Log Splitter

It's time. The Stihl did its job, so now I need to split, stack and get this stuff off the ground. If you are familiar with Paper Birch it will rot if you don't split or kerf your logs soon. I just want to move it one time:doh: .

So any recomended manufactures. Gas or electric:dunno: Vertical looks like the way to go. A lot of this stuff is 12 - 24" in diameter.
TIA
 
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So any recomended manufactures. Gas or electric:dunno: Vertical looks like the way to go. A lot of this stuff is 12 - 24" in diameter.
TIA

Hi Tyler

I buy my firewood split, so I don't have any direct experience. I can tell you, though, that horizontal gas splitters are the tool of choice in this neck of the woods. Electric just doesn't have the jam to compete, I'm told.

A close friend of mine has a really cool splitter - runs off the PTO of a 30hp diesel tractor :)

24" is pretty big stuff. We rarely see a birch that size in this climate. I'd be hauling that to the sawmill if I could find it.

I'm curious to know where you live. I've been burning wood since about mid-November. My woodpile is frozen solid. When does winter arrive for you?
 
Hey Ian ,
Thanks for the info.
I just bought a place in Northern Minnesota about 70 miles So of the Canadian boarder on Lake Superior. It's only part time for 405 more days.
Then I'll be a full time res.

It's rare to see birch that big but the lumber jack that provided this stuff found a real stand.
 
Hey Ian ,
Thanks for the info.
I just bought a place in Northern Minnesota about 70 miles So of the Canadian boarder on Lake Superior. It's only part time for 405 more days.
Then I'll be a full time res.

It's rare to see birch that big but the lumber jack that provided this stuff found a real stand.

Hehe! Nothing I can tell you about winter then !

Just another idea for you. Around here lots of people rent splitters, either from individual (look for signs) or from equipment rental places.

Good luck in the new place !
 
Tyler, I have been using a splitter that runs off my tractor hydraulics. It isn't the fastest in the world, being that my tractor is a beat up 1963 Super Dexta, but it seems to be at least as fast as a lot of the gas engine ones out there. It has the advantage of being less expensive (assuming you already have or are going to need a tractor with a Category One 3 pt hitch) than one with its own engine, and it is one less engine to maintain as well.

It has another advantage in that it goes from horizontal to vertical in a few seconds for those really big logs you will be splitting and can't lift to the bed.

Good luck with it!

Bill
 
I'd have to say gas powered vertical definitely. And unless you want to spend at least $1200-$1500 I'd rent one. Back in September I rented a very nice gas powered vertical splitter. I think it was rated at 27 tons. I had just taken down a 36" diameter by 80' high ash. I sectioned the trunk into 18" lengths and split them. It took two guys but the 27 ton splitter had no trouble at all going through those big pieces. I recommend renting instead of buying because unless you are going to use it a lot, it's much cheaper in the long run and you don't have to store it. Plus, the maintenance and repair is someone else's problem. :)

Good luck on the project.

John
 
So any recomended manufactures. Gas or electric:dunno: Vertical looks like the way to go. A lot of this stuff is 12 - 24" in diameter.

Over the last 16+ years I have had the opportunity to work on a few splitters. I owned (until 2001 when I semi-retired and sold it) a small engine company that sold Stihl saws (among other stuff) and while we sell very few splitters, we see all types. The one I would chose hands down if I was willing to spend enough to buy a GOOD one is the "Splitfire" brand. They make a wide variety of chassis', and the thing that makes them so good is the double acting splitter where the log stays still and the wedge moves and splits in both directions. It moves slowly, but never wastes a stroke, so you get a lot of work done very efficiently. They also have hydraulic log lifters, so even the big logs are a breeze.

That's my $0.02 (CDN :))
 
I guess one of the reasons horizontal is more common here is because firewood is cut from smaller trees. 14" is about the biggest diameter you'd come across on a regular basis. The only thing around here that might reach 36" is the elms and those are dying off.
 
ben burning wood fer some time

well tyler if you plan on doing this alot then get a gas splitter" TSC" sells a quality splitter that switches from horizontal to vertical easily 30ton probaly like bill grumbines does,, but you should take a good look at the costs needed to get your own wood.. here in my area i can buy a full cord for $100 split, dried and delivered.. figure your time to get that much wood ready and access to it. plus wear and tear on your equipment and yourself plus cost of the saws and splitter and you aint savin much.. and i have a very adquaet supply avaible for me to cut.. i do cut some of my own yet but my time and is worth something and have other thngs i like to do instead..you aint gettin any younger tyler:D
 
Larry, you are right about analyzing time, equipment, etc. in cutting your own wood. When I was younger, I cut from my own property. I had shut off the electric furnace and we heated 100% with wood. The effort involved was beneficial. The physical work was good for me. My sons helped and it was a family project. I enjoyed the outdoors. But, one day, the back told me to slow down. Yes, there are risks and consequences can be considerable. BTW, nobody asked about my blackpowder woodspliter. So, requested or not, here is a picture. And, yes, I really did use it, many-many hundreds of times.
 

