Nice splitter. Yep, that black gum is tough. To have any straight pieces, it has to be noodled. We split some smaller black gum earlier, then did 1 big round, the rest went to the junk pile for the beetles.
This is the route I took. It was more than I wanted to spend but after doing so I am very pleased. I went from a 27 ton MTD big box store special to this. Don't get me wrong the 27 ton worked great for many years and never skipped a beat , I do have a pretty good maintenance program with all my equipment so this might have contributed to many years of service from it. Getting older and tired of bending over and wanting a log lift is why I chose Rugged Made. It was the least expensive of the splitters I could find that had what I was looking for. It is so nice to have a pass through design with an out-feed table and it is at a comfortable working height with the beam right around 34 inches off the ground. However there were a few things that need some fine tuning . The out-feed table was a little wobbly so I fabricated another support to resolve this , complaints of them spewing out oil on the return stroke but this was solved by adding a larger breather and an oil catch can. I added an hour meter and wrapped the oil filter with flexible magnetic sign material to help catch any metal particles ( these two things would be a benefit to anyone with a splitter). Also keep in mind that even though Rugged Made is a company based in the USA that this is not made here , however it is very nicely built for the money. Also it does not come with oil or a battery for the electric start so this will add to the price. The bottom line is I would have to say that I am happy with my decision.
Yes sir , that you do. I actually went yesterday and picked it up from my storage , I moved it up there so I had some extra room in the garage for a little while. Way too much stuff and running out of room. I am getting itchy to take a couple days off from work and spend them cutting and splitting what I have on hand . Now it looks like mother nature might throw a monkey wrench into that plan ; just have to wait and see. I need to do what I can to clean up some piles and get ready for the bandsaw mill. Now have to see what the weather is and my work schedule , not so sure either one of those is a going to go easy on me though.
It isn't all like those pics...they are showing you the worst of the worst...some of it splits perfectly fine, some is a little stubborn, some is as posted. Its really good firewood though, many people here love to have it...just think of it like Ash with an attitude Supposedly dead standing (not live/green) helps a lot, also being frozen...I dunno, never experimented with splitting it different ways that much...
Over the years I have split in a bunch of different situations. Dead , green , frozen , waterlogged ; never tried elm though. At least that I know of unless some snuck in under the radar ; can't be 100% sure on no elm since my wood ID skills need a little more school time. I am really trying to work on that a little more.
That elm on 22 is mostly dead so from what ive been told on here it splits easier than if green and brenndatomu is correct they are showing the worst case scenario splitting it. Theres a good PU full (you know what i mean when i say that) I should buck it all up and we'll try a splitting experiment with it. Its all nice straight grained with no gnarly logs. Maybe even ready to burn. Some barkless or very loose.
I take it...don't get a ton though...maybe 5% of my overall inventory historically, if averaged out? Been overwhelmed by Oak and Ash the last couple years...with some Box Elder thrown in too...that's mainly what I have been getting recently...
You drive a hard bargain. If it looks good and isn't all crotches and knots then sure why not. I'm willing to give it a try. You certainly know what you are looking at when it comes to wood. Besides it might be good for next year and that would probably be a good thing.
I think we will. Brad has me convinced that he has some good elm to give it a shot. I just need go and grab a load. Close to home , I just need to find a little time to get it loaded up.
Exactly. Those were the worst of the worst pics. It's really great firewood. To be honest, I get more nasty splitting yard ash trees than the few crappy knots that you can see will be an issue to split on elm, so those knots/ crotches you just cut around and leave them for campfire wood or uglies. Here's some pics of what elm typically looks like. There's a couple splits of ash in there, but the majority is elm that was barkless and dead standing for years. The bark fell off almost in one day in a big storm.
If you are needing wood, and even if you need it this year, aka right away, you can burn the stuff up about, 6-8' up going the ground if the trunk was still attached to the roots. That lower trunk wood will be good to go after a summer of drying after split and stacked. Try it out, the small 2" -4" diameter rounds that you don't need to split are great to throw in the stove the same day with dead standing barkless elm. You won't even need a MM to tell you if they are good to go. Whack a couple together and the bowling pin noise will tell you. Obviously, stick a mm in the cut ends to verify. There's almost nothing more gratifying wood cutting wise than taking same day cut elm branch pieces and being able to heat your house with them when you get home. Targeting dead standing barkless elm is a great way to get ahead on your wood supply.
Thanks Horkin, I am good for this year as far as wood goes I have plenty of dry oak to get me by. Once I finish my" buffet "so to speak of a variety of wood I will move to the oak I have that is cut split and been drying. I know it will get me through this season. I just didn't plan on burning as much as I have this year but have been playing a little game to have the furnace run as little as possible. So far it has paid off. Also the wood furnace in the shop eats a lot but I feed that from a different pile that is longer in length and larger splits. Plenty for that one.
coming late to this thread but I have a 27 ton Champion and it works GREAT! Good cycle times, goes on sale from time to time and I've split some big oak rounds on it and it didn't even burp.
