Picking away at 2012
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Thanks Zap, my first welding job seems to have held. Pushed all kinds of nasties through her with no problems. Found it to be kind of relaxing to just split for an hour or so before sunset instead of my traditional marathon sessions.
- Oct 8, 2008
- 450
Thanks. As I have gotten further ahead, I have been splitting bigger. My current goal is 8x8s with the idea that I can easily get three of them in the firebox with room for some filler. Saves a lot of time splitting and seems like you can get a lot more weight in the stove. Seems to take longer to dry though.
SolarAndWood said:
Good idea! Wondering if those big splits would dry under my backyard conditions in 2years?
- Oct 8, 2008
- 450
SolarAndWood said:
Its funny, I looked at my wood for this winter and the splits are a lot thinner than my pile for next year. Im hoping the extra summer drying time allows me to burn fatter pieces and longer burn times.
Spliter, for us burn time is everything. We have two little kids, both work and don't have a furnace. We were burning 2 year dried 6x6s last year. Not sure how much of it was the stove and how much of it was the fuel, but burning became very easy.
Ice, we are blessed and cursed with our location. No stacking required for drying because of the wind and a great view as a bonus, but man do we pay for it when its cold and blowing. Take the good with the bad I guess.
Ice, we are blessed and cursed with our location. No stacking required for drying because of the wind and a great view as a bonus, but man do we pay for it when its cold and blowing. Take the good with the bad I guess.
BucksCoBernie said:
That's my strategy. I'm hoping that the combination of stove, fuel and tightening up the house will lead to woodburner's bliss this winter. Came close last winter, but this year we'll have bigger splits, an inch of foam, fresh Tyvek and even siding. Hopefully this will mean less processing in the future.
SolarAndWood said:
So glad I come to this site ! I got close to 2 cords that I won't need for at least end of 2012-13 season so I think I will split one cord big like that and see heck might as well split it all big and just check it that summer and see .... but wow I wonder what temp the stove would stay at with such big pieces?
I filled the stove with 6x6s when it was cold and had no problems, just long burns. Not sure how the air was adjusted through the course of the burn though as the thermostat does it not me.
Saw 4 marginal films but had a great time...Shrek forever, Tom Cruise and Carman Diaz? in a spy film, the last exorcist and the A-team. Gotta love the drive-in experience, almost 8 hours of entertainment for 18 bucks.
Looks good S&W
I like handling bigger splits myself. A lot easier grabbing one big split than 3-4 small ones. I have been forced by time to make smaller splits than I want but I am slowly starting to ahead of the game too.
Billy
I like handling bigger splits myself. A lot easier grabbing one big split than 3-4 small ones. I have been forced by time to make smaller splits than I want but I am slowly starting to ahead of the game too.
Billy
Other than drying time, I see nothing but good from splitting bigger. Less splitting time, less splitting fuel, fewer pieces to stack, fewer pieces to move next to the stove, fewer pieces to put in the stove and more weight in the stove on every load. My wife complains about the bigger splits every time she sees me processing. But with the new stove, we are only loading once a day anyway. So, she rarely touches anything on the stove other than the tstat.
The same theory holds for the rounds I bring home. The biggest I get is about 30" in diameter before they start noodling them. I figure that is 14 times the amount of wood as I get in an 8" round and its hard to make an 8x8 split out of an 8 inch round. Fewer pieces to load in the trailer, fewer pieces to stack in the trailer, fewer pieces to unload from the trailer and fewer pieces to move to the splitter.
The same theory holds for the rounds I bring home. The biggest I get is about 30" in diameter before they start noodling them. I figure that is 14 times the amount of wood as I get in an 8" round and its hard to make an 8x8 split out of an 8 inch round. Fewer pieces to load in the trailer, fewer pieces to stack in the trailer, fewer pieces to unload from the trailer and fewer pieces to move to the splitter.
Your point about being able to work an hour here and an hour there is the only thing that makes me consider getting our own splitter.
When we rent one it has to be a marathon session to make it work for us.
If I could buy one on shares with a friend I would be all over that. Our next session with the splitter should be in the next month and it will be a doozer as we will need to chew through as many as 7 cords in a couple of days. It will need to be all hands on deck for running the splitter and stacking. If we had our own our splitter I could turn our 12 and 13 year old boys loose every day for a little while. They are learning to run the rental and if they stay out of the heaviest rounds they do alright.
At that point when we are caught up and ahead for next year I will be hopefully getting back to cutting, splitting and stacking a little bit at a time all year round to avoid a back log like I am currently experiencing.
When we rent one it has to be a marathon session to make it work for us.
If I could buy one on shares with a friend I would be all over that. Our next session with the splitter should be in the next month and it will be a doozer as we will need to chew through as many as 7 cords in a couple of days. It will need to be all hands on deck for running the splitter and stacking. If we had our own our splitter I could turn our 12 and 13 year old boys loose every day for a little while. They are learning to run the rental and if they stay out of the heaviest rounds they do alright.
At that point when we are caught up and ahead for next year I will be hopefully getting back to cutting, splitting and stacking a little bit at a time all year round to avoid a back log like I am currently experiencing.
lowroadacres said:
I have been through every splitting option. The maul got old given how much wood it takes too keep the house warm. Then the 3 point on the tractor. Slow and loud to keep the pump on the tractor turning fast enough but got the job done. Next was the little horizontal that scared the chit out of me with the flex on the beam with anything substantial. The latest evolution is all good. My FIL nailed it other than the 4 cyl motor out of a Bobcat he used to power it. Nice working height, big piece of steel to keep everything straight and the electric motor has proved to be the perfect power plant for my needs.
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