Splitting wood

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

While I rather enjoy the rhythm and exercise of splitting wood, it's always a bear with a stringy wood like Elm when I have nothing left but a huge pile of big ole limb-wood that is all gnarly and twisted. Hacking through that stuff is like slogging uphill during a mudslide.

And the crotches Oh my they are everywhere. Big chewy crotches which I'd love if I were a turner. I have to take my chain saw to 'em.

[Jim Becker]

So...become a turner! The Vortex accepts all applicants... :D

[Brian Brown]

And the crotches Oh my they are everywhere. Big chewy crotches which I'd love if I were a turner. I have to take my chain saw to 'em.

You've wounded me!!! And all other turners I'm sure. There ought to be a law. Where are you located? Maybe you could make a huge slingshot and shoot them to me. :D Well, I think I'll go cry myself to sleep now.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Hey~!! Make me an offer.

[Jim Becker]

He's in New Joisey, Brian...

[Craig Summers]

Or get one of these

http://www.hud-son.com/includes/ljhbob.jpg

[Dennis Peacock]

Craig,

I looked at one of those....but for $40K, you can split wood with a super nice splitter for around the $3K range that is around the 40 Ton range of splitting power.

[Jim Becker]

Dennis...or for under a grand for a PTO mount splitter for the tractor... ;)

[Greg Cole]

An uncle of mine has one of those automated log feeding saw & splitter. 5 minutes to load the rack with a cherry picker and one man can handily split 2+ cord a hour if you have a take away-elevator conveyor after the splitter. Then again he sells something like 3,000 cord of firewood a year last I knew.
I like Cliff actually enjoy the exercise and rhythm of splitting the old fashioned way (but then again I don't burn wood anymore). 'Specially when it nice n cold out, ya get all warmed up from the labor & the wood just pops apart when its frozen. Although I've never seen elm pop apart... nor rock maple for that matter.

Greg

[curtis rosche]

hey greg, if he splits that much wood, you ought to get him to sell some of the burls or figured peices he runs into to us over at the vortex

[Dennis Peacock]

Of course....if you need a good splitter....take at a look at one of these babies. (http://www.americanmsr.com/logsplitters.htm) :cool: :D

[Greg Cole]

Curtis,
When I worked for said unlcle as a kid... I hate to tell you spinny guys how much spalted & figured material I made firewood out of.
Problem now is I am 1500 miles away & even worse another uncle has a Woodmizer 24' bandmill (least I think it'll take a 24' stick).
Not to mention skidders and the other toys to move sticks around with....:mad:
But I might be making a trip to VT to get a company truck and 20' tralier to drive back to Missouri... so there may be a haul in the future.

Greg

[Jim Mattheiss]

Wow - never seen anything like that piece of equipment.

I used to deliver rental log splitters to customers. 8 hp towable hydralic units.
One day I went to pick the machine up at the end of the day.

Grandpa was sitting on a log round running the hydralic levers t control the ram.
Dad was loading the rounds and kicking away the split pieces.
Son was carrying the splits and stacking them.
Grandson (3 or 4) was raking up the pieces of bark that had fallen off in the process.

If it was black and white, it could have been a Jack Daniels add.


I split wood the old fashioned way as a kid - sledge hammer and wedge. No fireplace now, so the I can't salivate over the firewood processor at the top of this post.

Jim

[Craig Summers]

I first heard of firewood processors this year, i was chatting with someone who owned one, he bought one used for $ 25 K, said it would be @ $ 75 K new, and he can do 4 cords/hr. He sold firewood in this area, gets $ 150 - 220 cord (once it gets cold, his price goes up). He gets free fallen trees that smaller developers deliver to his farm. (bigger developers buy thier own processor)

I looked online at firewood processors, the biggest ones claim seven (7) cords/hr and even boast heated/AC cabs with a CD player
Example Cord King (http://www.cord-master.com/specs.html)

http://www.cord-master.com/images/wedge.jpg

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

So I chopped up that huge old elm and made about 2.5 cord from the one tree. Then I decided that I had an old maple in the woods that needed taking. It hadn't produced any leaves for maybe two years- it was well and truly dead.

Big tree. Maybe 28 or 30 inches at the trunk.
And guess what: More chewy gnarley crotches.

Skidding that sucker out of the woods was a trip. I used my Scagg lawn mower. It performed like a trooper. I cut it into lengths that the mower could pull and had it out like a badger.

The hard part is loading it on my truck.
Heave Ho~!!

[Chris Padilla]

I split wood the old fashioned way as a kid - sledge hammer and wedge. No fireplace now, so the I can't salivate over the firewood processor at the top of this post.

Jim


Yep, 4-5 times every summer for what seemed like FOREVER, Dad would haul my brother and I and any friend I could sucker to cut, haul, load, drive home ssssllllooowwwwlllyyyyy, then unload, stack, and eventually split the wood for the winter. Boy did I hate summer.... ;) Dad would get mad, too, when I got 2 or 3 wedges stuck in a log! :rolleyes: