Firewood jigs to make life easier

[BillsWS]

I'm only burning wood for 3 years now but am already 50 years old. I don't have that well conditioned back of someone who has been doing it since they are younger and I probably never will. I also don't have a tractor to lift the heavy stuff. With that said, how about all you veterans and/or smarter people sharing some of your tools/tips/tricks/jigs for cutting wood to save on your bodies. My back will appreciate them I'm sure!

With all due respect b33p3r and everyone else here, to place the demands of c/s/s on yourself without being conditioned for it is the perfect formula for injury. The fact is that conditioning can be improved at any age. Yes, I am suggesting exercise. Improving your capacity and mechanics will prevent injury and raise pain free performance (also well established). But let me warm you, I listen to the objections, reasons and arguments against exercise from those who don't want to exercise every day. So if you don't agree, don't bother to post, I have likely already heard it.

 

[onion]

With all due respect b33p3r and everyone else here, to place the demands of c/s/s on yourself without being conditioned for it is the perfect formula for injury. The fact is that conditioning can be improved at any age. Yes, I am suggesting exercise. Improving your capacity and mechanics will prevent injury and raise pain free performance (also well established). But let me warm you, I listen to the objections, reasons and arguments against exercise from those who don't want to exercise every day. So if you don't agree, don't bother to post, I have likely already heard it.

I couldn't agree more. I'm 39. Earlier this year I decided I was sick of being 100 lbs overweight and went to a gym, hired a trainer and she has kicked my ass into gear. 55 lbs down so far and splitting wood gets easier each time I do it. Its amazing how much work you can do if you are able to breathe the whole time

 

[Gasifier]

Absolutely BillsWS! Couldn't agree more with you there man. Being in decent shape is critical. B33p3f, even if you start out at 50 years old, you can bring yourself into great shape. And you will then add years to your life. And you will feel great! Just like anything, start out slowly and give your body time to adjust. It is absolutely amazing what your body and mind can adjust to if you give it time. I have always tried to stay in decent shape. But foolishly started smoking at an early age. I quit cold turkey at least 100 times over 20 years by the time I stuck to it. I then decided I was going to get myself into better shape at 37 years old. The best shape ever. I slowly started walking more and working out a little more. Within about six months I was jogging and then after a year I started pushing the jogging even further. Then ran my first half-marathon at 38 years old! I am now on a routine of cardio exercise every other day, and strength training with light weight every other day. This gives the mucles time to adjust and heal. Take a look at modern strength training that is done by college and pro athletes. It is called functional strength training. Nothing like the old weight lifting/body building. Not singling out muscle groups for exercise, but using many of them together to complete exercises. There are some good books out there.

But I believe processing wood is just as good if you set a good pace and go at it steady. Take your time b33p3f. Definetely use your brain and any advantage you can to help your processing out and save yourself from any very heavy lifting. It does not take much to hurt your back. But all the light lifting of your wood after it is already split is good for you. One of the best pieces of advice my parents gave me and I have always tried to do. Everything in moderation, and nothing in excess.
Oops. Started a book of my own. Sorry.

 

[BillsWS]

Right on Onion and Gassifier! Check out this video, jazzes me up every time : http://youtu.be/gG82FnZx9dk

 

[nate379]

Hmm.

One of the reasons I cut wood is for the excersize. I'd MUCH rather do something productive and burn some calories vs wasting my time running on some never ending belt (treadmill)

 

[Gasifier]

Right on Onion and Gassifier! Check out this video, jazzes me up every time : http://youtu.be/gG82FnZx9dk

That stuff is great. But everyone needs to be very careful with any type of exercise. I know several guys and girls who crossfit. And have seen several of them set back by injury. One of the guys, who is in the outstanding shape, is now recovering from surgery. That will slow you down a bit. Everyone pushes everyone else. And it is great. But sometimes you let the encouragement get the best of you and want to keep up with other people. And then end up doing the exercises with too much weight. Remember. Better to be able to keep working out then recovering from injury. Six months of hard work can be completely lost in six weeks of recovery. Stay healthy everyone!

 

[Gasifier]

Hmm.

One of the reasons I cut wood is for the excersize. I'd MUCH rather do something productive and burn some calories vs wasting my time running on some never ending belt (treadmill)

I run outside. I hate the treadmill.

 

[Gasifier]

But sometimes in the nasty ass winter weather I have to do some on the treadmill.

