looking to hear some splitting tips on splitting 30"dia. plus rounds with my tw5

[adamant]

i have a tw5 with the 4 way wedge and table grate that i use to split wood for my outside boiler! when splitting large rounds it seems that we are working backwards and handling the wood to many times! explain how you go about splitting 30 plus inch diameter oak? `

[thecfarm]

I know what ya mean. I don't have a lift table,so I tip mine up for those big ones. I split them in pieces that I can handle,than I have to pick them back up to split. I have some so big that I push them up to the splitter with the tractor because I can not easliy move them. I wonder if they are worth the bother sometimes,but there is alot of wood into a piece more than 3 feet across,2 feet high. I'm not set up for those big ones. Need a grapple for them big ones.
We need what UN Hooker has

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,56449.0.html

[OH logger]

on those big ones we halve or quarter them and then start in with the star wedge. its about the only way I know

[SLawyer Dave]

Best system I have ever found is to leave the rounds sitting on their side as I cut them off the trunk.  Then I roll them to the side, or turn them at an angle so I can cut vertically (with the grain as if you were slabbing the tree), through the round.  This is a very fast cut with a sharp blade.  I generally cut 1/2 to 2/3 through the round, (if you try to cut all the way through, you will end up burying your saw in the wood strings you will be cutting out).  Then I use my Monster Maul to split the round by hitting at the top of my cut.  With all of the leverage this gives you, most of the time it splits the round the first swing, (well so long as you can hit the cut you have made =) ,  allowing each half to roll apart.  If each half is light enough to lift, then I stop there.  If not, then each 1/2 round is now sitting on its side, ready for me to cut it in half again. 

[711ac]

I'd like to have one of those screw type cone's that I could put on my skid steers post hole auger. Thinking that if I could bust up in what ever max log legnth that it would split, into quarters or just halves, then buck & split a (1/4) log that's a much more reasonable size than 30".

[Ford_man]

I think that big pieces are too hard to split so if they are less than 30" I cut them less than2' then roll them in front of the OWB and lift them up with an overhead electric hoist and roll them into the furnace and let the fire do the splitting.

[Oliver1655]

I have a dedicated 4 way wedge with a 4" cylinder on a dedicated horizontal splitter.  I have found if I split off 7-9" sections at a time it does fine.  However if I were to try to split in the center of a round over 20" in diameter, it is asking for trouble.

Noodling the large ones in half is generally my preferred method.  In the long run I believe it is faster.

[Jaket123]

U need a splitter like mine in my gallery lol she's a brute. 16 gpm 2500 psi pump on 8hp motor feeding a 4"bore 3" shaft 26" long cylinder. She's fast and powerful. Built it 3-4 ago and still works like a dream. $500 in total build.

[Jaket123]

 

 

[mjeselskis]

If you don't mind me asking, Where did you get the 4" bore, 3" bore cylinder? I was looking for one, but they were all $800+

[Jaket123]

We have a local place here called norbys it's kind of like tractor supply. I got the cylinder and the splitter valve there

[Jaket123]

I'll get more info and specs and part numbers and post them with finished pics this weekend.

[gfadvm]

My son in law splits those huge rounds with a backhoe! I was skeptical but it works really well on those pieces too heavy to move by hand. He uses the hoe to tip em up on end and then pounds down on them with the hoe. Then I split the managable pieces on the splitter.

[North River Energy]

Tip:
It's not the saw.
It's not the splitter. 
It's material handling capacity.

http://youtu.be/vd8VWpcLinM

[beenthere]

Interesting video... and so so sloooooow splitting wood....  But nearly effortless. About 7 minutes to split up one block?? And at least two engines running. 

But bet the guy had fun fabricating his setup.

[thecfarm]

I split ALOT of big wood too. I can't tell it that wood is 2 feet across or 3. I thing it takes me as long too. BUT there is ALOT of wood being split there too and at my house too.  I posted about I wonder if those big ones are really worth it. Now the way he does it,it is. But to handled those by hand and to get them in place is a bother at times. But I did heat my house one winter that way.
I split the butt flare of the log. Those are not round and no way to roll those.

[Engineer]

Easy to process big rounds.  If I'm cutting big stuff I probably already have a 24" bar on the saw.  I cut to 20" length.  'Noodle' the big rounds lengthwise in half, then into quarters.  Then they're easily put in the splitter for final sizing. 

[rasman57]

our tried and true system is to work out of the loader bucket.   Raise the bucket to the splitter deck height and close enough to simply roll back the hunks that remain as the round begins to break up.  No bending or fighting them back to the ground.    I also use a rear boom pole and log tongs on the old tractor to pick them up and position them.     Amazing what getting older does for working smarter.

