Who needs a log table?

[Streblerm]

I scored about 2.5 cords of pinoak and a little bit of silver maple from craigslist about five miles from home. It was all big stuff. The smallest rounds there were 24" diameter and the stumps were about 40 inches. Anything that was easy to handle was gone but people don't like to mess with the bigger stuff. It is a little more work but you have to justify the big saws I've been quartering them up and throwing them in the truck after work the past few nights. I finally reached the minimum handling with this setup. The tailgate is dead even with the splitter rails when unloaded, about six inches lower with a good load. I split the wood right out of the truck and then stacked it while the ram is retracting. The tailgate makes the perfect log table. This wood will make it to the stove with only three handlings. Not to bad.

I really like this truck! It just plain works. Sure a 3/4 ton or bigger 4x4 would be nice, but the low bed height is really nice for wrestling big rounds into. I keep looking to upgrade, but I think it will wait until I use this one up.

 

[Hedgerow]

That there's workin' smart... And any justification for larger saws is OK in my book...

 

[Streblerm]

The guy i got the wood from was cool. Half the wood was in the yard of a rental he was re-habbing, the other half was on the devil's strip. He asked that I get the wood out of the yard first as he had someone coming in to grade for parking. I told him I'd take it all and would be happy to clear out the yard first. I brought the wood home over 3 nights and the owner called me a few times to make sure I was coming back since other people were inquiring about it. He stuck to his word and I got everything that was there, :smile2: other than the noodles.

I cut it all with my makita 6401 and trusty old 034. I have to say I still prefer the 034 to the 6401. Much lighter and similar power. The funny thing is the Stihl has the same effective bar reach with an 18"bar as the Makita does with a 20. Must be the dawgs.

This was from an urban area with lots of rentals. I had quite an audience. Passers by, more often than not, stopped and asked how I was going to get the logs in the truck. Saws, the Fiskars, and brute strength was the answer. I dragged my splitter on the last trip just to hear a little different tune. Honestly I was just getting tired of sharpening chains. I thought the saws drew a crowd but the splitter was stopping traffic!. I guess most inner city renters don't have much use for one. I really think the Fiskars is a better show, but what do I know? Shiny red always gets people's attention.

 

[ponyexpress976]

Nice haul! Even better thinking! Anywhere you cut a step out of the firewood handling process is aces in my book! last time I had an audience in an "urban" setting, I thought they were eyeing my saws for the pawn shop 2 blocks away. Crying shame when you can't be more than 50' from the truck and you still need to keep it locked up.

 

[Nosmo]

Using your noodle and noodling.

That is a good score and good use of your thinking cap. The use of your truck as a log cradle is a good feature too.

Watch out for those suspicious looking onlookers who lurk around your equipment and vehicle while you are trying to pay attention to your splitting or sawing. I just don't like to draw a crowd while cutting or splitting away from home.

Nosmo

 

[GeeVee]

The guy i got the wood from was cool. Half the wood was in the yard of a rental he was re-habbing, the other half was on the devil's strip. He asked that I get the wood out of the yard first as he had someone coming in to grade for parking. I told him I'd take it all and would be happy to clear out the yard first. I brought the wood home over 3 nights and the owner called me a few times to make sure I was coming back since other people were inquiring about it. He stuck to his word and I got everything that was there, :smile2: other than the noodles.

I cut it all with my makita 6401 and trusty old 034. I have to say I still prefer the 034 to the 6401. Much lighter and similar power. The funny thing is the Stihl has the same effective bar reach with an 18"bar as the Makita does with a 20. Must be the dawgs.

This was from an urban area with lots of rentals. I had quite an audience. Passers by, more often than not, stopped and asked how I was going to get the logs in the truck. Saws, the Fiskars, and brute strength was the answer. I dragged my splitter on the last trip just to hear a little different tune. Honestly I was just getting tired of sharpening chains. I thought the saws drew a crowd but the splitter was stopping traffic!. I guess most inner city renters don't have much use for one. I really think the Fiskars is a better show, but what do I know? Shiny red always gets people's attention.

Couldn't put the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn on any of them City Folks?

 

[Streblerm]

That is a good score and good use of your thinking cap. The use of your truck as a log cradle is a good feature too.

Watch out for those suspicious looking onlookers who lurk around your equipment and vehicle while you are trying to pay attention to your splitting or sawing. I just don't like to draw a crowd while cutting or splitting away from home.

Nosmo

I agree. I was chastising myself for feeling that way toward strangers as I want to see the best in people. Unfortunately it is the way of the world regardless of setting (urban, suburban, rural). The truck was right next to where I was working and there was nothing visible, inside, worth stealing. I had my saws close to where I was working, more or less under the back of the truck, or in my hand.

One of the reasons that I didn't take the splitter earlier was that I neither wanted to leave it on site nor drag it back and forth every time.

 

[zogger]

mod ideas

I agree. I was chastising myself for feeling that way toward strangers as I want to see the best in people. Unfortunately it is the way of the world regardless of setting (urban, suburban, rural). The truck was right next to where I was working and there was nothing visible, inside, worth stealing. I had my saws close to where I was working, more or less under the back of the truck, or in my hand.

One of the reasons that I didn't take the splitter earlier was that I neither wanted to leave it on site nor drag it back and forth every time.

this is goofy, just thought of it. Have a splitter built into the tailgate. Drop the gate, have support legs, split, throw the chunks forward. Would be nice to have it powered off the vehicle while idling. Or just make an extension with some cantilever supports so you don't lose bed space. OR, it slides out from underneath some how...
...hmm..like maybe fold out, fold in for driving, fold out for working.


Added bonus, hydraulic saw....... with a long hose

What would a small splitter weigh minus the little air cooled engine anyway? Something like those three point hitch tractor splitters, small. The pump would be up front in the engine bay most likely, not all trucks have a PTO to connect to, so you'd need to mount something beefy up there to run from another belt..or..just thinking out loud now. A dedicated normal pickup sized firewood harvester truck, self contained, got it all. Need to be an extended cab though for tool storage, or a utility bed styled truck with side lockers, etc.. Take the joke seat or seats out and make some tool boxes in that space if a regular extended cab.