Dougie Stirling

Thanks, great to see the set-up as my electric Bosch AKE 35 has just packed in, I'm hoping to open it up and see if I can fix it (I've an older spare one for parts). If not I'll be shelling out a fair bit for another. I'd like to get a petrol but fear it'll be too noisy for the neighbours the amount I use it.

Thanks for top tips, so it doesn't look like I'm being rude, I'm off on holiday for 10 days from tonight and so will catch up on advice when I'm back. Really appreciate the useful tips so far though.

Yes, I've heard about electric splitters (5 tonne or so) and starting to think one might be amazing especially for the larger stuff (50cm+ diameter, and/or about 18inch+ depth), with a decent axe for normal/finishing stuff. A friend on the west coast actually has one and so I'm looking to head over in about 6 weeks to try it out. I'm going to take away all the good advice and get next level stuff later this year I think - sounds like the husky s2800 and X21 are folks top picks but smoother good stuff in there too and likely see if I can try them all out. I definitely want a fibreglass handle though as changing handles seems beyond me at the moment. ....I'm also just turned 50 and have 3 kids so a guy's got to have somewhere to go hide 🙂 with toys to play with.

Thanks - I think birthday and Christmas are now both sorted. I'm very small 5'4" and while fit don't have the same strength as your regular tree surgeon handling logs every day. Sometimes makes me weep when I see the size they can lift compared to me but I'd like to think I'm better than average. So smaller axes may well suit me better. Sadly in the Edinburgh area or I'd have loved to trade axe blows so to speak - lol

Thanks - maybe it's not the X21 at B&Q, I'll look next time I'm there. I'm definitely happy buying decent stuff though as I chop about 6-8m3 per year, maybe more as it's about 4-5 days worth of cutting and chopping, probably not much by some standards but still takes a fair bit if time and so appreciate all the tips for doing it quicker. Handling seems like a good tip, I currently just do rounds on a block, I'm going to start trying other ways to see if I can get the knack. Again thanks also for the rakers and chain advice, I can't believe I used to buy 2 chains a year and throw them away as I didn't know how to sharpen them and at £10 each felt it was cheap enough for helping to chop the logs. Most of the time I was running a blunt chain as wasn't aware what sharp was like. That was a fair few years ago though fortunately.

Thanks for all the advice on the rakers, I filed them down about half a dozen strokes earlier today and seems to pull more chips off the log without me needing to push the chain into the log as much so I think that's made a huge difference. I need more practice on my golf axe swing, I think the handle was too long today, X21 might be the bad boy to sort that out. I'm torn between that or an electric log splitter for xmas.

I've seen it before and always thought the X21 had a very straight handle, I'm going to go to the local hardware store (B&Q) and try one out. Thanks for the tip. I love the fibreglass handles as the roughneck one has taken a fair hammering (my aim is rubbish half the time especially on the knots), I'm sure it's outlasted any wooden handled axe at least by 2 or 3 times.

Thanks that's going to save me buying a gauge and I'll have a shot at filing down the rakers today. I've the Husky chain file which looks to have a raker gauge on it so I'll youtube what I should be doing as that might help too. My dust is normally small square chips and it's when it turns to smaller dust or I have to fight to make a cut that I stop to sharpen. I'm pretty sure filing the rakers will be helpful though as I quite often feel I'm pushing down on the chainsaw rather than it pulling into the log. Really appreciate everyone's tips as while I've been doing it for a few years I'm still self taught and so likely lots I can learn.

Just been checking out what the rakers are on a chain and I've never adjusted them, I'll have a look at this tomorrow and hope it helps - thanks for advice. Chain will have been run for about 20-30hrs so might make a huge difference.

Thanks for all replies, I've a roughneck splitting maul which seems to work well when the logs are drier but bounces back when they're wet. That's a good idea about splitting when green to dry quicker, I'll go try that tomorrow as I've 4 tonnes of logs on the drive which is why I thought worth asking for advice. I'm not sure what chains I have but I'll check and try some other brands to see if it makes any difference. I'm a go for good value guy as thanks for shout out on what's good value. Blimey, I'm still watching Buckin Billy on Youtube and seems I'm doing it all wrong. Perhaps I need a sharper axe too 🙂

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I tend to have a large round as my chopping block, something like 60-70cm diameter and 15cm thick (the biggest round the tree surgeons have dropped off). Then I put all the other rounds on this and chop through, this means I hit the base round when I split the log so avoid damaging the axe. I've just watched the Buckin Billy and never seen the golf swing approach, looks great for him and I might try it a few times when I'm feeling confident, I'd worry I chopped my toe (no make that foot) in half and I'm doing chopping on a concrete drive which will make it harder. I do season my logs for 12 months before I do my cutting which seems sensible and the logs are also half the weight by then. I'd still love to know what makes a great chainsaw as my head say's it's got to be the chain that makes the difference so should I be spending on a fancy chain? Good to know I'm sharpening about the right amount of time thanks.

I've been a tip site for several years and been using an electric Bosche chainsaw to chop logs into lengths and a large log splitting axe to split the logs. I've 2 wood stores which hold about 6m2 which is enough for a winter. I'm using the wood for our woodburning stove which we use most days for about 6 months over winter, based in Scotland. It's generally quite a lot of work chopping and splitting each year, and I'm wondering if there's a better way to do it. I don't have a lot of space for an electric log splitter. I live in Edinburgh and so i'm already aware the neighbours are likely not loving the noise of the chainsaw. Wondering what folk would recommend or am I doing it about as good as it gets? Secondly, I sharpen the chain on the chainsaw, and find the electric Bosche chainsaw reliable and pretty good but the chain needs sharpened fairly regularly (about every hour), is this normal? Tree surgeons all seem to use Husqvarna's but I'm thinking the chain would loose it's sharpness just as quickly so why are they so good and should I just be getting a husky chain?

Good spot ?, 0.512m3 is even worse than I'd thought. The internet is so harsh when you can't edit what you've written :-), still smarter now than I was and thanks for not being unkind about my maths.

I've bought loose wet logs for several years and am charged by the m3. Basically after the logs have been dropped off the back of the tipper fresh from being sawn we get a tape measure and do a rough measure of l*d*h to calc the m3, we then typically round down to allow for air and type of wood and I pay the agreed price per m3. This works for me as I've a drive, wood stores and enjoy the chopping and storing. It's also cheap enough to allow me to use the wood burning stove daily and so a big thanks to all tree surgeons who deliver like this as I couldn't enjoy my stove as much without it. More widely, my thoughts are that customers will want different options, most will probably like chopped and dried. Many sellers seem to want to sell a builders bag (or tonne bag) and I've found the best ones say what size their bags are as often it's 80cm cubed and so 0.64m3 which is obv's a bit smaller than 1m3. So as long as the sellers are clear about what a tonne bag size is when they sell then I' happy, it's where I've sold it as a 1m3 and it then turns out to be 0.64m3 that I'd be left disappointed, but that means I just don't repeat business.