First hand splitting session.

[WriteNoob]

So, the first wood crib is up. It's 20' x 7' x 4', with a touch of overhang.
Split and stacked (mostly) about 1 1/2 cords of nice knotty pine, today. Some white, but mostly red. Went into this thinking I was in pretty decent shape, for 46.

I wonder what else I'm this friggin' wrong about.

 

[kennyp2339]

Looks good, If you do a little everyday it will get easier on the body some call the exercise, plus fire heats you a couple of times, splitting stacking then burning.

 

[paul bunion]

Looks like a lot of good work there. You will definitely want to top cover your stack to keep your garage roof runoff from soaking your wood. Get it pitched so the water runs right over and off it.

 

[WriteNoob]

Looks like a lot of good work there. You will definitely want to top cover your stack to keep your garage roof runoff from soaking your wood. Get it pitched so the water runs right over and off it.

If you notice, in the photo, the level of the wood(straight) and that of the rack(follows grade) don't match. The plan is to reach the top, place pallets to match the grade of the rack, using 2 palets to meet the garage wall and a partial to overhang a bit in front. Then tarp the pallets. Got lots of pallets, at work.

Can't see it in the pic, but there's 1/8" 9x17 door cable running from wall to wall, right at wood level, on the rack. There'll be one on the front, too, when I get that far. My partner at work refers to me regularly as Mr. Overkill.

But hey, it ain't fallin' over!

 

[paul bunion]

That'll work.

 

[Rickb]

I like to do my splitting and stacking using the little bit every day method. I do 1-2 hours a day till its done. usually takes me a month or 2 to get the years wood done working 3 days a week or so. And Im still sore after each session.....

 

[WriteNoob]

I like to do my splitting and stacking using the little bit every day method. I do 1-2 hours a day till its done. usually takes me a month or 2 to get the years wood done working 3 days a week or so. And Im still sore after each session.....

I hear ya. Unfortunately, my 1 1/2 year old dry pine that was promised has been retracted after the benefactor realized that many people will show up to parties that have large bonfires. All he's parting with for 2014/15 is what we're dropping, right now. I'm thinking I've got to jam-jam, and get around 5 or 6 cords of this stuff drying ASAP. Then I can be a little easier on the throttle. Really don't want wet wood, for my first season of burning.

 

[jatoxico]

Looking good. Getting ahead is definitely the tough part. Good idea to get it done ASAP, the drier the better.

 

[Rickb]

Yea I only burn supplementally. So I only go through 2.5 - 3 cords a year. I got lucky this year and got a friend from work that has 2 big silver maples he wants down so I have done 4 truck loads of maple then across the street they had a ash come down and they gave it to me so I got about 2/3 cord from that ash. That was some of the easiest spliting wood I have ever split. I would love to get 3 or 4 full cords of ash.

 

[Flatbedford]

If you like splitting Ash, just wait 'til you get to work on some nice, straight Red Oak or Black Locust.

 

[Rickb]

Just did some straight red oak and yes it stplit fantastic.......... But my god it still smells after 2 weeks. Least the ash stops smelling after a couple days.


My neighbor came over yesterday asking if I fertilized... lmao.

 

[Flatbedford]

Red Oak can piss off the neighbors.

 

[WriteNoob]

Red Oak can piss off the neighbors.

Interesting ...

I live a neighborhood of old houses, many of which are low end rentals. My neighbors' last antic was to dump a load of ten tires over the fence, into an unseen corner of our lot. Spring came, we found the tires, and nobody knew anything about them. It'll cost me 30 bucks to get rid of them, properly. Thought about reporting it, but then I have to worry about getting vandalized or something, in retaliation. My wife can't smell anything, but I bet the neighbors' noses all work.

 

[Soundchasm]

What I find crazy is that when I have several days of "working too hard", is how much I miss it the first day off! I start looking around to see if maybe I left just a little bit of work that could be done to satisfy that physical Jonesing. What's up with that??

 

[WriteNoob]

What I find crazy is that when I have several days of "working too hard", is how much I miss it the first day off! I start looking around to see if maybe I left just a little bit of work that could be done to satisfy that physical Jonesing. What's up with that??

Endorphins rock. I've been hazy, but happy, all night.

 

[jatoxico]

I miss it the first day off!

Love being in the yard this time of year especially after this winter.

 

[Soundchasm]

Endorphins rock. I've been hazy, but happy, all night.

I've chosen a hopeless project of slightly altering a creekbed with my shovel. I've been going down there with my shovel periodically and shoveling creekrocks slowly re-training this creek. I swear after 30 minutes it's a ridiculously hard task, but I'll end up 2-3 hours down there, and most bizarre, it's starting to work (at least for the very short-term).

It must be the endorphins from a repetitive physical task. And it's a pretty good excuse for justifying that bowl of ice cream I'm going to have afterwards!

 

[osagebow]

[quote="WriteNoob, post: 1722330, member: 30538"

I wonder what else I'm this friggin' wrong about. [/quote]

You didn't take ibuprofen BEFORE picking up the Fiskar's. Nice crib, Nice work!

 

[Missouri Frontier]

slightly altering a creekbed with my shovel

wow. hey bud if you make it out my way I have a 15ft deep 25ft diameter sink whole in the back 40 you could fill in. ought to be endorphin city!

 

[ChipTam]

I also enjoy hand splitting but, then again, we only use about a cord a year all during the shoulder seasons. We burn birch and I only do the hand splitting for about 30 minutes a day during the summer months. I figure that's enough upper body exercise for a 68 year-old. Straight-grain birch splits beautifully but I set aside the junks with lots of knots and contrary grain and borrow a buddy's gasoline splitter for those nasty pieces.

ChipTam

 

[Soundchasm]

wow. hey bud if you make it out my way I have a 15ft deep 25ft diameter sink whole in the back 40 you could fill in. ought to be endorphin city!

Is this the classic "start at the bottom and work your way up" kind of thing??

 

[midwestcoast]

1.5 cord of tough wood can be a good bit of work to hand split.
I have to be careful with the body these days, plus I just don't have the time to devote a whole day or even afternoon to processing wood, so it's a 'little at a time' proposition.
It causes a lot less pain & you'll be pleased at how you move along if you can just grab an hour, or even half hour here and there on a consistent basis.
Just starting out and trying to get ahead can be a slog for sure, but once you're there, keeping up isn't too hard.

If I'm gonna do more than an hour or so I pull an Osage & IBU-up before I even start.

I can say that one thing I was very friggin' wrong about was stacking my wood 7' high. Drying + frost heave + gravity =
You're racks look more stable than mine were, but I now subscribe to a 4.5' limit.

 

[Missouri Frontier]

Is this the classic "start at the bottom and work your way up" kind of thing??

From the top or bottom, it would be a monumental chore. But I figured, if you are rerouting creek beds with a shovel you might be up to it.