Water oaks and white oaks are in the red oak family and makes very good firewood and bbq smoking wood. I think water oaks, red oaks , nutalls, shumars, northern red oak, and spanish oak. I think post oak and pin oak are also in the red oak family.
What additions are you making to your 2020 firewooding arsenal?
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Water oaks and white oaks are in the red oak family and makes very good firewood and bbq smoking wood. I think water oaks, red oaks , nutalls, shumars, northern red oak, and spanish oak. I think post oak and pin oak are also in the red oak family.
I cut a couple black oak trees that were 5 feet in diameter, it took four 18” long rounds to make one cord. That means each round was between 1,112 lbs and 1,431 lbs, according to weight charts I’ve seen. Yeah it’s a rare exception to work on something that big. Once we pushed the round over for the vertical splitter, we weren’t moving it again until it was split into quarters.
What powers the Gorillabac? Does it have its own battery?
According to Fred any small 20 amp garden tractor battery will pull and lift up to 50 rounds. And you have to buy the battery separately, I drained my little 20 amp tractor battery after about 30 pulls and lifts. So I opted to upgraded to a 100 amp deep cycle marine battery, so I can get more lifts and run the battery all the way down without damaging the battery. I lifted rounds all day with the marine battery and it was only 1/4 of the way down. But I bought the battery this morning and I didn't check to see if it was fully charged. I have it on the charger and topping it off tonight and I'll see how long it last with a bigger battery then the one that say will work. The 20 amp tractor battery did work fine, it just didn't last as long as they say it should have, but to be fair, it is an old battery.
Doh! That’s right, I read that.
Oak trees down here can get quite large. I've had trunks that are 6 feet in divestiture and even bigger. 48'' trunks are very common around here..
People are usually taken aback that we turn stuff that big into firewood.
I bought the big 100 amp deep cycle battery so I could work all day without running out of juice and having to stop and recharge.
I know a guy not far that runs a small mill and when I get some really nice logs I call him and he sometimes buys them from me. If not they get turned into firewood.
I processed over 100 cord last year, this year I hope to do better then that. I think with this lift unit, it will help me achieve that goal.
I split and stacked over 2 cord today and I had to stop and go to the dentist to get a crown fitted so that took a few ours out of my day, plus I had to go by Walmart and buy the battery so I didn't get a full day in. Plus I sold a cord and a half and had to stop and load that so I didn't get a full day of slpitting in.
I split and stacked over 2 cord today and I had to stop and go to the dentist to get a crown fitted so that took a few ours out of my day, plus I had to go by Walmart and buy the battery so I didn't get a full day in. Plus I sold a cord and a half and had to stop and load that so I didn't get a full day of slpitting in.
Went to the shop two days ago and got a couple new items to add to my previous purchase last week.
A new pair of Stihl chainsaw boots, chainsaw pants and suspenders.
On top of that, my logger’s tape came in the mail yesterday.
That should be all for now until I find a cant hook sometime this summer
I need a good can hook, I broke my old wooden handled one a few years back, I could use a good pry bar as well.. I've been just using the tractor and chain to drag the big logs out of the pile so I can cut to length. Sometimes you have to get creative and use what you have.
Water oak is very dense wit a tight grain. very heavy when green and still pretty heave dry. It splits very well dry and even green, nice strait grained till you get to forks and then the grain goes in all directions. Even forked water oak splits fairly easy, but you gotta know how to work with the grain tomake it easier.
Yep them big oak logs can fool you as to how heavy they can be.
Green log weights per foot. chart
https://www.tcia.org/TCIAPdfs/membership/green-log-weight-chart-20120521_0.pdf
https://www.tcia.org/TCIAPdfs/membership/green-log-weight-chart-20120521_0.pdf
I didn’t know California black oak was listed separately, it’s a little heavier. 24 lbs per foot at 32” diameter.
The gorillabac seems to be made very heavy duty with heavy gauge steel.
My countyline 40 ton splitter is a pretty big unit with a very good tong stand that is about 2 feet wide, and with the stabilizer jack on the lift the splitter is extremely steady and plenty heavy enough to handle big heavy rounds. It's not a light weight flimsy unit, It's got some weight behind it and is rock steady when handling the big heavy rounds.
My countyline 40 ton splitter is a pretty big unit with a very good tong stand that is about 2 feet wide, and with the stabilizer jack on the lift the splitter is extremely steady and plenty heavy enough to handle big heavy rounds. It's not a light weight flimsy unit, It's got some weight behind it and is rock steady when handling the big heavy rounds.
I do a lot of post oak and live oak and a 32'' live oak round per foot is 452 lb per foot to 356 for post oak per foot.
I was lifting 30'' water oak rounds about 20'' long so I'm guessing the were close to 600lbs and the lift handled them just fine even though the lift is only rated at 250 lb lift capacity. I think to use a conservative weight limit for liability reasons. When there dry, there about half that weight.
It’s common to rate with a safety factor. You don’t want the rating to be right at the failure point.
Yes I believe you are correct.
I'll try to get some photos tomorrow and maybe a video or two. As long as you don't mind looking at my ugly mug. 
I just checked the charger and the battery is 100% fully charged. I'm gonna try to keep count of how many lifts I get before the battery peters out on a single charge. I'm gonna run it till it goes completely dead. I will measure each round both in length and diameter. And keep track of the time. I will do a real life test of the unit and battery set up.
I just checked the charger and the battery is 100% fully charged. I'm gonna try to keep count of how many lifts I get before the battery peters out on a single charge. I'm gonna run it till it goes completely dead. I will measure each round both in length and diameter. And keep track of the time. I will do a real life test of the unit and battery set up.
