Wood Splitting Purists.....

[studor]

This past week I decided to split the trunk blocks of an 18" sugar maple that the wind pushed over in the spring. Having split some branch blocks by hand a couple of weeks before, I foolishly took the 8 pound maul to see if it would split -- it would have been wedge and hammer territory -- fired up the HF 24 ton splitter -- put it in vertical position (blocks were too heavy to lift and hold) and split a full cord of the hardest, twistiest wood I have seen in a long time (the maple was growing beside a marsh and had seen numerous ice storms and winds in its lifetime). Just seems logical to have a splitter -- kinda like having a tractor instead of having the wife and kids pull the plow

 

[Kernopelli]

I just got a wood burner for my shop (i.e. a garage that you can longer fit a car in ). I cut about a cord or so of oak last week and have it piled and need to start splitting. In recent years I have maintained that bending over and running a chain saw hurts my back worse than anything else I do. I'm 46 and I have been dodging surgery on 4 levels of ruptured lumbar discs for 4 1/2 years now and consider it a miracle that I have made it this long. I pretty much do what I want and need to do, physically speaking but the reality of my current state is that some activities are obviously tempting fate. I have since reevaluated my long held thought about chain sawing and have discovered an 8# maul tops my list of painful activities.

I have a 5' "I" beam, 8 hp briggs and an old axle/wheel set I have been hanging on to for several years, being earmarked as components for a splitter. Now that the time for action has arrived, I have been tossing around whether to make a 3 point splitter instead of a self powered trailered unit. The 3 point system would be easiest to fabricate and potentially less problematic mechanically but dependent upon the tractor. The portable unit probably more versatile but larger, more complicated and requiring more storage space.

I am certain many here have experience with both and would appreciate any advice on which way to go.

 

[spc]

here are some pics of the wood shed i recently built. up to now i've been covering my wood with tarps.

 

[czechsonofagun]

You sure are ready for the Ice Age, spc

 

[studor]

Darryl -- my personal preference is a stand alone splitter after using multiple makes and types of both 3pth and self powered -- there is a thread on here somewhere that discusses both and the pros and cons. I frequently put the splitter on the atv and throw the split wood onto the tractor carryall or trailer -- I can also wheel it to where I want it whereas the 3 pt models need a dolly or the tractor ---- JMHO
Steve

 

[Kernopelli]

Darryl -- my personal preference is a stand alone splitter after using multiple makes and types of both 3pth and self powered -- there is a thread on here somewhere that discusses both and the pros and cons. I frequently put the splitter on the atv and throw the split wood onto the tractor carryall or trailer -- I can also wheel it to where I want it whereas the 3 pt models need a dolly or the tractor ---- JMHO
Steve

Thanks Steve, I did a search and found a 6 page thread on the subject. I have to say, there were so many testimonies for each, I'm still undecided. Guess I'm going to have to mull this over a while.

 

[aczlan]

Thanks Steve, I did a search and found a 6 page thread on the subject. I have to say, there were so many testimonies for each, I'm still undecided. Guess I'm going to have to mull this over a while.

if you have the parts, do both, put a QD on the pump lines and 3ph connections on the splitter, but also have wheels and a way to tow it, it will cost you a few bucks more than making it just a 3ph one, but it will be more versatile.

from my end, my dad and the neighbor built a splitter from a 15' peice of 12" I beam many years ago, it had a VW gas engine and a single stage pump, but now has a ~12hp engine and a dual stage pump. it is a horiziontal only splitter, but they have put a hyd log lifter on it and they use it for wood up to ~3' rounds with no big issues.

Aaron Z

 

[Corm]

This has been an interesting thread.

Like many of you, I have been burning wood for heat all of my life. I split wood by hand using a Sotz Monster maul for many years. I heat totally with wood.

8 years ago I had back surgery, and decided a hyd splitter would be the way to go. I opted to build a 3 pt PTO powered splitter. I liked the idea of not having one more engine to maintain. I also much prefer to listen to my tractor at a fast idle, over having to listen to a small engine whining away just a few inches from me. The tractor is quiet enough, with the engine 10-12 feet away, and the exhaust pointing away from me, that I can use the splitter without earplugs. Very pleasant. Any self contained splitter I have ever been around has been very niosy, and that noise can wear you down if you are near it for a few hours.

So, a 3pt splitter works for me. I don't think it is a matter of one method is better than the other, just which one works for you.

Oh, one other thing, my Sotz maul is all rusty from non-use now...

Corm

 

[smfcpacfp]

When you have a lot of wood to split you can't be a purist if you have a regular job, so I built this about 30 years ago. Now that I am old and retired, I still need it. There is still a lot of exercise to be had when you use a hydraulic log splitter:

 

[Northland]

I cut down dead trees in my forest with my Husqvuarna 365 chainsaw, buck the trees into 6 foot lengths and bring the pieces to my staging area with my tractor bucket grapple. I buck the logs into 18" lenghts and then split each section into small, hot burning, pieces.

I heat my home with a soapstone woodstove made in Vermont.
I am now 49. I burn 8 cords or so each year and have always enjoyed splitting them with my two (6 and 8 lb) fibreglass handled mauls.

This spring I had a number of large (18" or more, in diameter) yellow birch trees to cut and split. The grain is like meat-the fibres run in every direction. I found splitting exhausting so I borrowed a friend's 1983 Didier (WI made) 8 ton 5 HP Briggs powered unit.

It did a good job for such a small machine but it lacks auto return and can't split logs into more then 19" lenghts. My wood stove will handle 21" logs. I am now looking for either a used splitter or more likely a new 3 PT unit. I like the Split-Fire the best but it cost quite a bit more then a lesser Wallenstein device available at my local Canadian TSC store.

I still plan on splitting the smaller maple by hand (it's way faster for me) but I am not going to kill myself on the large stuff anymore.

 

[flaming-ace]

we sell a lot of firewood, we split it to the size specifed and deliver to the customers door.

We probably have at least 60 tons of wood in storage, either cut and split of just stacked up straight from the site waiting to be cut.

We use a fair bit of kit to do this bit of business, see we do a lot of tree felling and all the limbs that are no good for timber is for firewood, we also get a lot of dead trees that we fall for farmers that we just make into fire wood.
We use

Stihl MS440
Stihl MS018
An old dolmar at times
Old Stihl with a 4.5 ft bar, video of it
A little makita for snedding

3 saw benchs, for cutting up logs:
- 2 older style ones, shown poorly here
and here
- a newer style, much safer japa saw bench with log splitter, i'll get a pick soon

We also use a new pto driven hydrolic logsplitter that we recently got, which is very new and fancy for us ha. It can split a log 1m in length and about 50 or 60cm in diameter, which i think it a fair size.

But we do use a spiral logsplitter which works great, shown in this video