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splitter opinoins

Started by trapper, February 06, 2021, 05:19:30 PM

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stavebuyer

As I enhanced my firewood equipment to try to meet demand the elevator was the last link. 

Having been through the process; a good elevator would be the first step I would take toward automation. Conserves your back, hands, wrists, and elbows more than you imagine if you never worked with a one.




DMcCoy

I started using an elevator agree with the above 2 comments, and the elevator is often the most overlooked part.  An elevator is worth one health teenager and you only have to feed it when you need it. 
Why not build a large elevated table that you load with the tractor bucket where you can roll the rounds to the horizontal splitter.  A quick toss and it gets piled for you by the elevator.
This has been my process for a couple of years now.  I liked it so well that I built large pallets and a metal framed table to hold them at splitter height.  I never realized how useful an elevator is until I had one.  I will never do without.

Arctiva

Quote from: John Mc on July 12, 2021, 06:39:33 PM
Quote from: Arctiva on July 12, 2021, 06:33:11 PM
The struggle is real, few years ago my right arm was so sore from lifting and throwing wood I had to wear a brace for about 10 months before the tennis elbow went away. That's when I got a wood splitter for the bobcat. I couldn't even hold a coffee cup without the brace. Back is plenty strong, tennis elbow is no joke though
I've had that problem myself. Let me guess: you were picking up the split chunks by their ends and tossing them back-handed on to the pile?
When I caused myself a bout of that, my Physical Therapist wife told me that that is one of the worst possible motions: wrist cocked back at an awkward angle and throwing backhand. They don't even have to be heavy, enough repetition can cause a problem - especially if you do what I did: don't do any of that kind of work for months, then try to split up your entire year's supply of wood in a weekend. I might have been OK if I had worked up to it (though she says "probably not - you need to face the fact that you can;t bounce back from these sorts of things as you get older")
Was actually just everything. I was cutting wood, lifting cuts into the truck, throwing out the truck, splitting the rounds with a axe, throwing on the pile loading the stove, moving the pile closer to the stove. 

Old saw fixer

Quote from: btulloh on July 12, 2021, 06:46:52 PM
A good hookaroon can help a bunch. No bending or grabbing to pick up splits off the ground.  I bought a Logrite hookaroon a few years ago and wouldn't do firewood without it now.
I use my Logrite hookaroon for moving wood around and like a walking stick when in the woods.  I need some help standing up if i have knelt to look at something interesting.  It never hurts to turn over a stick of wood before picking it up, either!
Stihl FG 2, 036 Pro, 017, HT 132, MS 261 C-M, MSA 140 C-B, MS 462 C-M, MS 201 T C-M
Echo CS-2511T, CS-3510
Logrite Cant Hook (with log stand), and Hookaroon

DMcCoy

Quote from: John Mc on June 05, 2021, 08:55:07 PM
Quote from: trapper on June 01, 2021, 11:19:33 AM
Wish  i had the new splitter with log lift tree trimmer left a load of honey locust with some butt peices over 30 inches across.  Cut them down some with chainsaw but still heavy to resplit.  Also some black walnut butt cuts that big.  Any black walnut over 4 foot long I will make into lumber.  New splitter should be here by end of june.
Even with a hydraulic lift, when I get that big, I don't even bother with it. If I had a real shortage of firewood, I might feel differently, but as it is, it's just not worth the hassle of dealing with.
If I want the wood I chainsaw the really big ones into quarters, imo it's faster. 

thecfarm

Almost like a big log on a sawmill. Time wise, it is really worth it? I saw down some big dead white pines. More than 2 feet across. Those need to be split in the vertical mode.  ;D  Than I have to split them again.  ::)  I myself don't like something more than 2 feet across on a 6 inch beam. Hard to hold onto.
Unless you have a splitter like this.   ;D
taking the splitter for a ride
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Tacotodd

@DMcCoy  you're right.
Some times it is faster, ESPECIALLY when you're talking big knots in some VERY hard woods, like hickory. Some woods are just easier to deal with that way. I've had 2.5' diameter red oak rounds like that. When you're talking about hand splitting, a whole new meaning to life. But when everything is right, it's opening up a whole new meaning of "being in the zone".
Trying harder everyday.

