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

[johneh]

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.

Us retired focks need the exercise and it is something I like to do
I do 2 loads a year have been for 36 years helps relieve stress and
I'm outside in the sun shine and fresh air . If you say anything about
mosquitoes ( hope I spelled it right ) during the day there aren't any here
nor do we get black fly's in the spring ,

 

[twd000]

Pics!

 

[velvetfoot]

View attachment 178756

It's nice having all that room.

 

[twd000]

It's nice having all that room.

Yeah I was lucky there was a natural spot for wood processing right off the driveway. Plenty of space to work without blocking access to any other activities. The neighbors walk their dogs past and give me a hard time about my huge pile of wood [emoji12]

 

[firefighterjake]

Yeah I was lucky there was a natural spot for wood processing right off the driveway. Plenty of space to work without blocking access to any other activities. The neighbors walk their dogs past and give me a hard time about my huge pile of wood [emoji12]

Just remind them of the New Hampshire state motto.

 

[fire_man]

Good to know grapple loads are still available in Southern NH. Some years I get a call out of the blue asking if I need a load, other years I can't find anyone to deliver.

Two times I got a load, there were 40"+ diameter trees so you did good!

 

[bad news]

Yeah I was lucky there was a natural spot for wood processing right off the driveway. Plenty of space to work without blocking access to any other activities. The neighbors walk their dogs past and give me a hard time about my huge pile of wood [emoji12]

I think that's how you know you live too far south. Last time I had a grapple load dropped off my neighbors came over to appraise it's quality

 

[twd000]

A neighbor down the street has been "filling" a low spot in his front yard for the better part of a year. There's a mountain of dirt and rubble about 20' tall and 100 feet long that the dump trucks have been leaving right on the edge of the road. My boys love watching the trucks. Not sure how the millionaires next door feel about that little project. So yeah I'm not the black sheep [emoji23]

 

[twd000]

I know you're all on the edge of your seats awaiting an update. So far I am 11 hours into the cutting task, and 13 hours into the splitting task. 93 degrees and 80% humidity in my town today. Not ideal for wood working to say the least.

 

[twd000]

 

[velvetfoot]

What percent of the pile is completed?

 

[twd000]

What percent of the pile is completed?

Hard to say with any precision, but I would estimate that I've processed 60-70% of the original pile.

 

[kennyp2339]

Nice, good progress considering the weather. Also glad to see I'm not the only knuckle head up early trolling through hearth.com

 

[twd000]

Nice, good progress considering the weather. Also glad to see I'm not the only knuckle head up early trolling through hearth.com

Work days I can hardly drag myself out of bed by 0700. Today I'm wide awake by quarter of six. Go figure. How early is too early to fire up the Stihl in a residential neighborhood? [emoji12]

 

[Babaganoosh]

Work days I can hardly drag myself out of bed by 0700. Today I'm wide awake by quarter of six. Go figure. How early is too early to fire up the Stihl in a residential neighborhood? [emoji12]

I've got the same issue. Work days I'm up at 345 am and days off I'm up at 600 am. I'd love to get splitting on those days before it gets hot out but I generally wait until 9 so my neighbor doesn't get upset.

 

[Pat32rf]

Some years ago a " buddy" got a Wallenstein wood processer and had to show me how great it was. I am 70 so I used my tractor to feed the beast, one person cutting, two piling another doing general cleanup, etc so five workers plus spare pilers. Started on a pile like that and had four full cords in the shed in three hours!!

Six months later I started burning from that shed and found that the wood was all moldy......

Since then I block a bit, split a bit, let my helpers pile etc. The blocks and then the splits sit out in the sun and have a chance to dry. They go into one of three woodsheds one row at a time and that row sits in the sun until the next row comes along.
I have help felling, then I skid the logs to the yard where they get piled until blocked and split. By splitting small they dry fast. I can handle 24" beech or maple by myself but I cannot bend over to pile.

 

[twd000]

So I'm nearing the end of the marathon. I don't know if it's just my perception, but this log splitter is seeming awfully slow. So I timed a couple cycles (unloaded) and got 20 seconds. Full stroke out and back. Is that the spec this splitter was designed for, or is there a potential maintenance problem? The splitter does not belong to me, I'm borrowing it from a neighbor, but if there's something broken I would like to fix it for him. It is a 27 Ton Troy Bilt with a Honda 160 GCV engine.

 

[Jay106n]

Just did a quick google search the 27 ton Troy Built Honda is rated at 19 second cycle, so you are just about right on.

 

[kennyp2339]

It wouldn't hurt to do an oil change and change the hydronic oil filter, wash the machine and touch up any missing paint

 

[twd000]

It wouldn't hurt to do an oil change and change the hydronic oil filter, wash the machine and touch up any missing paint

Good ideas; I changed the oil last week. I'll make sure to clean it up before I tow it back over to his house.

Damn, this thing is slow! I'm reading about hydraulic splitters online with 8-second cycle time?! Meaning I could split a cord in less than half the time it's currently taking me?

 

[kennyp2339]

I have a iron and oak 20ton F S, 8 sec cycle time

 

[twd000]

I have a iron and oak 20ton F S, 8 sec cycle time

Do you split with a buddy feeding you rounds, or can you keep the ram moving in 8 second cycles working solo?

 

[velvetfoot]

My HF 30 ton splitter is somewhat slow as well, plus I run it at half speed. I figure less wear and tear, better economy. I also figure if it's going slow there's less chance of me severing fingers (knock on wood).

 

[kennyp2339]

Do you split with a buddy feeding you rounds, or can you keep the ram moving in 8 second cycles working solo?

Both, I like the speed, especially when doing large rounds vertically, sometimes I take a big pry bar and have to hold the up to the splitter then reach for the handle, the speed of the splitter help capture the round, When working with friends the machine keeps a very good pace, sometimes still to fast, but when you get a rhythm going you actually feel like your running a deli slicer doing the logs. I absolutely love that splitter, haven't found a round yet I couldn't split.

 

[twd000]

Well the cutting and splitting is all done! Took me 19 hours cutting plus 28 hours splitting. Paid myself the equivalent of $27 per hour, half as much as my day job, but twice as rewarding! The slow hydraulic splitter (20 sec cycle time) was definitely the bottleneck for throughput. In future years when I'm only processing 2-3 cords I may hand split. Overall glad I got ahead; I won't be processing wood during hot weather in future years! I'm going to pay some neighborhood teenagers to stack it for me.


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