Hey Joe P Welcome aboard. I have a northern tool 37 ton splitter that I may be interested in selling. Depending on where you are located in Wisconsin, we may be able to work something out. Send me a PM if you're interested.
Welcome to the forum Joe P First off it makes me happy to see people who are just starting in heating their home with wood. The $ savings alone is enough to make people want to do it. The cost of getting started scares many away though. A couple of suggestions to make to you. First off, being fairly new at wood burning, I would suggest you do some reading here: Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage You can read online or even download a pdf file if you choose. Many have found this to be a big help. Another thing is that log load you are planning on. Personally I would not buy oak unless you can split and stack it then leave it for a few years. Around our place we won't even attempt to burn oak until it has been split and stacked outdoors (top covered, of course) for 3 years. It is extremely difficult to get wood one year and expect to burn it the following winter. Oh yes, it can be done, but at a huge price. First of all you will burn a lot more wood than you would if that wood were dry. Second, for sure you need to check that chimney often. If I were to burn wood next winter that I cut this winter, it would be either white ash or soft maple. On to the splitters. The number one thing many mistake is thinking they have to have that high tonnage in order to split wood. That could not be further from the truth. Some even use as small as a 5 ton splitter but that is going a bit too small. In our case, I bought a 20 ton splitter with a 5 hp motor over 30 years ago. It is still in good shape and has split well over 300 full cord (not face cord). With that small of an engine it uses much less gas and even then, I run it maybe 2/3 throttle. It gets full throttle only when splitting some knarly junk. Further on splitters, I have always split in vertical mode, the same as you do when splitting by hand. The biggest reason is that you work a whole lot less that way and it is really so much easier on the body. Some say like you did on the knees. That usually is because of the way you have your body when splitting. I simply sit while splitting so it is very easy on the knees and much more so on the back. Here is what I sit on for splitting but I used to sit on a milk crate. You'll find many places on the forum where the guys like to kid me about that. We have fun here. But what about the big rounds getting them to the splitter? Some old galvanized pipes work great for this as you can roll the logs on them. Personally I use a pickeroon and am able to get along okay with that. It also allows me to reach further to get the next log to split. I also tend to stack the wood when it is cut so then when it is splitting time, I set the splitter right next to the stacked wood so it is quite some time before I need to move the splitter. And as you can see in the picture, I've attached a boat mover to the tongue of the splitter so it moves easier.
Welcome to the FHC Joe P Great to have you here. For the cost of a splitter that is only used some in two years i agree with CoachSchaller as far as a rental. Know anyone that owns one? Split the cost of the wood and share the splitting work? As far as lifting. Can you sledge and wedge/use a maul to make larger rounds more manageable to lift? I hand split all my firewood so no experience with a hydro. Just my two cents worth.
Joe P. Welcome to the club. I live about 1/2 hour NW of Wisconsin's Mecca - Lambeau Field. You'll enjoy this site - lots of friendly knowledgeable people. I've been lucky enough to have a wood heating option in my homes for over 30 years and I've been cutting firewood since the mid-'70's. Spent a lot of my professional career as a forester in the lake states and Maine. Heating with wood is extremely rewarding. PS - you spelled Wisconsin wrong!
I rented one from our local ace hardware before I got my isocore, it was a 25 ton, only cost me $50 for a full day. I had a big stack of rounds all bucked and ready to split and got them all done.
In the Dells! I'm in the town of Delton, just down the road from the Sportsman Club near Christmas Mountain. Sounds like we may be dang near neighbors!
Dennis, er Backwoods Savage advice is always sound. I like the new stool there, was it a better fit than the crates after your surgery? Welcome to the spot Joe P, if you get the splitter why stop splitting ten cord on 3/4 of an acre? You can scrounge for wood but then again I don’t know how WI works for you for wood. If you found different wood that dry faster besides just getting oak, then you might have some luck. Pine, Ash, Poplar, cottonwood, these might be more gopher woods for you but they would work until your wood supply becomes a constant and that splitter will become a relied on machine. Also it would be detrimental to just have 10 cord and then wait until it’s all gone to split more, woodn’t it? At least you can scrounge up enough wood to keep your next year or two in rotation and like many here, you can easily become 5-6 years ahead if you keep at it. Splitting vertically has its pro’s and cons, with the rounds being so large, you just have to work your own way on it and do so by doing whatever is comfortable to you. Having done both, I recommend no rounds over 10-12 inches horizontally split with the splitter having a table. I bought a Dirty Hand Tools splitter about 4 years back and it’s helped immensely. I’ve justified the buy but make sure you’re taking care of the splitter and that will be returned, no problem. Reminds me I need to get on with the maintenance a bit. Enjoy being here, can’t wait to see your splitting in action.
