help out a new guy

[Zack R]

thanks for the tips. i ended up buying the husky 562 xp. i went in for a 550xp but he had an older model. so i bought the 562. it does have the auto tune. so we will see how that works. i did look for some type of log gaff seems like it might be a good investement. although i was toying with splitting everything by hand. lol my plan is to have everything bucked up by thanksgiving. and go wild on splitting. i will have 5 days off over thanksgiving. might help me burn off some of that pumkin pie. i also bough a few lumber pencils. i plan on cutting 16" rounds. nothing to salivating for over here. cost me 9200.00 to have these trees laid down. thanks again. i will be sure to post an update

Woah! How many trees did they cut down for $9,200? Maybe it was worth it but that sure sounds like a lot.

On another note be sure to follow @Soundchasm 's advice and get the right tools that will make the upcoming work easier on yourself. The 562xp is a good start in the right direction.

 

[Petstang]

Welcome to the site. Your project is a big one, but a fun one !

With a job that big, you want to plan out where you will cut, split and stack to minimize steps and avoid having to redo things later. Some lessons I learned:
1. Buy the splitter vs. renting it. Renting requires marathon splitting sessions and it may be difficult for you to keep up physically. Own it and you can split at your own pace. Sell it for 80% of what you paid for it when you are done.
2. Rotate the tasks. Don't do all the cutting at once, then split. Rotating tasks is easier on the body.
3. Put a tarp down under the splitter. It makes it easier to clean up the debris.
4. Don't stack higher than about 5 feet, the stacks will likely fall over.
5. You want to minimize the amount of steps it takes from the time you cut a log until the time it goes to the pile. For example: i will set up splitter close to the pile. Each spilt goes directly into wheel barrow. Once full, I remove the split directly from the wheel barrow to the pile. I don't let the spilt hit the ground, put it into wheel barrow, dump full wheel barrow in front of pile, then put splits on to pile. Too many steps.
6. Protect yourself from injury.

I wish I found this site before I started, I could saved lots of time and money!

 

[maple1]

Welcome to the site. Your project is a big one, but a fun one !

With a job that big, you want to plan out where you will cut, split and stack to minimize steps and avoid having to redo things later. Some lessons I learned:
1. Buy the splitter vs. renting it. Renting requires marathon splitting sessions and it may be difficult for you to keep up physically. Own it and you can split at your own pace. Sell it for 80% of what you paid for it when you are done.
2. Rotate the tasks. Don't do all the cutting at once, then split. Rotating tasks is easier on the body.
3. Put a tarp down under the splitter. It makes it easier to clean up the debris.
4. Don't stack higher than about 5 feet, the stacks will likely fall over.
5. You want to minimize the amount of steps it takes from the time you cut a log until the time it goes to the pile. For example: i will set up splitter close to the pile. Each spilt goes directly into wheel barrow. Once full, I remove the split directly from the wheel barrow to the pile. I don't let the spilt hit the ground, put it into wheel barrow, dump full wheel barrow in front of pile, then put splits on to pile. Too many steps.
6. Protect yourself from injury.

I wish I found this site before I started, I could saved lots of time and money!

Good tips.

Re. 5, instead of a wheelbarrow I use a trailer behind the ATV. Toss into the trailer right off the splitter. Then drive the trailer to what/where I'm stacking on/at. And since I park the splitter right beside the tree after I cut it up - more steps saved there. Two touches from the whole tree, to being split & stacked. It all comes down to the situation though & what you are dealing with and have to work with.

 

[byQ]

You say the house you moved into has 2 fireplaces - heating is going to be difficult with traditional fireplaces. Maybe look into installing EPA rated inserts or EPA rated free-standing woodstoves.

Fireplaces are not really good heaters - they are more for ambience. Pines or other low btu woods are just as good as an other wood if it is going into a fireplace. I would rather have a good wood burner and lousy wood as opposed to a bad wood burner and great wood.