I’ve posted many times about not liking large diameter logs and today will be no different. I’m on a 12 day Christmas break and finally got to fire up a saw today for the first time since late August/early September when I was cutting these trees down as seen on the “oak for days, more like weeks” thread. At least most of these logs are straight with no knots. I first had to cut the log in 4 foot sections and the tractor would still barely get them off the ground so I could move them to where they will get split and stored until next delivery season. The lift is rated at 1200 pounds to maximum height. I’m tempted to weigh one of the 16” rounds just out of curiosity. Once moved, I finished bucking and ran through a full tank of gas in the 390 after just 9 cuts. These are nothing but hard work and time vampires. Can’t wait to get through these so I can get back into the Goldilocks size pieces.
Wow, crazy big! I have dealt quite a bit with 30-36" DBH trees, in general, but those are def monsters. If I were to take that on, I would need to noodle them into halves, then again!
Those are some tanks. I have a love hate relationship with the bigguns'. Why not lift the whole round on to the TW6 if the lift is rated for 1200 lbs.?
Love the big stuff. They produce so many splits per round, it makes it more “cost effective” in my mind. Nothing like a big straight grained monster!
I got into some of those last winter, had to roll them up a ramp to get them on the truck. They sure made a pile of splits.
I think the tractor lift is rated for 1200#, not the splitter. Our Wolfe Ridge 28HO has a 700# log lift, I don't want to handle a 2-300# chunk on the splitter table.
Sorry; I saw title and my mind went to Al Bundy it seems simple enough; people that produce for $; naturally consider production and efficiency. Amount of time per split. People that produce for heat, enjoyment and justification for bigger tools… like the bigger rounds
My back hurts looking at those but I don’t mind something that big once in a while. Usually when one of those show up I try to mentally justify a new chainsaw!
It says right on the machine 500 pounds. And even if I did just lift and split, that’s a whole lot of weight trying to catch the halves when they come off.
For me, time is money and these just take longer. Give me a cord of 16” diameter logs and a cord of wood like this and I will have a cord of splits piled up much faster with the 16” diameter logs and it won’t even be close.
You mention 16". If you could choose ideal log diameter, is that it? I have often wondered about size of the ideal stem. I have dealt with a lot of big trees and they are dangerous. Smaller DBH, especially for an old fart like me, is healthier, lol.
I’d say roughly 10” up to about 16” in diameter is my favorite and I can turn the logs that size into splits the fastest.
I would agree that the large trunks are more difficult to work with but they also fill up the racks and totes quickly! I’m spoiled as my son has equipment and with a large splitter on his bobcat or excavator can whittle the biguns down in a hurry and make them manageable for the splitter. Prior to that I was reluctant to tackle the big stuff as it was so much work, very hard on an already aging, bad back even if I noodled them.
That's true, catching the halves of a 30"+ round sucks...not gonna do that by yourself! Once that monster is in quarters they are much more manageable! That's where the vertical table top splitters are nice...but even those kinda have their practical size limits
Not a fan of big rounds either. I only take if a really have to or I can "easily" roll a big log to finish the cuts. I recently sold off some beech I cut a year ago from 3' diameter logs and recall what a b!tch it was to section them up and load. Im with you Joe on the Goldilocks wood. Nice job getting even cuts on them!