 

[muncybob]

I'm fortunate I guess as I have never had a weight problem and thanks to my genes it's unlikely that I ever will. But, there are plenty of people that are not overweight that ARE out of shape. If you are physically able to harvest wood to burn you are likely physically able to keep yourself in decent condition. Sure, getting firewood processed is in itself exercise but it can't stop there. As mentioned there are plenty of ways to keeping in good shape, each person's need in this area are different...it's getting into a routine and sticking with it that is the key.

But I digress....the pickeroon is the best bag for the buck I have in my arsenal. Makes pulling splits out of the truck so much easier as now I only have to hop into the truck bed once versus several times when unloading. The other thing that saves my back is not a jig but rather a method, rounds directly off the truck and onto the splitter. No additional bending over unless the rounds are huge....then I adopt the milk crate and vertical split approach.

As for age, I'm older than most but younger than others

 

[onion]

That stuff is great. But everyone needs to be very careful with any type of exercise. I know several guys and girls who crossfit. And have seen several of them set back by injury. One of the guys, who is in the outstanding shape, is now recovering from surgery. That will slow you down a bit. Everyone pushes everyone else. And it is great. But sometimes you let the encouragement get the best of you and want to keep up with other people. And then end up doing the exercises with too much weight. Remember. Better to be able to keep working out then recovering from injury. Six months of hard work can be completely lost in six weeks of recovery. Stay healthy everyone!

I'm a perfect example of that. I decided to start running WAY too early. Stress fractures in both knees had me off the treadmill and elliptical for 4 weeks. I learned to HATE the recumbent bike with a passion. I also have a torn rotator cuff (been like that for years) which limits what I can do lifting. I've decided against surgery in the short term so I can keep working out. Once I hit my goal weight and can start running I'll have the surgery.

Splitting by hand and stacking wood is a fantastic workout btw. I wear my heart rate monitor sometimes when I do it and can hit nearly 1000 cal/hour if I go at it hard. Usually justifies a few cold ones and a steak that night .

 

[jeff_t]

Get a job and give up the white russians, man.

I'm hoping with my teenage nephews coming into the picture, I won't have to do much but run a saw.

 

[BillsWS]

That stuff is great. But everyone needs to be very careful with any type of exercise. I know several guys and girls who crossfit. And have seen several of them set back by injury. One of the guys, who is in the outstanding shape, is now recovering from surgery. That will slow you down a bit. Everyone pushes everyone else. And it is great. But sometimes you let the encouragement get the best of you and want to keep up with other people. And then end up doing the exercises with too much weight. Remember. Better to be able to keep working out then recovering from injury. Six months of hard work can be completely lost in six weeks of recovery. Stay healthy everyone!

Cutting wood is great, but you have to be very careful doing it. I know several guys and girls who cut wood and I have seen several of them get a back injury. Some even have back surgery even those in outstanding shape. I think it is best not to cut wood and leave it to the professionals. Takes way too long to recover from an injury. Yada, yada, yada.

I have been coaching CrossFit since 2008 and I am a chiropractor with 26 years of experience. We have had NO INJURIES during this time. My oldest cliennt is 81 years old. We teach our people to leave their ego at the door. Work within your capacity. Good coaching is absolutely necessary. There are a lot of stupid people doing what they say is CrossFit and getting hurt. But yet there are published articles of people rehabilitating disc herniations, back problems and even coming back from catastrophic injuries doing CrossFit http://library.crossfit.com/free/video/CFJ_Peterson_Forever_Strong.wmv But I guess YMMV.

 

[Flatbedford]

..the pickeroon is the best bag for the buck I have in my arsenal. Makes pulling splits out of the truck so much easier as now I only have to hop into the truck bed once versus several times when unloading.

Get a long enough one and you'll never hop into the truck bed.

 

[Monosperma]

Apart from the chainsaw, having another person help with the cutting more than doubles the speed. With someone pulling away unusable small branches so the chainsaw operator doesn't have to stop and do that keeps the saw cutting more, idling less. I'd way rather cut 2 truckloads with 2 people than 1 by myself. It's not just the company, it's faster.

