ok since yall didnt think my post was funny...

[babylogger]

and it wasnt it was true. so for a legit question 1 person 1 splitter lotsa breaks 16"-36" wood ...yes its mixed...how much would you cut a day just being casual not for money? im just curious?

[redpowerd]

my mill is currently stuffed into the side of a so called garage, i cut all the wood to make the garage. i figger the mill paid for itself to make the garage. dont cut no wood for no one, wish i knew how

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Used to do tree work on the side after climbin poles all day. Took the wood, (16-20") to my cousins farm. When my partner handed me the splittin maul, I said, "Forget that". I went and built my first Hydraulic Splitter. I was then, 28 years old. NO WAY, Jose. ;D

  Cutting the wood was no trick, even though we had them Blue-grey Homelites. My wife and I could split and stack 2 full cords in a day. ( I was mean and lean back then). We were tired, but, not exhausted. ;D ;D

[FiremanEd]

We cut wood for winter income on the farm growing up. 2 people could cut a very large pickup load per hour. Approx 3/4 of a cord. That was for work and we were teenage football players and in a hurry to finish so we could go hunting. Casually working on it I'd say 1 person should be able to cut, split & load a cord every 3-4 hours without hurting themselves.

I much prefer a maul over a hydralic splitter. We built a 25hp splitter that would split anything you put on it back in the 80's. As a teenager I could split 2 to 1 or better with a maul, over the machine. If you're at all concerned about production spliters are just too slow. (processors exempted of course) By the time you load the blocks, split it, dig the pieces that are too large out of the pile, split them, load another you're behind the guy who stands them up on end where they land, split them and keep going. We always cut where it landed, split where it lay and brought the truck to it. I'm also not sure that the splitter is any easier than the maul once you learn to use a maul efficiently. Picking up and or rolling 20" blocks of wood is not easy work! Flipping it up onto it's end (butt end up) is pretty simple.

hope this helps w/ your question.

[beenthere]

FiremanEd
Talk to us in 30 years, and tell us how much better the splitter works than the maul.  ;D

I've been there too, 30 years ago. The good oak logs that should be turned into lumber (straight grain, 20" diam) split easily.
The elm, the hickory, the walnut, the ironwood, etc. that will not make lumber and ends up in the firewood pile don't just stand up and split with one swing of the maul. I find the splitter works for me and I can work steady through the bucked off firewood lengths alot longer and steadier than when standing the crooked-grained wood up several times to bounce a maul off it.
 Beenthere

But you go right ahead and enjoy the splitting maul. Its good exercise, and faster too.  8)

[Timber_Framer]

I still split quite a bit of wood with a maul. It helps take off the effects of a summer's worth of bratwurst and beer ;D
We burn mostly birch and maple so there's no knots and splits pretty easy.

[Gilman]

I just slide the temperature gage over to 68 degrees.  House warms right up ;) Takes about three seconds.

[FiremanEd]

I understand what you're saying BeenThere, those twisted nasty knotty things stay 16' long and go on the pulpwood trailer if I have any say in it. But you're right, they're not nearly as nice to split.

Plus I hope I'm still splitting wood in 30 years,, with anything!

[Timber_Framer]

I just slide the temperature gage over to 68 degrees

:D I got one of gizmos too, and ya know considering I get paid between $15.00 and $30.00 an hour depending on the job that propane may well be cheaper thanthe wood I burn ;D
However with a wood/gas cook stove, a pot belly in the shop (stove! a pot belly stove) a wood fired sauna and a wood fired hot tub I'm thinking that heating the house with gas is about all I can afford!

[Gilman]

I was going to convert my house and shop over to natural gas, but found out it was going to be costly.  The gas company was disconnecting a gas line to my neighbor's house and I went over and talked to the serviceman about how much it would cost to have a line ran to my house.  He looked up the gas lines around my house on his laptop.  Wouldn't you know it.  There are three seperate lines approaching my house form the east, north and west.  All of them are over 90' away, which is their limit for a free installation.  I'd have to pay for the full installation and road repair.  That electic bill doesn't look so bad now.  I live in a old part of the city that has been around for over 100 years too.  >:(

I'd burn wood, but my house is only 850 sq feet.  I use every square inch.

