How many cords per year until you break down and buy a splitter vs renting one?

tsquini said:

So you can cut, split and stack 5 cords in a single day? Do you get help from a blue ox?

Click to expand...

Nope. 2-3 cords per day. I usually do 5-6 cords on Thanksgiving weekend, between other activities.

My buddies and I are a pretty tight bunch, so when someone gets a big load delievered we all converge and gang up on it.
Approaching log loads this way really helps because we can spread the work out and save our backs by working together.

kennyp2339 said:

View attachment 163664
My buddies and I are a pretty tight bunch, so when someone gets a big load delievered we all converge and gang up on it.
Approaching log loads this way really helps because we can spread the work out and save our backs by working together.

Click to expand...

Must be nice. Guys I know look at me like I got three heads when I suggest coming over for some splitting. Work'n, bullsh@tting, and beer?! Sound like fun to me. Oh well. To each their own.

Ashful said:

I'll be splitting Thanksgiving weekend, if you want a challenge. First to reach 5 cords CSS'd wins? I suspect you may keep up with me for the first hour or two, but you'll be falling behind by the time I get into my second and third cord of the day.

Full cords, not those so-called "face cords".

Click to expand...

Obviously you've never seen my physique......

I love splitting wood -- it is my stress relief. I doubt I could do 5 cords in a day. I will do up to 2 cords a day even now, but since I've hit 50+ I don't have what I used to. I have a log splitter that I haven't used in years, and I know time isn't on my side, so I have to face reality. I am in the process of combining that splitter and another old splitter into a "new" creation. Kind of a "Franken-splitter".

I'm with you McKraut. I said at the top of the thread, I love swinging the axe, and resisted buying a splitter for a long time. However, when you need to plow thru some cords in short order, a splitter can't be beat.

I do less than a cord in a day, by hand. I can do up to three cords in a day with my cheap 22-ton splitter.

DTrain said:

Must be nice. Guys I know look at me like I got three heads when I suggest coming over for some splitting. Work'n, bullsh@tting, and beer?! Sound like fun to me. Oh well. To each their own.

Click to expand...

Sounds like my life.

tsquini said:

So you can cut, split and stack 5 cords in a single day?

Click to expand...

Are we talking about cords? OR those phony-baloney "face cords"?

BlueRidgeMark said:

Are we talking about cords? OR those phony-baloney "face cords"?

Click to expand...

I assume we are all talking about real cords, not face cords. I agree with the "phoney" cords. I hope I'm not stepping on anybody toes but the only time I see people using the term "cords" to describe face cords is when they are selling it.

BlueRidgeMark said:

Are we talking about cords? OR those phony-baloney "face cords"?

Click to expand...

We are talking about full cords 4x4x8

This past Monday when I got home from work, I split a solid cord of maple, I went as fast as I could and it took about an hour and a half, I just wanted to see how fast I could safely go, man I was beat and much rather take my time

Babaganoosh said:

Sounds like my life.

Click to expand...

So the guy that didn't want to come help split wood just asked if I'd help him move next week! People......

Mr. Jones said:

Here's that English walnut I scored for free. Problem is, the half that's on the ground won't split with my 5 ton electric, and even the straight stuff without knots is pushing it's limits. I'd like to see some of you split the stuff on the ground with an axe. Notice the little dent in the wood on one picture my five ton manages, lol.

Click to expand...

Most us us who split by hand do not split that kind of gnarly and knotty stuff by hand. I own 37 ton splitter and I use for the uglies. I only split by hand the easy to split straight grain wood.

so for all you hand splitters out there (or former hand splitters), do most of you use the tire method? or, do you just put the round on a stump and go at it? i think i'd like to do the tire method, but unless i had a big ass tire, i don't think most of my rounds are gonna fit.

iron said:

so for all you hand splitters out there (or former hand splitters), do most of you use the tire method? or, do you just put the round on a stump and go at it? i think i'd like to do the tire method, but unless i had a big ass tire, i don't think most of my rounds are gonna fit.

Click to expand...

I do this.

For all my hand splitting brothers and sisters
https://www.hearth.com/talk/index.php?threads/For-all-my-hand-splitting-brothers-and-sisters.147071/

I have been hand splitting on a large diameter ash stump using a car tire. I am fairly new at this but the tire has saved me chasing lots of rounds to make that next cut. For me it is a work in progress as I learn what works and what doesn't. One thing I find handy is that my tire sits loose on top of that stump so that as debris builds up inside I can just slide it off the stump to sweep away all of the bark bits and such. Slide it off and all the bits hit the ground and then put it back in place. If I screwed it down, as I have sometimes seen suggested, it would be far more difficult to clean out.

I would just stand up the rounds where they were, and go down each and split them. Whenever they had to be split again, I would stand them back up. Not a back saver, but I split about 8-10 cord a year until I bought a splitter. Occasionally if I have some straight grain wood that needs split, I don't bother with the tractor and splitter. Keeps me active and I don't mind. Now if there's a mountain of wood to be split, I'll throw the 4-way on the splitter and go to town.

iron said:

so for all you hand splitters out there (or former hand splitters), do most of you use the tire method? or, do you just put the round on a stump and go at it? i think i'd like to do the tire method, but unless i had a big ass tire, i don't think most of my rounds are gonna fit.

Click to expand...

I've found that a bungee cord wrapped taut (but not super tight) around the round, maybe about two-thirds of the way up, works well for me. No need to lift anything heavy--just set the round on end, attach the bungee, and split away. It may not be quite as secure as a tire but it's easy to move from one round to the next.

I'm new to the firewood game but after splitting about a cord of red oak today, some of it knotty and stringy, I can see a couple of my SS checks going towards a splitter before next year comes around.

MaintenanceMan said:

Looks like somethin my nine-toed one-eyed brother-in-law would come up with....

Click to expand...

Who, Lefty?

I got one after splitting about 3 cords and my shoulders hurting for a month. I was probably doing something wrong or was overdoing it, but I can get a lot more done with a splitter and have time for the kids/beach/whatever.

Mr. Jones said:

I've found a splitter for rent for $50 a day at the cheapest. I rented it last year. The only problem is I feel rushed to get through a cord or maybe two trying to get it all done in one day. I did this with a stump grinder by myself, and it about killed me trying to get all the stump and the roots in about 13 foot diameter. Then I'm sore as heck, and have to go back to physical work swinging a hammer all day. It would be nice to split at a steady pace without overdoing it by myself. How many cords do you guys think justifies dropping $1500 to $2200 for a new splitter vs renting?

Click to expand...

Um, rent it for *two* days?

Seriously...

I just booked a trailer for three full days so I can move my seasoned firewood to our new house. I might be able to get it done in less, but what the heck, it's $30 a day and I'll be moving other stuff too...

as has already been stated here, you have to decide how you want to spend your valuable time and where to put your energy.

personally I could not stand feeling that I had to work like a mule to get as much wood split as possible before having to return the splitter back from a weekend rental so I bought a good splitter. I just finished hauling for 18/19 so now i'll break out the splitter and do 30-60 minutes before dinner until I'm done. no hurry, no worry, no stress. if I want to take 2 weeks off I do it. i like to get it done before summer too so it gets the benefit of an additional drying season.

so i have a question.... not having used a splitter in a long time for any serious amount of time, how long do you think it would take to split 2 cord? I have quite a few stacks around my house, and I need to get them all bucked up first, but could I do 2 cord in 4 hours with a 20 ton splitter? most of what I am splitting is box elder and pine, but some pieces take forever to split by hand.