Dealing with the big rounds....poor mans way.

[iowawoodcutter]

I will tell you about poor mans...I don't have winches or any of your fancy "rich man's" gadgets. I have to buck everything to 16" and then I split everything to about 50 lb pieces so I can lift easily into the truck. Monster maul comes in handy here, last week split some 48" diameter rounds into smaller pieces so I could get them home and work on them later.

just kidding on the rich man's comment...someday I will find a good deal on a trailer and I will probably do something similar. Running the monster maul just to cut stuff up cuts my day a lot shorter and less productive than I would like.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I will tell you about poor mans...I don't have winches or any of your fancy "rich man's" gadgets. I have to buck everything to 16" and then I split everything to about 50 lb pieces so I can lift easily into the truck. Monster maul comes in handy here, last week split some 48" diameter rounds into smaller pieces so I could get them home and work on them later.

just kidding on the rich man's comment...someday I will find a good deal on a trailer and I will probably do something similar. Running the monster maul just to cut stuff up cuts my day a lot shorter and less productive than I would like.

Hey, I suffered from the same malady until last year. Consider this:
(1) I made my own ramps using oak rails that I designed myself so that they would fit inside the truck cab. Wood rounds slide easily on them. Commercial ramps aren't usually designed very well for sliding.
(2) I bought a hand winch at Harbor Freight for less than $15, and bolted it to an oak T-beam cross piece that spans the truck racks.

Now I can drag huge blocks onto the truck that would be impossible for Hulk Hogan to lift. And, the monster maul may be costing you time whenever you use it to split a monster. That's easier said than done, unless you're Hulk Hogan, of course. :greenchainsaw:

 

[TJ-Bill]

I think I might pick up a cheap 1500-2000lbs winch and put one in my off-road trailer.. good idea

 

[abohac]

I don't know what your wood situation is but wouldn't you make a bunch more wood working on stuff that you have the equipment to handle? I mean it is very seldom that I don't take a chunk of wood home with me but I have a ton of expensive equipment laying around to do it with. Before I had all that stuff I tried to take the wood that I could handle in a hurry. Just a thought, but while you are trying to get a hold of that big stuff you could be making wood.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I don't know what your wood situation is but wouldn't you make a bunch more wood working on stuff that you have the equipment to handle? I mean it is very seldom that I don't take a chunk of wood home with me but I have a ton of expensive equipment laying around to do it with. Before I had all that stuff I tried to take the wood that I could handle in a hurry. Just a thought, but while you are trying to get a hold of that big stuff you could be making wood.

Here's the reason we try to bring in the "big stuff":

When you double the diameter of a big round billet, you quadruple the number of firewood logs that you can obtain from it. That also means that a log twice the diameter of another is four times the weight and contains four times the heat content--maybe even more because you also obtain more heartwood and a less percentage of bark.

So, we huff and we puff until we gather in the gold!

 

[Wet1]

Here's the reason we try to bring in the "big stuff":

When you double the diameter of a big round billet, you quadruple the number of firewood logs that you can obtain from it. That also means that a log twice the diameter of another is four times the weight and contains four times the heat content--maybe even more because you also obtain more heartwood and a less percentage of bark.

So, we huff and we puff until we gather in the gold!

But I think is point is at least partly valid since you can waste 4x (or more) the amount of time loading and trying to process those huge chunks without the proper (efficient) equipment. Now if you don't have other options for wood at the time... go for it!

 

[olyman]

im like wooddoctor--i part with NO!! wood--unless its junk catalpa!! ive broke up to 50 inch dia oak with my splitter--then picked up those pieces--and kept breaking them-----one round that dia, all split up, makes for a big pile of wood!!!!! people bring them to me cause they dont have a splitter big enoudh to break them. that huge round the guy couldnt get off the stump either!!! so i took my saw to the stump, cut it loose, and the city guy with their case industrial tractor, brought it to me. his back end was mighty light!!!! there couldnt have been over 100 lbs on the back--tires were just touching the ground!!!

 

[Wood Doctor]

im like wooddoctor--i part with NO!! wood--unless its junk catalpa!! ive broke up to 50 inch dia oak with my splitter--then picked up those pieces--and kept breaking them-----one round that dia, all split up, makes for a big pile of wood!!!!! people bring them to me cause they dont have a splitter big enoudh to break them. that huge round the guy couldnt get off the stump either!!! so i took my saw to the stump, cut it loose, and the city guy with their case industrial tractor, brought it to me. his back end was mighty light!!!! there couldnt have been over 100 lbs on the back--tires were just touching the ground!!!

I should post this finding. When I start splitting a huge round, I count the number of firewood logs that I extact from it and maintain a list for each species.

So far, my all-time high is 52 logs from a mammoth soft maple tree billet. It took three men to position it correctly underneath the splitter for the first 20 logs. I have a feeling I may break that record this spring when I split out that Gingko log that I have posted several times on this site. But, I'm not sure. The maple billet never made it onto the truck bed. We had to tow the splitter to the billet.

 

[Agnes]

Hey, I suffered from the same malady until last year. Consider this:
(1) I made my own ramps using oak rails that I designed myself so that they would fit inside the truck cab. Wood rounds slide easily on them. Commercial ramps aren't usually designed very well for sliding.
(2) I bought a hand winch at Harbor Freight for less than $15, and bolted it to an oak T-beam cross piece that spans the truck racks.

Now I can drag huge blocks onto the truck that would be impossible for Hulk Hogan to lift. And, the monster maul may be costing you time whenever you use it to split a monster. That's easier said than done, unless you're Hulk Hogan, of course. :greenchainsaw:

WoodDoc

Could you post some pics of this setup? I would love to see it. When I don't have the diesel truck(F350) I'm always scoutin with the little truck(S-10). So if the wood is far or isn't worth taking the diesel then this setup sounds perfect.