Piston

Quote from: trapper on February 06, 2021, 05:19:30 PM
I have decided I would like a splitter with log lift and 4 way wedge.  So far I like the wolf ridge splitter and it is made a couple hundred miles from me which is driving distance. I sell a couple cords of wood a year and would like a new toy to make it easier. I now have a 37 ton horizontal - vertical  splitter. The wolf ridge has a pan beyond the wedge that i think I could put the bucket of the tractor  under to catch the split wood. Opinions on this and others like it are welcome.  Not handy at frabicating anything myself.
After using the vertical style splitter, the horizontal that pushes the wood through the wedge, and finally the horizontal that keeps the wood in one place, I found that I liked the last style the best, to my surprise...

I always thought I would want one that pushes the wood through the wedge, so I could do just what your describing, load it directly into the bucket for dumping and stacking later.  I found that I (personally) didn't like this method after trying it out.  It filled the bucket quickly/awkwardly and before too many pieces were in the bucket, they were already toppling out onto the ground (just the nature of how wood 'stacks itself') and I ended up picking them all back up anyways. 

Due to my 'picky' nature of my firewood sizes, I found I would resplit a lot of my wood.  I realized the best way for me to ease my work flow, was to take the wood directly off the splitter and stack directly into either a bucket, or trailer.  I do end up restacking all this wood, so essentially I handle it extra (that holy grail of not handling wood more than once is not achievable for me  :D) but in the end it saves my back since I'm never bending over to pick the wood up, either off the ground from the splitter, or off the ground from after I dump it to a pile to stack later.  

I ended up with a split-fire brand log splitter with the 4 way wedge and log lift.  The log lift is worth it's weight 100%.  For the most part, I go directly from the splitter to the grapple or a trailer, then move the wood and stack in it's final location.  I split a lot of smaller wood, and still use the 4 way wedge approximately half the time. 

I think that I'd love a conveyor at the end of a 4 way log splitter which pushes the wood right onto it, but I'm not at that level of firewood production, so this works for me pretty well.  I split for myself and don't sell firewood, we have a woodstove and outdoor wood boiler, and heat with wood almost exclusively.  It's simple, doesn't kill my back, and gets me what I want.  Just another option to a very personal preference decision for you.   


 

 

 


 

 
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

DR_Buck

I still have one that's much better than a "regular" splitter listed in the for sale section of the forum.   

Logrite Firewoodinator Firewood Processor in For Sale (forestryforum.com)
Been there, done that.   Never got caught [/b]
Retired and not doing much anymore and still not getting caught

Hilltop366

How about making racks for your wood and stacking it on the rack as it comes off the splitter then move with pallet forks.

That is what I do but only three racks so far to put at the end of the pile to keep it from spreading towards the house.

I use to handle each stick 4 to 5 times from long length to boiler now I am down to 2 times for most and a extra one for the little bit of wood I keep in side.

Now I use pallet forks on the 3 PH of the tractor to move and hold logs up for blocking then shove the blocks into a pile with the front bucket after it is all blocked up I will split and stack on pallets for 3 pallets then split and stack in the tractor bucket to dump into a pile on a cement slab or pallets to keep off the ground. Thinking about making some bins with pallets and some old chain link fence I salvaged.

All done the hardwood for this year, I will still cut up some dead softwood for the shoulder season.



Downstream

When we were designing the Split Second kinetic one of our areas of focus was to minimize handling and time spent bending over to pick up the other half of the split which is a common problem with the classic moving wedge design.  We designed our oversized table so that there was plenty of room to keep the unsplit halves up on the table while you work the chunks down to final size.  theoretically the only time a split should come off the table is when it is to final size and it is pushed off the end of the table into whatever output container you are using.  If you ever do the math on number of times you bend over to pick up partially split pieces to put them back on the splitter if 50% of them fall to the ground it adds up fast in both time wasted and back pain.   Another nice feature of the fixed wedge designs are that the splitting movement will actually automatically push the final splits off the table with no effort.   We designed a log lift for our unit that is helpful up to 200lbs, but it can also be better used as an in-feed staging table so that a helper can feed the machine without getting into splitting zone for safety reasons.  One person can split fast with a kinetic, but usually the machine will outpace one person trying to load and split by themselves.  Still faster than a hydraulic, but not operating near it's capacity.  Here is a quick plug for the firewoodinator for sale in the classifieds.  I know that unit well from our competitive market work and it has a lot of innovative features that are directed to the overall splitting process.  If I did not already have one of the ones I helped design I would be seriously considering grabbing it.
EZ Boardwalk Jr,  Split Second Kinetic logsplitter, Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, Stihl 660 and 211, Logrite 60" cant hook, Dixie 32 Tongs

doc henderson

Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

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