alone.
still use a wedge and sledge hammer to bust them in half then throw them on the splitter.
keeps ya humble and in shape.
still use a wedge and sledge hammer to bust them in half then throw them on the splitter.
keeps ya humble and in shape.
Only one way to be efficient on big wood. Big cyl, more oil, long thin knife, hydraulicly adjustable, multiple split wedge, and a lift to put those big rounds on the splitter frame. I have found that the narrow knive wedges will slice thru big rounds easier and faster than a wide wedge. A long tall wedge will cut those large dia rounds in half where as a short wedge, wide or narrow, can leave a large round only half split. Having a boom with a small winch mounted , I can lift pretty much any size round I want on my splitter, without having to worry about breaking my back. My wedge is 24" tall fully extended and I seldom have a round that is half split and still hinged an having to be turned to finish the first split thru it. With the 4 wings added to make it a 6way wedge, I usually end up with 6 large pieces of wood with just one pass. I can then stack those 6 pieces back on the splitter, three pieces at a time, that I can now actually pickup by hand, and make one more pass and have wood ready for the stove. As for noodleing, take a big saw and by the time you standup the round, crank up the saw, cut the round in half, then still have to put on the splitter to finish processing, I can have several large rounds already split. If your only processing wood for personal use, noddle with your saw and forget the big splitter. If your splitting for sale, forget noddleing, get something to get the job done. JMHO
I love it all big and small!
Thanks
This round would be lifted by my boom, knot turned up and the bottom half split 6ways then the knot half lowered back on the splitter and split 6 ways, giving 12 pieces of wood in less than a minute. The 12 splits would be then placed back on the splitter, two and 3 pieces at a time, and processed down to 24splits. Probably take 3 min total to process.
066blaster
Addicted to ArboristSite
This works too.
With all these posts the gears have been turning.
Mostly, my equipment loan balance is down, three more months to payoff. The plan is to pay it off and work with what I have for the next year.
-I have been checking out skid steers on line. It would be a multifunctional piece of equipment with forks, a bucket, and splitter. I like this option, but do not know the first thing about skid steers or what to look for. Maintenance on my truck set me back and I do not want to repeat that with a skid steer.
-Priced the Built-Rite 24 hpws with log lift, and it's 35 hp diesel option. I think the first one was $12,775. but not sure. $12,000 plus anyway. The diesel w/lift weighed in at $15,775. and looks like it would split anything, period. But then you still need to re-split the splits.
-I also called PowerSplit International to price the PowerBuggy, a vertical splitter, table, and log lift. They don't answer. Leave message/info and they will mail a cd and prices, or call. Did not leave my number. A year ago it was ten to eleven thousand with the lift.
-Also looked at CRD Metalworks. Nice web site, with prices! But I can not get processor size logs so...
-back to basics, which might be a heavy duty hay wagon and noodling big rounds. Not ideal, but neither have been the loan payments.
-a true processor does seem the way to up production. Just not there yet...
Where do I find a good used hay wagon?
Mostly, my equipment loan balance is down, three more months to payoff. The plan is to pay it off and work with what I have for the next year.
-I have been checking out skid steers on line. It would be a multifunctional piece of equipment with forks, a bucket, and splitter. I like this option, but do not know the first thing about skid steers or what to look for. Maintenance on my truck set me back and I do not want to repeat that with a skid steer.
-Priced the Built-Rite 24 hpws with log lift, and it's 35 hp diesel option. I think the first one was $12,775. but not sure. $12,000 plus anyway. The diesel w/lift weighed in at $15,775. and looks like it would split anything, period. But then you still need to re-split the splits.
-I also called PowerSplit International to price the PowerBuggy, a vertical splitter, table, and log lift. They don't answer. Leave message/info and they will mail a cd and prices, or call. Did not leave my number. A year ago it was ten to eleven thousand with the lift.
-Also looked at CRD Metalworks. Nice web site, with prices! But I can not get processor size logs so...
-back to basics, which might be a heavy duty hay wagon and noodling big rounds. Not ideal, but neither have been the loan payments.
