No boolit casting for me today!

[supv26]

I do have to do a few chores now and then! :(
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e300/supv26/woodsplitter2.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e300/supv26/woodsplitter1.jpg

[muffinman]

I here ya! I was out at first light cutting wood. Now I get to make little ones out of big ones to.

[454PB]

Heck, winter is almost over.....what you need to do is the raking from last fall!

[supv26]

Heck, winter is almost over.....what you need to do is the raking from last fall!

Those leaves were under the wood! I will just let the wind blow those away!!
:-D

[putteral]

That's why I moved to Florida:drinks: Can cast all year long. Hate to say it was 70 degrees here today.

[jnovotny]

Seems like just one of those things you have to do. I myself was out cutting wood this mourning. Got to stay warm.

[fishhawk]

at least your splitter goes vertical mine is a older horizontal one and lifting that big stuff was a real pain. so i got one of the pickup bed cranes that lift like 750 lbs made a mount with legs to bolt to back of the explorer and use a set of skidding tongs and pick the stuff up and set it onto the splitter that way. no more strained back! steve k

[Junior1942]

I enjoy splitting wood the old fashioned way. However, not a pile like that!

[Mtman314]

I do all my splitting by hand using a 12 lb sledge. Two main wedges and three junk india wedgeskeeps me in shape, sorta.

[Bret4207]

I do about 10 full cords a year. That's a stack 4' high, 4' deep and 80' long. Some years it's more, some less. I'm way, way behind this year and every other day finds me in the woods cutting standing dead wood. The next day I start cutting ans splitting. The big hold ups are broken saws, (fixed 4 yesterday!), too much snow and my old body giving out. On the days my son in law and 2nd oldest boy get going I get 10x the wood done.

I have a splitter like the one shown, only a Troy-bilt brand. Can't complain, although the side mounted vertical engine get whomped on by wood occasionally. It's a Honda and I really am surprised at the muscle it has for such a small engine.

My good maul is missing in action and I tried one of those 12lb Monster Mauls. YUCK! I'll stick with my old 8lb, ash handled maul thanks.

Looks like many of across the nation share common hobbies, pastimes and chores!

[Freightman]

That's why I moved to Florida:drinks: Can cast all year long. Hate to say it was 70 degrees here today.
I live in NW Texas and we were 80+ today of course it might be 20 tomorrow hope it is if we could get some moisture hadn't had any since September going to burn this spring if it don't rain soon.

[snaggdit]

I had to bring another trailer load of wood back from the cabin this week. Didn't have quite enough for the rest of the winter. Was splitting yesterday myself, but nothing over 16" oak. I just use my sledge. You know what they say, wood heats twice, but if you are cutting it out of the woods I say three times. Cut, split and burn.

[supv26]

I've been splitting wood my entire life. I used to split with an ax only and then when I got a little older I switched to a maul. I did that up until 2 years ago and I had to stop due to back surgery. They had to take out a lot of my back to get to a spinal cord tumor so now I am pretty messed when it comes to any real physical work.

My splitter is a Craftsman with a 6 hp Briggs motor and 27 ton cylinder. It really does a good job and as you can see by the size of a few of those chunks, I am real pleased with it. I have yet to find a chunk of wood that it will not break. My father in law has a Troy built with an 8 hp motor and a 28 ton cylinder. The only other thing that is different is the cutting wedge. His splitter has a 1" piece of steel sharped razor sharp so it actually cuts through the wood. Mine has a wedge and it breaks the wood. He can cut off a 2" stick of wood where mine will not do that.

[Bret4207]

Just watch behind the wedge area- stuff will collect there and if it freezes in it can break an ear off the wedge. It really helps if you have a 6 year old running the ram who is trying to crush the frozen in stuff.

[hydraulic]

What kind of wood is that?

[Tom Herman]

Good deal on the wood! I've been helping my parents get the wood in that we stacked and dried last summer... Once that got done, I made a good sized pile of kindling with some of the the ash and oak that I culled out along the way ....

Stay warm, and Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[jnovotny]

I split a little jag of walnut, after I was finished cutting yesterday. I too do it the old way with a maul. I typicaly don't burn more than 2 cords a season, I only use it in the shop.

[supv26]

What kind of wood is that?

That wood is white oak from a mill that makes barrel staves for wiskey barrels. It's real nice because it is de-barked but some of the chunks are huge!

[Bloodman14]

Hey, supv26, are you talking about Indepedent Stave? They have a barrel making plant in Lebanon, Mo. Are you anywhere near?

[supv26]

Hey, supv26, are you talking about Indepedent Stave? They have a barrel making plant in Lebanon, Mo. Are you anywhere near?

Same company! This plant is just a few miles north of Salem. They used to give this wood away for years but now are charging for it. It's still cheap and is great for heating!

[Bret4207]

WAH!!! White oak! Shame to use it for firewood, but then I consider it a shame to use it for barrels too! I have scads of red oak, but very little white oak. White oak lasts forever in ground contact, red oak about a year, 4 or 5 if it's just constantly exposed to weather. Guess which one I need? White oak. Red oak is furniture wood, white oak is tool and structural wood.

[cajun shooter]

Now don't you think that Tom Dooley would just shudder when he looks at that white oak.

[supv26]

What I am using for firewood is the cut-offs from the butt of the log. They don't do stave bolts like they used to, cut them to 45" or so and then spit the log 4 ways. Now they just cut the white oak trees down and haul logs in like they were hauling to a saw mill. The logs are de-barked and then cut. The by product is what I am using for firewood.

[Bloodman14]

you are just east of Ft. Wood; I am just west! Kind of difficult to hook up. Maybe some day.