Most efficient way to process firewood

[Daniel Bain]

Hello, we are looking for advice and suggestions on the most efficient and cost effective way to process cordwood/large logs into firewood.

We live on a farm in Kent and due to recent new woodland pathways and general clearing of fallen trees we have collected a decent pile of wood. Now we are considering the best way to turn this great stuff into logs. We use most of it ourselves in the winter and probably don't have enough to start selling it to the public.

On site we have a small tractor with PTO, a circular saw (PTO DRIVEN), a petrol 10tonne log splitter (fairly good but v slow), splitting axe and wedges. I have been using the logsplitter and axe for the odd bit over the years but obviously pretty slow. I have started to look into hiring a firewood processor and i think it would cost about £800 to process the cord wood we have (photo attached hopefully).

Do we process this lot quickly with processors and extra help or just go at it slowly over the winter with saw, log splitter and axe. We are not in a particular rush as we have enough for this winter fuel wise but ideally we want to get through the wood in photo (hardwood about 2- 3 years)

Any suggestions, advise appreciated.

 

[blades]

Hi Daniel, welcome to AS. A processor would get through that fairly quickly as the bulk of it looks to be fairly straight and of sizes that would work in said unit. Question is , is it worth the expense to go that route to you. Me being rather cheap I just work up my own. I work by myself 99% of the time, but one extra set of hands can double your output, possibly at less cost than the machine/ operator. I can usually process 15 to 20 cord ( 1 cord =128 cubic feet or 3.62 cubic meters) of fire wood cut, split and stacked over the course of 2 months of odd free time with the same tools as your self. I am currently 8-9 heating seasons worth ahead( consumption for me is about 4-5 cubic meters per heating season) so I am under no pressure- I very seldom sell any - not in that business either- figure it is money in the bank as well as a hedge against possibility of medical problems preventing me from doing anything ( 64 years old so xxxx happens) Picture is just one of the stacks - been drying for apx 3 years now.

 

[moondoggie]

I would use the splitter. Save your money. That's my opinion. Some things take time and hard work. $882.85 seems like a lot IMHO.

 

[Marshy]

That pile looks like it's approximately 6 feet high or so and log lengths are about 10 feet long, is that correct?

Most of that wood wouldn't even need splitting for my burner. The stuff that does would be split once. I process all of my firewood by hand using a Fiskars and I use 25.3 cubic meters of wood per year (7 cord). Personally if your in no rush I would keep doing what your doing.

If you are I satisfied with the speed of your splitter you might want to consider a larger pump that has a faster cycle time but you might he horsepower limited. Maybe some pictures of your splitter would help spur discussion.

It sounds like you are using the PTO driven saw to cut this to length otherwise you could get a PTO driven splitter that has a larger pump an let the tractor power it.

 

[Daniel Bain]

Hi Daniel, welcome to AS. A processor would get through that fairly quickly as the bulk of it looks to be fairly straight and of sizes that would work in said unit. Question is , is it worth the expense to go that route to you. Me being rather cheap I just work up my own. I work by myself 99% of the time, but one extra set of hands can double your output, possibly at less cost than the machine/ operator. I can usually process 15 to 20 cord ( 1 cord =128 cubic feet or 3.62 cubic meters) of fire wood cut, split and stacked over the course of 2 months of odd free time with the same tools as your self. I am currently 8-9 heating seasons worth ahead( consumption for me is about 4-5 cubic meters per heating season) so I am under no pressure- I very seldom sell any - not in that business either- figure it is money in the bank as well as a hedge against possibility of medical problems preventing me from doing anything ( 64 years old so xxxx happens) Picture is just one of the stacks - been drying for apx 3 years now.

Thanks for the reply.
Maybe should just work our way through it over the coming winter as don't really want to spent much more money on our own heating!
Thanks again

 

[Daniel Bain]

That pile looks like it's approximately 6 feet high or so and log lengths are about 10 feet long, is that correct?

Most of that wood wouldn't even need splitting for my burner. The stuff that does would be split once. I process all of my firewood by hand using a Fiskars and I use 25.3 cubic meters of wood per year (7 cord). Personally if your in no rush I would keep doing what your doing.

If you are I satisfied with the speed of your splitter you might want to consider a larger pump that has a faster cycle time but you might he horsepower limited. Maybe some pictures of your splitter would help spur discussion.

It sounds like you are using the PTO driven saw to cut this to length otherwise you could get a PTO driven splitter that has a larger pump an let the tractor power it.

Logsplitter - https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/clarke-logbuster-8-10-tonne-petrol-log-splitter

A cheap one compared to most out there and is quite powerful but is very slow as you have to wait until ram goes back slowly. Engine and ram is great but the rest of seems to be made out of cheese and is slowly falling apart!!!!

I doubt we will look at buying another splitter but maybe hiring one

Pile is about 6ft high and more like 20ft long, also has another line about half length behind. (Plus loads more but bigger, ready to split bits)

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I would use the splitter. Save your money. That's my opinion. Some things take time and hard work. $882.85 seems like a lot IMHO.

882? He said $800 pounds, that's around $1250 US, no?

Pretty cheap, figure at $100/hr that's 12+ cords of wood processed. That's paying for at least 1 guy, his processor and a loader.

 

[sledge&wedge]

Hello, we are looking for advice and suggestions on the most efficient and cost effective way to process cordwood/large logs into firewood.

We live on a farm in Kent and due to recent new woodland pathways and general clearing of fallen trees we have collected a decent pile of wood. Now we are considering the best way to turn this great stuff into logs. We use most of it ourselves in the winter and probably don't have enough to start selling it to the public.