[Murf]

Without slugging too hard at it, and being a little careful about efficiency in not handling the wood more than necessary it should be fairly easy to put away 2 full cords a day.

I have seen some good examples of how to, and how NOT to put away firewood over the years. Organization seems to be the key to being succesful.

I built a bench that fits between the two doors of the shop, it has a mount about 2/3rds of the way along where the (normally) 3pth splitter goes. I can back a trailer in loaded with wood from the bush and just go straight onto the splitting bench, slide it to the splitter, and pile the split wood back onto something in the other bay. All at waist level, no stooping or lifting blocks from ground level. This makes a huge difference in the amount you can do before your back says 'enough is enough' for the day.

From a financial point of view, including operating efficiencies, a full cord of wood is the same as 100 gallons of fuel oil, which is presently the cheapest of oil, propane or electric. So even if you bought wood split and delivered it would probably still be cheaper.

[Engineer]

My dad and I (when I was a teenager) used to cut and split and stack about a cord a day, going easy, so we could put up about eight cord a year.  Five or six weekends.  I've managed to cut and stack about thirty cords of 'normal' firewood and mill slabs in the past year, and about 75% of that was between September 2003 and May 2004.  Most of that was two or three people, two saws and a tractor for hauling.  My 12-yr old son stacked 90% of the wood all by himself.

I have never used a hydraulic splitter in my life (I'm 34).  Always have used either an 8-lb maul and wedges, or something my dad calls the Monster - basically a 16-lb maul with a perfect triangle shaped head and a steel pipe handle.  He bought it somewhere around 1980, and it's probably split about 300 cords of wood in that time.  Nice thing about a 16 pound maul, once you get it up in the air, it'll go through most woods in a shot or two and not get stuck.  I have sure bounced it off some hickory and elm though.  :(  That stuff either goes in the stove whole, or rots.

[Corley5]

Working alone I cut, loaded, unloaded and stacked 12 face cords of 16-20" hard maple in about 20 hours over the course of a week this fall.  Never worked any harder than I wanted too but kept at it.  I didn't split any wood this year as the new outdoor furnace which is being delivered Saturday 8) ;D 8) :D ;D has a 20" square door 8) 8) 8).  Two years ago I bought a Huskee 25 ton splitter from TSC and absolutely love it.  I split wood by hand at home from the time I could until I moved to my own house and then split wood for this place until I got the splitter.  I'd take a hydraulic splitter anyday over a maul but if you can read a block of wood I guess it isn't too bad ??? : ;).  I've got a 6 and an 8lb maul in the shed and the 6 is my favorite.  I can swing it with more effect ;) ;D  I used a hammer and wedges quite a bit at home but haven't used them in a long time.  Getting wedges stuck in a chunk of wood was aggravating.  Elm was really bad but there's not much of that left any more :(.

[DR Buck]

Man!....I got tired just reading this post.  ;D   I have 2 splitting mauls and a steel wedge...somewhere!   ;D  It's been a long time since I split wood and really don't look forward to doing it.  

However, that said: Due to the massive increases in fuel this year we are going to start using the fireplace insert.  It's one of those airtight units with a thermostat controlled blower.  The whole house is electric and the power company charges a fuel adjustment cost when the cost of producing electricity goes up.  We don't have much in the way of choices.   :(  No gas lines near by, propane is EXPENSIVE  and no flue other than the fireplace to use an oil fired unit.

But on the bright side    the wife thinks we need to buy a log splitter.  8) 8) 8).  She thinks splitting by hand will wear me out and I won't be able to work the honey-do list.   ;D

[babylogger]

 8) wow thanks for your responses! i will disagree with one thing the "monster maul" your talking about weighs more than i do!!!  lmao!! and they hurt if you miss...my ex fil used it all the time but that sucker is heavy!!!!

[rebocardo]

If it is dry white oak, you should be able to hammer out about two cords or rip it into firewood size chunks with a chain saw in the same amount of time.

For a log splitter, the cycle times of most of the log splitters are too slow (20-30) seconds and do not come with a 4 way wedge so I might say 1-2 cords, if you are lucky. You asked without working hard, so I would say 1 cord about six hours.

[Engineer]

I find working with the Monster Maul is less physically tiring than repeated swings with a small splitting maul or hammers and wedges.  All you're supposed to do is get it up overhead and then "assist gravity" in dropping it on the log.  Most species such as red oak, ash, cherry split with one shot.  

