I am with Backwoods Savage. Get it stacked and off the ground. I hate leaving any wood on the ground. Even the rounds I have that are waiting to be bucked up and split are stacked on pallets.
Exactly what I do. I almost never pick the same log off the ground more than once. I split where I bucked the logs and then load it directly into either my trailer or my side-by-side, then directly goes to be stacked.
I dislike the stacking part also, but I usually stack as I split. I put the splits into my ATV trailer, then when filled, take it to the stack I am working on. A little extra time, but picking wet muddy splits up sucks, less bending over too. The only two times I will split into a pile is when the yard is a swamp, and I don't want to tear the grass up with the ATV, or when I didn't have the racks built yet. Too many times I have piled up splits, to not get to them for weeks. Now at least I pile onto pallets.
Place rounds where the stacking will take place then the splits are right where they need to be without moving them.
That would be ideal but for me not always possible. For example, I ran two tanks through the splitter yesterday (pic below) and just focused on splitting, not stacking (even though the large pile of rounds is right next to where I am stacking). I think a lot of it depends on how/where you stack the finished product. I found the way I have my stacks, they come out much sturdier and neater when I just focus on stacking (cribbing takes time). It also doesn't waste as much fuel because the splitter isn't running while I'm stacking. If you're hand splitting or stacking in racks that do not require cribbing, then it's a different story. If I am stacking at one of my locations away from the wood lot, then I go the route you mentioned and split right into my ATV trailer and split/stack one load at a time. The other advantage for me with just focusing on splitting versus splitting and stacking is that I have a lot of red oak mixed in with other hardwoods and I stack that separately, so when focusing on just splitting, I can easily make separate piles (the oak is the splits to the left of the splitter).
Understand EODMSgt but my trailer holds a half cord. Just as easy toss in trailer than toss in pile. Then I’m grabbing at knee level or higher. Cribbing does take time and good splits so with the swamp twisted I’ve am cheating this year
Yes they are. The way some guys can stack and have it look so good is definitely a skill I am lacking. I need tp practice some more I guess Nice job for sure !!
Oh boy , I missed that one bigtime. The " o ' and the " p " on my keyboard are just too close together after a long day. Nope , no hoarding here. However for me "TP" and stacking kind of go together , why ? Well my stacks look like S**T compared to others.
So I'm partway to your solution now. In between all this rain I cleared out a stack of seasoned wood (moved it into the woodshed) and am now using that location for new oak splits. Now when I am splitting, I load the oak right into the ATV trailer. Unfortunately, everything else still goes on the ground until stacked (and I agree, it's not ideal).
I've never put a split on the ground in my life. It's hard enough to see my shoes these days so bending over to pick them up simply isn't an option. I stack while I split. Always.
Split it . Stacking is the long game. A delay on it being on the ground is insignificant. Splitting the wood to begin drying process is the way to go. if some issue arises, where you can’t get back to it for a bit, it’s better the last step of the game is all that is delayed
Do both. I like to change it up. Too much of each gets old. I split next to my stacks so I generally make time to stack as I go.