On site we have a small tractor with PTO, a circular saw (PTO DRIVEN), a petrol 10tonne log splitter (fairly good but v slow), splitting axe and wedges. I have been using the logsplitter and axe for the odd bit over the years but obviously pretty slow. I have started to look into hiring a firewood processor and i think it would cost about £800 to process the cord wood we have (photo attached hopefully).

Do we process this lot quickly with processors and extra help or just go at it slowly over the winter with saw, log splitter and axe. We are not in a particular rush as we have enough for this winter fuel wise but ideally we want to get through the wood in photo (hardwood about 2- 3 years)

Any suggestions, advise appreciated.

Let me start by saying this: I don't have any experience with processors. However, I do have experience with needing to get wood ready to burn on a budget. Since you have the equipment you mentioned, you have plenty to help you out in moving things around and making your process fairly comfortable. Tractor to lift/move logs and hold them up for bucking, a splitter, a buzzsaw, etc... Since what you have is all relatively small wood, I would go the hand-splitting and splitter route. Most of that would probably bust up with just one whack from any decent axe or maul, and since you don't have a time constraint you can save yourself a lot of money. One motivated guy can split a lot of wood in one hard weekend, whether with a splitter or by hand. Good luck and happy wooding!

EDIT: What I should have started with was "Welcome to AS!"

 

[Jere39]

Welcome to AS. You might find folks here enjoy working with the wood they intend for heating. So, most of us, certainly I, like to work efficiently, but, not necessarily at high speed. That said, with a pile like that, I'd saw a cord to firewood length, then split and stack. Then repeat.
I'm not sure how you lift those logs to whatever height you need for your buzz saw, but if that is not a problem for you, then I'd say you have everything you need. I assume you are not burdened by deep snow fall in the winter. So, cool temps, fresh air, processed firewood. All sounds like every winter I spend here, though I use a chain saw, and split by hand with a Fiskars or maul and wedge for the odd stubborn piece. Enjoy.

 

[Hinerman]

I have a friend that helps me split my wood on occassion. In my experience, we can do 3 times the work together as I can do myself. The only thing I would suggest is get a faster splitter and 1 good helper. You keep saying "we" so I am assuming you already have help so a faster splitter should speed production up quite a bit. For the size wood you have a Super Split would be perfect. I have been to a GTG with Super Splits to use and it took 5 people to keep that thing running smoothly. One guy running the ram, one guy loading, one guy chucking the splits, and 2 guys bringing the rounds to the loader.

 

[Marshy]

One thing I just thought of that might help is a stroke limiter on your ram. If your rounds are only half as long as the full travel on the splitter then a full cycle is unnecessary and costing you time. If you are good at fabricating you can make your own. Might have to research different option and chose one to build or buy one if available.

Look here: http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/dht-stroke-reducer.281762/

 

[Trx250r180]

this is the most efficient way i have found so far ,and you don't even break a sweat .

 

[blades]

Hey Daniel you did not mention if your splitter was pto driven or operating off the tractor hydraulics or free standing, just that it was slow. Of the three running off the hydro of the tractor is the worst speed wise ( small tractor rarely exceed 10gpm or liters)in addition it would only be a single stage system. Pto driven pump would be a higher output possibly and maybe even a 2 stage. Free standing self contained are mostly 2 stage pumps ( low pressure high flow until too much resistance then switches to high pressure low flow) these are faster for the most part than tractor driven units.

 

[Marshy]

Hey Daniel you did not mention if your splitter was pto driven or operating off the tractor hydraulics or free standing, just that it was slow. Of the three running off the hydro of the tractor is the worst speed wise ( small tractor rarely exceed 10gpm or liters)in addition it would only be a single stage system. Pto driven pump would be a higher output possibly and maybe even a 2 stage. Free standing self contained are mostly 2 stage pumps ( low pressure high flow until too much resistance then switches to high pressure low flow) these are faster for the most part than tractor driven units.

From his link and description its a stand alone splitter.

 

[Daniel Bain]

Thank you everyone for the responses.
It sounds like I should get on with then! In the past I have done all the splitting alone but from suggestions above I will rope some brothers in for some splitting sessions or seek out that bob cat splitter which looks awesome!

Thank you all and I have to say excellent forum!

 

[shokidq]

I'd advise getting on with it sooner rather than later won't last long sitting on the ground you could have done with some bearers underneath, looks to be a couple of days for a processor there are some folks down around you hire out for 2-300 a day. are you going to stack in a shed or bag them S G baker vented bags are pretty good.

 

[Daniel Bain]

I'd advise getting on with it sooner rather than later won't last long sitting on the ground you could have done with some bearers underneath, looks to be a couple of days for a processor there are some folks down around you hire out for 2-300 a day. are you going to stack in a shed or bag them S G baker vented bags are pretty good.

We have open sided log stores which should house these logs if stacked carefully! Don't think we will bother with bags but will keep it in mind.

I think we will get on with it soon.
Was thinking we will spend a day or two sawing the cord into a pile (still outside) then split as we go over the coming months. Will a pile of cut wood be OK in a pile outside until we get on with splitting and storing?

 

[blades]

Better if you can put a base of old pallets or similar under to keep rounds off the ground, ground contact and moisture are what starts the rotting process. Keeping any firewood or wood in general up off ground contact will allow storage for a long time. If storing in round form it is best to make several scoring cuts length wise through the bark, lets moisture escape. Stuff like Birch will go punky inside the shell of bark otherwise.