Anyone else in here split firewood?

[billybob_81067]

What kind of splitter do you use? I'm just curious and wanted to see what other people use to split their firewood... We use a splitter that my dad built ages ago, and it's all I've ever been around and used. It's pure redneck overkill engineering. I'll have to take some pics of it soon and post em up.

[DevilMan]

Haven't had to split wood since around '94!!!!

Mainly used a maul and sledge hammer!!! :D Old school baby!!!!

My gramps did finally get one of the gas powered ones that we got to use for a tree or two...

Tis the season that's for sure!!!

DM

[Madmarx]

LMAO I use a home made splitter too.
We've replaced the motor a couple times but I was just using it yesterday.
It was built in the mid 80's.
I'll see if I can get you a pic. :cheers:

[Big'n slo]

Maul, axe, and if I'm feeling lazy the '48 8N with PTO driven splitter

[billybob_81067]

Also, what kind of wood do you usually burn? Basically all that we've got growing in the wild around here is cottonwood, so naturally that's mostly what we burn. Some of that crap gets so twisted it won't hardly split even with a splitter, let alone with an axe and maul!

I'm headed up to the shop this afternoon to work on a fireplace insert I'm building, so I'll try and get some pics of the splitter up.

Big N Slo, tell me that the PTO just powers a hydraulic pump?

Hmmmm... Now you've got me imagining a PTO driven wood splitter built like a small square baler with a huge flywheel for inerta. Slap up a chunk of firewood on the backstroke, step away, watch it plunge, put a new piece in, etc. It'd be dangerous as hell, but fun to watch! :spit_take

[Will Wood]

Making firewood is such a PITA, but somehow, I don't think I would use a machine. Just wouldn't seem right.

But we do it every couple years (like .. 4 or 5) like crazy, and then don't worry about it for a while.

Chainsaw down some trees in the woods, cut them into whatever length chunks we want, then split them with a big axe. Then stack a massive wall of logs.
And you have like no body fat after doing it so that's a plus too.

[MANN]

I use to use just an ax. I have recently switched to coal, and I swear I will never go back to wood. coal burns soooooooooooooooooooo much better.

[Motorhead]

Here in Northern Ca, we burn Oak, Cedar, Lodge pole pine & Madrone mostly.

I have owned for 20+ years a Vertical Guillotine style 20 Ton splitter.
Typically split & burn about 1 1/2 - 2 cords per season.

With my vertical splitter 2 cords takes only about 6- 8 hours to do.

[lidocaine]

you just put a bag of coal in your fireplace?

[MANN]

you just put a bag of coal in your fireplace?

I have a coal stove. I dont use my fireplace. (It is only there for looks. I have 2 chimineys)

[cdacda13]

Gotta go with the Axe.
Swing until your back goes out.

[Army]

When Chuck Norris walks in the forest, trees fall down just to make noise.

[Big'n slo]

Yeah, the PTO runs a pump.

I burn any hardwood I get a hold of, mostly Oak.

A buddy of mine has a homemade splitter, damn thing has garage door springs to help the backstroke and some ungodly hydro contraption for the fore stroke. He also only has 4 fingers on his left hand.
:ninja:

[billybob_81067]

A buddy of mine has a homemade splitter, damn thing has garage door springs to help the backstroke and some ungodly hydro contraption for the fore stroke. He also only has 4 fingers on his left hand.
:ninja:

That made me LOL! :D

Anyways I finally got around to getting some pics today. My dad built this thing many many moons ago and I've never seen any others like it around this area. He was telling me that a guy he knew built an even bigger one though and it had a hydraulic crane on it for picking up huge chunks of wood... :eek:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a87/billybob_81067/DSCF0417.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a87/billybob_81067/DSCF0420.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a87/billybob_81067/DSCF0419.jpg

That's an international 886 in the pics supplying the hydraulic power. We've also used it with our old Farmall 826, and our Farmall M with a Prince PTO driven gear pump. The piston is either 5" or 6" in diameter (never measured it just guessing by eye) with about a 3" ram. It's a little on the slow side, but not too bad. It'll push though most everything unless you get some ridiculously twisted piece, and even then most of the time it'll make toothpicks out of it. :p


Here's some pics of the firplace insert I'm in the process of building too. Yeah I know I chipped a couple brick! :mad: Oh well I can fix it, the whole thing is coated with this stuff called spread rock that the local hardware store sells so it'll be easy to fix it back up.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a87/billybob_81067/DSCF0423.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a87/billybob_81067/DSCF0424.jpg

The fireplace itself has a steel lining inside of it and those holes on either side of the fireplace are where a couple of fans blow air back behind the lining and then it discharges in the cracks between those three vertical bricks on each side above the fireplace.

The insert will blow air through all those curved pipe to catch even more heat. The pipes are connected to a square tube on the bottom and it will have a blower motor supplying air to it from the hole on the left side of the fireplace. In those pics it's still just tacked together to make sure everything was going to fit inside the fireplace, but now it's all welded up. I just need to grind the visible welds down smooth, build some doors, figure out how to attach a gasket, and figure out how to mount glass, if I decide to even use any. Oh and I need to make a door for the lower part where I'll scoop ashes. It will also have an adjustable air inlet on it too, so when I go to bed I can just close it up, shut the damper down to just a crack and hopefully it'll hold overnight.

[maxama10]

That insert is sweet! :ninja:

Is that just angle iron for the frame?

[billybob_81067]

That insert is sweet! :ninja:

Is that just angle iron for the frame?

Yup! The top and sides are 3x3 angle 3/16 thick, the sqare tube that the curved pipe are connected to is 3x3 by 1/8 thick, and then that very bottom piece is just a piece of 1" angle. Hopefully it'll catch a lot of heat in those pipe and blow it back out into the room. This will be our first full winter in this new house (last year we aquired it in January and remodeled until March or something like that) so I tried the fireplace for the first last week and wasn't impressed. I'm used to woodstoves, so I decided to make my fireplace into a woodstove! :p

[grEnAlEins]

I still use an ax :argh: It gets awfully tiring sometimes...

[Papa_Smurf]

I don't know what it's called, but my father uses a crazy thing, it hooks up to PTO and is a cone with spiral grooves on it, sucks the wood in and cracks it. sometimes throws it...

[Swampy]

I just use a ax, I'm good for about 2 or 3 handles a year. Good way to blow off some steam when I get angry.

This past fall I saw Best Wood Judge LLC using the one they have mounted to a skider. That was impressive.

For wood that I use is mostly red, white, and swamp white oak. My rents have 10 acres of old growth oak woods that are starting to get hard with oak wilt and cankers. About every late fall/winter I'm dropping about 10 trees in total. But the die off was pretty big this year so my new Stihl is going to get a work out.