Splitting by hand?

[windfall]

I think there are quite a few firewood producers on here that still use a maul, i used a maul and tyre screwed to a large lump of wood when i was only making logs for myself. The maul handle would hit the tyre and bounce back up, also the tyre keeps the logs all in place so you dont have to keep bending down to pick up the bits.

 

I watched this americans video and went and made one the next day.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRuk_jd1f8M&feature=related]YouTube - ‪Splitting Wood With A Tire‬‏[/ame]

 

But as soon as i started making logs for commercial gain i bought a splitter that ran off my tractors hydraulics. I have now freed up my tractor with a Diesel powered JCB beaver hydraulic power pack. The splitter cost me £600 and the Beaver was £1000.

[farmer_ben]

Wish id known about that tire idea when i was splitting by hand!!!!! Great idea!!

 

The chap who also does logs in my yard, has only ever used an axe and think he has been doing it that way for 15rs, and he sends out easily 100 pick up loads last winter. But he is an animal, he extracted easily 120t of timber from one of our woods this winter with just a chainsaw and small car trailer.

 

The comment regarding splitting with an axe messing you joints up isnt far wrong at all

[sandbach-sticks]

My processor and me would be available for hire in August. I am in Cheshire so not a million miles away. I also have saw benches and splitters that would save you a lot of time, after hiring once and seeing the difference you will buy Similar to everyone else i started doing everything with axe and chainsaw. Cheapest set up would be to get a splitter made (local farm engineer) and look on ebay for hydraulic power pack (or old tractor), I got a saw bench from germany it was only £240 and has done a lot of work (good for logs up to 30 cm diam). Good luck!

[DN22 Gardening]

we now have a towable 10 ton splitter, home made, runs off a powerpack.

also 20 ton for the back of the tractor.

 

had a race with one of the lads the other day, doing 6-10" ash

 

he had the towable, i had my old, much abused, fibreglass handled £15 maul.

 

i did a cube while he was still only 3/4 of the way through his !!!!!

 

wouldn't want to do it all day though

 

for the first three seasons, the maul was all we had. did everything from nice straight softwood, right upto seasoned Euch... the last winter before we bought the splitters, we sold over 100 cube.

 

NEVER AGAIN.......pmsl

[Ty Unnos]

Thanks - lots of ideas for me to try.

 

I like the tyre and also will try splitting in longer lengths.

 

I will be starting off small so the powered splitter will probably have to wait.

[Boy English]

i done around 40t of mixed birch / ash and beech by hand, i got an old oil drum cut it about 2ft high and then cut a good sized v out of the front, put a decent sized piece of wood in the bottom as a block.. just stops you running around picking bits up, also saves your shins..

 

i didn't do any last winter and now i weigh about 2 stone more..

[Yeti]

Until last year I split everything by hand,All I've gt now is two mangled hands and worst case tennis elbow ever in my right arm.That was doing it 7 days a week all year.As much as we like to think we are invincible we are not.

If want to stay in the game for a length of time I'd stick to using machines,as all the days off with sore joints means youdont save any cash anyway doing it by hand lol

[csservices]

I still use an axe, have got a splitting maul, but I find a good 5-6 pound axe is a lot quicker and less damaging to your joints than a splitting maul, I'm too tight to buy a splitter

[Yeti]

Same man I hated mauls,I just used 6 and half pound axe.wish I could still use one for a period of time as I was faster with an axe than using splitter.