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kennyt
climber
Woodfords,California
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Oct 12, 2012 - 09:20pm PT
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you could probably pick up a used one for two or three hundred bucks!
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Tobia
Social climber
Denial
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Oct 12, 2012 - 09:21pm PT
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deja vu again.
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beef supreme
climber
the west
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 12, 2012 - 09:28pm PT
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i want a bobcat just to have one of those sweet attachments.
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 12, 2012 - 09:42pm PT
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You could probably pick up a used one for two or three hundred bucks. Yep, saw a good one being advertised for under five benjamin's not to long ago. Would split any round you and yer old lady could lift. Portable also, hooks-up to your ball joint/rear bumper and tow it out into the toolies, or wherever. The only way to go, why pay $250 or whatever per cord, get yerself some exercise and while yer at it chop a couple cords fer the widow with three kids down at the end of yer block, eh?
edit: BUT, I cud picture Cragman owning one of those mega contraptions, parked right next to his loader, worm/snowshreader, fishing boats, etc.! ;)
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 12, 2012 - 09:53pm PT
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It was down here in Dago (San Diego). Within the last year, prollie last winter. They go fairly cheap whenever they do come up (rarely) cuz their isn't a big demand for firewood, and if you really wanted some bad enough you would just havta tag along with one of the gazillion tree trimmers/choppers that abound down here and they will gladly let you haul some rounds away rather then go through the hassle of grinding them up! And, if your that ambitous, you would most likely be willing to split them by hand! But, you would have to let them season for a year (dry out since they would be green), so you would need to plan in advance. Plenty of free firewood though!
eeeeEdit: prollie in the Pennysaver or perhaps the local Union/Tribune newspaper (don't recall)!
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 12, 2012 - 09:54pm PT
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^^ Sweet!!
edit: looks like she knows what she's doing. have seen a few very experienced people do major damage to their thumbs via splitter's! Where is "around here"?
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 12, 2012 - 10:16pm PT
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Who said anything about a Spaltfix K-540? I was talking about one of the dozens that go for anywhere between $1000-$1500+ new being marked down to bargain prices. Don't recall what that one was, but it was well below of what they origionally paid for it (a third or so).
With the kind of timber you have it would prolie be worthwhile investing in a commercial unit (if you had the time, resources and clientele). wudevah, bro!
edit: "Still dropping dead ones on our ten acres" My folks had 12 acre farm in Cape Breton that was bordering forest. I know what yer talkin' about. Didn't have a splitter period, did it all by hand. Prollie should have bought one or borrowed one. But everyone did their own then (80's) so there wasn't any market for it or money to be made off it. My uncles were all lobster fisherman and were set to the hilt with all the fancy toys so we cuda borrowed one from them except they were no longer on talking terms (canook thing) so we ruffed it ti save face, lol!
I was talking about a splitter like yer LADY has. Prollie a little newer/better than that. since us city slickers/flatlander's buy sh#t they don't need or know how to use and let it sit in their garage gathering dust.
EDIT: "sarcastic" i figured that much, just thought it be best to intertain ya a bit longer though in case ya were waiting fer yer meds ta kick in! ;)
"But here's to heating with dead wood if you can. Cheer's!" -- Yep, DOUBLE CHEER'S to that!
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Oct 12, 2012 - 10:56pm PT
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So I only burn 2 cords a year, oak and some madrone.
All split with a maul.
Keeps my back and arms in shape.
Most of it this year I'll have to haul up 100 feet of steep hillside. Will also keep my legs in shape.
And I'd better get after it tomorrow.
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 12, 2012 - 10:59pm PT
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Yeah, the USFS will drop a dead tree on your property if you ask them to here in Cali!At least they would back in the mid-ninties, according to my sis & brother-in-law who lived up in Crestline, Ca!
But, my bro-in-law talked me into climbing up to about 70ft (it was exactly 71 ft. cuz we measured it after we felled & before we bucked the lower section.) and topping off this one cuz he didn't want it to take out a corral & shed.! Since I had fed him all this BS about being a bad azz climber, etc, over the years he elected me to do it. The ladder only reached to about 20 ft, so it was a pure free-solo up the next 15-20 feet until I got to the first solid branch. The finger sized limbs I was climbing up were snapping like match sticks under my weight as I moved from one to the next. Scared the sh#t out of me. Plus it was on a slope and I would have takin' the BIG one had I fell. Got it done though. It was over Christmas vacation of '92/'93! I have video of it but would have to have it transfered to digital. I think my sis still has pics though. Maybe I will get her to scan them if she can find them and I'll post them here. I kissed the blessed earth when I finally got down. That's in the vid also. lol
treez - "for 13 used" -- i haven't priced splitter's (new or used) or firewood in years, so i was just guessing at what they were going for. so i guess that one was a pretty good price/deal after all. i considered buying it because i'm a sucker for bargains even if i don't have a use for them right away. oh well! if i see a good deal in the future i will contact ya or post it here. like i already said, people buy sh#t down here in the city that they don't need or know how to use or whatever and let it go cheap when they find out they are in over their heads, etc!
