What to do with all the splitter dribilings?

[nate379]

Should read splitter dribblings.

Between teh sawdust, bark, small branches, etc I end up with ALOT of it.

Have been putting it in big piles and burning it, but was thinking maybe there would be a way to make some sort of compressed logs out of them???

Run everything through a cheap wood chipper and then press it together?? Maybe not worth it, I dunno.

The horse ladies get all excited when they see all the sawdust cause I think they have to pay for it, but it's all mixed with the other above stuff, don't think it'd work for the horses?

Did think of chipping and using it as bedding for my ducks though?

 

[firecracker_77]

Not sure about the compressed logs. As far as the bedding, I think it would work, but it does get cakey when wet...I think straw would be easier to clean up after. Larger chips would work great, but the dust itself would get all matted when wet.

 

[Thistle]

Slivers from splitting are saved for kindling,all loose bark except for Shagbark Hickory is scattered with shavings/chips over my processing area.Nice to walk on,keeps the mud to a minimum in that normally soft part of the backyard.Hickory bark is added to kindling boxes/barrels,occasionally a piece or two is used in the smoker.

 

[schlot]

Larger stuff to a bucket for kindling/shoulder burning. Small stuff raked into the neighbors yard when they aren't looking. LOL.

I have a buddy that is looking at experimenting with compressing shavings and chippings into logs.

 

[BobUrban]

If someone comes up with a compressed log type thing that is easy and economical please post your technique but I am afraid the effort would not be worth the yield. I use mine to fill low spots in my trails and just dump wheelbarrow loads and run them into the ground with the quad throughout the year. I figure in about 70 or so years I will have high ground LOL

I do find a rake and snow shovel gets the splitting area cleaned up rather quick and I am now all done for the season with nothing to do but stare at my stacks.

 

[lukem]

I pick up the big chunks for kindling and throw them on top of the stacks. Bring in a little at a time as I bring in wood.

The rest of the trash (bark, sawdust, small chunks) get raked up and tossed in the mulch pile or burned.

I don't see how making compressed logs out of it would be worth anyone's while....

 

[Jags]

Gonna take mucho pressure to turn that stuff into a compressed log. Pressure that most people have no ability to produce.

Compost it?

 

[bmblank]

I've seen pellet makers that are supposed to shred and make into pellets just about any sort of biomass, be it manure or paper or grass or...

 

[bmblank]

Here it is. Something like this might bee cool. Never heard anything about it until the other day i was flipping through a catalog...

 

[Jags]

A burn barrel would be about $6450 cheaper.

 

[bmblank]

Indeed. If money were no object it'd be a curious experiment.

 

[firefighterjake]

Bigger stuff gets used as kindling and put on the stack -- typically in between the end crossed stacks.

Medium sized to small stuff gets put in a paper bag (best), cardboard box or plastic bag for use as kindling . . . I like the small paper bags since I can then toss the entire bag into the stove to light it vs. taking it out of the cardboard box or plastic bag.

Smaller stuff left over gets raked up and used to get the brush pile going . . . along with some extra cardboard boxes -- haven't had to use any combustible fuel to get any fire going thanks to the use of the small splitter trash and burning the extra cardboard boxes.

 

[mecreature]

kindling, spread around the splitting area, spread over garden, compost pile

 

[JoeyD]

I typically leave the bark that falls off when I am bringing in seasoned splits on the ground around my stacks. As far as all the dribbling's left behind when splitting, some is used as kindling and some is pit wood. Anything not worth while like bark and stuff get dumped either on a job site or my sisters hedge row at the back of her property. Chips from cutting just get scattered.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've found that if I put off cleaning up around the wood stacks (splitter stuff), my wife will sooner or later get at the task.

 

[BobUrban]

Indeed. If money were no object it'd be a curious experiment.

The issue with this is that anyone with enough disposable income to play with the idea would be more likely to have all their wood split, stacked and cleaned up by someone else - eliminating the need to create 3 or 4 logs from splitter dribble. Heck, with money as no object I would go with geo-thermal and turn up the thermostat - only burning when I wanted too.

We had a similar discussion last year regarding what it would take to build a fireproof chimney and roof sysem and eliminate the need or concern for creo build-up and cleaning. The concensus was that after building a steel roof, heavy steel insulated chimney and completely fireproofing your home the cost would make propane the better choice(even if it were possible)

The idea is interesting but once you gathered all the scrap and compressed it down I am guessing the average(obsessed) burner would come up with 2-5 logs from their annual splitter junk. I believe to make it of any value in regards to quantity someone would need to be processing in the range of 1-200 cord a year to get a cord or two of solid, burnable fuel.

 

[MasterMech]

The idea is interesting but once you gathered all the scrap and compressed it down I am guessing the average(obsessed) burner would come up with 2-5 logs from their annual splitter junk.

I recently cleaned up the splitter trash from splitting roughly 3.5-4 cords of Ash and it amounted to nearly a full pickup bed (8ft) with the rotten/punky chunks thrown in there. Take all that out and you probably would have had at least 1/3-1/2 a load still.

 

[PapaDave]

I pick up the larger stuff to use as kindling, then use the tractor/plow to push the rest into a pile. Couple years later....compost, or mulch.
Haven't used much of it, but it's there.

 

[BobUrban]

I recently cleaned up the splitter trash from splitting roughly 3.5-4 cords of Ash and it amounted to nearly a full pickup bed (8ft) with the rotten/punky chunks thrown in there. Take all that out and you probably would have had at least 1/3-1/2 a load still.

Agreed and I probably have about the same when I am finished but run that through a chipper/grinder to get it to a form that could be manipulated under extreme compression to resemble something like a log of oak density and I am guessing 5 logs tops - maybe a few more but hardly worth the effort or time your could be using to just CSS another tree. There is a lot of air and low density bark in a pile like that with very little solid wood.

Still intriguing though

 

[JustWood]

If it's not rain soaked, I shovel it into the coal bin to burn it mixed in.
If wet into mulch pile.

 

[mikefrommaine]

I use it as a thick mulch to kill the grass when I want to start a new perennial bed. Also works good to fill in some muddy spots on my trails.

 

[HDRock]

Just starting out but, I'm going to save some splitter junk for kindling, the rest and bark, I don;t want lying around and , don't have a need for any mulch, so, I will burn it when it's a little dryer and be done with it.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Burn it.

 

[nate379]

I cut and split about 30 cords at that one area, this year I plan to do 300-400.

The idea is interesting but once you gathered all the scrap and compressed it down I am guessing the average(obsessed) burner would come up with 2-5 logs from their annual splitter junk. I believe to make it of any value in regards to quantity someone would need to be processing in the range of 1-200 cord a year to get a cord or two of solid, burnable fuel.

 

[Havendalefarm]

In all the years of selling firewood from our farm, with all the splitting for between fifty and two hundred cord taking place in one area, we may burn a small amount but the vast majority of it ends up in a pile out back . We also toss in about one good armload of the tiny splits in almost every cord we sell. We tell the customer the kindling wood is free and have yet to receive a complaint.