Maintaining wood length ??

What does everyone use to buck their firewood to a specific length?????
My kinetic splitter will take 19 5/8" max length. But is easier to handle with 18". However, I prefer to burn closer to 22"
I've settled on 18" but would like a simple , easily repeatable way to mark and cut exactly that length.
Any suggestions ?
I've used a tape some . but it's slow.

 

ACC-U-MARK

I have two of these, a 16" and a 20". I mostly use the 20" as I burn in an OWB but like you am limited by my splitter...it can do a 24" log max but works better if its not jammed right in there, giving it a few inches to engage before hitting the wood works best - so 20" it is.

I'll use the 16" if Im splitting wood for other uses, such as regular indoor woodstoves, my maple evaporator, fire pits, etc.

Cant recommend these enough - theyre wicked light weight, durable, and with the magnetic end they stick on/off your bar super easy. I just stick it on my bar, run down a few logs making marks, then pop it off and go down the log making my cuts.

EDIT: mine are the fixed ones, fixed at 16 and 20"...but it looks like they make an adjustable one now too! Not sure about how sturdy the adjustable is but if the quality is anything like the fixed ones Im sure its great.

 

I have a mark on my saw that's 24" from the tip of the bar, that's how I measure. Any longer than that and it's a hand splitting job... so I try to avoid going over.

 

I just guess, but I don't have a short-stroke wood splitter either.

 

Just a scrap of a walnut board, cut to 80”, with crayon marks every 16”.

 

I measured both saws and mentally and physically marked both saws at 18inches. The Stihl 460 has a 20inch bar on it right now. I carry a Sharpie in my kit and just refresh the 18 inch mark on the bar. Sometimes I just eyeball the length but on the larger rounds I tend to use the reference marks.

 

I use my bar as a reference. Put the dogs at the end of the log and note where the tip is then cut. Rinse and repeat.

 

I cut everything to 20". I have tried the method as mentioned above, marking the bar or the saw for length. I don't like it because it's repetitive "make a cut, twist the saw 90°, eyeball the length, twist it back, make a cut". All that twisting for every cut is somewhat tiring and hard on your wrists.

I settled on a 19-1/2" long piece of 1/2" PVC pipe, painted bright blue, and a piece of sidewalk chalk. Why 19-1/2"? It makes up for the kerf and the chalk mark. If I can get within an inch either way I'm OK. I just can't eyeball it that close.

I go down the length of the tree, make marks, and then make quick cuts. If there's a crotch, large branch or other ugly section, I just mark both sides of it and then keep going. I like to have the wood piles consistent and separate any ugly stuff for fire pit use.

I thought about getting one of those magnetic things that you stick on the bar, but I felt that it would be just one more thing to get broken. My piece of PVC gets tossed in the milk crate with my wedges, and will also fit neatly in my chainsaw toolbox when not in use.

Edit: I also use that initial "walk" down the tree with my pipe and chalk to evaluate the tree - how it lies, where it's suspended and where it hits the ground, and how it might roll when I start lopping off sections. It helps to avoid future problems, like a pinched bar.

 

I use a Mingo Marker with a 16" wheel. It works well for me. But a mark on your bar may work just as well for you. Sometimes I get swepted away in the 'joy of the toy' buying thing.




Save the $25 to $35 and mark your bar with a .98 marking pen and buy your wife a box of chocolates. Or a case of beer, whichever is more appropriate!

 

Mingo Marker - Measure And Mark Firewood, Chainsaw Accessory, Fire Wood

 

I’m not really picky so I kinda eyeball it. Smaller pieces are fine sometimes I just dont split them as much. Good for the long burn. Keeping anywhere from 14-20 inches eyeballing is often what I do. But even then Im just used to either cutting sections of trees that are 3-5 feet long and then cutting them into halves and thirds or whatnot. Stove doesn’t really care about size as long as it fits well enough with a little room.

 

I'll use a reference point on my bar.
When I feel like making more accurate measurements, I'll use a magnetic measuring tool (pictured-this picture is from the internet and isn't mine) and make marks down the log with the saw. I don't cut the rounds with the tool on as it gets in the way.


Before I had the magnetic tool, I used my fathers method from back in the day by finding a stick or branch and breaking it to a certain length, then work my way down the log with a hatchet marking where my cuts would be.

I've had friends use a tape measure and spray paint but I feel this is too time consuming and a little messy - plus I don't want paint on my wood.

Truthfully, I usually don't mind if my cuts are off an inch or two so most of the time I just eye-ball it and don't think twice about it. After all, it's just wood that's going to be thrown on the fire. Different lengths can make stacking a little challenging, but hasn't been an issue for me. Fortunately no one typically sees my differing lengths of wood except my wife and she doesn't judge me too much. All she cares about if the house is pushing 75-80 degrees

 

I just this year starting measuring my logs.
My skids are 5'4", so 16" splits fit good in four rows.
I have a 3/4" square stick of wood marked at 16" and a big tape I carry and make marks with a grease crayon.

I'd like to get a mingo marker

Depending on the size of the tree I'm working on, I will measure the log and cut to a length before I drag it out then measure my 16" cuts before bucking.

 

Like others, I put a mark on both sides of my bar. Before easy cut I hold my bar up and see where it lands, then start my cut. Pieces are always within 1/2" of wash other.

My problems come when my neighbor, who burns also, comes and cuts with me. We normally cut wood with 3" of each other

 

Same for me. I have 18" sharpy lines on my longer bars. I have 18" bars on my 260 and 026 specifically for measuring length when bucking small stuff.

Like #Jon_E said it does get tiring, and a little time consuming twisting the saw around especially with longer bars, but it's one less tool and pretty accurate. I put a 20" in my 441 for my primary bucking saw, much less tiring with a shorter bar.

 

We use some 16" sticks and either a crayon or spray paint.

 

Right now I'm cutting short logs of varying lengths so I'm using a tape rule and kids sidewalk chalk to measure out different combinations of 16 and 16 to 20 inch rounds ( two stoves one is 16 max and another is 20 inch max ) trying to end up with as few shorties as possible. Also trying for mostly sixteens but a log 54 or 72 inches is a nice 18x4 multiple.
Basically ending up with a pile of careful 16", a pile of 18 +/- 2" and as short a pile as possible of shorties.
I'm also cutting tops off a white oak that fell and I'll take a tape rule and measure sixteens from a crotch out to a branch tip and then cut from the tip back to the crotch. This to save trying to yank branch logs up a hill. (Getting a lot of leg exercise with this one)
A log lying on the flat ground I can usually eyeball for the stove that can take up to 20 inch splits by trying to cut 18 and allow for a bit of error, but again, that stove that is 16 max I really have to measure for.
I have permanent marker stripes on bars and hand saws.
So I really don't employ one universal method but tailor for the job at hand. Whichever is quicker or is less pulls on the starter rope.

 

In the past I would just estimate but I’ve been doing more of a proper measure. Some of the stacks I’ve seen on this forum have guilted me into uniform wood length. bogydave Shawn Curry Backwoods Savage