[bigblue12v]

My trailered splitter has a crane. I do my bucking on slightly sloped ground. Roll rounds on edge next to splitter, use crane and tongs to pick them up. Does 30" diameter easy as pie. 5.5" bore cylinder and a very tall wedge. Split off a reasonable size piece and leave the rest hanging on the tongs (swing it out of the way while working down the piece you first split off). I prefer doing 20-30" rounds over tops wood because I don't bend over this way picking little pieces off the ground which saves time in addition to the ergonomic aspect. Less bark and typically straighter wood. I keep busy running the valve instead of turning bending lifting etc. Tops under 8" diameter I don't split anymore those go in my boiler. Logs get made into firewood that I sell. Produces better looking splits and again less bark. Customers like this. All personal preference I guess. Gotta have the right equipment for sure. Hard to see in this pic but it has an outfeed tray and log tray on the other side that are good places to set a chunk or splits instead of them falling to the ground.


 

[patvetzal]

My BIL found that a truck recycler who handled old garbage trucks was a great source for large cylinders. 

[AnthonyW]

And this is exactly why I want (a) to build a firewood processor, though the current design is only 24" diameter and (b) want to buy an excavator with a thumb. There is just too much wrestling involved with making firewood.

[Just Me]

I'd like to have one of those screw type cone's that I could put on my skid steers post hole auger. Thinking that if I could bust up in what ever max log legnth that it would split, into quarters or just halves, then buck & split a (1/4) log that's a much more reasonable size than 30".

Very cool idea! I used one of those once and they work really well.

Laura, I need a skid steer!

Larry

[Just Me]

My trailered splitter has a crane. I do my bucking on slightly sloped ground. Roll rounds on edge next to splitter, use crane and tongs to pick them up. Does 30" diameter easy as pie. 5.5" bore cylinder and a very tall wedge. Split off a reasonable size piece and leave the rest hanging on the tongs (swing it out of the way while working down the piece you first split off). I prefer doing 20-30" rounds over tops wood because I don't bend over this way picking little pieces off the ground which saves time in addition to the ergonomic aspect. Less bark and typically straighter wood. I keep busy running the valve instead of turning bending lifting etc. Tops under 8" diameter I don't split anymore those go in my boiler. Logs get made into firewood that I sell. Produces better looking splits and again less bark. Customers like this. All personal preference I guess. Gotta have the right equipment for sure. Hard to see in this pic but it has an outfeed tray and log tray on the other side that are good places to set a chunk or splits instead of them falling to the ground.


 

I looked at all the trays on the market as add ons and did not like any of them so I built one as you describe. I made mine out of 1/4" aluminum diamond plate. It slopes up from the splitting surface for 6"on about a 7-10 degree angle, then I bent the piece to drop off the other way at about the same angle for about 16". It is long enough to cover the motor on my Dirty Hands splitter, and out far enough that I can park the bucket of the tractor under the downward sloping part. Gives me enough room to split a big one in half and store the half on the table till I finish the other, and then just slid it back into the splitter. Pieces can be slid off into the bucket.

Eliminates a lot of lifting, and here is the best part. It makes it so easy to handle the wood that my wife likes to split now!

Win-Win!

Larry

[bigblue12v]

My trailered splitter has a crane. I do my bucking on slightly sloped ground. Roll rounds on edge next to splitter, use crane and tongs to pick them up. Does 30" diameter easy as pie. 5.5" bore cylinder and a very tall wedge. Split off a reasonable size piece and leave the rest hanging on the tongs (swing it out of the way while working down the piece you first split off). I prefer doing 20-30" rounds over tops wood because I don't bend over this way picking little pieces off the ground which saves time in addition to the ergonomic aspect. Less bark and typically straighter wood. I keep busy running the valve instead of turning bending lifting etc. Tops under 8" diameter I don't split anymore those go in my boiler. Logs get made into firewood that I sell. Produces better looking splits and again less bark. Customers like this. All personal preference I guess. Gotta have the right equipment for sure. Hard to see in this pic but it has an outfeed tray and log tray on the other side that are good places to set a chunk or splits instead of them falling to the ground.


 

I looked at all the trays on the market as add ons and did not like any of them so I built one as you describe. I made mine out of 1/4" aluminum diamond plate. It slopes up from the splitting surface for 6"on about a 7-10 degree angle, then I bent the piece to drop off the other way at about the same angle for about 16". It is long enough to cover the motor on my Dirty Hands splitter, and out far enough that I can park the bucket of the tractor under the downward sloping part. Gives me enough room to split a big one in half and store the half on the table till I finish the other, and then just slid it back into the splitter. Pieces can be slid off into the bucket.

Eliminates a lot of lifting, and here is the best part. It makes it so easy to handle the wood that my wife likes to split now!

Win-Win!

Larry

You're doing something right then! Lol