My son and I have been sorting, splitting and re-stacking about a cord of wood that the previous owners left for us. It was cut to all manner of dimensions; some very short and some way too long for the new stove. The pieces that are too long run up to about 30". I'd like to cut these in half to fit my firebox. This may seem simple to the experienced woodcutters here, but I'm not sure the best way to take a saw to them. How do I safely (!) get a grip on them so that I can use the chain saw? I'd like to get them off the ground, to protect the chain, but am worried about stability.
Holding my short wood
- Thread starter TresK3
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Greetings,
I use a bandsaw for cutting down long pieces. The blades are inexspensive and ALOT safer than trying to use a chainsaw.
Mike
I use a bandsaw for cutting down long pieces. The blades are inexspensive and ALOT safer than trying to use a chainsaw.
Mike
I use a saw buck that is able to support those shorter pieces. On one end of the saw buck the supports are spaced 12" apart to give the added support for those shorter pieces.
I have a 10" Hitachi chop saw that works well. Larger splits require hitting both sides, but it's quite quick.
![[Hearth.com] Holding my short wood](/talk/data/attachments/4/4974-f95d9a3eef70d0d7dc5b20352cdf9de9.jpg?hash=JnTyiqdaia)
I don't have a band saw or chop saw, nor the funds to buy either at the moment. I'm in the process of building a saw buck, and I intend to put supports close together (10-12") on one end, but will a short log stay in place or do I need something to hold it down? Would a bungee cord be strong enough?
I use a sawbuck or chop saw if the quantity is small. There is also the chainsaw buddy.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/6988/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/6988/
I've cut down splits by piling them tightly on a pallet, then just sawing straight down through the stack. If you hit the pallet, no big deal. Just make sure you initiate saw contact with the back of the bar, near the dogs, so the top split doesn't get hurled backwards at you.
I hold them down with my foot and use my chainsaw, being very careful not to saw my foot! I don't go all the way through, but roll them 90 degrees to finish the cut so I don't touch the soil with my blade. Again, it is very important to saw the log, not your foot! :snake:
Come on.
10 replies and not one of them references the title of his post?
Fine....
Consider this the "I'm not going there" post ;-)
10 replies and not one of them references the title of his post?
Fine....
Consider this the "I'm not going there" post ;-)
this is a clean cut, family oriented site, with basic family values. We only ever talk about wood and stoves and stuff like that and other politically correct items. Frankly, I feel very sorry for Tresk3 cause going through life with your wood too short all the time presents all sorts of problems. Hope his son fares better.Dunadan said:
i too use my foot to hold the tail end of a log, usualy off the end of a picknic table or a few peices stacked cross ways.
When I had a smaller stove this was a common problem for me (wood too long, not too short...lol) What I did was pack a recycle bin full of pieces needing to be cut, stand it on end and cut all of them at once. Seemed to hold them pretty well for me, just don't forget the PPE!
I'd ask the wife to hold it......but then she might feel like I owed her a favor or somethin'. :shut:
After having to do an emergency replacement of my stove last December and ending up with a stove that holds max 20 inch wood, best with 18", with six and a half cords of 24" splits already on the stacks, I am never going to get into that fix again. I used the Chainsaw Buddy and it is a good tool but too much work is, well, too much work.
I only had six and a half cords but ended up cutting twelve since I had to cut every bit of it a second time. >:-(
In the words of Danny Glover "Riggs, I'm gettin to old for this #%$@ !".
I only had six and a half cords but ended up cutting twelve since I had to cut every bit of it a second time. >:-(
In the words of Danny Glover "Riggs, I'm gettin to old for this #%$@ !".
I had to recut about a cord and a half due to moving from the smoke dragon to the Encore, I tried a radial arm saw, and a table saw, and found both somewhat slow and decidedly "scary". I ended up building a wooden frame or rack about the width of my chainsaw bar and about 3' high using scrap wood, with pallet on the bottom and a hunk of scrap plywood for the back. The back set the length I was cutting to. I would then stack the rack full of overlength splits, and buzz down the front side with the chainsaw.
This was fairly fast, and low effort, about like making one cut through a large diameter round as the frame would hold the splits in place. I ended up spending more time loading and unloading the rack than I did cutting, which I figure is about as good as you can get.
Gooserider
This was fairly fast, and low effort, about like making one cut through a large diameter round as the frame would hold the splits in place. I ended up spending more time loading and unloading the rack than I did cutting, which I figure is about as good as you can get.
Gooserider
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