Looks better to me when there is a little more wood in it at this time of year. Just didn't get to it. It's an improvement over the tarps I used before, that's for sure
Post pictures of your woodpile/splitting area
- Thread starter ShaneLogs
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It sure has been cold. I was hoping to get through to the beginning of March or so.
hayboy
ArboristSite Operative
Grubs, I cut a dead wild cherry one time, west cent Al, that had maybe 500 of these or looked like them. If I had thought, I would have had it sawed into lumber, would have been wormwood special, but cut it into firewood , these went all the way to the top. every stick. Wife let fire get on my pile of cherry and with all the grub eaten air holes, it went up like gas. Been cutting wood about 55 yrs or so and never saw more than 2/3 in a bad rotten tree. Uncle and I were splitting one time, just for the heck, I poped one in my mouth telling him they were delicious, he fell off the stick he was sitting on. I spit it out, no harm done, it looked clean and they do eat them on tv.
Cut some dead ash from around the fire pit area yesterday. Got a decent pile out of it.
Took this red oak down today. IT was about 50 so good day to get out.
It was leaning hard to the left, I wanted it to go right.
It took all my wedges but I got er done.
Got this pic when it was falling.
I ran out of gas before the 291.
It was leaning hard to the left, I wanted it to go right. It took all my wedges but I got er done. Got this pic when it was falling. I ran out of gas before the 291. 
Multifaceted
Firewood Hoarder, Axe Enthusiast
Today, I decided to do some axe work, as well as chainsaw work. One was an ash tree that I felled with an axe last weekend for the ACWC, but it got snagged by a tiny little branch in a nearby cherry, and it sat severed from stump and right on top of it. So, I had to take out the living cherry so make the situation safe. My plan today was to limb, buck, and split the ash with an axe... but boy, it must have been dead for a while because it was incredibly hard, like trying to chip a solid mass of epoxy. After bucking a few logs I realized that not only was I burning a lot of steam, but it was also slow work. This was a bad seledtion or the Axe Cordwood Challenge. Since I had the chainsaw ready to deploy, I went ahead and and limbed and bucked it all to save time, which was a good idea... because that ash was also incredibly difficult to split. After noodl;ing a few rounds and fighting it, I bypassed it and tried to finish splitting all of the cherry. Today was an unseasonably 56 degrees F (13 C), and after the month long deep freeze we had, then a warm soaking rain, followed by another week of frigid temps, the ground was practically a swamp. So much mud. I ended up slipping while golf-swinging my splitting axe and took a glancing blow to the upper shin. It was pretty deep, but not bleeding very much, so I cleaned it up, butterflied it and bandaged it up. Hey, the wood ain't gonna cut itself. Damn mud, made a mess of everything, and I couldn't get good footing, so I didn't finish before sundown. I couldn't even get my lawn tractor and pull cart up the hill to my woodyard. Got stuck and really chewed up the turf. Ended up schlepping down two pallets to stack all of the splits, then stacked the remaining rounds atop some limbs and rest them against a nearby tree. All in all, an honest days work, but I could have been a lot more productive without all of that dang mud.
(Ouch!)
Philbert
Philbert
You must be watching the Vikings
Multifaceted
Firewood Hoarder, Axe Enthusiast
Ouch indeed. Want to see the wound?
Got the temporary rounds rack mostly filled. Still plenty of more wood on the ground in piles. Never enough time. Might dedicate the whole day tomorrow to sorting this out and making it neater.
I'm also looking for ideas for wood handling equipment. I'm thinking of building some kind of gantry and utilizing a 1ton chainfall that I was given. Some of these larger rounds are a pain but I can't justify a tractor or anything like that. Thoughts?
Multifaceted
Firewood Hoarder, Axe Enthusiast
How wide are these big rounds. I have a large set of log tongs and log hook that I use to lift the larger ones, up to about 18" that really saves my back. Still some arm and upper body work, but lessening the back strain really helps my endurance.
Some of the rounds I end up with are 36" but most are 24" or less. It's a crapshoot around here as to what size I'm going to end up with.
Multifaceted
Firewood Hoarder, Axe Enthusiast
Oh yeah, way too big for tongs. If my rounds are too big and I need to stack before I can split them, I'll either split or noodle them in half, or to a more manageable size. I like your idea of a gantry, but I that seems somewhat limited in range. Maybe I'm just not envisioning it correctly. A Peavy or a Cant Hook perhaps?
I've got no problem moving them around the area on the ground. My issue comes from the fact that I end up with all different thicknesses and lengths of wood. Having something I can use to lift them onto racks, the splitter deck, or support one end so I can cut to length in the air would be great. I saw a design for a tripod made of 3 4x4 and some plywood circles. It folds up when not in use for storage and seems much more mobile than a gantry.
Multifaceted
Firewood Hoarder, Axe Enthusiast
My thoughts exactly. I figure I can use a chain or rope to tie each leg together and help prevent them from splaying out under load. Probably wouldn't trust it to do really heavy lifting but moving rounds should be fine.
When I was a kid we had a tripod built from three Black Locust saplings, maybe 12' high, we used it to pull truck engines. I'd keep my eyes out for a used engine crane, I've seen them sell for $25-$50 bucks at auctions. You can get a brand new 2 ton crane from HF for $189, Joe.
spyder62
Addicted to ArboristSite
A few pics of our splitting area. The homemade splitter works pretty good. Gotta be about 40 years old. Custom outdoor furniture. Loveseat and table.
Toy4xchris
ArboristSite Operative
My helper playing in the "big noodle pile" at least that's what he calls it.
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