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John M
climber
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Oct 12, 2012 - 11:10pm PT
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Split delivered is min. 400. (decidedly not oak)
whoa... why so expensive?
200 a cord for soft wood
260 a cord for hardwood. Almond or Oak.
I burn 3 cords a year. It is my only heat source.
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zBrown
Ice climber
chingadero de chula vista
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Oct 12, 2012 - 11:18pm PT
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So I only burn 2 cords a year, oak and some madrone.
All split with a maul.
Keeps my back and arms in shape.
Most of it this year I'll have to haul up 100 feet of steep hillside. Will also keep my legs in shape.
And I'd better get after it tomorrow.
Power to the people - Right on!
I call it a wedge, and just hope I don't get mauled.
I burned a lot of wood in the past, never paid a cent. Winds blew down the trees and then these nice big rounds would appear free for the hauling!
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 12, 2012 - 11:34pm PT
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High Traverse - felling, limbing, bucking and splitting,hauling & stacking the cords, etc, is they way to go if your physically fit and so inclined to do so. Rewarding also. Self reliant and living off the land. I suppose one could plant a few seedlings to round out the process. You guys are lucky to be living where you are.
edit: when i lived in Mammoth i/we (several friends that still live in mammoth and lurk here) worked for a dude that owned a firewood company one season. hard work. used my truck to get into the tight places & had to use it in a lot of the deliveries to get to the rear of the condo's. had to chuck a lot of it 2-3 floors to their decks. damn HARD work. i teamed up with Walter Rosenthal, RIP, and we had a great time, actually we laughed a LOT. didn't get paid sh#t though. so, my point is, whatever they are getting per cord, ya gotta take into account all the work that goes into it from locating a dead tree, to taking it through the process which ends up as a nice stacked 4ft x 4ft x 8ft cord on your back porch or second or third floor deck!!
zB - yep, think twice about it at least, bro! my experience was definitely a near death experience! lol
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zBrown
Ice climber
chingadero de chula vista
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Oct 12, 2012 - 11:39pm PT
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Scared the sh#t out of me.
Well splitter, you're giving me some second thoughts on that big Eucalyptus on the bank behind the house.
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 13, 2012 - 12:15am PT
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zB - it didn't end with the limbs snapping like twiggs on my way up. once i got up to the 70 ft level, the circumferance was still near the size of my waste. i had on an old chouinard harness (the white one/forget the name) but had only brought one 1" tubular webbing to wrap around the tree. i was definitely considering the ramafications if i had accidently cut through that webbing. 70+ ft to the deck on Christmas eve...what a way to go, eh? and i was also very concerned about the top of that sucker, since another good 30+ ft of it lurked above me, and cuda kicked my way and taken off my f'n head or something. like i said, "i kissed the blessed earth" when i finally got down that afternoon!
edit: i gotta locate some pics & get them scanned (don't have a scanner)!
plus, i had never topped off a tree before that (had felled plenty from ground level though) so i felt like a n00b on his very first date.
on the ground you can get the hell out of the way when she starts to drop. but hanging in your harnes from a tree your making the cuts at about chest/shoulder level and you better know what the hell your doing and which way it is gonna go. and it still may get wiggy on ya, kick sideways & take yer f'n head off! ...the sh#t i get myself into. lol
zBro - ya gotta tell that story! "flipflops + yellow jackets...where you blasting "Time Has Come Today!" by the Chambers Brothers on yer ghetto blaster while all this was going down? lol - Sounds like it was EPIC!
Dood, i'd believe it. look at all the crazy stories i tell. i don't give a sh#t who believes them/me! i was there & i believe them, so that is all that matters, imo! but, in the case of the tree, at least, most of my immediate family was also there (so i am ABSOLUTELY certain that happened, lol)! oh yeah, it's documented on film footage. ("i don't wanna die yet, sob, sob...")! haha
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zBrown
Ice climber
chingadero de chula vista
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Oct 13, 2012 - 12:57am PT
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I'd tell ya my story, but no one would believe it
wasn't 70 feet, but it was high
flip flops, trunks, saw - that's it
watch out for yellow jackets too
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jstan
climber
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Oct 13, 2012 - 01:20am PT
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I had bought a house with trees in the backyard, that all promptly died. I went up halfway in one and cut most of the way through some 15' below where I had tied a rope to it. Went in the house and got my 18 month old daughter so she could watch.
I pulled it down with all the expected crashing and dust. She looked up at me and I could see what she was thinking.
"And?"
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splitter
Trad climber
Cali Hodad, surfing the galactic plane
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Oct 13, 2012 - 01:54am PT
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...trees in the backyard that all promptly died
funny how that happens. happened to us also (here in Cali) although we attempted to save them by watering them. it may have been that the water table had been to low or something for to many years in a row. it was between 85-89 in San Diego county and '88 (i believe) was a drought year at least since we went on water rationing that summer.
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zBrown
Ice climber
chingadero de chula vista
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Oct 13, 2012 - 11:17pm PT
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I used a wooden stove, exactly once. Turned into ashes. I'm going all metal from here on out.
