Nutball
TreeHouser
Maybe Kevin cut4fun or whoever was fixing saws could help. I assume ripping at an angle, like a mix between a noodle and rip cut, would cut faster than straight across ripping.
Firewood
- Thread starter Ed L
- Start date
- Replies 816
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BlackSmith
Uncivil
Thought of a previous post when I found this today.
www.hearth.com
Using a multimeter to measure wood moisture level
After studying the old Forest Service article on electrical moisture meters, my curiosity got the best of me. Realizing that, all I really want is, maybe once or twice a year, a simple "go/no go" indication of wood's readiness to burn, I decided to try using a very generic digital multimeter...
www.hearth.com
Burnham
Woods walker
Interesting.
flushcut
TreeHouser
Interesting for sure. I may have to try that out.
SeanKroll
Treehouser
what post are you referencing?
Burnham
Woods walker
@SeanKroll
Thought of a previous post when I found this today.
Using a multimeter to measure wood moisture level
After studying the old Forest Service article on electrical moisture meters, my curiosity got the best of me. Realizing that, all I really want is, maybe once or twice a year, a simple "go/no go" indication of wood's readiness to burn, I decided to try using a very generic digital multimeter...
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
Yes the burning season is upon us here as well. House is nice and toasty. Makes it hard to stay awake when I come in from working all day.
The USFS pdf link came up dead but you can get the paper from the Wayback machine:
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr06.pdf url into Wayback machine, I used circa 2012
edit - turns out a frustration of mine, that you can't save a copy of above pdf, is due to terms of use of wayback. But you can save it one page at a time or go command line kung fu on it in linux
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr06.pdf url into Wayback machine, I used circa 2012
edit - turns out a frustration of mine, that you can't save a copy of above pdf, is due to terms of use of wayback. But you can save it one page at a time or go command line kung fu on it in linux
Last edited:
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
This load followed me home last week. Standing dead red oak and dying, damaged black cherry. It all had to come out of the back yard short because of the obstacle course path we had to follow. Boss doesn’t like to run shorties through the processor because it’s a PITA to load them. As much as I don’t really need more wood at the house, I couldn’t let it go to the dump
flushcut
TreeHouser
Not too big, easy handling. An Atom Splitter would make quick work of that.
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
So would the eastonmade 22-28 with box wedge and pull back arm if it was not 2 months late getting here. Latest response told me March 2nd was my completion date. Only 14 months from my order date. I was originally told beginning of January 2023. Then it got bumped up to the end of November/ beginning of December 2022. Now it’s two months later than the original guesstimate🤬. I’m trying not to get grumpy about it, but it is rather frustrating.
Nutball
TreeHouser
Maybe you should get into the wood splitter building business. Sound's like there's a lot of demand and not enough supply.
Nutball
TreeHouser
Probably $10-15k or more depending on features. That's what I remember my local splitter dealer charging for big ones.
flushcut
TreeHouser
Lots! I know what you are thinking and I want in.
Nutball
TreeHouser
Me too, if you guys are talking about building one. I'd want a second ram on a guide, but detached from the log push plate, so if one ram isn't strong enough, then second can be used to force wood through the extruder knives. Elm will have no choice but to become perfectly shaped pieces of firewood in a short amount of time.
treebilly
Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
Cobleskill
Treehouser
Burley.
I'm not thinking of building one at the moment, I'm pretty swamped as it is. I honestly had no clue how much something like that goes for. It's also one thing to build one for yourself and a whole nother thing to start selling them for profit, and honestly i really don't have a need for one. I helped a buddy build his splitter, and he lives next door 
I think it's got a permanent 4 way welded on it, and has about an 8 second cycle time, so you can pile wood up in a hurry, that one you guys got must be ungodly productive.
That said i haven't borrowed it, I've been hand splitting. Yeah I know, but since I'm feeding a little insert I'm cutting the cookies short so i can feed it better, and then rather than picking it up i just smack it a few times and it's all over. No picking up or moving heavy stuff, split right where it lands and only touch it when it's firewood, which suits my back a bit better. The loading arm setup removes this problem, since my buddy's splitter is lacking one I'll have to resort to using my chipper crane thing to try and save my back when i finally borrow it.
I took one of those stupid heavy monster mauls and cut the short handle off and welded on a really long one, I'm talking medieval executioner long. With a lazy round the world swing the short rounds sitting on the ground don't fight much at all. The overkill weight combined with the long handle really do all the work, you simply guide it. Production? Nah but fine for me so far. I'll probably borrow the splitter once i get a bunch of wood lined up ready to go, but so far i've been scrounging for stuff so the piles haven't been too big. Scored pretty big tho recently, a buddy has a bunch of logs from removals in a pile, and they're ready to go just gotta cut and split it, so that's pretty awesome.
