Horizontal too! My friend where i store wood and i were going halves on a hydro splitter until his friend bought him one. He offered it up to me and i used it today splitting some big pin oak rounds from my recent score. Easier than hand splitting but still a lot of work getting them positioned. First time ive split vertical with a hydro. Could used T.Jeff Veal's pipe platform under them. Thought of that while wrestling them for the first split. Split mostly the big trunk rounds today Sorry Backwoods Savage no milk crate but did use my kneeling cushion. Another garter snake playing hide and seek under the rounds. Moved it and split some red maple rounds in horizontal. About four hours of splitting mostly in the sun but had some clouds. I like vertical for bigguns and horizontal for smaller. Im sold. Maybe now and then hand split. Still have several cord of rounds to feed it.
Makes things a lot easier. What brand is that splitter? Looks like a DHT, but the stickers look different. I got hooked two years ago and haven't looked back. Much higher production and less handling when the splits go right into the yard cart.
My splitter saw the vertical position once or twice. Probably never again. Just not my cup of tea. Felt too hard to try and wrestle stuff in position. I just noodle to manageable size.
Ive noticed my left shoulder is sore after ive hand split the last few times. Last thing i need is an injury and im screwed. If i hoarded a normal amount of wood (whatever that is) id still hand split and still will do so from time to time. Besides this one only costs me gas money. Ill do my friend favors of course and give him wood as well. I was sold when i did this splitting job last month. CHOP CHOP!
I think I can still out split a splitter, but with much more effort. It is easier than splitting by hand, and at the end of a cord, Im not toast for the rest of the day. I'll always split by hand, but when it comes to a larger load that needs to be done sooner than later....machinery is the way to go. Will keep a good stacka rounds for splitting throughout the year...once the bulk of what we have is taken care of. I have split vertical, and it is a lot of work just horsing big rounds, even on flat groumd. Ill noodle and hand split before vertical on the hydro. Even tho noodling eats gas, and wastes a lot of wood. My back is happy though. Sca
I had a horizontal/vertical and it worked. Vertical was okay, but wrestling large rounds was tough, as was the times the round slipped snd lifted the unit. After having the log lift, I could never go back! As much as you cut, can you sell enough to get a cls or Timberwolf etc?
Build you a wooden platform, Brad. All you need is 2 - 2x8x24-28" and 3 - 5/4×6×15" decking boards. Works pretty good, if you had some roof flashing to put on the top, nail on the edges would probably slide better than the one we built.
My normal MO is to section bigguns and load but in this case i was able to bring the splitter on site as it was next door.
Another snake , they like you. I have only seen one over that past couple years. They must know that I am not a huge fan of them , I wouldn't take the back of a shovel to them though. Something that has no legs and can move that fast just is amazing.
A sore shoulder after hand splitting, eh? Don't push it. Your body is trying to tell you something. Hand splitting can be faster than hydros. Both have a cost. $'s vs health. I plan to hand split for as long as I can. At 3-4 cord a year. It's far less than you do, and spread out over 12 months. Don't risk getting hurt and jeopardize both your roofing and wood selling jobs.
The last couple times just swinging the Isocore for a short time ive noticed some discomfort albeit minor. Rotator cuff tear and im out of commission for months. Just getting so far behind on rounds processing too i feel the stress lifting using the hydro. Still tired me out and i was beat last night. I still go at a good pace with the hydro. Damp day here and may hit it again later on. If i only did a few cord annually id keep on hand splitting.
Congrats on the 'upgrade' to your processing system. I've used the vertical mode of my splitter off and on over the last 12 years however I'm not a big fan of it. For me, it's easier to load the larger rounds on the horizontal splitter using the tractor (although for those 37" oak rounds, I will be using the vertical mode). I hate noodling and only use that as a last resort.
