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Fast? firewood

Started by 47sawdust, November 06, 2016, 04:25:10 PM

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47sawdust

So I'm wondering how you guys turn logs into rounds for splitting.Do you buck up each hitch as you bring it to the landing or what?I seem to be handling the logs more than I want.I've been cutting everything to 8' lengths,stacking the 8'lenghts until I have about 10 cords then bucking that into 16'' lengths.
I skid with a 45hp Kubota and winch and have a backhoe with a thumb to use for stacking.Sometimes I feel like I'm making more work for myself than is needed.
Thanks for your input.
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

coxy

why not just push them in a neat pile with the bucket this way you don't have to stack them

Gearbox

befor we built the processer I would block up the drags and pile in a stacked pile . When I started splitting the splitter hooked to the pickup would push the wood right into the pickup or grain wagon . I could load a cord with only 1 move and the wood was a turn away . If I had some one in the pickup I could do a cord in an hour .
A bunch of chainsaws a BT6870 processer , TC 5 International track skidder and not near enough time

starmac

When I cut firewood for a living, this is how I did it, right or wrong.
I had a 76 4x4 ford with a diesel motor, large mudgrips, winch (rarely used) and wood racks well above the cab. This thing was all the tractor I needed, I would either drive it to where I felled the trees, or drag them with a strap to where I could park handy to load, cut my rounds and load. It would hold over a cord. I would then drive to my camp setup and unload next to the splitter, which was next to the gooseneck. I would cut for a couple of days, then split and load the trailer.
The first time the wood hit the road it was on it's way to the customer, or customers, which ever was the case.
It didn't seem to take long to cut,a gooseneck load (5 cords), nor to split and load, but was still about as poor of a way to eke out a liveing as a guy could possibly come up with in that area of the country.

I tried hauling logs to the campsite and processing, but it didn't work out as well for me.
Old LT40HD, old log truck, old MM forklift, and several huskies.

celliott

At work we have a forwarding trailer, and we take 16' or so logs, pick up a grapple full, and swing it out and hold it about waist height. Two guys with saws working each end, we can buck a lot of wood in a short amount of time. Get a big pile and them attack it with the splitter.
Chris Elliott

Clark 666C cable skidder
Husqvarna and Jonsered pro saws
265rx clearing saw
Professional maple tubing installer and maple sugaring worker, part time logger

Gearbox

The more times you handle firewood the more times you get warm .
A bunch of chainsaws a BT6870 processer , TC 5 International track skidder and not near enough time

Al_Smith

Tree trimmers for what ever reason in this area don't cut it into firewood length .You dump it in a big heap,shove it around with a skid loader and get dirt,stones  and junk in the bark .Then you have cut down from a pile of dirty wood which is a pain in the buttocks .Spend about as much time filing the chains as cutting the wood .

When I sold firewood some years back I told the people the wood is free .What they  are paying for is the labor to process it .Believe me you earn every dime of it .

thecfarm

I lay down whatever number of trees to keep the others off the ground. These trees go the opposite way that the trees I pile on top of them. Hard to keep them in place until I get some weight on them. I only push them into a pile with my loader. I do try to twitch them in from each end,if room permits. This just keeps the pile even,easier to tell how much wood is there and looks neater,if that part matters. Than I pick an end and start cutting with the chain saw. With the days getting shorter,I have pulled out the lights and sawed and split at night.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

uplander

 In my woods, I will pick a dead or dying tree or one that will help my timber stand improvement.
Fell it and buck it to length. Then haul it out in the loader bucket and three point carryall. I can get over half a cord on that rig and it suits my needs.

I do not cut commercially but am over three years ahead with using three cords a year.

Seems like when I skid to a landing near the barn the logs get so much dirt in them it dulls the chains rapidly and I spend too much time sharpening.
Woodmizer lt40G28.  A kubota L4600 with loader and forks.
Various Stihl saws and not enough time to use them!
Finished my house finally. Completely sawn out on by band mill. It took me 7 years but was worth it. Hardest thing I have ever done.

Fokke

Here's how we do it here
Equipment: chainsaws, tractor, winch, trailer

We fell the trees, winch and skid them away to clear and flat ground, then we proceed to buck them all in 1 metre long logs. The logs are all loaded by hand in the trailer. Sometimes they are immediately loaded in a truck or unload at the customer's house.
The 1 metre lenght is convenient because once stacked you easily measure the volume of the pile. Customers buy wood like this and pay some other guy to cut and split the logs.
The logs are cut in two, three or four parts (with circular saw, band saw or chainsaw) so you get 50cm, 33cm or 25cm rounds that are then split by machine or by hand.

Quote from: Al_Smith on November 07, 2016, 04:59:56 AM
Then you have cut down from a pile of dirty wood which is a pain in the buttocks .Spend about as much time filing the chains as cutting the wood .

