How to split big wood efficiently?

[Sandhill Crane]

Stratton: That's the rub, I ordered four more loads, but can not get them till June 2015. So much for seasoning.
I bought a SuperSplit HD this past spring and love it, but it will not do big wood from tree service without down sizing it first.
Whitespider's way works well. Once halved, quartering if necessary, is usually just one more hit and they pop. It has been a few years, and seems a lot of work compared to smaller stuff. I did three cord this way at the time.

 

[KiwiBro]

Sandhill,

• How confident are you of a reasonable supply of tree service wood? Enough to spend a little time and money gearing up for it?
  
• Are you collecting it, providing a set dump area at your place for them to come and go as they please, or both?
• If a dump area, is this right where you will be processing or would you have to move the wood to the processing area?
• If a dump area, will you be around to clear it if they fill it faster and then start dumping wherever?
• Will you have to be around for them to access the dump area or could they come and go as they please?
• Is your gear/property secure?
• Are you going to limit the wood types they can dump there? Or are you confident you can sell it either as mixed firewood or separated out into individual wood types?
  
• Will it be all weather, all season access for the tree services to dump wood there?
• How will you be delivering to customers or are they collecting or both?
• I assume it has to be stacked wood only and if so, do you have any preference between stacking straight off the splitter or piling and seasoning then stacking?
• Will you always be processing in that one area and have enough nearby room for 100 cords of firewood if it were all processed?

I'm thinking if you can limit the tree service dumping area to one location, right alongside where you are processing, then why not drive or drill a pole alongside, put a pulley up the top, build a ramp (make it very splayed at the bottom to encompass the full range of dumping locations of the rounds, and with 1/2' or 1' sides) up to and a large bucking/splitting table around, it, put a winch with tongs on it, get a relatively cheap hydro to bust the big rounds down to SS size, park your SS just downstream or side stream from the hydro.

An extension of this is to sell off the SS and put the $ towards a better hydro with slip on or hydro-adjustable, 4/5/6-way wedge to do all with the one splitter, but given the sorts of cordwood/pulp wood you are also ordering, if I could afford it I'd also be modding the SSHD or selling it to get the SSSE and a slip-on 4-way wedge.

 

[stratton]

Sandhill,

• How confident are you of a reasonable supply of tree service wood? Enough to spend a little time and money gearing up for it?
  
• Are you collecting it, providing a set dump area at your place for them to come and go as they please, or both?
• If a dump area, is this right where you will be processing or would you have to move the wood to the processing area?
• If a dump area, will you be around to clear it if they fill it faster and then start dumping wherever?
• Will you have to be around for them to access the dump area or could they come and go as they please?
• Is your gear/property secure?
• Are you going to limit the wood types they can dump there? Or are you confident you can sell it either as mixed firewood or separated out into individual wood types?
  
• Will it be all weather, all season access for the tree services to dump wood there?
• How will you be delivering to customers or are they collecting or both?
• I assume it has to be stacked wood only and if so, do you have any preference between stacking straight off the splitter or piling and seasoning then stacking?
• Will you always be processing in that one area and have enough nearby room for 100 cords of firewood if it were all processed?

I'm thinking if you can limit the tree service dumping area to one location, right alongside where you are processing, then why not drive or drill a pole alongside, put a pulley up the top, build a ramp (make it very splayed at the bottom to encompass the full range of dumping locations of the rounds, and with 1/2' or 1' sides) up to and a large bucking/splitting table around, it, put a winch with tongs on it, get a relatively cheap hydro to bust the big rounds down to SS size, park your SS just downstream or side stream from the hydro.

An extension of this is to sell off the SS and put the $ towards a better hydro with slip on or hydro-adjustable, 4/5/6-way wedge to do all with the one splitter, but given the sorts of cordwood/pulp wood you are also ordering, if I could afford it I'd also be modding the SSHD or selling it to get the SSSE and a slip-on 4-way wedge.

Sandhill,
i

I really love your set up, looks very clean and organized.Couple of questions:

1.How many cords total do you sell a yr
2. $ of each cd
3. Can you get a ton more from tree service.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Selling 30 plus cord a year at $225. plus delivery. As posted earlier I need to do a hundred plus or fold up.
Tree service wood would be a much cheaper supply. Availability would be seasonal but quicker also.
I like to, and have to, run a clean business as I am zoned residential. Across the road is zoned farm land, although it has not been farmed in a hundred years and is now woodland with houses and subdivisions beginning to pop up again.

 

[muddstopper]

I think a SS is about the fastest way to process small wood. Speed isnt everything. If you have to resplit those small, or even big, rounds several times, have you really gained any speed? With that said, I dont like handling rounds several times to make a dozen splits. Only way I see to reduce the extra handling is Hydraulics and multisplit wedges. Problem with multisplit wedges is all the splinters. Splinters makes good kindling, throw a sack full on each load for the buyer and it makes them happy. It takes more tonnage for multisplits in a single pass. Store bought splitters are grossly over rated, I dont know how they come up with their numbers, but they are rated about 25% higher than actual tonnage. Build your own, build it strong and get'er done.

