Move Rounds or Split There? Take the Poll.

I get almost all my firewood from trees taken down by a service and left to the property owners devices and they just want it gone. I used to hand split in place when wood was easier to come by and people would give you time and exclusive rights to it. Any more everyone is out scrounging wood so you have to get in, load up and repeat as fast as you can before someone else gets it. One trend I have noticed is that many of the smaller Doug Fir trees have been removed through the years and folks are now starting to remove the huge old giants from their properties. Not as many scroungers are equipped or want to deal with the large rounds. Since I put the small crane on my trailer I am able to take advantage of these bigger trees and bring the rounds home to be processed with the splitter. The camera has skewed the picture. Nothing is bending or leaning!

 

I'm low tech and usually by myself. I can't take large rounds, but with my trusty OLD wheel barrow I can handle rounds much larger than I could without it. I lay the wheel barrow on its side next to a round, tumble the round into the wheel barrow, then get on my knees to get good leverage to push the wheel barrow up right. Push it to my tailgate, or trailer, and work it end over end into the truck, then roll it into the bed. Definitely saves my back.

Once done, I stow the wheel barrow on top the rounds, and secure with ratchet strap.

 

More or less the same here. I was able to wrestle this black walnut round into it last week. Its bucked to 16" I think it measured 32" x 20". Going to slice cookies from it otherwise it wouldve got sectioned to load.

 

That's an impressive round. I need a serious wheel barrow upgrade for a few reasons. I bought a newer truck that sits 3 inches taller, the old tRUSTY is cracked and about to fall apart, and after losing two wheels to locust thorns I put a flat free one on last year. Big mistake, that flat free one sucks, a pebble can stop it in it's tracks...

 

I bought the two wheeler a couple years ago for $30 on CL. Game changer. Doesnt tip as easy and more stable with a HEAPING load of splits. Took a little getting used to vs. a single wheel. Plastic ones are nice and light but brittle when cold. If you get one be careful dropping heavy rounds or big rocks in it as it will crack. I let someone use this one and they did just that. I "stitched" it back together with zip ties.
I have a second two wheeler i got for free but needs some repair. Big one too...8 cubic foot.

 

I guess the camera scewed up!

I love that crane rig. Ive thought of doing something like that for retrieving mill logs.

 

I kept going back and forth on this and opted to move as rounds. Loaded and moved rounds from the first tree late this afternoon. Open tailgate as it just went next door. Stacked carefully in case i dont get to them right away. One more tree to work. Maybe tomorrow.

 

I have been focused to grab as much as I can with Market place scores, so I just load and go. The size of the tree usually dictates the size of the rounds loaded. I hand split everything (at my leisure) at home, as I’m a few years ahead on my firewood. Wood splitting is my go to the gym daily exercise, some days I go, some days I don’t.

 

Bucked and moved another load today. Ran out of time otherwise wouldve been a bigger load.
Stack is growing. At least one more heaping load of oak to move.

 

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Exactly.
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It depends how easy the wood is splitting, but my preference is to quarter it and then load it up… not always possible, but I quarter and load if I can.
As a hand splitter,I did learn, to at least figure out if you can split it before loading it up. Unless you hurting wood enough to noodle.

 

When I started cutting wood, everything was processed where the tree fell. This kept all the mess of splitting in the woods. Fully processed wood was transferred to a seasoning area, stacked and covered for future use. Once fully seasoned, (2-3 years) I would fill a 16 foot dump box trailer, transfer to my home (10 miles away) and stacked for the burning season. My trails were tight and only accessible by UTV.

As I am now several years ahead and purchased larger toys for property projects, I have changed my method. I now cut 12 foot lengths in the timber for a couple days. Then transfer the logs (skid steer and grapple) to a CSS space and lay them out in a line of piles parallel to the stacking area. (a line of pallets along a fence rows) I spend a couple days cutting into rounds and then a couple days just pulling the splitter down the line up and stacking as I go. In early Summer, I again transfer splits to my house. Opposite of this landing area is my milling space. Left over slabs and nasties go straight to the firewood piles.


I have a friend that also cuts on my property, but I supply the logs. He lines up on the opposite end of the log piles, cuts rounds and transfers home. I just keep replenishing the log piles and piling the brush in the timber for wildlife shelters as the logs are cleared. In good weather, he likes to drive to the brush piles and downed trees to clean up some of the smaller stuff. It's a win/win for both of us and the wildlife.

 

Third load bucked sectioned and moved today. Pile growing. (forgot to take pics)
A few rounds and limb wood remaining plus a small cherry that was collateral damage that i bucked up too. Maybe tomorrow.

 

As a kid there was always a lot of help css. We did a lot of splitting in the woods and with a lot of help it was very productive! I can’t remember the last time I put a piece of wood in my truck. Almost all my wood comes out in log form from our property or neighbors. I put logs beside where the wood is getting stacked and go at it.

 

So do you consider that moved in rounds?

 

Weeeell, no. How about processable sections? Maybe that can be a new term for the FHC dictionary?
You'd be proud of me though. I did noodle the stump cut off. Its on the tailboard.

 

Forgot to take a pic the other day of the three loads waiting splitting. Nice processable sections!

Two rows deep

 

If I'm cutting on our property, I would probably split in the woods, and haul splits home. But most of our wood comes from elsewhere, so haul logs home as fast as possible.

 

I’ve firewooded both ways, and there’s benefits to both, but I think I’m going back to hauling splits only. Last year I hauled everything round and split it in the spring. I handle most everything by hand, so not loading rounds will be easier on the body long term. Last spring, I got pretty tired of running the splitter for hours on end, so that is another reason I’m going back to splits. I find it rewarding to take a tree/log and turning it into the finished product the same day. Hauling rounds is rewarding and all, but you’re never really done til whenever you get around to splitting it and stacking it. If anybody knows the best And most efficient way to firewood, let me know, cause I definitely am still searching!

 

I havent figured it out either but agree with what you said. A little cutting, splitting and stacking in a day vs one single task. Breaks up the monotony. 2020 i did that a lot. Cut a load, bring it home, split it over a few days, stack then repeat.

And you for sure hoarded a BOATLOAD of rounds last year! Are we to see the same again this year?