Welcome to FHC. You'll like it here. We like dogs, and beer and lots of pics. We have a lot of great knowledgeable people here who are willing to share that knowledge. Dennis (Backwoods Savage) is 76 yrs young and has been doing wood longer than you have been alive. He and many others were in the same spot as you. Started out hand splitting. And went to splitter due to back issues. Up at the top there is a resource tab and under that there is a btu and drying chart. Get yourself a moisture meter. Take a fresh split and check on the middle of the split. We look for under 20% as dry and good to burn.
Welcome to FHC! You can always split by hand for fun once in a while...but if you are serious, get a good commercial hydro, or a Super Split kinetic for best production without wearing your body out prematurely...firewood is hard enough as it is. And yes jrider might know a thing or two about this... The march to whatever 2020 brings
Welcome to the FHC Fourwinds1717 Great to have you join us. Im strickly a hand splitter and sell wood as well. A decent buck to be made if one is willing to work hard. Do you have regular repeat customers or advertise...Craigs list FBM etc? I do both. Im picky about the wood i scrounge as it has to be "easy" to hand split and of quality (no rot, dirty, grungy etc) I do it part time as a "hobby" and enjoy it. (one has too)! If you are serious, listen to jrider, he has a top notch operation and down to a science with his wood processing.
Welcome Fourwinds1717 , A great group here with lots of "Characters". We all love pictures. Hope to see many future posts! (We love our "Characters")!
Welcome to FHC Fourwinds1717 ... There are a few splitters available that split a whole lot faster than a standard hyd unit. Super Splitter comes to mind. I'd definately consider one. And don't worry, you'll get plenty of exercise trying to keep up with feeding it. Just keep yer paws out of the way...
Thank Thanks for the advice and it definitely sounds like there are a lot of people here with a lot of experience! And I appreciate the welcome as well!
Thanks for the welcome and I appreciate all the advice! I’m definitely not against a log splitter and do intend to get one! Seems like a lot of knowledge on this forum and that’s really good to know because I am probably less experienced than a lot of the people here! Thanks again for the welcome!
Thanks for the welcome! I advertise on Craigslist and a local radio station here called Tradio that comes on Monday-Saturday. Also I sell wood through a company called liheap that helps people with their heating. I have tree services that I get wood from and also access to 200 acres of farm land with a lot of good hardwoods like oak, locust, cherry. It’s good to know there are others that enjoy hand splitting as well. I believe with good form and the right axe it is very beneficial to the health. That’s why I rarely use a maul and I don’t use chopping blocks. I try to split from lots of different angles and have found that I enjoy it more and that it’s also much quicker and less bending and picking up. What kind of axe do you use?
Thank you for the welcome and I will plan to post future pictures as well! I also have a YouTube channel that I recently started where I plan to post videos of my firewood business this year including bucking, splitting, delivering and stacking. Thanks again for the welcome and I’ll plan to post some photos as I go!
This.... You are young enough not to know any better, but I admire your work ethic. If you're going to do this for any amount of side cash, a nice hydraulic splitter will really pay off. If this is more than just side money, then you'll need more than just a home type unit. And welcome to FHC!
While it's great excercise, there's enough of that to go around with doing firewood for even your own home. Swinging an axe or maul to split the wood will absolutely put a lot more wear and tear on your body than you can even imagine. BTDT. Glad we went with hydraulics probably about at the age you are now, give or take a couple years.
You should retire the axe and buy a splitter with your profit. Exercise is good but you can probably increase productivity with a hydro splitter. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Said the 28 year old... Lol...Just listen to Dennis. He won’t steer you wrong. If you are going to turn this into a business you will definitely want to get a splitter. Hand splitting puts a tremendous stress on your shoulders, arms, back, and chest muscles. Repeatedly doing it over and over again as the years go on will eventually make you understand. But believe me even with a splitter you’ll still get plenty of exercise even with that. Plus it will make you even more productive. Kind of like why they invented farm machinery instead of hand picking the fields. Hand picking is fine for a home garden but if you’re going to go into business you want a machine.
If you have the resources to expand and you wan to expand, maybe even to the point of hiring PT help then you'll need the resources and the equipment for that next step. If it's just a hobby to monetize some spare time then by all means keep on keeping on. A hyd splitter is a little easier on the back as you get older though.
I went hydro in the last few years. After I hit 30 it made sense as I could process so much faster and my wife could split while I cut and kids loaded. So in reality it went 3 times faster, or so it seems. Just for fun I will split up my camping wood. Still fun, but trying to turn a good profit, time=money. And it’s a big difference in the production of splits and frees up more time with family.
Welcome aboard Fourwinds1717 I see you've garnered some advice on splitters and wood selling. I'll just say that I'd never trade in our splitter, unless upgrading. Don't recall any mention of your saw(s). What're you running?
90% of my wood is white and red Oak and I can’t imagine splitting White by hand as strong and fibrous as it is. My clutch is slippin just thinking about swinging on a big twisty White Oak limb. I admire your enthusiasm for exercise, but you gotta protect the temple too. This 52yr old fully endorses hydraulic splitting. Bulging discs are a real pia when you need to keep the house warm.
Good on you for doing what you do. Definitely think about some of the caution some are throwing your way. That’s a lot of hand splitting. You’re getting away with it now, but the repetition of it may get you at some point.
