I need a plan

[J P Stein]

I had an 80-90 foot tall Doug fir in the back yard. It's still there but shorter.

I went out with my wood splitting tools ( I use the fire wood), and noticed they were a lot heavier than they usta' be. About a cord & a half in up to 24ish dia rounds.
A piece of cake compared with the 3 trees I had dropped about 10 years ago. Them rounds are 16-17 inches long & weigh 200-300 pounds each......they got my attention.....I don't thing the old bod is up to the task, but I can't just leave em' there.

Options ? I've got all summer.

[craigster59]

My plan involves a lawn chair, a cooler of beer and two hombres from Home Depot parking lot.

[Amail]

Rent a splitter from Home Depot and some young guys to do the work. You supervise it. I borrowed my grandson from his parents for half a day to split up a cord of rounds and I know for a fact I could not have done it on my own even with the splitter. With a splitting maul, fuggetaboutit.

[J P Stein]

Good plan but we here lack a line of hombres at our local HD.

[vash]

buy some good beer and call some friends?

if i lived nearby..i would be there..with my toy Echo chainsaw..

[vash]

isnt there a long pronged tool with a hinged hook that folks use to move logs around?

sorry to sound so "city".

[J P Stein]

Originally Posted by vash

buy some good beer and call some friends?

if i lived nearby..i would be there..with my toy Echo chainsaw..

Most of my good friends have pasted away.......those that are vertical share my "old bod" syndrome. This is one of the parts they don't tell ya about growing old.

[MRM]

Can you stack the wood and let it sit until it's dry and easier to handle? At 200 pounds each there aren't many, even on this board who are going to carry them around, but you might be able to roll the big ones into a line and stack the smaller stuff you can handle on top. You can let them dry and split them at your leisure at that point.

Those are big honking chunks of wood. If you don't hire someone and rent a splitter (which I recommend) I strongly suggest using what I grew up calling a "Monster Maul" 32911 - 12lbs Splitting Maul,30" Steel #Truper rather than the old fashioned blunt maul and wedges. They make a huge difference.

[VincentVega]

I like splitting wood and really like the fiskars splitting axe. Not a smash it to pieces tool, instead work with the wood and let the tool do the work. Split where it sits in you can then wheel it to your pile. Try to touch each piece as few times as possible. I've never touched doug fir but the fiskars works with everything I've thrown at it. For the stuff with tons of nots noodle it with the chainsaw, slow but hopefully its only a few pieces.

[1990C4S]

I just split a couple of cords of honey locust. Get a splitting axe and have at it.

[sammyg2]

A man has to have a plan.

Iffn I was you (and you're glad I'm not) I'd advertise in the local free paper/penny saver/whatever and say this:

"I gots plenty of good firewood that I'd be willing to share with anyone up to finishing the job.
You split it and we split it. Call and we can discuss details."

See, I'm figuring there may be someone in your area that may need some firewood and be willing to work for it. Or maybe they'd be willing to split and stack nice-like so they could get some wood to sell. I know it's the PNW, but it COULD happen

Ya got nothing to loose except the portion of the wood it takes to get someone else to bust a gut over.

I wanted to be... a lumberjack!

Leaping from tree to tree, as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia. The Giant Redwood. The Larch. The Fir! The mighty Scots Pine! The lofty flowering Cherry! The plucky little Apsen! The limping Roo tree of Nigeria. The towering Wattle of Aldershot! The Maidenhead Weeping Water Plant! The naughty Leicestershire Flashing Oak! The flatulent Elm of West Ruislip! The Quercus Maximus Bamber Gascoigni! The Epigillus! The Barter Hughius Greenus!

With my best buddy by my side, we'd sing! Sing! Sing!

[singing]
I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.

MOUNTIES:
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He eats his lunch.
He goes to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays he goes shopping
And has buttered scones for tea.

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He skips and jumps.
He likes to press wild flowers.
He puts on women's clothing
And hangs around in bars?!

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Papa.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He wears high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra?!

[talking]
What's this? Wants to be a girlie?! Oh, My!
And I thought you were so rugged! Poofter!...

[singing]
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

He's a lumberjack, and he's okaaaaay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

[J P Stein]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

I just split a couple of cords of honey locust. Get a splitting axe and have at it.

Well , my heart seems to be OK......and I have needed the tools (less the hyd splitter) and I do have all summer.....sigh.

Lessee, one split round per day.....ought to be done by the middle of August......or in the hospital.

Sitting on my ass in front of this computer is easier.

[vash]

cant you cut the rounds into 10" rounds?

make them easier to handle? or am i missing something? will tiny firewood not be good?

[VincentVega]

too much extra work plus stacking is weird. Cut the rounds for your heating appliance, for most that is 16-18". Unless there are a ton on knots the rounds usually pop in 1/4's or 1/8's pretty quickly.

Knock a few out when you are feeling good, its not too hot.. whatever works. I find most wood splits easier when its freshly down.

[J P Stein]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

too much extra work plus stacking is weird. Cut the rounds for your heating appliance, for most that is 16-18". Unless there are a ton on knots the rounds usually pop in 1/4's or 1/8's pretty quickly.

Knock a few out when you are feeling good, its not too hot.. whatever works. I find most wood splits easier when its freshly down.

I agree, it splits easiest when wet.
You got the plan. It's a gawd awful mess, but mostly out of the way and can be dealt with at my leisure. ( the old fart said hopefully). We do need a picture, tho

[pwd72s]

I'd call my friend Lonnie. He was a "cutter". Logger. It was pure poetry to watch him fall 5 firs for me a few years back. Trees that big need somebody with that kind of skill. It's an art form to look at the tree, and just know where it's mass lies, and just where and how to cut so it falls exactly where needed.

So, if you know anybody still in the timber industry...he or she may know a good cutter.

That's assuming there is space for the tree to fall in one piece. If not, an arborist...somebody who climbs the tree and whittles it down from the top. That'll really cost ya, tho.

[LakeCleElum]

I'm 4 hours away and have a log split machine that will fit in the back of my pickup. Sometimes I visit my daughter in NE Portland and mother in Dundee (Newberg area).

So, if you have all summer, in the next month or so, I drop it off for overnight. I'd help you split each round in half and then run my errands and spend the night....On the way out the next day, I pick it up? If that works, PM me your location and I work on some dates.....I split rounds larger than that by myself.

[Amail]

Build one of these:
http://youtu.be/vvJvgEridiM

[J P Stein]

Thanks for the offer, Lake.
I walked out side with my splitting wedge & a 10 pound hammer......picked a big un.....swung that BFH like a girl ...... musta' scared that round cause it surrendered quick. Set to take them half round into thirds with my best splitting maul.....and it started raining on my parade. It's still raining.

It's been 6-8 months since I downloaded pics on to my puter & can't remember how. I'm blaming that stroke.......that's my story & I'm sticking to it.....

[MRM]

JP, if you do plan to split some by hand, I really, really encourage you to get a monster maul instead of the old fashioned wedges. I grew up heating with wood in Wisconsin during the last ice age in a hundred year old farmhouse with no insulation. We cut and split a lot of wood. A lot. The difference a monster maul makes is hard to describe until you've experienced it for yourself. You get all the force exactly where you want it with far more power than with wedges and you don't have to sto and reset the wedges all the time. It's as fast as chopping with an axe but has the splitting power of a maul and wedges. If you try it you'll never go back.