Wood Cutting Question

[nickn]

Hello, I just picked up some of the well seasoned wood that I talked about in a previous post. Also that I mentioned in the post is that I’m a true rookie, so I have a truly rookie question. Some of the wood that I picked up is split and cut into 20 – 22 inch pieces, but my wood insert only takes pieces up to 18 inches, so what is the best way to cut them down, Chainsaw??? Also how to do without cutting foot off. Thanks for the help.

 

[wendell]

I would use a chainsaw but if you are at all serious about cutting your foot off, I would split it and then use a chop saw to take off the extra.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

If you could make a little saw buck, or a jig of some sort you could keep it off the ground and away from your feet, etc. You could buy a clamp (the kind you squeeze) and hold the split on a board elevated by a cement block or something and that would hold in place. Sawing by hand would take forever.

 

[thewoodlands]

Hello, I just picked up some of the well seasoned wood that I talked about in a previous post. Also that I mentioned in the post is that I’m a true rookie, so I have a truly rookie question. Some of the wood that I picked up is split and cut into 20 – 22 inch pieces, but my wood insert only takes pieces up to 18 inches, so what is the best way to cut them down, Chainsaw??? Also how to do without cutting foot off. Thanks for the help.

GolfandWoodnut has a good idea, this is the setup I made for cutting my wood down last winter.

zap

 

[wood spliter]

Zap, how do you put the wood in?

 

[thewoodlands]

Zap, how do you put the wood in?

It's made to cut the length down to 15 inches, the wood was 18 (cut before we bought a wood stove) so you slide it in until it hits the back then keep putting it in until it gets to the top then I took a bungee cord and hooked it on one side brought it over top the wood to hold it down then hooked it on the opposite side then cut.

zap

 

[Flatbedford]

I used this to do the same thing. The inside wood holders are spaced so that they are a length guage. I can load long splits or rounds on each end and cut a whole bunch of them at a time. It is nice and far away from my feet. It is also (by dumb luck) just the right height for the wheel barrow to fit underneath so all the cut offs just fall right in.

 

[Danno77]

Zap, I like that! BUT, depending on your stove you might want to try what I USUALLY do. I chainsaw those splits that are a little too long in HALF. With the way above you end up with little 2-4" chunks, with the way I do it, you end up with 10-11" splits that MAY (depending on your stove) fit in there perfectly North/South.... how do I saw them? you don't wanna know.

 

[Flatbedford]

I keep the butts in a separate box and either use them in the outdoor stove or for shoulder season burning when I will be around to reload often. The stuff that I was cutting was about 20" and I like about 16"-18" for the Fireview. Two 10" splits would have been a drag to deal with, but a 17" and a 3" were fine.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

This is how I made my Saw Buck in an H shape that hold alot of wood. I cut down in the middle of the the H's with no fear of hitting the saw buck and get 20 inch pieces that my Jotul likes.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I have a pallet with a 2x8 screwed down the middle of it as a guide. When it is filled up, the saw gets run down both sides.

 

[DiscoInferno]

My most recent version was to nail a 2x4 on a pallet to set the length, then stack the logs butted up against the 2x4 and run a bungy across the stack to hold it down while I chainsawed the ends off. Then I used the ends in the chiminea. The fireview doesn't really do N/S loading so cutting in half isn't as useful. For my front-loading stoves I often do cut in half and load N/S.

 

[savageactor7]

Just cut 'em with the tip of the chain saw. Put a foot on them and using a quarter throttle or so cut 'em up... DONE! Just be mindful your foot is done there too.

 

[Skier76]

I use a sawbuck I made from pallets and a bungee cord to hold the round in place. I had a lot of pine rounds that were a good 24"+. I needed to bring them down to 16-18". Worked great. The saw buck has also been really handy for cutting up some smaller trees we took down. It helps keep the chain out of the dirt.

 

[zzr7ky]

Chop saw did a nice job my 1st year.

 

[maplewood]

I like Flatebed's rig. I have a smaller but similar one to hold my logs or pieces.
I don't mind short pieces for my stove, so I don't really care if I cut them in half or nip off the end. They all burn, and I can jigsaw them into my pile to dry.
My boiler is another thing. I don't like little pieces for it. I keep them 16-18", and use any little end pieces in the stove.
Zap's rig obviously works, too. It looks kind of tipsy to me. I like the bungee cord holding the pieces in place.

 

[Danno77]

ZAP! Thanks for the picture. I have been stacking some wood the past few days and have this pile from last winter's stove rejects that I didn't cut down. If it was the middle of the burning season I'd just cut them in half on the ground and throw them in. The problem is that if i cut them in half I'd have a hard time stacking them. Since I want my stacks as pretty as I can get them I thought your method and contraption seemed like a great idea to get them to length. Mine's a little different because I made it with some scraps I had laying around, and also didn't bother to measure it well. Eyeballing things seems to have a cumulative effect and the end product looks a funky, lol. I'll try to post some phone pics later, I just wanted to say thanks.

 

[Danno77]

nothing fancy, but it's sturdy and works.

 

[ANeat]

Thats a nice replica Danno, Im about to do the same thing... Got some "random" length cherry. I swear the dude must have been dimensionally challenged or something. I got everything from 10" to probably 20" long so Ill probably make a rack and try to trim to some happy medium

The price was right though so Ill put a little effort into it.....

 

[thewoodlands]

:zip:

ZAP! Thanks for the picture. I have been stacking some wood the past few days and have this pile from last winter's stove rejects that I didn't cut down. If it was the middle of the burning season I'd just cut them in half on the ground and throw them in. The problem is that if i cut them in half I'd have a hard time stacking them. Since I want my stacks as pretty as I can get them I thought your method and contraption seemed like a great idea to get them to length. Mine's a little different because I made it with some scraps I had laying around, and also didn't bother to measure it well. Eyeballing things seems to have a cumulative effect and the end product looks a funky, lol. I'll try to post some phone pics later, I just wanted to say thanks.

Danno you're welcome, I like yours better than mine. :zip:

zap

 

[gerry100]

No contraptions needed- only dry(not muddy ground)

Cut from the top side as far through as you can get ( a least a little more than half way) without pinching the bar or sawing any dirt.

Kick the round over with your foot and using the original for alignment, finish the cut.

If you can make your N/S lenght with one cut, I think that makes the best burns. Most of us don't do it because of the extra saw cuts.

 

[70marlin]

I used this to do the same thing. The inside wood holders are spaced so that they are a length guage. I can load long splits or rounds on each end and cut a whole bunch of them at a time. It is nice and far away from my feet. It is also (by dumb luck) just the right height for the wheel barrow to fit underneath so all the cut offs just fall right in.

Nice bucking stand! I like to make something along that line. As for saws just my feelings longer the bar the better and safer at least 20" these little saws are a lot easier to knick yourself with, also you don't have to bend over so far when your bucking branch wood.