I go and cut wood at a friend's property and he helps me cut, we don't really measure the wood before we cut it but try to get it close to 16", so most of the splits are slightly too long and I have to burn them east - west instead of North - south in my stove so I put together what I call a wood sizer real quick out of wood I had laying around. I got the idea from watching MasterMech's log bucking video. What do you guys think? Now I gotta go through my wood shed and cut everything down to size and re stack! ^^^after the first test cut I found my pieces to be just a hair too long so I added some old peach props I had to the back to make the final log size around 15 3/4"
It looks pretty easy to use, but not as easy as measuring the first time. Not being a douche, just suggesting that it really is a lot easier that way. Don't want to carry paint? Mark your bar.
^I agree, just mark them the first time. My firebox is like 34" deep but I still try to keep everything around 16"-18" for consistency for stacking. The power company just came through my property and cut a ton of large logs to 20". I ended up knocking 2" off of each log so they'll stack on my pallets better, but it really bothered me seeing all those 2" cookies left behind. Plus, while I love running my saws, it really was a waste of gas and a sharp chain to essentially do the same job twice.
Makes sense guys, it would be best to measure. Next time but in the mean time I have a shed full of wood that's too long so it works for now, but ya I agree, will measure next time! Will save me time in the long run!
Good design. It's easier to cut it once but if that's not feasible do what you gotta do. I have the same issue and built something similar to get my wood to 16". Your version is better, as I can only load a few splits at a time and it requires a bungee cord to keep the wood tight. I think I'll build another with your design...
I prefer a 60T blade for a fine finish... I was kind of in the same boat before I started measuring. My eyeball wasn't as accurate as I thought. Measuring twice is much faster than cutting twice in the long run. Actually I still have a bunch of the random length stuff to get through. I don't chop it down as much these days though; I'll just load the longer ones E-W. In fact I've found I get much better burn characteristics if I alternate splits in EW/NS layers when I load the stove. [EDIT] If your splits are all too long, you only need to shorten about half of them with this method.
I've even used a milk crate for this when we had not too many to do. Seems I also did this when we had cut-offs left over from remodeling and putting on an addition. Jammed stuff into the crate then wrapped a ratchet strap around it and zip, it is done.
I'll just whack those 20" pieces in half and stack them all together 3 deep on the pallet. I'll use them with the 16' pieces mixed in together. Works for me.
If I put the Vogelzang Performer back in service, I'll be doing something like you've done, Shawn Curry. I like you're "Mastered" retake on things, Allen Lee, good pics and write up
I probably should, as I've gotten enough 10" logs from other tree service guys that I probably could stack them by themselves. For now I just toss those short pieces, along with the "uglies" in between 2 rows of stacks.
This is what I threw together with scrap lumber I had laying around. Quick pic taken while messing in the yard before the snow.
I am Captain Anal when it comes to having a consistant 26" cut legnth of my wood. When working up a log, I have a small stick (26") in my left hand that stays there for both measuring & cutting. It becomes natural to hold the stick & handle "loop" at the same time while cutting. I don't mark the log, just measure it with the stick and keep an eyeball on where it was. This saves the "wood sizer" step and get's you to the Budweiser step faster
I'm not so anal, I've been cutting so long, since 1982 that I just know where 16" is +/- a 1/4" or so. We all different, so we all probably have our own way. I'm with you on getting to bud step ASAP
I'm pretty good with 16" and 24" with a long time framing & building backround, but 26", that's downright "metric" to my eyes
