What firewood tools do you find the most useful/can't live without?

Another thread got me to thinking. All one really needs a wood burning appliance to burn wood. Could have your wood delivered pre-split. Pretty much everything else is a want item. Axe, chainsaw, tractor, trailer, grapple, truck, side by side, logging tools, moisture meter, etc, etc.

Question is what do YOU consider a need vs a want?

For me personally, I consider a tow vehicle be it a truck or a tractor, chainsaw with appropriate files, chains, etc, trailer of some type, small cart or wheelbarrow, a stove/furnace/boiler/fireplace, an axe, a maul, multiple wedges, a pull rope, some steel chain, safety apparel (chaps, helmet, glasses, ear protection) all as needs. Without having all of them I would likely give up burning wood as a home heating option.

On the other side of the coin, a 4wd front end loader (preferably QA with forks, grapple, and box), cant hook, pickeroon, tongs, gas splitter, 3 point log log puller, a sawbuck, all would be wants. They aren't required, but sure make the process easy, quick, and fun.

I also plan to get a 3 point wood chipper, a road legal dump trailer, a small top handle saw, and maybe a few other "toys" in the future. I don't have many hobbies, at least this one has a quantifiable benefit, doesn't hurt anyone, and isn't as expensive as many other hobbies.

 

I am but a simple man with simple needs.

Healthy body

Chainsaw and backup

PPE

Walk behind yard cart

Splitting axes, wedges/sledge

Those would be my simple needs. Beyond that-

Log tongs

Rope puller/rope

 

Am about right there with you. I'd say a good bit of it depends on your situation as well. If you live on many acres and harvest wood off your land your most likely going to need some type of ATV or tractor to haul that stuff out of inaccessible area's a truck cannot get to. I scrounge wood often so my truck is essential, I also have a utility trailer sometimes I use as well. My firewood cart I use to move wood around the property along with my riding mower that I pull it with are essential to me since I cannot get to the back of house with a truck. It also serves another purpose in mowing the lawn, moving the boat around, and riding the kids around for fun out back. I envy folks that can pull right up to their splitting/stacking area with a load of wood on the truck or trailer. If I could eliminate this step would make my processing so much easier.

 

I have been using two pulp hooks. I use them to lift the chunks up on the splitter. Then I use it to help stack wood.

 

Massadam rope puller and bull rope.

 

Beer and Motrin, not necessarily in that order.

 

Matches

 

I think as you get more mechanized, you need less of the “gadgets” that can make hand processing easier. So for me and my situation with selling wood I need:
80cc saw or better
Tractor with forks
Log splitter with log lift
Dump truck
Tape measure
Sidewalk chalk
Any old maul for when a log gets stuck on the splitter or to finish off monster rounds too heavy for my log lift to lift them whole

 

Pick up truck or trailer for the Jeep
Chainsaw(s) and files
Hydraulic splitter
Wood stove

It’s nice to have other stuff but those are my necessities.

 

Needs for me;

Chainsaw or 2
4wd ATV with either a yard cart/ trailer or when there's snow, a hauling sled and chains on the rear tires of the atv
Gas splitter
Cant hook
Forestry helmet, chaps, good boots, overalls, various jackets, and several pairs of gloves.
A spare sharp chain or 2
My cutting bucket with tools, oil, gas, wedges
Trailer and vehicle to tow it

Wants? Well that would be a long and expensive list

 

For years I got by with just the bare necessities:

(x2) chainsaws,
PPE,
27-ton splitter,
Splitting maul,
4x4 pickup for hauling.

As time progressed I added the nice to have stuff:
Tractor with grapple and forks,
Utility trailer,
ATV with dump cart,
Winch for the truck,
(x2) portable capstan winches,
(x3) more chainsaws,
Lots of axes and mauls,
Cant hook,
Timberjack,
Pickaroon,
LogOx,
Smart hold saw horse/wood holder,
Skidding cone,
Skidding tongs,
Otter magnum sled for the snowmobile,
and other stuff I can't think of right now.

Got by for a long time with the minimum and always kept 8 cord ready for the winter. The rest of the stuff just makes life easier (and is still cheaper than a future third ex-wife).

 

PPE
my truck
My saws
Log tongs
Hookaroon

 

What is "pre-split" ?
Rounds ? <--- then I at least need a tool to split with.

I cut on my own property as a maintenance function first. If a tree falls on the driveway in to my house with no tree handling tools I would need to hire someone to take care of it. Same with Winter snow. If I buy/own no tools then I have to hire out that maintenance function. Many people do. I don't - so I need tools to work with.
Basic sets of the right tools to do a job decrease the time and effort to get a job done right the first time.
So one really does need the basics. Beyond the basics are tools that while not essential certainly improve efficiency and minimize effort and often save time. Usually these ( non-essential) tools are cost effective.

SO,
the basics is what I need
after that is what I want
the ones I usually end up with in the want category are the ones I can and choose to afford.

 

Needs are most of he above.
Wants would have been a FEL tractor and log forks like the N.H. Sarge has. Butt-she said to save the bucks and get by with
a Honda Foreman ATV with trailer for wooding.Since I've got time and want/need the extra exercise, the Honda has done the job.

Forgotten is the training, for those of us without chainsaw experience. 20 years ago when we got the 60a. woodlot, I thought I knew how to
harvest firewood. The CLP training ( after a few close calls and blood ) gave me the tools to be safe and effective. And working with pros.
Also since most of us work alone cutting, a background class in emergency care ( mil, Outward Bound, and a Wilderness Medical Care training ) was mandatory (for me ).
Cell Fons only protect you so far. Learn about TQ and how to use an Israeli Bandage on yourself or buddy.

 

Pre-split....as in split by the company you bought the wood from before they deliver it to you.

 

This is absolutely something I have been thinking about lately. I let my emergency care certs run out a few years back and need to get them updated. You never know when you may need the training.

 

At the very least, proper PPE, a good first aid kit, a phone, and tell someone where and how long you'll be cutting if you will be alone. I know a few guys who died cutting trees, and I'm sure many of use have had close calls that could have went a different way.

 

So pre-split is not split ?
That's rounds.

 

Could we use a little common sense here Bill? I could list a hundred examples. Lets stick with wood products

If you buy pre cut stair stringers from Home Depot, is it prior to them cutting them?

How about pre cut studs? Are they still trees, pre cutting?

If I wasn't clear regarding what I meant by pre split, I was referring to wood that has been split into firewood. Sorry for the confusion.

 

There are Wilderness Medicine programs everywhere now.
When I did the re-cert for emergency first aid care , now called Wilderness Medicine, things had changed dramatically. When you have minutes to save yourself or buddy far from EMTs.
Part of the program is injections--given to each other for anaphalaxis, diabetic shock.
TQ techniques for one, now the technique is to do it to save from bleeding out along with single hand tourniquet devices for when you're alone.
I re learned CPR techniques based on serious chest compression with timing. No more "mouth to mouth".
How in a wilderness or a far from help scene, how to triage like we were taught, to assist those who can be helped and when to let some go.
This is all about getting trained by pros.