-a true processor does seem the way to up production. Just not there yet...
Where do I find a good used hay wagon?
That's the way I do the big ones, say up to 30" or so. Larger ones I noodle to a manageable size before they hit the splitter. Basically if I can pick up 1/2 of the round, it gets split like is in the picture.
jrider: 30 cord plus per year. I bought two 20 cord loads, each of the last three years, processed yields 30 cord plus stacked.stratton
ArboristSite Member
Buy a supersplit and call it a day.....
I sell 200-300 crds a yr. If i had those trailor loads i wouldnt there would be need for hydrolics.Come to ct... Oak=hydrolics.
I sell 200-300 crds a yr. If i had those trailor loads i wouldnt there would be need for hydrolics.Come to ct... Oak=hydrolics.
I "noodle" very little; in my mind it wastes time, fuel and firewood... not to mention the extra wear 'n' tear on the saw and cuttin' chain. About the only thing I "noodle" all the way through is big elm rounds.
Rounds in the 25 inch range I can put onto my horizontal splitter with out much effort... the splitter beam is low (below knee level), so it's sort'a like a hook, jerk, roll and lift thing. And, like I've mentioned before, the splitter is so light and easy to move, I near never move rounds to it... I roll the splitter to the next round using one hand. Heck, on smooth ground I can use one finger.
When the rounds approach 30 inches I'll halve them... I can "flop" the halves on the splitter even easier than what I described above. The first thing I do is cut the whole log to firebox length; I walk down one side of it making the cuts, then walk down the other side making the finish cuts using bucking wedges. It ain't a problem bucking a 40 inch log with 20 inch bar that way... the truth is, you can do a little bigger than 40 inches, that little bit of wood in the center usually breaks. If, for example, the log is laying north-south, I alternate rolling the rounds a few inches east and west as I make the finish cuts. Then I walk down the line of rounds and "noodle" a short cut into all them... now I'm done with the saw. Next comes the splitting wedge and 8# maul; I set the wedge in the "noodle" cut and whack it hard with the blunt side of the maul head... occasionally I have to whack it twice. If the round is really big, say something over 35 inches, I'll quarter the halves with a couple swings using the sharp side. Then, pick up the wedge and turn to the next round. Seriously, doing it that way, the halving, even quartering of big rounds is the fastest part of turning big wood into little wood... a whole lot faster than "noodling" them all the way through. Finally, I roll the splitter up to the halves (or quarters) and toss the splits in the trailer as I work.
*
Rounds in the 25 inch range I can put onto my horizontal splitter with out much effort... the splitter beam is low (below knee level), so it's sort'a like a hook, jerk, roll and lift thing. And, like I've mentioned before, the splitter is so light and easy to move, I near never move rounds to it... I roll the splitter to the next round using one hand. Heck, on smooth ground I can use one finger.
When the rounds approach 30 inches I'll halve them... I can "flop" the halves on the splitter even easier than what I described above. The first thing I do is cut the whole log to firebox length; I walk down one side of it making the cuts, then walk down the other side making the finish cuts using bucking wedges. It ain't a problem bucking a 40 inch log with 20 inch bar that way... the truth is, you can do a little bigger than 40 inches, that little bit of wood in the center usually breaks. If, for example, the log is laying north-south, I alternate rolling the rounds a few inches east and west as I make the finish cuts. Then I walk down the line of rounds and "noodle" a short cut into all them... now I'm done with the saw. Next comes the splitting wedge and 8# maul; I set the wedge in the "noodle" cut and whack it hard with the blunt side of the maul head... occasionally I have to whack it twice. If the round is really big, say something over 35 inches, I'll quarter the halves with a couple swings using the sharp side. Then, pick up the wedge and turn to the next round. Seriously, doing it that way, the halving, even quartering of big rounds is the fastest part of turning big wood into little wood... a whole lot faster than "noodling" them all the way through. Finally, I roll the splitter up to the halves (or quarters) and toss the splits in the trailer as I work.
*