The splitter we built used a 2 stage pump and a larger sized single ram. It runs the pump at the large displacement most of the time so it's pretty quick but when the going gets tough the psi goes up, kicking a relief for the large displacement section and only pumping the smaller displacement stage. This goes much slower but has tons of power to split the bad stuff, just like a transmission would in a car dropping into low 4x4 or something. Once it's thru it goes back to fast, all done without your input as needed by the system. This also allows an engine to have a higher gpm than a single stage pump while still allowing it to be used at intermittent higher pressure to do the most demanding work. Usually they will develop higher pressures than a comparable sized single stage pump would too because they don't have to compromise with a single stage that has to do it all.
If i were to build one today i would like to try to build a kinetic one. The simplicity, speed, lack of hydraulics and associated headaches, and low hp requirements are attractive, and it would be cheaper since i have a good sized lathe now to help make parts rather than building an entire hydraulic system. I could also get my salvaged h press going and set up something in that, maybe even a 4 way. Then i can justify upgrading a bunch of parts on it and adding power to it That's the most likely outcome for me, it's a 50 ton they used for bending weld coupons. With power i could do good sized forging with it, broach keyways, press bearings, and set up an Ironworker type shear, punch, and brake to whip out parts in record time. That's enough to be worth it to suffer thru using it to split wood until i can figure out the next best laziest way to do this horrible task for minimal capital outlay since it's just for my house
I think it's got a permanent 4 way welded on it, and has about an 8 second cycle time, so you can pile wood up in a hurry, that one you guys got must be ungodly productive. That said i haven't borrowed it, I've been hand splitting. Yeah I know, but since I'm feeding a little insert I'm cutting the cookies short so i can feed it better, and then rather than picking it up i just smack it a few times and it's all over. No picking up or moving heavy stuff, split right where it lands and only touch it when it's firewood, which suits my back a bit better. The loading arm setup removes this problem, since my buddy's splitter is lacking one I'll have to resort to using my chipper crane thing to try and save my back when i finally borrow it.
I took one of those stupid heavy monster mauls and cut the short handle off and welded on a really long one, I'm talking medieval executioner long. With a lazy round the world swing the short rounds sitting on the ground don't fight much at all. The overkill weight combined with the long handle really do all the work, you simply guide it. Production? Nah but fine for me so far. I'll probably borrow the splitter once i get a bunch of wood lined up ready to go, but so far i've been scrounging for stuff so the piles haven't been too big. Scored pretty big tho recently, a buddy has a bunch of logs from removals in a pile, and they're ready to go just gotta cut and split it, so that's pretty awesome.
The splitter we built used a 2 stage pump and a larger sized single ram. It runs the pump at the large displacement most of the time so it's pretty quick but when the going gets tough the psi goes up, kicking a relief for the large displacement section and only pumping the smaller displacement stage. This goes much slower but has tons of power to split the bad stuff, just like a transmission would in a car dropping into low 4x4 or something. Once it's thru it goes back to fast, all done without your input as needed by the system. This also allows an engine to have a higher gpm than a single stage pump while still allowing it to be used at intermittent higher pressure to do the most demanding work. Usually they will develop higher pressures than a comparable sized single stage pump would too because they don't have to compromise with a single stage that has to do it all.
If i were to build one today i would like to try to build a kinetic one. The simplicity, speed, lack of hydraulics and associated headaches, and low hp requirements are attractive, and it would be cheaper since i have a good sized lathe now to help make parts rather than building an entire hydraulic system. I could also get my salvaged h press going and set up something in that, maybe even a 4 way. Then i can justify upgrading a bunch of parts on it and adding power to it
That's the most likely outcome for me, it's a 50 ton they used for bending weld coupons. With power i could do good sized forging with it, broach keyways, press bearings, and set up an Ironworker type shear, punch, and brake to whip out parts in record time. That's enough to be worth it to suffer thru using it to split wood until i can figure out the next best laziest way to do this horrible task for minimal capital outlay since it's just for my house
BlackSmith
Uncivil
When watching a splitter video I pay attention to how many moves the operator has to perform rather than the machine. I like the adjustable box wedge on that 22/28 but the log lifter would get in my way. I’ve come to like my little boom with the winch. Should have spent the extra money and used a winch with a wireless remote tho. Another project for another day.