Very true

47sawdust

In my situation I am only skidding when the ground is frozen and /or snow covered so dirty logs are kept to a minimum.I like the idea of bucking to length before the log length pile gets too unruly.I also like the idea of picking the logs up to something approaching waist height to ease the wear and tear on my back.
Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming.
Mick
1997 WM Lt30 1999 WM twin blade edger Kubota L3750 Tajfun winchGood Health Work is my hobby.

dave_dj1

Quote from: Fokke on November 07, 2016, 12:32:49 PM
Here's how we do it here
Equipment: chainsaws, tractor, winch, trailer

We fell the trees, winch and skid them away to clear and flat ground, then we proceed to buck them all in 1 metre long logs. The logs are all loaded by hand in the trailer. Sometimes they are immediately loaded in a truck or unload at the customer's house.
The 1 metre lenght is convenient because once stacked you easily measure the volume of the pile. Customers buy wood like this and pay some other guy to cut and split the logs.
The logs are cut in two, three or four parts (with circular saw, band saw or chainsaw) so you get 50cm, 33cm or 25cm rounds that are then split by machine or by hand.

Quote from: Al_Smith on November 07, 2016, 04:59:56 AM
Then you have cut down from a pile of dirty wood which is a pain in the buttocks .Spend about as much time filing the chains as cutting the wood .

Very true

Why is it that you sell in 1M lengths? I see it all the time on youtube and always wondered why.
thanks,
Dave

To the OP, when I cut it all depends on the circumstances, at a property that was logged I pulled tops and lengths to a spot with a couple smaller logs laying down crossways to keep them off the ground, I drag out 3 or 4 logs with the tractor and cut then split, throw in dump trailer. I try to have my wood processed by the time it reaches my house. Leave the mess in the woods plus I don't really have room.
One logging job I cleaned up all the leftovers were at the landing, I hired a friend with a grapple to stack in a row for me, was easy to work up after that.

Fokke

Quote from: dave_dj1 on November 07, 2016, 06:25:12 PM
Why is it that you sell in 1M lengths? I see it all the time on youtube and always wondered why.
thanks,
Dave

Because
1) it's easier to determine the volume of the timber sold. If for example your wood pile is 1 meter high and 6 meter long, if the logs are all 1 meter long you have 6 cubic meters
2) 1 meter logs are pretty much round and uniform, they stack tidy and you minimize the gaps between the logs and
3) because we are poor and we don't have hydraulic cranes to load/unload the logs so all of it is done by hand and 1 metre is easy and quick to load/unload
I have worked with a guy who had a truck with a hydraulic crane and it made the job a whole lot easier for sure.

Quote from: 47sawdust on November 07, 2016, 04:41:40 PM
In my situation I am only skidding when the ground is frozen and /or snow covered so dirty logs are kept to a minimum.I like the idea of bucking to length before the log length pile gets too unruly.I also like the idea of picking the logs up to something approaching waist height to ease the wear and tear on my back.
Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming.

Loading 1 meter long logs can be hard on your back but when you master the technique you will make them fly as if they are weightless. You need two persons to handle the heavier logs. It is the easiest and quickest option if you don't have the machinery to handle heavy timber

Ivan49

 I think you cut our wood to a shorter length than we do in the states also. When I was in Germany the last time they had large fields with wood cut in what I guessed was 1 meter lengths.When we stack them long ways on the ground they had them stacked straight up. Each pile was marked of the date I am guessing that it was cut. We were in a farming town and one house got a load of wood dumped in the street. They were cutting it in about 10 long pieces and splitting to burn.
  I cut mine in the spring and after the tree is down I cut it into 8 to 12 foot long pieces and then go with the skid steer with  forks, pick it up and stack it in piles in the woods. Later in the summer I load these in my dump trailer and move to the house where I use my processor I made to cut and split. The only time I pick the wood up by hand is when I take it off the processer and stack it.The only time the wood is on the ground is when the tree goes down and when I dump it out of the trailer

Engineer

I've been debating this for years and I think I've come up with a solution that works best for me.  I'll drop the tree and buck it into 20" lengths right where it lays.  I have my 35-hp tractor with loader and a 3-point carryall.  I'll load the bucket and carryall with rounds and bring them back to my woodshed.  The splitter sits next to the woodshed and I take the rounds right off the tractor, split and stack right off the end of the splitter.  If I don't feel like stacking right away, I'll simply pile the splits next to the stacking area and come out on a different day just to stack.  I have LED lightbars rigged up on the tractor so that it will light up my whole woodshed enough to split and stack wood.  By the time I've cut enough to fill the loader and carryall a couple of times, I've done a cord of wood and it's enough for me.  I don't know what other people can do for production, but to drop, buck, haul, split and stack a full cord in a day is a lot of work for one person. 

If I could afford a forestry winch, or a logging arch, I might consider changing the plan.  However, I've cut enough mud- and dirt encrusted logs to know that skidding, unless done in the dead of winter with plenty of snow on the ground, does nothing good for the logs and only serves to make your chains dull.

John Mc

Quote from: uplander on November 07, 2016, 07:42:46 AMThen haul it out in the loader bucket and three point carryall. I can get over half a cord on that rig and it suits my needs.

You must have a huge bucket and carryall.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

uplander

 The loader bucket is just of average size but I made the carryall myself and it is quite large I built it just for that purpose. You should see the tractor squat down when I pick it up when it is full.

