grapple load delivery - how much work do I have ahead of me?

[Babaganoosh]

That 4 footer looks nice but for me I like the leverage of a 5 footer better.

I have the one with the jack but only because my dad got it for me for Christmas. I'd have gotten it without the jack personally. I might even grind off the mounting tabs for the jack but if he sees that he would get upset for some reason. Weird right?

 

[twd000]

Picked up a peavey for $35 off Craigslist today. Have to fine tune my technique but I think this will help my productivity

 

[mass_burner]

You've got a sh...er, grapple load of work ahead.

 

[vasten]

When I bought by the truck load I would order a truck and a pup, usually got it for around 9-950 (usually got around 20-26 face out of it cut at 18"). When I first started I would brave or dumb enough to cut right on the pile. I have since learned that if I take a rope and hook it to my truck and one of the top logs I could shift one or two at a time to an area that was safe to cut from. I would pull the logs to the side of the pile and work from the top down. By shifting the logs I could work on the edge of the pile with my feet on the ground and the logs in the air. Saves your back a ton and no need for a timber jack or peevy, and by being upright with your feet on the ground if anything shifted you are ready to move if need be.

as far as how long it takes.. not matter how fast I worked my splitter I seldom got more than a face chord an hour. the rate you split is determined mainly by the cycle time of the splitter.

My suggestion block as much of it as you can, first. once the pile is down to a safer amount then worry about splitting. I have kids and dogs, so I always worried the pile would shift when one of them was near it so I always worked the pile down first for saftey.

As some one else mentioned it is not a race, I would work until my chain needed to be cleaned up, usually about an hour or so. then clean up what I blocked up, sharpen my chain and call it a night.

It is a lot of work but you know what you have in the end.

 

[velvetfoot]

The blocked up wood gets in your way unless you spend some more effort moving it. I prefer to roll them to the splitter after they get to a certain critical mass.

 

[RockeBoy]

I can't imagine dealing with that. I cut trees one at a time..

 

[splions]

I'm not seeing 7-9 cords there...looks less than that to me...j/s

 

[kinetic711]

I get between 6 & 7 cords from a log load. I cut everything 16" and it takes me 14hrs cutting and 14hrs splitting. I split and throw right into a trailer. Stacking takes me another 14hrs because I have to drive trailer loads around the back of the property for stacking. So I guess that works out to 7 hours/cord.

 

[Jay106n]

10 minutes easy peasy small logs jk a lot of work to do there, great load for the price. Enjoy and take your time.

 

[billb3]

I can't imagine dealing with that. I cut trees one at a time..

One at a time is a rather common procedure.

 

[maple1]

Get a cant hook or peavey, a tow strap to pull logs off the pile, and a way to mark them. I use a yardstick and the spray paint for marking lines (works upside down)

Pull a few down and space them a few feet apart, 3 logs is my suggestion. Then mark them all. Then cut all 3 logs about 80% thru. Grab your peavey or cant hook and flip them. Cut the remaining bit. You will be surprised how fast you tear thru them like that. If you have help you can have a person marking and flipping.

I'd love to attack a pile again. I enjoyed every minute of it. I wouldn't even dick around cutting off ends. I'd just pull em, cut em, roll em, finish em..repeat until done.

I use the opposite approach - just start cutting at the pile. From all directions. In from the ends a bit, some from the sides. You have to be wary of the pile stability at all times, and keep moving around the pile as needed - but 90% of the time that gets you to cutting rounds off a stick that is already in the air, with another one right next to it you can keep going right into. Sawbuck-like. No other tools or pulling or rolling or marking involved, just the saw - if your eye gets out of calibration for round length, just turn the saw sideways & use the bar for measure. Or a painted on mark to suit. My back likes cutting stuff that is off the ground vs. on the ground - so the less bending the better.

But it is also a good idea to keep an axe & wedge handy, just in case a pinch sneaks up on you - no matter what your approach is. I find that much better for stuff like that when working alone than pries or peavys.

EDIT: Wonder how the job went? Or is going?

 

[Bad LP]

If you want to fly thru that load use an excavator with a thumb to pick up the logs and hold them while you cut into a pile.

