Monday, May 11, 2009

Splitting Wood.




Call me crazy, but I really enjoy splitting firewood by hand. I have a hydraulic wood splitter that you pump by hand. It is a little slower than all that powered up stuff, but it will split a knotty pine like nothing. I have never split a days worth of wood in my life. But I have been doing a fair bit of it lately. I built a wood shed recently out of a bunch of old lumber I had laying around, and in the process of cleaning up my building spot, I thought I may as well split the wood and have some on hand just incase I find myself in a cabin on my miniature ranch someday soon. I put a video of me splitting a log. Very entertaining stuff. lol. Just wanted to see if a video would upload, thats all. It's nothing special, just wanted to show off my splitter that I picked up at an auction a long time ago, for next to nothing. I don't even know if the video will upload or not. Anyway, so the wood splitting is kinda fun for now, but I wonder when it gets old. I can see me maybe getting tired of this wood splitting style someday in the future, but for now, I guess this will have to do. Does anyone out there happen to know how many cords of wood I would need to heat a 16x24 shack through a cold winter? How long does a cord of wood usually last? It sure seems like it takes a long time to split it anyway.






I have been keeping myself pretty busy lately. Got the backhoe running, and my quad, and I have been doing some cleaning up out there. Also research. I have been reading alot of different things, on framing, and wiring etc. I usually just go and build things and not even worry about it, but it is a little different when you know the inspector will be involved.


They're forcasting snow for tonight, and by the sound of the wind outside, just about anything might blow in tonight.



10 comments:

  1. Looks fabulous, Mark!!! Nothing better than a huge pile of firewood to admire! Good work! What kind of stove are you using? I didn't know you could buy a manual type splitter - that's pretty slick! You must be in pretty good shape...thought I'd hear more huffing and puffing on the video! lol Or was that just the first piece you split?! hehe
    Cath

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  2. Lol, the first piece. lol. I'm not in real great shape, but I am getting better all the time the more I play around out there. I don't even have a stove yet, but I will in the near future. All this firewood is sitting right on my future building spot, so I thought I might as well split it and be done with it as I move it. Handle it once. P.S. I held the huffing and puffing in, just for the shot. lol.

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  3. Great looking wood shed Mark! Congratulations on getting your backhoe and quad back together too.
    I agree with Cath, you must be in pretty good shape, no huffing and puffing on your video. :)
    Great video BTW!

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  4. Thanks Jeanie. But if you want to see some huffing and puffing, just let me take a quick jog around my pickup truck once. lol.

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  5. All I can tell ya about how long the wood will last is...it burns a lot faster than it splits!

    What starts out looking like a lot, starts to look like way too little before long, believe me!

    Doing good, my friend!

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  6. Lol. Somehow, I don't doubt your word on that one Jim. Sometime soon, I can just imagine how "not" so fun wood splitting might turn out to be. Lol.

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  7. Hey, Frug...can I call u frug? I've been enjoying watching your progress up there in the north woods! As for the wood, I can tell you a cord won't last more than a month Up there where you live..if it lasts that long..then you'll be looking around the shack for anything to burn! Better keep on splitting...

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  8. Carol, you can call me anything, but late for dinner. (Imagine you already heard that one). lol. Thanks for the info. That would be good if a cord will last a month. I realize that a cord would'nt likely last a whole winter. Unless I get real lazy and rely on the alternate heat source. Someday I will have alot better idea.

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  9. I'm fairly impressed with this hand-pump hydraulic splitter. That would come in handy after peak-oil, wouldn't it.

    I'll have to do some looking around. Husband is going to build a splitter this year.

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  10. Thanks Meadowlark. While using this for awhile I had thoughts of building a gas powered unit, but suddenly, I was impressed at how I can split so much wood by hand. If I were out of work and had no income, this would totally be the answer. I have'nt come across a big log that she would'nt split yet. Green or dry.

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