Decided to go vertical with the splitter yesterday

[muncybob]

Working on some fairly large and very heavy oak rounds. Got the milk crate out of the garage and split about a dozen or so. About half way through I thought I heard Dennis nearby applauding!

I will say, vertical is the way to go with the big stuff. But anything I can handle from the tailgate to the splitter with be horizontal. The ole F250 sits high enough that there is no bending involved.
Before I go back for another load of large rounds I hafta get a cushion for that crate!

 

[Beer Belly]

Yup, big stuff gotta go vertical. I noticed that a lot of rental places (before I bought my splitter) rent splitters that are horizontal only......maybe to avoid customers from abusing the equiptment with bigger rounds going vertical.....gotta have that option of going vertical

 

[onetracker]

yep - its nice to have the option.

muncybob - when you split horizontal don't you have to bend down to pick up the split? unless you have a log cradle? the oregon splitters (and a few others) have an integral cradle which is perty sweet.

 

[JP11]

If I can lift it.. horizontal. My splitter has the arms on it to catch the splits. They go right from the splitter to the pallets. Next time I touch them is to load in the vigas.

It is awful handy to have the option of splitting stuff vertical. Maybe I'm just too tall. If I sit on a milk crate.. my knees are up around my shoulders.

JP

 

[basod]

Normally I'd pass on the really big rounds since my splitter only goes missionary horizontal
Then I built this... Big round rollah

 

[Blue2ndaries]

...About half way through I thought I heard Dennis nearby applauding!

LOL!

 

[mywaynow]

We need to define what the meaning of a "big round" is for a better understanding of the how and why each of us do what we do. I will take anything under 20 inches horizontally. I had to break down 14 large Hickory rounds yesterday, and there is no doubt that is the most abusive processing there is. Pain and exhaustion does not describe what I am left feeling. Outright wiped me out. Had to sleep for 30 minutes before dinner. Hurts just to remember the effort. Sitting on a crate? How does one wrestle a 28 inch hickory round from a crate? No offense here BWS, but a crate would only be there for 30 seconds and my steel toe would punt that bastidge into the nearest Poplar tree. I have these broken down into 5-8 split sized chunks which I will take off the ground and onto a properly positioned splitter. Splits directly into the back of the truck and onward to the fort.

 

[BrotherBart]

I set my splitter up horizontally. To tow it from one place to the other for splitting vertically. Since 1988 it has split exact one round horizontally. No milk crate. I use a round for a seat. And when I split the seat I know I am done.

 

[ScotO]

I set my splitter up horizontally. To tow it from one place to the other for splitting vertically. Since 1988 it has split exact one round horizontally. No milk crate. I use a round for a seat. And when I split the seat I know I am done.

I use a round for a seat also. once in a while (and I mean once in a GREAT while) I'll split a few horizontally. But I like to set up a heap of rounds right beside the splitter, so I can sit down, put some bluegrass or old country on the mp3 player, and split away. Back don't bother me nearly as bad when I split vertically......

 

[BrotherBart]

Yep. Line'em up on an incline next to the splitter and rock and roll.

 

[ScotO]

Yep. Line'em up on an incline next to the splitter and rock and roll.
View attachment 75583

Boy I wish I had a slope that I could line 'em up like that at the house. That, as we say, is the CAT'S ASS.....

 

[bogydave]

Most of my splitting is vertical.
The only way for me to do the bigger stuff.
Nice to have a splitter that goes both ways.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Working on some fairly large and very heavy oak rounds. Got the milk crate out of the garage and split about a dozen or so. About half way through I thought I heard Dennis nearby applauding!

I will say, vertical is the way to go with the big stuff. But anything I can handle from the tailgate to the splitter with be horizontal. The ole F250 sits high enough that there is no bending involved.
Before I go back for another load of large rounds I hafta get a cushion for that crate!

Now I know why I got that good feeling a bit earlier! Good for you Bob.

I use a hot seat for the cushion. Keeps the bottom warm!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We need to define what the meaning of a "big round" is for a better understanding of the how and why each of us do what we do. I will take anything under 20 inches horizontally. I had to break down 14 large Hickory rounds yesterday, and there is no doubt that is the most abusive processing there is. Pain and exhaustion does not describe what I am left feeling. Outright wiped me out. Had to sleep for 30 minutes before dinner. Hurts just to remember the effort. Sitting on a crate? How does one wrestle a 28 inch hickory round from a crate? No offense here BWS, but a crate would only be there for 30 seconds and my steel toe would punt that bastidge into the nearest Poplar tree. I have these broken down into 5-8 split sized chunks which I will take off the ground and onto a properly positioned splitter. Splits directly into the back of the truck and onward to the fort.