 

[johneh]

If you want to fly thru that load use an excavator with a thumb to pick up the logs and hold them while you cut into a pile.

Good idea everyone has one sitting around in the back yard doing nothing

 

[bad news]

I find if you work your way around the pile like maple1 said, the rate of cutting is more determined by how quickly you or a helper can clear the cut rounds out of your way than anything else. If you have someone to toss the rounds out of the way for you and all you have to do is run the saw you can get a lot cut in a short time.

How'd you end up?

Good idea everyone has one sitting around in the back yard doing nothing

He's from northern Maine, haha.

 

[Babaganoosh]

That's why I like my method of pulling down 3, marking 3, cutting, flipping and cutting the remaining bit better. There aren't rounds laying here or there, at this end of the pile, at that end etc. You can start a nice big pile right from where you cut your 3. That way you have 1 pile instead of multiple piles. Also keeps you from having to move rounds constantly. Everything is in one spot.

 

[velvetfoot]

For me, the logs are delivered at the end of the driveway. I either have to move the splitter to the pile or move the rounds to the splitter (at the garage). I don't feel good about leaving the splitter out at the pile overnight, and also prefer to bring it under cover for the night.

I throw the splits into a lawn trailer as I work and then drive them over to where I stack them.

I'm always torn whether or not to move the splitter out to the pile. If at the garage, I have to lift rounds into trailer and move them to the splitter. If at the pile I have to take the splitter out there and set upu for vertical, which I like, but no lifting of rounds. Sitting in front of the garage is a somewhat better environment.

I haven't started on this year's pile yet, but getting close.

 

[Babaganoosh]

I don't mind moving my splitter since I bought a trailer dolly. I split right in my driveway for easy clean up. I'm going to look around for a ball joint attachment because my garden tractor that I just got has that typical hole for a pin vs a ball mount. Although it's probably easier to just leave the dump cart attached and use the dolly for the splitter.

When I worked a log pile I did it off site and trailered the rounds home.

 

[velvetfoot]

My driveway is 400'. My HF splitter's beam is not super easy to lift to vertical and has a lot of weight on the hitch and would deform the metal on the lawn tractor if I put a ball in the pin. What I do is take the bracket stand off the trailer dolly and tie the handle to the hitch pin. Hasn't flown off yet. I don't have to mess around with that if I just move the splitter out in front of the driveway.

Every once in a while you hit some carpenter ants, and that would be better dealt with at the end of the driveway.

 

[maple1]

If the rounds get built up to the point that they're bothering my cutting, I just stop cutting & start splitting. A change is as good as a rest, right?

I can tow my splitter with either my ATV or JD ride-on. Or I can B-train it, hooking my 2x8 ATV trailer up first then the splitter to the trailer. Park the splitter right up against & into the wood pile, then either throw off the splitter onto the trailer to take to final piling place, or pile right off the splitter to a pallet.

I do as much as I can to the tree or log, with it laying right where it is. The less handling & piling/repiling, the better. I don't actually cut off piles like this very much, mostly I work right where the tree fell in the woods. Two touches gets me from tree, to beside my boiler ready to put on the fire.

 

[velvetfoot]

Two touches gets me from tree, to beside my boiler ready to put on the fire.

I believe a tractor with forks is implied there somewhere?

 

[maple1]

Uh, yeah, it is.

And a pallet jack.

Everyone should have those things.

 

[velvetfoot]

I agree, alas...

 

[twd000]

OP here. Thanks for all the suggestions. I've been working my way through the pile little bits of spare time, in between work and kid's baseball. I've been cutting the most accessible log and minimizing climbing on the pile. Moving logs with a cant hook I picked up for $35 on Craigslist. The pile of rounds is now getting in my way so I need to borrow my neighbor's splitter this weekend

 

[Babaganoosh]

Pics!

 

[Bad LP]

Good idea everyone has one sitting around in the back yard doing nothing

With a little bit of planning on your part you can rent one for a day and get the job done quickly. A tractor with a bucket and chain also works well but it's not as fast. I don't mind the work part of burning wood but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend several weekends bent over a saw and screwing around with a stack of logs.

Work smarter not harder.