Quickest Method to Process Wood

[DSW]

Last year I did close to 50 cord and I felt effecient until the saw turned off. Truck, saw, and Fiskars, I racked it over and there was just no way of streamlining it with that setup.

The only one thing would have been to toss splits directly into the truck without stacking. That wasn't really an option though.

 

[svk]

For maximum efficient use of my time, (when possible) I pay my lawn kid to move rounds and stack splits for me. Then I spend my time cutting and splitting and at most have about $15 a cord invested with his time.

 

[DSW]

Sounds like you're headed in the right direction. Hire another one to split then you can just lay trees out all day. ☺

 

[svk]

Well my kids are getting old enough to run the splitter so I won't need to hire anyone soon!

 

[jrider]

You should try to find some kind of low cart or table that when you cut a round it doesn't fall all the way to the ground. Much less bending over. I think sawyer rob has a great setup that his rounds when cut fall on top of the hay wagon then he slides them to the splitter

I can't argue that just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I'll second or forth, since I'm not sure who else has recommended it, but a table next to the splitter it priceless. Not only for staging rounds, but catching pieces that need to be resplit.

Eliminating the number of times things need to be picked up is the best way to efficiency. And it's not really from a time standpoint. It saves your energy and wear on your back. Which we all know will tire before anything else.


Sent from a field

 

[BIG JAKE]

One thing I can tell you younger guys is work smart, because hard labor will take its toll later on, as in my case. Now I am 55, so I can tell you from experience. I have no intention of ever stopping what I love to do, I just arrived at a better way for now to serve my needs. This log will go on my home made bandsaw I built using new steel, driven by a 13hp Honda, that I built for inside of 700.00. I can cut up to 24" wide. I loaded this entire tree in probably less than 30 minutes. Trailer is 5x14', my preferred size trailer for maneuverability, and because the trailer is the same width as the truck, it makes it easier to pick my way between the trees. I can safely haul up to 17footers, but rarely need lumber that long. The cross bars prevent heavy logs from dropping on and destroying my trailer deck. Logs with lots of knots go for firewood. This eliminates all the lifting for me. Logs can be bucked up in the trailer and rolled right onto my splitter, or winched down onto the sawmill landing. Splits go into a wheel barrow, then to the stack. No bending over for splits. I even keep big plastic containers with lids that get kindling thrown in while I split. When the boxes are full it gets replaced with another empty box. I never run out of kindling.
Sawmill design compliments of Gene in Alaska, with a few modifications of my own. He had a thread in the milling section. My wife on the winch and brother who didn't realize you can push from the side while milling-ha! Hope this helps someone make things easier. SVK, no intention to hi-jack, you have a nice place up there-enjoy the fire pit thread too!

 

[svk]

Very nice Jake!

 

[muddstopper]

Jake, nice setup. Growing up we used to cut poles and roll logs up on a 1ton flatbed. Electric winches wherent all that common back in the 60's. We would put the truck in the lowest spot we could find, skid the logs to the truck and roll them up by hand. Pulp wood we cut to 5ft and threw up on the bed, then climb up on the bed and stack it as high as we could. We would save the smaller stuff to throw on top and round out the load. Man I am glad those days are over with. Lot of hard work went into getting $20 worth of wood. Of course $20 would buy a lot more back then than it would now. Gas $0.25 a gal. $1 would buy enough gas to get you to the woods and back and have enough left over to mix for the saw.

 

[BIG JAKE]

Yeah those methods are the ones I try to avoid now! I've skidded a lot of logs too. I have nice Landa pressure washer I can blast the dirt off with, but prefer to get the trailer right next to the log. Vclean wood is easy on blades and chains, another time waster! A little care avoiding dirt goes a long way. When we go up for logs we take a picnic lunch, and the dogs-makes for a fun little excursion that way and a more efficient use of the fuel I burn.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Best way I've found to clean logs is, high volume low pressure water,

Anyway, that's what works best for me...

SR

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

For the most part... how much do you want to spend will dictate efficiency.

Spend half a day trying to wrestle logs on a trailer by hand or use a skid steer and be done in 30 mins and not be worn out.

