How long does it take to split a cord?

[Freakingstang]

I"ve got some other big wood that is green and tough as all get out. My 8 pound maul just bounces off. Dunno what it is. Bark looks like oak, but I've not had a look at any leaves to confirm that.

You familiar with Elm in Virginia? Elm can be nasty to split, even with a splitter when green. It's gets a little easier as it seasons, but is still a bear. Burns good, though. kinda has a bark similar to an oak species, but smaller pattern if that makes any sense.

-Steve

 

[SmokinDodge]

I assume your definition of a cord is different than mine.
Let me guess, you think a cord is 4 feet high, 8 feet long, and 16" wide, because there's no way you split a cord (4x4x8) in an hour by hand.

"I'll take that bet, yer gonna regret cause I'm the best there has ever been"

Seriously though, I have split a cord of good Red Oak in an hour by hand. Just splitting, nothing else. I was in high school and training for the wrestling team. Dad and I would cut wood on the weekends the rounds were usually about 18" across 16 " tall and load them all without splitting. During the week after school I would line 'em up in the yard and go at them like a mad man with a monster maul (All steel, triangle head, real heavy)

Dad always had firewood.


The yard was always a mess.


I made the wrestling team.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

You familiar with Elm in Virginia? Elm can be nasty to split, even with a splitter when green. It's gets a little easier as it seasons, but is still a bear. Burns good, though. kinda has a bark similar to an oak species, but smaller pattern if that makes any sense.

-Steve

Makes perfect sense, and sounds about right. This was a storm downed tree, and DOT got to it and took all the small stuff, so I didn't get to see most of it. Just a big trunk laying on the ground - the tree was mebbe 40" DBH I would guess. Elm get that big?

After too many years as a city boy, I'm still learning my trees.

 

[Freakingstang]

Makes perfect sense, and sounds about right. This was a storm downed tree, and DOT got to it and took all the small stuff, so I didn't get to see most of it. Just a big trunk laying on the ground - the tree was mebbe 40" DBH I would guess. Elm get that big?

After too many years as a city boy, I'm still learning my trees.

Last one I dropped was 48" DBH. Yes they get that big. They are extremely dense when green. I blew two trailer tires on the way home from that one I'll see if I can dig some pics of the bark. I' a country boy and I don't know my trees either...I know some, but not that any. i know which ones burn good. lol

-Steve

 

[turnkey4099]

Well, I know my trees. There's the ones with needles and then there's the ones with leaves

Harry K

 

[Toddppm]

Figure 2-3 hours a cord for a casual pace with a good splitter. Those big rounds will work you a little more.
Just did a little more than a cord last week in a little over 2 hours with my 31 ton MTD, my dad has a 26 ton but it takes more work to get it through pieces that mine will blast apart without moving it around.

 

[ranchjn]

Figure 2-3 hours a cord for a casual pace with a good splitter. Those big rounds will work you a little more.
Just did a little more than a cord last week in a little over 2 hours with my 31 ton MTD, my dad has a 26 ton but it takes more work to get it through pieces that mine will blast apart without moving it around.

i only split by hand, and it takes me WAYY longer than an hour to do a cord. You gotta fall the tree, limb it, and then buck it up. I dont know about you guys, but i split the rounds wherever they land. This means that I am almost always off balence, and am always working in a tight area. The rounds are too heavy to lift up and move around. Maybe if you had a bunch of rounds layed out in a nice row on flat ground, i could run down the line with my 8 pound maul and split each one of them. Still though, i think even that would take me over an hour. The condition of the wood, how much time you spend reading each round, and the quality of the job you do all are important factors to consider. Someone on this board once said that splitting wood heats you twice, and i could not agree more.

 

[Gark]

How long to split?

I'd say if doing a cord (4 X 4 X 8) of oak and locust alone, 2.5 hours for a horizontal splitter MTD or similar. If you can get a vertical-capable mechanical splitter, that saves time (and strain) because there's less lifting- maybe 2 hours then. A helper saves even more time.

 

[bvomark]

splitting a cord

We can split and stack a 16" face cord in about an hour with our 22 ton MTD 6 hp machine. It doesn't make much difference if there are one or two persons. This would equate to about 3 hrs per cord. The splitter cycle time is too slow to go faster. The type of wood also may make it slightly faster or slower.

