I'd like to hear everyone's estimates on the number of hours it takes to fell, cut, and split 1 cord of wood. Omit stacking time. I think I am at about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs to cut and split 1 cord of wood depending on if it is all trunk wood or tops.
hrs per cord
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You must be a super bee, cause your moving like the flash. Not counting any loading/transport time etc i would take a wild stab and say it takes me 4-5 hours minimum. Figure 1 hour to fell and limb, 1.5 to buck, and 1.5-2.5 to split a cords worth. Probably an extra hour or 2 easily if the felling and bucking arnt straight forward or tricky in various ways. A cord for me is going to be 3-5 trees typically. So the labor can add up quick.
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
Yeah, your numbers are wrong - unless you have a processor. It takes me 2.5 - 3 hours to split a cord by myself using a 27 ton Troy-Bilt. If I was to include bucking that same cord, atleast another hour or 2.
Well I guess it depends on sizing. I guys I work for take some pretty big stuff. If there isn't much splitting or if there is large splits on the trunk it goes pretty quick. for my 20" stuff, split pretty small its probably more like 2.5-4 hrs per cord. I too need about 3 to 4 trees per cord. I have cut logged tops where there is plenty of easy getting which improves time.
Claydogg, not wrong. depends on the finished product. I have learned I can easily beat the hydraulic splitter by hand. Only white oak here, reasonably straight. Sure if a knarly tree is worked up it would take considerably longer. i suppose my statement was the best case, boiler style wood, tops, white oak trunk wood quartered and done. 24" long.
This year I logged all my hours.
Fell ( in woods), limb and buck,hand split,move from woods to shed and stack in shed.
Average 16 hrs per cord.
Figure about $12 clear per hour for hard labor outdoors, Besides I don't have to work out during my cutting seasons.
It's a beautiful thing and I'll do it as long as I can.
( even if my hourly rate is falling with oil prices)
Fell ( in woods), limb and buck,hand split,move from woods to shed and stack in shed.
Average 16 hrs per cord.
Figure about $12 clear per hour for hard labor outdoors, Besides I don't have to work out during my cutting seasons.
It's a beautiful thing and I'll do it as long as I can.
( even if my hourly rate is falling with oil prices)
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
My local spruces average about a half cord each. If I am felling into a clearing and not working against tricky leans I can have two spruces on the ground in maybe 30 minutes. These will go maybe 14-16" diameter just above the stump bole and be maybe 60 feet tall.
Then I got to call my wife to let her know I am done felling and cut the stumps off (local reg) before i can limb and buck.
Probably having one cord of rounds on the ground ready to load in the truck - working in deep snow with no snowshoes - four to six hours.
Then strap on the snowshoes to load the rounds in the truck... I get logs delivered, thanks.
Then I got to call my wife to let her know I am done felling and cut the stumps off (local reg) before i can limb and buck.
Probably having one cord of rounds on the ground ready to load in the truck - working in deep snow with no snowshoes - four to six hours.
Then strap on the snowshoes to load the rounds in the truck... I get logs delivered, thanks.
JP11
Minister of Fire
I've got a big pile of 10footers all limbed.
My dad is 66 now. I think it probably takes him about 2 hours to buck a cord.
Takes me about 2 hours to split and stack on my pallets.
So 4 hours per cord after it's out of the woods.
JP
My dad is 66 now. I think it probably takes him about 2 hours to buck a cord.
Takes me about 2 hours to split and stack on my pallets.
So 4 hours per cord after it's out of the woods.
JP
Hickorynut
Feeling the Heat
I am closer in line with this, but I am an old man. This would be going into the woods finding a tree, cutting it down, bucking it up, splitting it with a maul, and possibly wheelbarrowing it out to the edge to the truck, taking it home and stacking it on blocks and timbers you have to set up level. There are different scenerios that would seem easier, say a tree in your own yard, but then you have to consider cleaning up the brush and burning it. But it definitely is a beautiful thing ^5s.
There is no way you do that work in 2 hours unless you are measuring only the time the saw is actually into the wood.
Are you talking about a full cord? I am sorry i cant see any way to fell cut split and stack a full cord in any where near 2 hours. Even if it is a stack of logs delivered 2 hours is pretty quick to cut split and stack a cord. Sorry just saw you were omitting stacking time so pole wood a cord in 2 hours would i think be doable but not easy
yes, i'm talking about cutting tops from previous logging or 10" trees half mooned, or at most quartered if larger. 24" length cuts, no stacking, at most throwing into a pile for loading. I'm also talking about putting in a full 8 hrs or near non stop of cutting which I think could achieve 3 cord equating to 2.6 hrs/cord. Still higher than my first statement, so I stand corrected. Probably more like 4-5 hrs/cord if for an EPA stove. Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have loaded over 30 cord of wood this season.
I'm not considering any hauling time, stacking time, for that matter much splitting since its all goes on the truck from the ground to the end user. CTBurner, you are pretty much at my rate if the wood you bucked was 24" long and didnt need to be split much.
I'm not considering any hauling time, stacking time, for that matter much splitting since its all goes on the truck from the ground to the end user. CTBurner, you are pretty much at my rate if the wood you bucked was 24" long and didnt need to be split much.
I measure my time in days not hours per cord . . . I can't get anywhere near the OP . . . I think some of my slowness is due to c / s / s large Aussie hardwoods eg bluegum, but some is due to my being a 43 year old office worker who is unfit and not as strong as some ripped dudes here . . . also there is no way you can manually split large bluegum rounds 24" long - I use a 40 ton hydraulic splitter. I would be well over 24 hours per cord I think to fell, de-limb, move brush, buck, roll to splitter, split, load into barrow . . . the stacking is fastest part by far I reckon I could stack a cord in 30 minutes if it was split in a trailer and next to my fence (where I stack it). Easier / quicker to stack with 24" long splits too, less handling.
Soundchasm
Minister of Fire
I've wanted to phrase the question slightly differently, more like, "how much do you get paid per hour to process firewood?". If one cord of wood is equal to 100 gallons of fuel oil, and fuel oil is $3/gl, then that cord of wood is worth $300 of fuel oil. I don't fell trees, but if it took me two hours to buck a cord, and two hours to split a cord, then that's four hours per cord, so am I making $75 per hour to process wood? Heck, I don't know - you tell me! 
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