how much can 2 people split w/splitter/day?

[cruzer]

Ok i have about 4-5 cords of rounds piled up right now that need to be split. I usaly split by hand but their is no way i am going to get to this in time before it's to late in the season...plus my yard looks like A$$ right now. I have never run or used a splitter before. Plan is to rent a splitter from HD or Lowes and go to town for a day. How much wood do you think 2 guys can split with a splitter in one day say 8am-6pm? 1 guy?

All we would be doing to splitting rounds. no stacking or bucking.

I am hoping to get through everything in one day. Whatcha think?

Stew

 

[Zodiac45]

Yep you can do it but you'll need to bust a$$ too get 5 done and you'll want 2 people. One to run the splitter and the other too feed him the wood and clear the splits out of the way. Keep the rewards (beer etc..) for after the jobs done and switch positions every hour or so, because the guy feeding and clearing will work harder than the operator.
PS: Before I owned a splitter (and take my leasurely time) and rented I would plan at 2 hrs. a cord.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Might want 3 people. 5 cords in a day is a bunch of wood. 'Course, a lot depends on what size your rounds are. If it's big stuff, you'll have a hard time doing 5 cords, I think. By 'big' I mean big enough you can't easily lift the rounds.

A chain gang approach would help. One guy feeding, one guy splitting, one guy clearing.

Make sure you bring enough splitter for the wood you're working! You don't want to be wimping along with a 22 ton on some gnarly oak crotches, for example. OTOH, if it's all 10" pine or poplar, a 22 ton will be overkill. Match the tool to the job. When in doubt, get a bigger hammer!

And think about whether you want to split horizontally or vertically. I find that splitting horizontally is faster for the smaller stuff, but I'm not lifting 20" (and more!) oak rounds up to the splitter - that's vertical time! Again, match the tool to the job.

Oh, one more thing - make sure you have plenty of gas on hand! You don't want to have to run to town for a refill.

On my Huskee 35 ton (11.5 horse B&S engine), I can run about an hour on a tank, and that's splitting big oak stuff. I'll go maybe 90 minutes on smaller stuff like cherry.

 

[cruzer]

thanks for the info guys.

I think HD/Lowes rents a 35ton vertical/horizontal unit which is plenty big enough for everything i have. Not to much narly wood it's more about time/effort at this point. I could split it all by hand but it will take more time than i have at the moment to devote to my wood pile


thanks for the tip on gas, will make sure i check the oil also

Maybe i will see if our father-in-law wants come over and run the splittah. Give him some cold o-fools and let him actuate the handle.

I can probably cull out about a cord of stuff that needs only one split and do those by hand a little later or doesn't really need to be split.

My goal is to get my yard cleaned up and the majority of my wood stacked and start seasoning NOW instead of later.

Stew

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Not knowing what you do for a living, but I drive a desk all day and 4-5 cord/ day with 2 people is a HARD day. Maybe you can rent one over a weekend. I rent a big chipper every memorial day because the rental place gives you the holiday for free.

 

[Zodiac45]

Not knowing what you do for a living, but I drive a desk all day and 4-5 cord/ day with 2 people is a HARD day. Maybe you can rent one over a weekend. I rent a big chipper every memorial day because the rental place gives you the holiday for free.

+1 Good idea! Same with the rental place in town here. If you rent the splitter on a Sat. you can keep it till Monday.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

Hey Cruzer I think it's going to be really tuff to split 4 to 5 cords in 10 hours with 2 people. I have an hour meter on my splitter and have split 10.5 cords in 35 hours. Those are splitting hours only. Most of it was with at least 2 people and sometimes 3 . My splitter is 8hp briggs that will run 2 hours on its 1 gallon tank, with 12 second cycle times. I can't seem to get below 3 hours per cord. All of it has been Oak up to 24'' rounds . Just my experience. Good luck with your splitting.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I have an hour meter on my splitter and have split 10.5 cords in 35 hours.

This sounds about right by me, I just split 4.5 cord with a pto mounted splitter and it took me about 15 hours to do it. I had one helper for about 8 or 10 hours, the rest by myself. I think it'd be hard to do the whole mess in a day but maybe you can if ya got a faster splitter than I had.