I am certain about the half cord though because a friend and I cut a load of cherry for a disabled neighbor 2 weeks ago and it stacked out to a half cord.
Woodmizer lt40G28.  A kubota L4600 with loader and forks.
Various Stihl saws and not enough time to use them!
Finished my house finally. Completely sawn out on by band mill. It took me 7 years but was worth it. Hardest thing I have ever done.

thecfarm

Good idea on carrying the wood out,instead of dragging it.  8)
I've been in one area with a trailer this year and bring my wood out that way. In the woods,no one could hardly tell I was in there. I do have a beaten path to the house. I can carry the wood out in that area,it's all up hill to the house. My other piece of land has a very steep hill to get to,and I do mean steep. I would not want to come down that hill with a load in the bucket. I would have to back down the hill,which would not be impossible at all. Most of my wood is coming from a grown up pasture,that I want back as a field. So I need to haul brush and all out. I bring the tree by the brush pile and limb it there.Even when I am cutting in an area that I cut the limbs off in the woods,there is not much left there for wood.  I usually go back in with a trailer and get the limb wood.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Engineer

In addition to my post above, I have an alternate method, still carrying the wood out.  My father and I share a small (4x6) metal-sided dump trailer that holds about 1/3 cord.  He will take his Jeep and the trailer up in the woods and I will tow our (also shared) log splitter behind the tractor carry-all.  I welded a 2" receiver hitch tube to the carryall just to tow the splitter.  I can split right into the carryall, load up the trailer and the bucket and between us we can haul nearly a cord of wood out at a time.  For small stuff 4" or less, we cut to 8-10' lengths and load the trailer, bring it to the wood shed, and cut right off the trailer.  I have a couple different sawbucks and an EZ-Holder and they work great for the little stuff.  Unless it's up off the ground, it's a lot of work cutting the small stuff in the woods, so we just carry it out in longer lengths and cut it to final length when and where it's convenient.

I can also tow the trailer instead of the splitter if I'm working alone, and just bring the rounds out of the woods. 

Al_Smith

Conditions would pretty much dictate what method to use .Being on flat ground,about as flat as the Bonneville salt flats I don't have to winch stuff out .Usually I can drive right up to it which is handy .Trailer and a Fergueson TO 20 or a CJ5 Jeep . I almost never drop a live tree unless it's a hazard .I see no reason to unless it's a lumber log,plenty of standing dead or wind falls .

I have snaked out larger stuff with  the tractor but usually if it's that large I just haul the splitter to the woods .Leave the mess there rather than have a mountain of bark lying all over the place I have to clean up later .It gets to be quite a mess after a while .So far doing a small amount after work about every day I have around 9 cords split and stacked on pallets .

John Mc

Quote from: Al_Smith on November 10, 2016, 03:28:46 PMI don't have to winch stuff out .Usually I can drive right up to it which is handy.

That's not the case in my woods, and in most forests in my area. I'd have to build a trail up to each tree (dropping other saplings, poles and larger trees in the process).

QuoteI almost never drop a live tree unless it's a hazard. I see no reason to unless it's a lumber log,plenty of standing dead or wind falls.

I have few standing dead, and only a few blowdowns. In fact, I girdle some diseased or malformed trees to create snags for wildlife habitat and occasionally leave large logs on the forest floor to create coarse woody debris (also for wildlife purposes). I'll take the few standing dead or blowdowns when they block my trails or create a hazard near them.

As far as dropping live trees, when I harvest firewood, I'm doing it to further a silvicultural or wildlife objective, or to improve my access trail network. I'm often releasing trees of high potential timber or wildlife value to increase their growth rate or mast production. From my point of view, that's all to the good in my area.

When I lived in Ohio, the woodlot on my parents' farm had conditions more like what you describe, Al. If we were heating with wood, our harvesting methods would no doubt have been similar to yours.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

brianJ

I cut wood like Al.    Drop the tree and right where it lies I limb and block it up or at least til my bucket is full.   I just dont seehow dragging all the stems back to a landing can be time efficient.

thecfarm

brainJ,not saying it's faster to haul the trees-stems to one spot,just easier to run a 200 foot extension cord out back to saw up the wood in a pile.It gets dark here at just about 5pm now. I can work on a few hours when it's dark.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

John Mc

Quote from: brianJ on November 10, 2016, 06:36:00 PM
I cut wood like Al.    Drop the tree and right where it lies I limb and block it up or at least til my bucket is full.   I just dont seehow dragging all the stems back to a landing can be time efficient.

I do like to process as much as possible out in the woods, I just can't get all my equipment right to where the tree fell, so I winch it out to the nearest trail, and process it there. My only regular exception to that is that I try to bring a half cord or full cord of rounds home each year to split by hand. Great exercise and great way to relieve stress.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

uplander

 I think the different ways we all do it are due to site specific reasons and conditions. No one way is going to work best for all of us. We all have to respond to different circumstances to get what we need done.

In the end it boils down to working smarter not harder.
Woodmizer lt40G28.  A kubota L4600 with loader and forks.
Various Stihl saws and not enough time to use them!
Finished my house finally. Completely sawn out on by band mill. It took me 7 years but was worth it. Hardest thing I have ever done.

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