A popular brand of splitters rates theirs at 37tons. It has a 5in cylinder and 3500psi 16gpm. Real world numbers would put that splitter at just over 34ton. The advertised 3500psi number Is suspect also. Quality 16gpm pumps are only rated at 3000psi and their in stock replacement pumps are also rated at 3000psi. 5in bore @3000psi is just over 29tons. About 22% under the advertised 37ton rating.

 

[Husqavarna Guy]

I think a SS is about the fastest way to process small wood. Speed isnt everything. If you have to resplit those small, or even big, rounds several times, have you really gained any speed? With that said, I dont like handling rounds several times to make a dozen splits. Only way I see to reduce the extra handling is Hydraulics and multisplit wedges. Problem with multisplit wedges is all the splinters. Splinters makes good kindling, throw a sack full on each load for the buyer and it makes them happy. It takes more tonnage for multisplits in a single pass. Store bought splitters are grossly over rated, I dont know how they come up with their numbers, but they are rated about 25% higher than actual tonnage. Build your own, build it strong and get'er done.

A popular brand of splitters rates theirs at 37tons. It has a 5in cylinder and 3500psi 16gpm. Real world numbers would put that splitter at just over 34ton. The advertised 3500psi number Is suspect also. Quality 16gpm pumps are only rated at 3000psi and their in stock replacement pumps are also rated at 3000psi. 5in bore @3000psi is just over 29tons. About 22% under the advertised 37ton rating.

Hey muddstopper how do you calculate tonagge? I have a 4 inch cylinder and 11 gpm pump at 3000 psi. Thanks

 

[muddstopper]

You want the actual math, or just a calculator. http://www.surpluscenter.com/Tech-Help/Hydraulics/Calculators/Force-Speed/ or actual math,
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/hydraulic-force-calculator-d_1369.html
4inx3000psi=37,699 push force. Rod dia plays a part in how much it will pull. The dia of the rod takes away from the surface area of the piston upon retraction.
4in by 3000psi =37,699lbs or 18.85 tons

 

[KiwiBro]

Zoned residential and able to process 100 cord? Or will people start complaining about the noise and trucks?

 

[Sandhill Crane]

My closest neighbor is more than an 1/8 mile away across the street through the woods, and zoned farm land. They are new to the place this summer and have thirty acres. No one else close. Running a business is legal with a variance.

 

[KiwiBro]

 

[zogger]

It certainly busted up that big log!

I see these screw type splitters advertised, also saw one for sale used on my local craigslist, an electric motor driven one mounted on a table with legs.

They certainly look easier to make over a hydraulic or kinetic (the small ones anyway)

Never seen nor used one though*, no idea if they are practical or not. That skidsteer one looked wicked.

*I kinda sorta remember one that was supposed to mount to a truck axle after you jacked the truck up in the olden days, but not running or attached.

 

[Full Chisel]

That's fantastic. That would be supurb for making split rail fences or rough finished beams in a hurry!

 

[KiwiBro]

Have been trying to find a video of this impact wrench variant but it alludes me:
http://www.woodsplitter.net/

Here's an old farmshow mag article:
http://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=18387

 

[KiwiBro]

That's fantastic. That would be supurb for making split rail fences or rough finished beams in a hurry!

Imagine that in some reasonably straight grained Cedar poles split into posts. Or even on some of the stuff that's not perfectly straight grained or comes out a bit furry. The furry stuff could, if anyone wanted to, be planed down roughly smooth with a log wizard:

 

[angelo c]

Sand hill...
We can do 5-7 cords a day of tree service cast offs with a saw and three laborors. That's 30 cords in a week. All with a TW6 and a monkey moron Tsc hydro if an extra guy shows up. Lots of the stuff is 30-40" big bad oak nasties. It works out somewhat better paying the guys because my buddy with the tree service often can't work because the site is too wet or its raining...so we put the guys to work on the pile. And he doesn't have to pay to dump the stuff between 50-100$ a load to recycler. Plus the time driving, weighing in tare tickets and fuel to the recycler. I like running the heck out of a big saw I just rebuilt for some noodles...at home I run my wedge/sledge and SS because it's just me and I do it for ***** and grins. ...and to break in a few saws I just rebuilt...yea seeing a trend ? There is always a saw that needs rebuilding/ breakin when you hang around tree service guys. Big or small, just work it and move along...the entire processing has to be thought out...it's not just the splitting that slows things down

 

[jasult]

another Skid steer user but I have made a 2 in 1 splitter, I split monsters from in cab
When I am done with monsters I use the upper splitter for trimming down to size with 4 way

 

[Mike from Maine]

This would be a good way to deal with dump truck loads of tree service wood.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

KISS seems to be the way to go for now.
Love to see the different ways everyone does stuff.
I missed out on a processor this week. I was too slow to commit.. And if I got it, was not sure I could keep it fed. Wood is getting harder to get.

The skid steer and cone looks really good, as does Jasult's set up with a smart looking table build that catches the big splits.

Skid steers: track or tire units? Cone splitter (HF 200) needs 16 - 39 gpm at 2,600 - 3,400 psi. How does that translate to skid steer size?

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Okay, so here is a long range plan. A skid steer with the U S Pride Products cone splitter for the big odd stuff in log length, a Hahn 160 attachment for processing (as described by woodman 6666 in another thread on processors), and a tine/grapple attachment for loading the truck. I've got some equipment to sell...

 

[Mike from Maine]

You've got some wood to sell to pay for that.