 

[Hugenpoet]

A four way wedge and a fast cycle time (10 seocnds of less) would "allow" two people to do the job in a "full" day, BUT I never finished a tank of gas on my splitter when I didn't need a longer break than the time it takes just to gas'er up again, including a cold beverage-or two.

More a function of your age, energy level and physical condition. For my son, who is mid thirties, and me two cord per day is all we ever want to do.

 

[Deadman]

Someone like your dad or a retired guy could run the splitter, and the 2 guys could do the "work". Its alot of work for 1 guy to clear the split stuff from around the splitter after the pile gets huge.

 

[bullseye13]

My dad has a 27 ton huskee splitter, and last week we split and stacked about 3 cord of oak. It was all done in vertical position because all the pieces were 80-100lbs. Im 19, i did all the wood wrestling, dad stacked and soemone else manned the handle. I think we had about 5 hours into the splitting, but that was running full tilt.

 

[pacman]

splitting

Dont split any thing under 6 inches just stack them with the splits . If you have a sledge and wedges it will speed up your time if your splitter gets tided up with a huge piece .

If you have a wheel barrow you can put pieces in it to aid the person doing the splitting so they dont have to be handed the pieces .They could just pick them up out of the wheel barrow and not keep bending over as much.

 

[OilHead]

I use a plastic milk carton creat with a padded seat when splitting you dont want to be bending over all day its a killer . Move the splitter a few feet every 1/2 ,3/4 cord . 3 people would be best for a tag team so the machine can run all the time except for refuel. Breakes & lunch . Think you know. Ear plugs , gloves & lots of gas .

 

[cruzer]

Great advice guys! I asked my FIL to come over also so between the three of us we should be able to get a large majority done in one day. The ladies are going to whatch the little ones while we work so we should be good.

Will have plenty of cold beverages and snacks so we can keep working all day

Stew

 

[Countrybois]

"I could split it all by hand but it will take more time than i have at the moment to devote to my wood pile"

I don't know what kind of wood you are splitting, but using a hydraulic splitter is NOT faster than splitting with a maul. If it's oak I can split a 26" round in 1/4 the time it takes on a splitter. Now, granted that may seem like work, but if it is speed you are after then split the straight stuff by hand and use the splitter for the knotty, gnarly stuff.

 

[OilHead]

Yeah you can just sit there & let them roll over the rounds unless your splittin one with large knots or branch take off in which case is best to stand out of the way in case the thing pulls a spring loaded launch out the front. If the rental unit doesnt have a log dislodger have a maul or sledge to get it unstuck & dont have your foot underneeth it when it drops.

 

[Hugenpoet]

"I could split it all by hand but it will take more time than i have at the moment to devote to my wood pile"

I don't know what kind of wood you are splitting, but using a hydraulic splitter is NOT faster than splitting with a maul. If it's oak I can split a 26" round in 1/4 the time it takes on a splitter. Now, granted that may seem like work, but if it is speed you are after then split the straight stuff by hand and use the splitter for the knotty, gnarly stuff.

Sounds like a variation on the original "John Henry was a Steel Drivin' Man" story to me. And yes, you are absolutely correct, it does sound like work to me.

 

[Lignum]

Easily done, just make sure you have enough fuel to get the job done. Having a second person is a huge help. I don't think you will be doing anything else for the rest of the week besides sitting on the couch nursing the sore muscles in your back, but it can be done, oh, as long as the wood is not Elm, Sycamore, or Sweet Gum. That can set you back a bit.

 

[jerry wayne]

Me and a kid

I have a 1/2 wit guy that rents from me,and it took some time,but we usually do 5 cord a day,split n toss into the dump trailer,dump under roofed off lean too,filler up and have at it again........only can do that for 2 days inna row and were too whipped to try a third day.......but started off only doing about 1/2 that at first.Got the grove thing goin and you can kick some tail!

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I don't think you will be doing anything else for the rest of the week besides sitting on the couch nursing the sore muscles in your back, .

Oh, yeah! That old weekend warrior bit!


Vitamin C will take a LOT of the pain out the next day. Take it before you start working, take it at lunch, take it at night, and take it the next few days. It will make a HUGE difference.

And take enough - like 8 or 10 grams a day, not some stupid 250 milligrams.

Watch it though, at those dosages, if you are not used to it, you'll think it's Ex-Lax.