With my Iron Oak splitter 22 ton, 13 hp and 4 way wedge I think you can split about 4 face cords an hour. This requires someone to keep the split wood moved out from the splittter. Otherwise it builds up too fast under the splitter and you can't walk around it like you need to be able to without getting tripped up.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

This is great info, folks. Thanks very much. Sounds like I can expect to get at least my big stuff, and maybe all my stuff, with a marathon Friday evening to Sunday evening split-a-thon, and take the splitter back Monday morning.

BUT!

There's a new problem.


I've found a sawmill that wants somebody to haul away his log ends. Says they run 12" to 18" diameter, and 2-3 feet long. On my way to work, mine for the taking.


Assuming this checks out (I haven't eyeballed anything yet), that means I'm going to have a lot more wood in the near future! Should I split what I've got NOW, and then rent again down the road? Or should I wait and split it all at once? Or should I buy a splitter? (which I can't afford!)


Oh, decisions, decisions!

 

[rmihalek]

Maybe you can split all the straight, easy pieces by hand and let the gnarly pieces build up in a pile and then when you think you have enough, rent a splitter for the day and go through the gnarly stuff.

I usually can split the straight-grained red oak rounds faster with a maul than with my (neighbor's) splitter. It's the crotches and knotty, crooked stuff that are really slow with the maul or wedges and a sledge.

 

[turnkey4099]

Maybe you can split all the straight, easy pieces by hand and let the gnarly pieces build up in a pile and then when you think you have enough, rent a splitter for the day and go through the gnarly stuff.

I usually can split the straight-grained red oak rounds faster with a maul than with my (neighbor's) splitter. It's the crotches and knotty, crooked stuff that are really slow with the maul or wedges and a sledge.

Good advice! That would be my approach. In fact that is what I do regularly, not for the speed of splitting but for the exercise I get out of it.

Harry K

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

That isn't a bad idea. I do enjoy hand splitting, but then I look at those 24 inch rounds of dry oak and I think.....

 

[Brushwacker]

I have done a small firewood business 24 years. I have up to now split 90% + by hand mostly with the 15lb. monster maul. I am most of the time a 1 man operation. Useing 5 to 8 hp splitters I figure I can split most wood that I have dumped in a pile 1, 4'x8'x16" facecord per hour ,( split only,not stacking). 1 person you have to chase down the wood and bring it to the splitter and or move the splitter much of the time you are working. When you double your man power I would estimate you triple your splitting time and a 3 helper would be better yet.
In straight grained good splitting wood on hard ground it isn't hard for me to split 1 face per hour and I am talking splitting it down to mostly 5'' diameter and under,some kindling size. When the wood and ground is froze it is most efficiant for me to hand split on the spot. I can toss the split wood from a distance onto the truck where as not split I have to carry and walk the larger pieces to the truck.
I don't last as long as I used to and it takes longer to recover after a hard days work at 47. If I were to split another 24 years 90% will probably be with a splitter.
Worth mentioning,if you process big blocks of wood a big chainsaw is an big advantage for slicing them lengthwise down to sizes you can handle and split comfortably.Chainsaw expense is much less then back problems,knees, etc.. I cut them right through the worst knots then they split easier whether by hand or machine. The long shavings you get are great for the dog or chicken house or you can use them for mulch etc..

 

[turnkey4099]

That isn't a bad idea. I do enjoy hand splitting, but then I look at those 24 inch rounds of dry oak and I think.....

Think is right. It takes me some real will power to pick up the sledge/wedge in the morning and start swinging with the hydraulic splitter standing right there. Took me a week to split the last load I brought in (about 3/4 cord) due to the heat out here. Been high 90s low 100s for over a week now. Cooled all the way down to 95 yesterday.

I have a very small load, mayby 1/4 cord on the PU that I made today finishing up the last tree I fell. That load will all go through the splitter as almost every chunk has a knot.

Harry K

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Yeah, it's been hot here, too. And really, I don't have the time. This morning I got my eyeballs on the free wood I mentioned. BONANZA! 12-30 inch diameter, and running about the same in length. All dry, and mostly oak. Some poplar. Yeah, I know, not the best. But some not too cold mornings it's nice to have a quick fire just to take the chill off, without it burning well into the afternoon. So I'll take the poplar, too.

Besides, the less 'junk' wood this guy has to pay to dump, the better he'll like me, and this is a GOOD thing! This morning I loaded the pickup with some small stuff (5-12") that somebody had dumped on him without permission. He was delighted.

Anyway, with this new source of wood, I'm leaning toward buying the splitter. My boys can run it while I'm at work, and I'm hoping to sell enough to pay for the splitter and let them make some money. Since I work in Yuppieland, I can bring those nice high priced bundles of wood to work, and deliver them on my way home...