This guy was smarter, but who isn't? Trimming trees in flip flops.
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Tobia
Social climber
Denial
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Oct 14, 2012 - 07:41am PT
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zb, try burning metal in your wood stove; it might work.
ekat, selling by weight would be ridiculous; mainly because it would be tedious, unless he had some large, commercial scales that a vehicle could drive onto and weighed both before and after loading. That investment would never be made up (and legally has to be certified by state).
Then again, firewood is tedious work.
Wood is big business in the south. Most commercial operations only do it as an aside. Such as small sawmills, tree services, etc. One or two businesses sell by the tractor trailer load to restaurants. They have big time operations with commercial splitters (more complex than the ones in the videos, large conveyor systems where the wood is palletized, shrink-wrapped and delivered with tractor trailers. (Barbecue is big business in the south).
I sell firewood; I stack it by species or as close to it just to keep within bounds of my OCD. northern red oak, Water oak, White oak, several hickories, pecan and dogwood, a few others.
By law in GA if you advertise you must price it per cord or half cord. I don't advertise. I sell a pickup truck load (stacked tight and neatly) for a $100 bucks. I figure it is somewhere between a 1/4 and a 1/2 cord. (I don't advertise; unless "word of mouth" is advetising.
Prices very around here, between $80 - $120 a load, false 1/4 or 1/2 cords, and some sale it by piecemeal ($120 for 120 pieces). I through in a milk crate of fat lighter split in thmb width by 10 inch pieces, if they don't have a gas starter.
In Atlanta some example prices are steeper:
$250 per Pickup Truck Load Delivered and stacked.
$400 per Face Cord Delivered and stacked.
$500 per Cord Delivered and stacked.
Metal Cord Wood Rack $200.00
Few people burn would in a stove such as mine, they mainly burn wood for the ambiance as the heat goes right up the chimney. I burn in a forced air stove that is very efficient, sometimes too efficient.
I started out splitting with a axe and maul but switched a MTD 20 ton splitter in 1991, simple machine with a 6 h.p. engine. Still works well after 22 years. I started out selling for $60 a truck load.
Not sure if I really make any money, going out and gathering wood, moving it home, splitting, piling, stacking, delivering, plus saw expenses, etc. There is no telling how many times I move the wood before and after splitting. I don't take healthy trees, just storm wood.
I do it because I enjoy it and to provide myself with wood. Selling it is an effort to try and recover the cost of gathering wood so that I can say "I don't pay for heat". Also all my friends think that since I have so much I should just give them some; which is ok to a point; especially if they are willing to pitch in and help.
In the beginning I did it for therapy, then I did it for the money, then for the wood fuel starting around 2001. I try never to turn the furnace on; but do on occasion just to charge the air with warm air; if it is really cold and I just starting a fire.
I keep most of the hickory for myself and give it to friends who cook with it.
I store it under a roof and have 4 areas where I store it, one example below from the real value thread. You can't tell how much wood is under that roof but each of those sections are 7 feet x 8 feet and is 3 stacks deep with 18 inch pieces.
About wood cords, if you are hauling tree length wood to a saw or paper mill there are two types of cords: hardwood and pine. A pine cord is 5,500 #'s and a hardwood cord is 6075 #'s.
I just watched the video above. Sooner or later that guy is gonna wish he used something a little more conventional (hydraulic cylinder type) as that looks like a serious accident about to happen.
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zBrown
Ice climber
chingadero de chula vista
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damn Tobia - you take it pretty seriously.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Hey Khanom,
UPS delivered this this evening: ( the splitter, not the beer )
Can't wait to play with it tomorrow.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Just got a new house that is 100% electric heat. Going to put in a wood stove for the many electrical outages that the area has and want a good one. Was thinking the Blaze King Chinook or Schricco with the Catalytic converter.http://www.blazeking.com/EN/wood-sirocco.html
I don't want a piece of sh#t in there, even though it will primarily be a backup source.
Thoughts?
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Tobia
Social climber
Denial
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After having to replace my catalytic combustor (Corning) after only 12 years of service to the tune of $200 +, I am not so sure I would go that route again.
The ceramic cumbustor is fragile and requires cleaning several times a season to maintain functionality. If mine fails again I believe I will just remove it.
I burn my stove as primary source of heat and try not to turn my furnace on at all; even though I doubt I am saving any money. I do it because it seems like fun.
Here is a link for information on different stove technology.
http://www.customfireplacesandmore.com/hearth-articles/catalytic-non-catalytic.html
I've been selling firewood for years (about 20 or so). I sell a 1/3 of a cord for $100 delivered and stacked. I am probably working for 50¢ an hour; at best after thinking about equipment, labor and transportation cost.
I stopped by my sister's house the other day after delivering a load not too far from her house. She had just delivered five cakes she baked for $100. On the way home I started doing the math; she had maybe $20 in materials, 2 or 3 hours max in labor and could fit all in the back seat of her car.
I should have learned to bake!
and zb, one of the few things I take that way.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Nov 12, 2012 - 12:01pm PT
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Thanks. They just came out with these stoves in October. I wonder if they updated the design to make it more robust.
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