hydraulic over man power

[SolarAndWood]

Man do I feel like a sissy....I'm only 30

You are in good company...it only took 10 cord by hand my first year to compel me to get a splitter.

You guys ain't no sissy...your just a little ahead on the learning curve. :lol:

took me 2 more years to figure out the heap-hausen and then stack it in October under a roof strategy...you never get those man-hours back

 

[Jags]

Man do I feel like a sissy....I'm only 30

You are in good company...it only took 10 cord by hand my first year to compel me to get a splitter.

You guys ain't no sissy...your just a little ahead on the learning curve. :lol:

took me 2 more years to figure out the heap-hausen and then stack it in October under a roof strategy...you never get those man-hours back

Should of asked. :lol:

 

[smokinj]

Man do I feel like a sissy....I'm only 30

You are in good company...it only took 10 cord by hand my first year to compel me to get a splitter.

You guys ain't no sissy...your just a little ahead on the learning curve. :lol:

took me 2 more years to figure out the heap-hausen and then stack it in October under a roof strategy...you never get those man-hours back

Should of asked. :lol:

heap-hausen method for many years now and no one taught me it just came to me in a vision!

 

[rustybumpers]

Man do I feel like a sissy....I'm only 30

You are in good company...it only took 10 cord by hand my first year to compel me to get a splitter.

You guys ain't no sissy...your just a little ahead on the learning curve. :lol:

took me 2 more years to figure out the heap-hausen and then stack it in October under a roof strategy...you never get those man-hours back

Should of asked. :lol:

heap-hausen method for many years now and no one taught me it just came to me in a vision!

I think this heap-hausen method is akin to the snipe hunt and you guys are just all having fun with newbie burners

 

[LLigetfa]

Man do I feel like a sissy....I'm only 30

You are in good company...it only took 10 cord by hand my first year to compel me to get a splitter.

You guys ain't no sissy...your just a little ahead on the learning curve. :lol:

took me 2 more years to figure out the heap-hausen and then stack it in October under a roof strategy...you never get those man-hours back

Should of asked. :lol:

heap-hausen method for many years now and no one taught me it just came to me in a vision!

I think this heap-hausen method is akin to the snipe hunt and you guys are just all having fun with newbie burners

No, they're for real. I posted a pic of my uber-heap-hausen, not the sloppy sprawling kind.

 

[joshlaugh]

I am only 32 but still split my wood with a maul. I figure I have a few more good years of it before I think about buying a splitter. I really enjoy the quiet time I get and the satisfaction that I hand split 16 full cords of hardwood this winter.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Should of asked. :lol:

I know, I know. I now only invest time and energy stacking wood when its good and dry and ready to be under a roof I can access in my slippers when its below zero, blowin 40+ and there is a few feet of snow on the ground. Back to the thread, there is no doubt in my mind that hydraulics are the way to make large quantities of splits. I would also add that hydraulics are also nice when dumping rounds out of the trailer where you plan to heapen-hausen and for moving them from the heap-hausen to the wood shed with the tractor, about late October in Syracuse. There are still plenty of places to apply man power in this process.

 

[John_M]

LLigetfa, Thanks for the birthday wishes (and others) thanks for the many great suggestions. For various reasons (mainly very uneven unload area) I am leaning most towards hauling it with the pickup and unloading with a tractor. However, I am not certain the splitter was designed for lifting after it is assembled, even in the position.

My current top two choices are; 1) tow it behind my pickup; 2) ask the dealer to loan me a low trailer to haul it home and I'll gladly return the trailer the same day.

The closing of my house refinance has been postponed for the second time and now I am scheduled to pick up the splitter Tuesday morning. Jeez!

Will post my happy day and how I finally got it home.

Thanks for all the very useable suggestions and

Best wishes,

John_M

 

[SolarAndWood]

I think this heap-hausen method is akin to the snipe hunt and you guys are just all having fun with newbie burners

My process has evolved every year and last season was the first that I produced all of my own firewood. The first year my wife and I romantically split away in the driveway by hand and had firewood everywhere but come October didn't have enough to make it through the winter. Improvements over time included the hydraulic splitter, dump trailer, reducing the number of times each piece is handled, etc. Finally, this year next years wood was done by Memorial day and I am onto the following year.

While smokinj's heap-hausen enlightenment may have some in a vision, mine was completely by accident. This winter I came into quite a bit of wood in February but the snow kept me from dumping it where I usually do. So, I cleared a little area around the propane tank and all the rounds ended up getting dumped around it on three sides. Then, this spring, my propane supplier sent me a bill for rental of the tank...I threw a chain around their tank, dragged it to the street and told them what they could do with it.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/36416/

So, that left me with a horseshoe of rounds that I ended up splitting into the middle creating the heap-hausen. The poetic part is next years wood supply is sitting where the propane tank sat two months ago and it was the propane company that led me to burning wood in the first place.

In late October, it will be moved about 25 feet and stacked under a roof that is again 25 feet or so from where it will be burned. As soon as that happens, the heap can start accumulating all over again.

 

[Bugboy]

I pretty much ruined a shoulder and two elbows for 12-18 months by splitting 3- 3.5 cords of elm with a maul. If you are over about 35-40,,,, buy a splitter. You won't regret it.

 

[burntime]

John M, Happy Bday. Now you have to find a pair of 30 year olds ;-P

 

[John_M]

burntime, Thanks for the birthday wishes. Don't feel a whole lot older than I did twenty years ago. As to the two thirty year olds, that is a great suggestion but at my age I could no longer keep up (read that anyway you wish). As a 17 year old I used to drool over a gorgeous thirty year old single woman teacher (Miss Gardner) we had in our school. As a forty year old I was still drooling over thirty year old females. Ten years ago I drolled over 25 year old women. Now, at almost 71 years I find myself staring at 19 year old women. My interest in the age of women seems to be inversly related to my own age. I hope to never loose the interest. But, See bellow:

When the Grim Reaper finally blows his bugle and calls my name he will send my straight down to you know where, with no stops in purgatory, limbo or other holding pens. My punishment while there will be to paint windows with a tapered paint brush or go shopping at WalMart or other large variety store.

Now, I have to load up my Gator with chainsaw, tool box, fuel and tow strap to relocate some 36" rounds of ash so I can square them off and move them onto the splitter in vertical position. Hope to get in about 4-5 hours of mowing sometime today, also.

My roofer/chimney installer is coming today or tomorrow to review what needs doing above the ceiling and through the ridge of my roof. Hopefully, he will finish by the end of this week. Will order my new Pacific Energy Spectrum sometime in July (perhaps as a birthday present to myself).

Best Wishes,

John

Edit: The dealer was able to use his fork lift to gently load the splitter into the bed of my buddy's pickup. We drove it home and unloaded at his dirt loading dock. The whole trip was uneventful and I worried more than I should have.

 

[Wet1]

Happy B day John, and congrats on the new splitter. It's inspirational to see you're still working wood at your age.

BTW, some folks would consider you a 'dirty old man' for drooling over 19 year old women... I'd consider that to be a sign of a healthy male and hope I'm doing the same at your age.

 

[Jags]

I'm hoping that at 71 I still have the ability to control my drooling.

John - keep doing what your doing - it is obviously working.

 

[gzecc]

My father is 96 and he is still looking. He only looks < 75. Older than that he thinks their too old.

 

[John_M]

gzecc, Please tell your father that I have had only 4 or 5 heros in my life and he is #6; my new personal hero.

Jags, who said anything about CONTROLLING the drooling? I'm just enjoying it.

Thanks all for the birthday thoughts and best wishes to you.

John_M