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Larry, you are right about analyzing time, equipment, etc. in cutting your own wood. When I was younger, I cut from my own property. I had shut off the electric furnace and we heated 100% with wood. The effort involved was beneficial. The physical work was good for me. My sons helped and it was a family project. I enjoyed the outdoors. But, one day, the back told me to slow down. Yes, there are risks and consequences can be considerable. BTW, nobody asked about my blackpowder woodspliter. So, requested or not, here is a picture. And, yes, I really did use it, many-many hundreds of times.

Frank,

Is there a ram or projectile or is it just the hot gases that do the splitting?

I'd like to see that in action - from a nearby bunker :D
 
Frank:eek:
I thought you were plinking at the logs with one of your other toys:huh:
Please tell us how it works.

Larry
It may be a novalty now and will get old but like a lot of the other stuff around here, I'm really enjoying the process of country living.
Thanks.

I've rented before and getting a reliable machine up here would be a challenge.

Thanks a lot guys, plenty to think about.
 
Tyler - I've been up Minnesota's North Shore many times, and if I lived there, I would understand why it would be good for the soul to get outdoors and do some of those things. (BTW, for those of you who have never been there - Lake Superior's North Shore is an awesome place to go on a vacation to enjoy the outdoors.) Splittin' logs up there beats a day in the rat race any day.:)

If the equipment rental situation is iffy, why not buy what you need to get the job done, then lease it out to your neighbors to recoup some of what you paid? Or get a few neighbors to chip in on the gear and do a time-share arrangement.

Cheers,

Kevin
 
Hey Kevin.
Didn't see your location till just now.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I've been hinting at a few of the neighbors and this is a different bread "up nort".
I'll tip toe around the subject again and see what happens.

Thanks
Maybe we should swap some wood chips some time. I bump into a couple of the other WW in the Minneapple every now and then.
 
Frank:eek:
I thought you were plinking at the logs with one of your other toys:huh:
Please tell us how it works.

Larry
It may be a novalty now and will get old but like a lot of the other stuff around here, I'm really enjoying the process of country living.
Thanks.

I've rented before and getting a reliable machine up here would be a challenge.

Thanks a lot guys, plenty to think about.

Ian and Tyler, and y'all: There is no projectile. I made this after seeing an antique one. The old original was much larger with a 1" bore. Mine is made from a left over hunk of .50 cal. muzzle loading rifle barrel. I had the big breech made and screwed in. The touch hole is ignited with cannon fuse.
What you do is put a charge of black powder (not modern gunpowder) in, tamp it down with something, I used dry leaves. Then drive the sharp muzzle edge into the end of the log just enough to make it stick. I would back the device with another hunk of log or it would fly a considerble distance. Fuse would be lit and the force of the blast did the splitting. It was very effective. And, I could carry it, the powder and fuse in one hand. Except for the antique and mine, I have never seen another.
 
Ian and Tyler, and y'all: There is no projectile. I made this after seeing an antique one. The old original was much larger with a 1" bore. Mine is made from a left over hunk of .50 cal. muzzle loading rifle barrel. I had the big breech made and screwed in. The touch hole is ignited with cannon fuse.
What you do is put a charge of black powder (not modern gunpowder) in, tamp it down with something, I used dry leaves. Then drive the sharp muzzle edge into the end of the log just enough to make it stick. I would back the device with another hunk of log or it would fly a considerble distance. Fuse would be lit and the force of the blast did the splitting. It was very effective. And, I could carry it, the powder and fuse in one hand. Except for the antique and mine, I have never seen another.

Very interesting! I thought you were talking about a different type of black powder device. That powder driven splitter is something I've never heard of.

cheers
 
Tyler said:
Maybe we should swap some wood chips some time. I bump into a couple of the other WW in the Minneapple every now and then.

Absolutely! PM me some time and we can touch base.

Cheers,

Kevin
 
Larry, you are right about analyzing time, equipment, etc. in cutting your own wood. When I was younger, I cut from my own property. I had shut off the electric furnace and we heated 100% with wood. The effort involved was beneficial. The physical work was good for me. My sons helped and it was a family project. I enjoyed the outdoors. But, one day, the back told me to slow down. Yes, there are risks and consequences can be considerable. BTW, nobody asked about my blackpowder woodspliter. So, requested or not, here is a picture. And, yes, I really did use it, many-many hundreds of times.

All those red drops on the bench concern me. Hope they are not blood.:huh:
 
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