Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[ruffdog]

We split a bit of wood this weekend
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What kind of wood and how large and straight are the logs? I helped the neighbor when he had a processor for a day last year. It was about twice the size but we had a crew of about 8 people. One guy was running a Lull bringing logs and one in a skidsteer cutting/loading logs. The biggest problem was the logs were crooked so they needed cutting before going in the processor. I think I still have some sawdust from that day in my eyes and hair!

 

[2diamondfarm]

What kind of wood and how large and straight are the logs? I helped the neighbor when he had a processor for a day last year. It was about twice the size but we had a crew of about 8 people. One guy was running a Lull bringing logs and one in a skidsteer cutting/loading logs. The biggest problem was the logs were crooked so they needed cutting before going in the processor. I think I still have some sawdust from that day in my eyes and hair!

mostly maple oak and cherry a few ash . When you buy firewood logs around here they are 8' 4" or so and they were fairly straight, there were four that were too large and or odd shaped that I will have to cut up with a saw.

 

[dodge man]

My firewood is all free, you know except $800 for the splitter, $900 worth of chainsaws and $20,000 for my tractor.

 

[Jstpssng]

My firewood is all free, you know except $800 for the splitter, $900 worth of chainsaws and $20,000 for my tractor.

If you own the land you also need to factor that in... Taxes as well as purchase price.

If it was all about the money I would be renting a room with a microwave and dorm fridge, riding a bicycle and buying my meals from the bargain bin at the local grocery store.

 

[ruffdog]

I like to follow the tree service guys as they are happy if I take the wood off their hands.

 

[BnRidge]

This is the log splitter that I built last year. The tractor moves the logs, the splitter lifts and separates. No more sore back. I used the 1907 stanchions I took out of the barn for the outfeed table, wheels and spindles from a 1965 hay rake, and an I-beam my dad scarfed from the feed mill in 1968 but never used.

 

[Alan46]

If you own the land you also need to factor that in... Taxes as well as purchase price.

If it was all about the money I would be renting a room with a microwave and dorm fridge, riding a bicycle and buying my meals from the bargain bin at the local grocery store.

Don’t forget the hot plate! (Old school))

 

[Gordon Gould]

This is the log splitter that I built last year. The tractor moves the logs, the splitter lifts and separates. No more sore back. I used the 1907 stanchions I took out of the barn for the outfeed table, wheels and spindles from a 1965 hay rake, and an I-beam my dad scarfed from the feed mill in 1968 but never used.
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You have a well thought out rugged splitter there !!

gg

 

[WinterDeere]

If you own the land you also need to factor that in... Taxes as well as purchase price.

I sleep better at night by telling myself I'd have bought these things, anyway.

In all reality, if I didn't heat with wood, I'd still own a tractor, a trailer, and a chainsaw. So it's really just the differential cost of having bought more expensive (and/or multiple) versions of each, for the purpose of processing firewood, that should even be considered.

 

[Runner]

Chipped up the results of Saturday's elm tree carnage. Everything 3" and smaller went in. The old BX42 handled that dead wood like a champ. Help, I'm drowning in wood chips!

NOTE: The author in NO WAY endorses operating tractors with ROPS in lowered position, even when not actually ON the tractor. You might hit your head on the folded ROPS.

 

[WinterDeere]

NOTE: The author in NO WAY endorses operating tractors with ROPS in lowered position, even when not actually ON the tractor. You might hit your head on the folded ROPS.

There's a good position for that particular ROPS, which keeps it above head height, but still low enough to fit under a standard garage door and most errant tree branches. It's one click up from where you have yours now.

 

[Runner]

There's a good position for that particular ROPS, which keeps it above head height, but still low enough to fit under a standard garage door and most errant tree branches. It's one click up from where you have yours now.

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Yup, but problem for me is it still catches on tree branches in the yard. Yup, I do own a saw, but nope, I don't want to trim them up any higher.

 

[ning]

NOTE: The author in NO WAY endorses operating tractors with ROPS in lowered position, even when not actually ON the tractor. You might hit your head on the folded ROPS.

idk looks to me like it's helping guard the PTO zone

or conversely, making it so someone keeping an otherwise safe distance may bonk their head and fall down onto the pto, idk

 

[Runner]

idk looks to me like it's helping guard the PTO zone

or conversely, making it so someone keeping an otherwise safe distance may bonk their head and fall down onto the pto, idk

She rocks quite a bit when running a big branch through it, all that torque might make her flip...

 

[Sawyer Rob]

When I split wood by myself, I like to split right into myself unloading trailer. It's just so easy to let the splitter push the splits right off its end into it.

This morning my wife wanted to get the splits into drying boxes so that's what we did,

Anyway, with the tractor idling, the splits come back to you, and you can easily stack the wood wherever you want,

Now when I'm alone splitting wood, I have an easy place to put it.

SR

 

[MadJack]

Most wood splitters are backwards! The wedge should always be on the end of the beam. This allows way less handling and the firewood can drop to a belt conveyor or into a low enough trailer or truck.
Good photos Rob!

 

[WinterDeere]

Most wood splitters are backwards! The wedge should always be on the end of the beam. This allows way less handling and the firewood can drop to a belt conveyor or into a low enough trailer or truck.
Good photos Rob!

The trouble with that theory is it only works in your favor when you're splitting stuff small enough to be once and done. But when splitting large rounds that have to be split 8 - 20 ways, it's actually much easier to have it on the ram and keep the log halves, quarters, etc. right on the beam.

A log catcher is key though... I don't know why all log splitters don't just come with a log catcher.

<-- splits 10 - 14 full cords per year

 

[MadJack]

The trouble with that theory is it only works in your favor when you're splitting stuff small enough to be once and done. But when splitting large rounds that have to be split 8 - 20 ways, it's actually much easier to have it on the ram and keep the log halves, quarters, etc. right on the beam.

A log catcher is key though... I don't know why all log splitters don't just come with a log catcher.

<-- splits 10 - 14 full cords per year

Either way, a logg catcher/table is priceless! I'm hoping to build one for my splitter this winter.

 

[WinterDeere]

I love talking log splitters, since I've spent so many damn hours standing over one or another, the last 15 years. Whether you're buying or building, speed is everything. I will never understand these guys who buy these stupid-slow 35 ton splitters, with cycle times long enough to take a smoke break between splits, when you'd have to hunt long and hard to find any stackable round that won't succumb to less than 20 tons.

The best store-bought splitter on earth, IMO, is a 35 ton unit that's been user-downgraded to a 4" (20-ton) cylinder. You get the big pump (18-22 gpm), and the larger motor required to drive it, and all the up-sized lines and reservoir with the 35-ton units. But by downgrading it to a 4" cylinder, you can halve your cycle times, and have something that's actually usable by someone as impatient as me.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

The trouble with that theory is it only works in your favor when you're splitting stuff small enough to be once and done. But when splitting large rounds that have to be split 8 - 20 ways, it's actually much easier to have it on the ram and keep the log halves, quarters, etc. right on the beam.

That's not exactly true, it depends on the splitters design, I split some big wood,

With mine, I can reach over the 4-way and pull what needs split again over backwards right back on the beam and push it through again.

IF there's two pieces, one I pull over, the other can stay on top of the 4-way or it stays on the table grate to be slid back.

SR