LOL - town of delton also. Just west of the Casino. Small world. Guys - I appreciate all the good advice. I'm surprised to hear that oak takes so long to season being green cut. Course the oak that I have been burning the last couple of years has been dead standing from oak wilt, so that probably why I got away with it. When you guys stack your wood, do you do the alternating courses, i.e. first course horizontal, 2nd course rotated 90°, rinse and repeat? Do you season the stacks uncovered or covered? I've been using EDPM for covering my stacks. Was throw-away material from a building demolition that had a flat roof on it. It works pretty well and the price was right I was planning on doing the whole rotation thing with the wood. Right now I only have room cleared on the property for maybe 10 cords. Its gonna be tight until I clear things more space. The idea was to get 10 this year. let it season until winter 2021, which would be about 18 months or so, burn (in theory) 5 cords and then get another 10 spring 2022, then start rotating in 5 cord increments. It sounds good in theory. LOL I made the mistake of buying those firewood racks thingies from northern tool and truthfully, they won't work very well. My rack was 12' long, approximately 4' high and the pieces 18" long (give or take), so just a touch over a 1/2 cord. The were stacks were pretty unstable. So I need to come up with a new plan. Ironton Steel Log Bracket Pair | Northern Tool
Is this the place you are referring to off of Hwy 12? I always wondered if they sold firewood, as at times they have a buttload of it. Google 地圖 If you are ever in need some some truly seasoned wood, let me know, as I will have about 65 full cord split/stacked by the time I put up what I cut this winter. I have 17 cord which has been split/stacked/top covered for 5 years now. The stuff I am burning now and will be burning half of next winter is 6 years old.
The criss cross (commonly referred to as cribbing) is not neccessary unless its to support the ends. Ive made racks with 4' wide pallets and triple stacked. Just gap to wood between rows for better air movement. I didnt and wood gets fungi on it.
hmmmm, you may damm near be neighbors with a guy I know. Their "farm" is right across the street from the BP on N Reedsburg Rd...on the corner of BD and N Reedsburg Rd. They also own property behind Dell Prairie Printers west up to USH 12. They basically use the property for storage and to shoot guns. He pretty much has a gun range setup. You may have heard him use tannerite to blow things up on occasion.
Yes, that is the place. Hack Away forest products. They quoted me $325-400 per cord delivered of kiln dried oak. The person I spoke with said they just installed the drier and haven't fully determined costs yet. I have no idea if this is good price or not. HOLY BALLS!! 65 cords??!! I thought my 4 half-cord racks looked impressive. I might take you up on that, thank you very much for the offer. We (wife and I) were talking about what were we going to burn this coming winter, and were thinking about either getting the kiln dried stuff to get us through, but at that cost, I can heat with propane for the same cost and don't have to spend the time stacking. I know of your neighbor We hear them every once in a while when the wind is right. I have to say this again, thanks for the warm welcome to the board. Looking forward to becoming a wood-horder.
You might consider loading up on pine/softwoods right now. Easy to get. Easy to split (relatively). Seasons quickly. Don't sweat the old wives tales about burning softwoods either. Its baloney. None of the hardwoods in your local will season properly between now and next fall. My opinion. I am a few hours south west of you. My experience with both hardwoods as well as pine. Food for thought. Firewood advertised as seasoned or kiln dried really means zich for the most part. Purchase a moisture meter. Learn the proper testing routine. Standing dead or downed dead really means zilch as far as seasoning goes. Your true seasoning takes place after your wood has been split and stacked in a spot that gets the most available wind/sun. Top covering is a whole different topic. It makes sense but most of my seasoning to date has been accomplished easily without. I do try to stock my wood near my house if not inside it prior to heating season. My stocked wood for the burning season, outside my back door does get top covered to keep the rain/snow/ice etc. off it. I have a Forrest King splitter from Mynaaarrrddsss. The 22 or 25 ton cant recall! Plenty capable. Cheap. Some places have them on sale now. Have fun. Welcome to FHC.
That is high, but it's also for kiln dried. If I were to sell, I was thinking $275/cord. I know it's more expensive compared to if one would have wood delivered in log form, but this is 5 year seasoned and already split. I'm a bit of a firewood hoarder and tend to process more wood than I burn every year, so it just keeps accumulating. I've been going back and forth on whether I should sell some or not. Just this last weekend I had to move almost 3 cord to make room for ~10 cord I cut this winter, as I realigned the stacks and they were not running parallel to each other. My stuff is mostly cut to ~20" lengths, but it looks like your stove holds up to 22".
Joe P Here are a couple pics of stacked wood I have outside. I use pallets to stack the wood on and I put T posts in on the ends of the line of pallets and put a pallet over the T posts to hold up the wood. If you use pallets you should try to find plastic pallets for the base. Wood pallets are fine for the ends.
