Horizontal vs vertical

[basswidow]

No tossing splits and the unit walks itself back as the pile grows is something I hadn't considered.

Most of my rounds will require multiple splits - so without a table, that could be a real pain - if they drop from the off side and I have to pick them up again.

I may try alittle of both on this next rental and see which seems better.

 

[millerhill]

Splitting vertical is great when you have big rounds, but if I had to choose, I'd go horizontal. It's much faster IMHO, and easier on the back. I guess that's why they make chocolate and vanilla ;-)

Steve

 

[Gooserider]

Horizontal / Vertical is another one of those "religious debate" questions... I find that I definitely have a preference for vertical...

I actually have a direct A-B comparison, when I help a friend with his wood business - he has two splitters, a Supersplit which is horizontal only, with the work table at about waist height, and a 20 ton MTD Hydraulic h/v... He mostly gets in larger cut and split stuff, which we split down to the smaller size that his customers prefer (He mostly sells to the "decorative burner" crowd)

He piles the to be split rounds up next to the splitters with a tractor, and we have a conveyor that takes the finished splits away and dumps them in a truck or trailer. The SS is at the end of the conveyor so the finished splits just get pushed off the end onto the conveyor. The MTD is next to the conveyor so I have to toss the finished stuff over the edge to get it on the belt... When I'm sitting on my splitting seat, the edge of the conveyor bucket is about shoulder height.

The SS is faster, so usually if just one of us is working, we use that, if both of us are working I get on the MTD while my friend runs the SS.

Even with pulp hooks running the SS is a constant round of bend, hook a round, lift it up to the table, etc... With the MTD it's reach out, grab a round and drag / tumble / roll it over to the splitter, while sitting on my padded swivel seat, split and toss the chunks onto the conveyor... At the end of a full trailer (probably between 4-5 full cords) I'm sore whichever machine I was using, though in different areas, but I'm far less stiff and sore when I've been on the MTD all day...

At home, with my HF splitter, I do similarly, where I sit with the rounds piled up around me, and typically toss my done splits into one of three piles - the big pile of "done" that I will need to stack later, a pile of "chunk wood" for the short scrappy stuff that won't stack, and a third pile for the rounds I messed up and cut to long - they will make a trip through the cut-down rack for a trim and then go to the stacks..

Gooserider

 

[peterc38]

I split 95% of the time horizontal. I have a log cradle and I roll the splits onto that and then toss them into piles (on top of pallets) as I go. Only if I have a real monster do I split vertical.

 

[LLigetfa]

I split 95% of the time horizontal. I have a log cradle and I roll the splits onto that and then toss them into piles (on top of pallets) as I go. Only if I have a real monster do I split vertical.

For me it's 99.95% horizontal. I can count on the fingers of one hand how often the beam went vertical. I do it for the exercise, not to sit on my butt.

 

[Brogan007]

Kinda new to this wood game, just in the buying stage for stove & splitter.
One comment here got my interest....a post said the split firewood is just piled on pallets,
kind of indicating it's not neatly stacked, by hand, which seems a real killer job.
As I'm building a roofed "lean to" shed for all my wood....I started thinking, could I just
pile the wood up bulk as long as it sits on pallets?
No limit to height, or area. 10-20 cords reqd.

 

[bogydave]

Kinda new to this wood game, just in the buying stage for stove & splitter.
One comment here got my interest....a post said the split firewood is just piled on pallets,
kind of indicating it's not neatly stacked, by hand, which seems a real killer job.
As I'm building a roofed "lean to" shed for all my wood....I started thinking, could I just
pile the wood up bulk as long as it sits on pallets?
No limit to height, or area. 10-20 cords reqd.

One main reason for stacking, is air flow. Good air flow to help it season.
Heaped up on pallets, the center wood does not get much air flow.
http://www.wikihow.com/Season-Firewood

 

[SolarAndWood]

There is a contingent here that heaps but most seem to stack. My heaps get in the 10-15 cord range without the wet middle problem some have reported, but my site is high, windy and well drained with good southern exposure. The heap method saves a handling step for me and uses less terraced flat space at the top of my lot which is at a premium. The wood that I am going to burn for the season is stacked under a roof just outside the door by October as I have no interest in dealing with wood under multiple feet of ice and snow again. Letting your wood dry outside stacked or heaped means you don't need as big of a shed to be burning 2-3 year seasoned fuel.

EDIT: my apologies to the OP, lost track of what this thread was...

 

[ChillyGator]

Vertical - not splitting weenie wood down here
Stacked- max airflow/exposure

If I want more exercise I use the Axe! :cheese:

 

[LLigetfa]

Vertical - not splitting weenie wood down here

weenie wood is all that's left around here. The old growth was cut down long ago.

All of this pile was split horizontal.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_nX0X4MOKcKI/SfOxfuc0XhI/AAAAAAAAARI/zq84Ay1FOm8/s640/100_0339.JPG

 

[bogydave]

After all I've read here. I'm probably going to go with a splitter that will do either.
So if I need vertical or find I like/it works better for me I can use the vertical mode.
If I get to where I like horizontal, I'll be able to do that too.
Most models do both. If I ever decide to sell it, better market if it does both.
IMHO, if possible get one that does both, then jump into the fray of which is better

 

[ChillyGator]

Vertical - not splitting weenie wood down here

weenie wood is all that's left around here. The old growth was cut down long ago.

All of this pile was split horizontal.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_nX0X4MOKcKI/SfOxfuc0XhI/AAAAAAAAARI/zq84Ay1FOm8/s640/100_0339.JPG

I feel a strain in the abdominal area just looking at some of those 'weenie splits' you got there.......maybe after I split a couple hundred cords like you guys I would change my mind ;-)