One is free, the other 50k.

Or better yet, use a feller buncher, skidder, stroke delimber and log truck.

Skid steers in the log yard to load the processors and sawmill.

All depends on the goals. Trying to just cut a few cords a year or a thousand?

 

[Ted Jenkins]

For me if I cut and deliver 50 or 60 cords of Oak then my year is happy. A few cords of Pine is often added to the mix for the year. Every situation is different with different goals and challenges. When I worked in North Eastern Oregon I worked with several logging companies that did not want the smaller Lodge Poles Pine. The companies would make piles of the Pine with tractors and then picking it up was easy. So with a decent flatbed you could cut and load 10 cords a day easy. Then drive to your splitter split it load it on your pick up and deliver it. You would be lucky to have $50 a day in your pocket. In the 70's and 80's timber sales were everywhere which required a decent skidder or crawler to get your wood loaded in a dump truck and then to a yard for processing. After that it had to be stacked some where for seasoning. Now in California there is no method that works because some years the wood is very scarce. What worked last year will not work this year. Since there is no room for skidders or tractors it has to be done by hand for most part. At this moment my process is to cut the trees down, limb, pile brush, roll the rounds to a loading point, pick up the rounds, take them to my spliter, split from one pick up load to another, deliver it, stack it, collect. My goal is to pick up on average a $200 a day and sleep well. As long as my dogs are happy what else matters. Thanks

 

[kodiak]

I do like Mr Whooppee does. Rounds in the trailer, roll from trailer onto splitter (with splitting table) then right to the stack. Minimal bending over is my goal. Plus it's difficult to bring the splitter into our woods so that's not an option.

 

[muddstopper]

Most of the wood I get , getting next to it with a splitter, much less a trailer, just isnt a option. tools needed are minimal. I keep a couple of snatch block and 100ft of 3/8 cable on the truck. Hook the truck to the tree with cable, run it thru the snatch blocks and pull the tree to the road. I try to dodge getting trees like that as much as I can. Now days, if there is a lot of work to getting the wood, I simply dont go get it. I can get enough yard trees, blow downs, and when necessary, I can always hit the logging sites and they will load their cutoffs on my dump trailer for me. Free wood, with minimal work. One thing about getting logging cut offs, its always big, knotty, forked, junk wood they cant sell to the mills. Its free and easy to get, but you better have a good splitter to process it. Headed out now to get a couple of large red oaks that blowed down in the last storm. Wood has already been trimmed and the limb wood hauled for firewood. Bucked into 10ft logs and a FEL to load them on my dump trailer. Free wood and they have done most of the work.

 

[svk]

So it took me 5 hours to fell, skid, buck, and split, and toss a cord of hardwood this morning. Didn't break any records but barely broke a sweat either.

 

[muddstopper]

Took me 2 hrs to load and haul about a cord of red oak. 30 min there and 30 min back and about a hour to snake the 11 logs out of the woods and load. Used a new JD tractor and loader. Had a cab and AC too!! Didnt break a Sweat.

 

[CaseyForrest]

5 hours is respectable for working alone.


Sent from a field

 

[muddstopper]

5 hours is respectable for working alone.


Sent from a field

i have seen a lot of post about the time it takes. I usually do the math in my head just because. Anyways, it seems 4 to 5 hrs is pretty average for bucking splitting and stacking. I can buck, split, and stack about a cord per hr, but it takes 4 people to make it work. 4 people @ 1 hr= 4 man hours. So to fell, skid, buck, split and toss, 5 hrs for one person is pretty decent production.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

If the rounds are too big to lift, I roll them up a ramp into the truck. I tried splitting with a maul and carrying the blocks, it was MUCH more work.

I used to split stuff in halves or quarters for hand lifting. First, it helps to read the end of the round for existing cracks. Then cut the depth of the bar on the larger ones. Next, go down the line, hitting once with a maul. Once halved, no need to cut again to quarter. Just another hit with the maul. Now I use a pulp hook for carrying and lifting, but when these photos were taken I had never heard of one.

Post 18: Nice cuts by the way on that big stuff.