Newbie getting his advance work done.......
I've got a 1500 sitting in the garage in NW WI and hoping to get the Garn barn up this summer. Working on "Job 1" at this point and trying to get a couple years ahead on the fuel. I can have semi loads of red oak (mostly 6" - 12") dropped in the yard for about $80 a cord.... Picked up a Speeco splitter thinking 100" sticks and a 26" splitter is a no brainer....25" cuts.....well sorta.....the splitter is just a bit generous on the 26" number and the sticks (machine harvested) sometimes end up a few inches long....... got a couple questions for the brain trust.....
Best to shoot for 24" cuts and just throw the "frizby's" in the wood stove or ourdoor fire pit?.....I would hate to drop down to 20" and have that many more chunks to handle.......I only get over-runs on maybe 10% of the sticks.....once you get too long the wings on the splitter that prevent the wood from following the cutter on retraction - start to bend things as the piece splits....so it's a bit of a dance to get close on bucking length....just not too close........ I've been trying to split no larger cross sections than about 4" x 6".......looks like a trade off between more work to handle little pieces, Best size for Garn burns and the drying time........ Your thoughts would be welcome as far as sizing
Stacking is currently using double (only 2 back to back) rows with about 4" of air space between them......mostly in the sun and an open area....... Does this sound like about the right size / approach for Garn food? I was shooting for two years of drying time.......input on drying red oak of that size up in Northwest Cheezeland would be appreciated.
As always I appreciate input from those that have "been there" and already found the "better way"
Dan
I've got a 1500 sitting in the garage in NW WI and hoping to get the Garn barn up this summer. Working on "Job 1" at this point and trying to get a couple years ahead on the fuel. I can have semi loads of red oak (mostly 6" - 12") dropped in the yard for about $80 a cord.... Picked up a Speeco splitter thinking 100" sticks and a 26" splitter is a no brainer....25" cuts.....well sorta.....the splitter is just a bit generous on the 26" number and the sticks (machine harvested) sometimes end up a few inches long....... got a couple questions for the brain trust.....
Best to shoot for 24" cuts and just throw the "frizby's" in the wood stove or ourdoor fire pit?.....I would hate to drop down to 20" and have that many more chunks to handle.......I only get over-runs on maybe 10% of the sticks.....once you get too long the wings on the splitter that prevent the wood from following the cutter on retraction - start to bend things as the piece splits....so it's a bit of a dance to get close on bucking length....just not too close........ I've been trying to split no larger cross sections than about 4" x 6".......looks like a trade off between more work to handle little pieces, Best size for Garn burns and the drying time........ Your thoughts would be welcome as far as sizing
Stacking is currently using double (only 2 back to back) rows with about 4" of air space between them......mostly in the sun and an open area....... Does this sound like about the right size / approach for Garn food? I was shooting for two years of drying time.......input on drying red oak of that size up in Northwest Cheezeland would be appreciated.
As always I appreciate input from those that have "been there" and already found the "better way"
Dan