Logistics of firewood hauling and splitting?

[Chilly807]

I use a winch on mine to lift, but use chain to pull. ~~ grnspot110

Same here, the regular choker goes around the log, then the winch and a grab hook (if necessary) hooks to the choker, raising the log until I can hook the choker off to the arch.

Sean

[Gordon Gould]

Chilly - Do those four legged things I see with the blankets on them get involved in the firewood business? BTW I like your northern woods.

Here is my splitter - cycle time is slooow. My internal hydraulics aren't what they used to be

[Chilly807]

We have a couple that can be "helpful", one youngster in particular likes to move things when you're not looking.

Have you ever looked at the electric over hydraulic splitters, Gordon? It's all we use these days, will split 90% or better of whatever we stick in it. A fraction of the cost of gas or 3ph splitters.

I started splitting with an axe a lot of years ago, I can still do it if the mood strikes me. I actually enjoy it for an hour or two.

The woods aren't too bad, but the areas we're cutting in should have been thinned before now, a lot of windfalls and blow-downs. Hard going with anything but a winch, we use the ATV or tractor with a snatch block to get the wood out to a hauling road and go from there.

Sean

[Gordon Gould]

Have you ever looked at the electric over hydraulic splitters, Gordon? It's all we use these days, will split 90% or better of whatever we stick in it. A fraction of the cost of gas or 3ph splitters.

Sean

I have never seen the electric over hydraulic splitter. Right now I am looking for a splitter. I find all the info and pro/cons on splitters here very interesting and informative. Right now I think I would like a stand alone unit but would not pass up a good deal on a 3pt splitter. I will check out the electric over hydraulic ones. Thanks

gg

[Bill Hoffman]

Greenspot,

Could you please post some more photos of your log hauler?
It seems to have a hinged section. How does it all work?

Thanks,

Bill

[Dead Horse]

I have tried several methods, re: the original question, with the goal of minimizing the amount of handling.

When logging where it is tight, I have cut to rounds and loaded into a dump truck, to haul to the splitting yard.

Now, after a couple years of running it, I have gotten good at skidding out logs, even in tight spaces, with a big tractor and a Farmi J601. So pretty much that is the preferred set of tactics. Fell, inch, limb and chip in situ. Skid to the splitting yard, buck ssplit and stack.

Pictures tell the story. I put up 40+ cord this year.

Second to Last pick is the '68 F800, off to the left...... good ole "yard truck"

[beenthere]

I've yet to see an electric splitter that wasn't very, very sloooow. And it required two buttons to be pushed simoultaneously to operate them. I've looked at the electric to use in the garage during the winter to further break down split wood for some smaller kindling-sizes, but know they are much too slow to do much production work. For sure, a bench would be needed to get the little things up off the ground. Watching some of the videos of their operation, makes ones back hurt as they are on hands and knees, or stooped over pushing the two buttons.

Maybe there is a splitter "electric over hydraulic", but I'm thinking that Chilly807 meant "electric versus hydraulic".

[MNBobcat]

I put up 40+ cord this year.

Wow! How long did that take you?

[Dead Horse]

Wow! How long did that take you?

Well, on and off since April, in between, other chores. I have an apple orchard I care for, about 45 acres, between meadows and trees. That plus about 60 acres of forest.

So between brush cutting, mowing, equipment and facility maintenance chores, I squeeze in firewood production, weather permitting.

Getting the process down to a fine science is important for me as I would otherwise spend more time on it than I would prefer.

I heat my rather large home with firewood, via a Central Boiler...... making the whole cycle quite rewarding to me. I never know how much time I am going to have to spend on the farm, so this year i really put my shoulder into it.

[Chilly807]

Mine has an electric motor running a hydraulic pump, 4 tons of splitting force. Not much compared to the 15-20 ton gas models.

However, for the 4-5 cords we cut every year, it works fine. Occasionally a big snarly piece of wood gets set aside for the chainsaw, but that's ok with me. The two-button system is easily "got-around", mine has a spring holding one lever depressed, just one finger required to run it.

We split all our wood within 100 feet of the house, so power is never an issue. I have a folding table the splitter sits on, the splitter stores under the bench in the garage. I think the cycle time is about 12-14 seconds, which is fine if you're not in a hurry. One person splitting and the second one stacking makes for a comfortable pace for everybody. $379 Cdn at Home Depot. No gas fumes, no noise, and you can chat while you're splitting wood if you choose. Splitting kindling in the garage or basement is do-able in the dead of winter too.

Now... if you're going to split more than 5 full cords a year, if you're in a hurry, or if your wood is more than 12-14 inches in diameter, it's not the right tool for you.

There are 220 v models with considerably more power and speed, in time I'll build one of those as the parts appear. For now, I'm happy with the one we have, which is a Ryobi. I think the same splitter is sold as Homelite now.

Sean