The milk crate is not for everyone. Most folks even when they see me think it is hard on the back. Nothing could be further from the truth! Making it easier on the back is what I have to strive for and this is the easiest.

Meaning of a "big round." How about a round that makes you strain a bit to pick up? What I have noticed is the old leverage thing. This is why the milk crate works so well. I've tried higher seats but then it definitely is hard on my old back. Sitting like I do, it is very easy to place the elbows on the legs to lift a block. I can do this without straining the back at all. Getting the log to the splitter is easy and most I get one handed. Using an axe or hookeroon lengthens the grab so you don't have to move the splitter so soon. Maybe I need to take a video or two...

I also agree that if one has a load on a pickup or wagon and you want to split the wood immediately, then the horizontal makes sense as you don't have to bend nor lift off the ground. We just pile our wood in the winter and do all the year's splitting all at once. So our splitter spends most of its life in the shed and it gets outside only once per year.

 

[oldspark]

Not sure why you would split small to medium rounds vertical, maybe a race is in the works.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Oldspark, I can think of no good reason to not split like that. Would you have me change to horizontal just because some logs are smaller? And there will be no racing around here when running machinery.

btw, it is good seeing you back on the forum.

 

[oldspark]

Big rounds for me are all done at the same time so that's vertical, I bring the pieces home that I can handle and go from tailgate to splitter. For me splitting smaller stuff verticaly is a pain.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Oldspark, that is what I posted. If splitting off the tailgate of the truck, then it does make sense to split horizontally. We just split everything all at once in the spring.

 

[oldspark]

If I have smaller stuff on the ground I still pick it up and spilt it horizontal. No biggie either way, beats a maul.

 

[mywaynow]

If I can pick it up, it gets spit horizontally. I added the log catcher to my Huskee and it works great. I go from ground to splitter to truck/trailer for the big stuff. The vertical option is only for stuff I can not, or am smart enough not to pick up whole. That is the stuff I processed this weekend. Those big round in the pic were a handful to maneuver. On top of that, they are hickory, and were quite stringy. It took 8-10 splitter passes on a couple before anything came off the round. That is a bear to deal with. If it is small enough to go onto the truck/trailer whole, then it gets split on its' way to the pile. That is unless I am really pressed for time, and can't afford to split it before unloading.

I can see how it would be relaxing to sit and roll the smaller stuff onto the vertically positioned splitter, but then it would have to be put somewhere for travel or stacking. I am way to stubborn to do this anybody elses way. I hope the same goes for you all.

 

[muncybob]

yep - its nice to have the option.

muncybob - when you split horizontal don't you have to bend down to pick up the split? unless you have a log cradle? the oregon splitters (and a few others) have an integral cradle which is perty sweet.

I had a local welder fabricate a cradle for me. Before buying my splitter I rented one that only did horizontal, but he had 2 cradles...small one on the loading side and larger on the other side. I realized what a back/time saver it was so for a few bucks I got me a bolt on cradle. Nice thing about my truck is it sits at just the right height so I can pick up fairly large/heavy rounds and just swing around to plop it on the splitter. The I-beam has a cradle of sorts built into to it so I don't have to be exact on the drop. Splitting from the tailgate is the way to go unless they were too big to get into the truck in the 1st place.

 

[firefighterjake]

Pretty much split the majority of my wood horizontally . . . but on the big 'uns I go vertical . . . and at those times I am very happy to have that option.

H or V . . . it really is up to you . . . and whichever way is most comfortable.

 

[Jags]

Two words:
Log lift.

 

[fire_man]

The milk crate is not for everyone. Most folks even when they see me think it is hard on the back. Nothing could be further from the truth! Making it easier on the back is what I have to strive for and this is the easiest.

Dennis: My back hurts every time I SEE that milk crate! I can split horizontal-like for hours with no break ,but sit me down for 60 seconds in that crate position and I will be in total agony! I guess it's all about whatever is wrong with your spine, mine is multiple herniated discs. I can still do all sorts of wood processing the old fashion way with hand tools, except split a piece of Dennis wood with a wedge and sledge!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Two words:
Log lift.

One more word: expensive.