 

[wdchuck]

You have a system that works well, keep with it. Do you have a plan B if your personal capacity is reduced?

Parbuckling is another way to go, have you tried that yet?

 

[Brushwacker]

Chainsaw for me to quarter or whatever I need to handle them if the monster maul doesn't do it easy enough. I'd like to have a good winch but have been to poor to buy one, but I am blessed with a ms660 mag which makes fast work of making firewood logs smaller and saves my back.
If you need it small any way why wrestle with it big unless you need to get it out of a ravine or ditch closer to your vehicle .

 

[abohac]

Here's the reason we try to bring in the "big stuff":

When you double the diameter of a big round billet, you quadruple the number of firewood logs that you can obtain from it. That also means that a log twice the diameter of another is four times the weight and contains four times the heat content--maybe even more because you also obtain more heartwood and a less percentage of bark.

So, we huff and we puff until we gather in the gold!

No question about everything you said. Have fun.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Wood Doc

Could you post some pics of this setup? I would love to see it. When I don't have the diesel truck(F350) I'm always scoutin with the little truck(S-10). So if the wood is far or isn't worth taking the diesel then this setup sounds perfect.

I think you could build this same setup for the Chevy S-10 and it would work fine. Ordinary ramps, that would also work, and the winch are both available from either Northern Tools or Harbor freight. I built my own ramps because I am also a woodsmith:

Now, the proof is in the pudding. Look at the size of that log that I was able to drag on board by myself with this assembly:

That log weighs in excess of 350 lb. Had it been oak, it would have weighed at least 500 lb. In that case, the tailgate may not have handled it.

 

[Wet1]

I think you could build this same setup for the Chevy S-10 and it would work fine. Ordinary ramps, that would also work, and the winch are both available from either Northern Tools or Harbor freight. I built my own ramps because I am also a woodsmith:

Now, the proof is in the pudding. Look at the size of that log that I was able to drag on board by myself with this assembly:

That log weighs in excess of 350 lb. Had it been oak, it would have weighed at least 500 lb. In that case, the tailgate may not have handled it.

I'm not trying to be an azz, but wouldn't it have been faster and easier to fire up the big saw and rip that in half / quarters, or even wack it a couple of times with the maul? It has to be split anyway (now or later) and it looks like it would be faster and safer than rigging and using that contraption.

 

[aandabooks]

My only concern with the winches, either electric or hand, is being in the line of fire when the cable breaks. That cable will come straight back to the winch at a high rate of speed.

I found that out the hard way over the winter when I was winching from my 4-wheeler and the clasp that holds the hook snapped. It came straight back over the front of the 4-wheeler and caught me across the face. It happened to fast there was absolutely no way to get out of the way. Luckily I was wearing safety glasses and the cable scratched my cheek and forehead.

The 1500 lb winch I have laying around has a corded remote for it. If it weren't for that I don't think I'd consider using it.

 

[Wet1]

When I use a winch I always throw a towel over the center of the cable in case it breaks. Doing this will really take a lot of the energy out of it in the event of failure. I also try to stay as far away as possible, most electric winches come with a 12' or 30' remote and you can always extend them further if need be.

 

[TJ-Bill]

My only concern with the winches, either electric or hand, is being in the line of fire when the cable breaks. That cable will come straight back to the winch at a high rate of speed.

I found that out the hard way over the winter when I was winching from my 4-wheeler and the clasp that holds the hook snapped. It came straight back over the front of the 4-wheeler and caught me across the face. It happened to fast there was absolutely no way to get out of the way. Luckily I was wearing safety glasses and the cable scratched my cheek and forehead.

The 1500 lb winch I have laying around has a corded remote for it. If it weren't for that I don't think I'd consider using it.

Grab and old pair of socks, put some rocks, hockey balls, sand in them and then tie the 2 ends. Then give them a couple turns around your winch line.. works great..

Or for smaller winches Drill a hole in the middle of a hockey puck and put the cable through the hole (have to take your hook off).. Holds your hook nice and tight when not and use and slides out nice and easy when in use..

I had a winch hook fly in through the rear window of my Jeep.. I always uses line weights now!!

 

[Billy_Bob]

My woodstove does not care if the pieces of wood are 18 inches long, 10 inches long, or 4 inches long! They all burn.

You don't have to make each piece of firewood 18 inches. And you don't have to neatly stack the firewood.

I cut the rounds to the weight I can lift. Sometimes 4 inches and then cut the round in half or quarters. Then I can lift these pieces.

Then I just throw the split wood in a large pile. Don't bother with a neat stack.

This saves my back.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I'm not trying to be an azz, but wouldn't it have been faster and easier to fire up the big saw and rip that in half / quarters, or even wack it a couple of times with the maul? It has to be split anyway (now or later) and it looks like it would be faster and safer than rigging and using that contraption.

Well, perhaps for this log it might have been, and let me be honest. I was trying to see just how big of a log that my home made "contraption" could handle. I had no idea that it was going to make it, but it did.

Most of the logs I use the winch and ramp for are the 18" to 24" dia. babies that I simply cannot lift by myself, and two men can barely do it. I run into a lot of these where I cut. If I were to make curlies with all of them, I would go through a lot of gas and saw chains. When you see how easy a splitter can handle them in the vertical position, sawing them seems senseless. And, even monster mauls don't work very well splitting elm, the most common wood that I cut.

Believe me, I thought a long time before I built this arrangement, but it really has come in handy. I imagine I have dragged on board 50 big rounds with it in a year--each producing about 30 split logs apiece. The older I get, the more I appreciate it.

 

[Wet1]

Makes sense. I guess what works for one guy may or maynot work for the next.