Cutting at night time

I'm working on a large delivery of logs that are next to my shed building. Since I leave for work in the dark and come home at sunset this time of year, I'd like to work in the evening and get caught up. I do have concerns about safety working under lights though.

I can run extension cords from the shed, but I don't have any lights aside from the headlights on my tractor. Before I go spending money on lights, I'd like to hear what you've used and whether the worksite was as safe as daytime.

 

I wouldn't do it.
The zombies come out at night, not to mention Jason.

 

Unless you have a 362, then Jason is no match. Then again, if you have a 362, you probably won't need lights. It knows exactly where the wood is.

 

I simply refuse to believe in zombies.

 

you guys are tough. Maybe I can get Chuck Norris - the wood will cut and split itself.

 

I personally would cut at night with enough lights, but I would feel safer splitting/stacking vs running the saw at night. I would try to buck as much as possible on the weekend and split/stack through the week.

 

dgeesaman, if you had a big worklight like the one I have (which is at my SIL's with burned out bulbs), the 1000 watts would be sufficient to light up the whole neighborhood.
HD sells 'em pretty cheap. Use a GOOD extension cord, or make your own heavy duty cord.
Or, you could do something like this http://www.homedepot.com/p/KAB-Enterprise-Co-Ltd-50-ft-5-Bulb-Lighting-String-LS-002A/100661441 if you have a way to hang 'em.

 

I have used double stand work lights.

 

Chuck norris doesnt have a bear skin rug........ the bear just lays there out of respect.......lol........anyone?.......bueller?

 

Exactly.
Mine's red....they didn't have any other color at the time.

 

I don't see anything wrong with working out there at night I have done it.
Get your lights up high put them on top of your stacks or something, I have a couple of home made deals with 300 watt lights, 1 only extends to 4 feet , I put that on the top of a wood stack, the other extends to 8 feet, that one is made from conduit, and also wear a headlight for concentrated light where you need it

 

I don't like using the saw at night much. If I can get a pile into the house floodlights, great. But I've tried with a similar double worklight setup and sooner or later I wander out of the circle, or cast a shadow. Used a good headlamp too, but it just doesn't feel safe. It's too easy to trip or bump into something outside the circle that I can't see because the contrast is too great. I enjoy splitting with the work lights and headlamp because it is more stationary, so like tuneighty, I'll cut a pile on the weekend and beat on it during the week after work. In your case, with a tractor available to move stuff around, I'd put up some floods and make sure I stayed in that area with the saw.

The halogen work lights are okay, but fragile. I'm pretty impressed with my buddy's Milwaukee LED portable. Just waiting for Makita to come out with something similar.

TSC is having a sale on bar oil and zombie repellent soon, pick some up while it's in stock.

 

Id be afraid of a cutting into a shadow and have it be my leg instead !! Lol.
But i have like 30 Coleman lanterns... A few would do the trick !!

 

Good idea

 

That Is, a good idea.
Because I have an electric splitter I'm all set for power

 

I've considered this myself. It comes down to safety. Can you create a well lit area to work in where you will not cast shadows inside your work area? Those telescoping lights from HD look nice, but they do not go near high enough in my opinion. On top of the fact that the higher they go, the less stable they are on an uneven ground.

If were to create an area to process wood at night, I'd want my lights at least 10' off the ground on a very stable setup with no power cords in or near my work area. The newer LED lights are much more appealing that the halogen lights. The halogens are too flimsy and just don't last in my book. Setup an area with a 20' radius with 4 lights on the perimeter lighting up the area should work in theory.


However; in the end, I agree that cutting the logs on the weekend and then splitting and stacking at night would be the safer bet.


The only problem I face right now is that I can only cut so much before I need to start splitting. My current processing area is just not big enough. Unfortunately the company that delivers my logs would never be able to get their truck up into my backyard. In my backyard, I have an area where I could easily cut up a full load. In order to get everything to the backyard for processing would require that I cut the logs to a shorter length and then move them to the back for final processing. Without a tractor this would be time intensive process I'm not willing to endure.

My future plan is to pickup an ATV with a good size trailer and process what I can to load that trailer. Then move the splits with the ATV to my stacking area. Come winter I could use the ATV to move the wood from the stacking area to the racks I built for my deck.

 

I'd run a set of the double flood lights posted above. Those halogen lights throw some serious light. Maybe throw on a headlamp too, and go to town

 

Another reason you might want to conceder the alternator, is an Air Cooled Operator
It really does make a big difference on a hot summer day with no wind , even with just a 12" fan, although next time ,I think I will go bigger