 

[tim1]

After my boys left home, wood harvesting was a lot harder. I buy logs that I load with my loader tractor,cut them on the forks of my loader tractor, lift the 36 in rounds on a plate into my Oak and Iron vertical splitter raised 30 inches off ground, so I can stand and rotate the round on the plate into 6-10 chunks, then fill a open ended box 2 foot by 6 feet with splits. Then use the forks to take to shed and stand and stack in shed. Bad back, artifical hips and knee force me to work smarter. Love working wood. Really love hydraulics too. 12 cord put up. Tim Oh,65 years young.

 

[albert1029]

I met this gentleman when I was on a pest control call a few years ago. He was 96 years old. When I pulled into his driveway he was cleaning up his yard, carrying stones and cleaning up brush. I talked to him for an hour or so while working and hung around a while. He showed me different pieces of furniture he made years ago. Sharp as a tack and laughing and joking the whole time. His hands showed how he was still working very hard. Mr. Chester, what a man.

 

[TimJ]

lean mean working machine there

 

[GeneralBill]

Yep, the tire splitter halved my splitting time:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/my-favorite-wood-splitter.42296/#post-533107

 

[b33p3r]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Just for the record: I'm not complaining about the work. I actually like to be about doing something. Not one for sitting around. Yes I need to drop 30 or so pounds and am working at it. Just looking for tools and such to make things easier so I'm not straining my back. Never had a back injury yet and would like to continue without one.I have gotten a bit smarter with age. I will not work a second past the point my body says stop. That's why I'm looking for specialty tools and ideas. They will enable me to keep at it longer.
Thanks, lots of good info.

 

[albert1029]

I didn't think you were complaining...I learned a lot about tools on this thread...the pickeroon is one in particular I have to get...thanks for bringing up the subject...

 

[jeepmedic]

The first year of burning is the worst. The best practice seems to get at least 3 years ahead on your wood supply. We started burning last year and I ended up cutting three years worth of supply from November 2011-August 2012. Now that Im way ahead, Im burning seasoned wood and only have to cut one winter's worth every year to stay ahead.

We burn about 6-7 cords per year, and that gives me basically 2 months to cut, split, and stack each cord.

I have found that it works best for me to fell, buck, and split on site. Then Im not heaving giant wood pieces into the trailer and wrecking my back. Oh, and the vertical splitter works awesome.

When you spread out the work, it makes it much more enjoyable and easier on your body !

 

[salmonhunter]

agreed because of this post im now looking for a peavy. The only place I found one locally is at princessauto and it seems pretty expensive do any of you guys know where I should look to buy one of these online btw im located in canada.

 

[Flatbedford]

You can buy direct from Peavey Manufacturing in Maine. They are great on the phone. I assume they would ship to Canada.
http://www.peaveymfg.com/

 

[Backwoods Savage]

agreed because of this post im now looking for a peavy. The only place I found one locally is at princessauto and it seems pretty expensive do any of you guys know where I should look to buy one of these online btw im located in canada.

You might also look at a cant hook. We much prefer them over the peavy.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Cutting wood is great, but you have to be very careful doing it. I know several guys and girls who cut wood and I have seen several of them get a back injury. Some even have back surgery even those in outstanding shape. I think it is best not to cut wood and leave it to the professionals. Takes way too long to recover from an injury. Yada, yada, yada.

I have been coaching CrossFit since 2008 and I am a chiropractor with 26 years of experience. We have had NO INJURIES during this time. My oldest cliennt is 81 years old. We teach our people to leave their ego at the door. Work within your capacity. Good coaching is absolutely necessary. There are a lot of stupid people doing what they say is CrossFit and getting hurt. But yet there are published articles of people rehabilitating disc herniations, back problems and even coming back from catastrophic injuries doing CrossFit http://library.crossfit.com/free/video/CFJ_Peterson_Forever_Strong.wmv But I guess YMMV.

Bill, I thought all Yoopers cut their wood! But I respect where you are coming from. Still, most folks do well putting up their own wood. In our case, the wife and I are well past retirement age and still put up more wood than we need every year and absolutely love it. We'll continue as long as we can. As for the exercises, some folks do extremely well with them and they can be good. I do bicycling along with other things and now the bike is inside setting on a trainer. So this allows me to exercise year around.

In my case, I probably should not be doing some of the things I do, or according to some I shouldn't. I started life a bit rough when at a young age I got the polio bug and it left me cripple. Well, I seem to have overcome that okay and even though I've been diagnosed with the post-polio syndrome and they tell me to take it easy, I refuse. Besides, I really do love working in the woods.