Of course, I'll swing it like John Henry driving a drill hammer when I know I have a tough piece.  Even somebody my size, over 6' and 300#, it gets to be a workout after forty or fifty swings like that.   ;D  And it'll bounce off of some stuff even with a whale of a swing.  :(

[Larry]

Well maybe a little over 35 years ago I was helping this tough old codger get his stovewood put up.  I was using a splitting maul while he was using a common axe.  I'm not real sharp but didn't take me to long to notice that he was splitting more wood than I was with a lot less effort.    

Took a while but I got the guy to teach me a few things.  With an axe you sorta work around the outside till you get a couple of chunks off than you attack the center.  Of course there is a quick little hand movement on the axe handle right before the head hits that helps a lot.  Two or three guys working together and it really becomes fun to see who can do the most and the biggest.  Probably ought to be an Olympic redneck sport! ;D

Like the splitter for the really tough stuff but the axe sure is fast for a lot of it.

[babylogger]

who is john henrey????

[etat]

John Henry was a 'steel driving man'

[etat]

PS, I SWEAR I'm a telling the truth.

[Bro. Noble]

We have two 'monrows'  (what you yankees are calling splitting mauls) ;)  They are about the same size but the blades are shaped a little different.  One splits real well and the other will work you to death.

[Jeff]

http://www.ibiblio.org/john_henry/alabama.html

[DanG]

I'm glad you told about that, Larry. I've always found splitting easier with an ax than with a maul. I thought maybe I was wierd or something. ???  I've never used a log splitter, but I think I would like it.

[Furby]

I too have always used an axe for splitting. The narrow bit goes in with much less force. Straight grain wood doesn't need a thick wedge to pry it apart. Work your way around the outside of the log, then split the center portion.
I always keep a sledge hammer close by to help with the gnarled stuff. Drive the axe in, hold the axe handle with one hand and swing the sledge with the other. Much faster to have some one else hold the axe handle and get a little more swing with the sledge, but that's only for the tough stuff!

[etat]

Thanks for clearing that up Jeff.  

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

[Corley5]

When I split with a maul I always take a slab off of at least one side before going after the center.  Makes a block split a whole bunch easier

[Weekend_Sawyer]

When I was in my teens Dad showed me how to split wood with an ax. We didn't have mauls, If you couldn't use the ax you had to use a sledge and wedge.

 Just before the ax hits the wood you twist your wrist's slightly so the bit is not going straight in. Works pretty good and if not you were back to the sledge and wedge.

[dave7191]

 You can cut a and split a cord a day without much trouble Back when i was young and foolish i could cut and split and deliver two cord a day  That was a few days ago  I have to agree that you can split faster with with a mall or axe than a wood splitter can do it but if you canhave the best of both  it makes it much easiler the last ten years we cut fire wood to sell I would split the straight stuff by hand and put the other of to the side and use the splitter  But a lot of splitting is reading the wood  I haven't used a axe in years but was taught to split with a axe as a boy if you aren't any hurry just leave the bad splitting pieces of to the side till you get a morning that  down around 10* or cooler and that wood wood will split much easier Dave  ;D

[SwampDonkey]

Took me about 7 - 6 hour days to cut, and pile my furnace wood this year. Had 14.4 cords stacked. Was cutting the wood from treelength and piling it within 50 feet of where it was cut. The butt ends where closest to the pile. I only had to split about 30 pieces this year, got a handful to split next season. I put down about 10 cords for winter. A young feller helped on days I wasn't around, 3 days of volunteer work. I piled his cutting. He had a tough time figuring what 18 inches was, had some 25 and some 15. More handling, but all comes back outta the furnace as ashes. Oh well. The closer the wood lies to the furnace door the more heat is recovered from the wood. I didn't complain, just glad to get it done. Took me 3 days to fill the cellar by myself, 11 trailor loads. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

We used to use an axe years ago and father only cut the trash wood for stovewood. It was tabo to cut nice wood for the furnace or kitchen, cause them flames make straight ashes no matter how crooked it was going in. ;D I use a hydrolic wood spliter these years, cause I'm not runnin a marathon. ;)

cheers