I've split a few logs in my days and I know it's very, very hard work. I knew I had a LOT of wood to split so I picked up a manual hydraulic splitter and along with my little electric chainsaw I had at it.
I put together a storage/drying thingie -- I really don't know what they're called -- and got it situated off to the side of the house. Took a while to get the base level but it was done.
The tree just before they wacked it down. Big damn tree!
What's left of the pile after a day of splitting. I should have counted the pieces but I didn't. I'm guessing 50-60 pieces or so based on what's left and what I split. I know I split a lot of logs and looking at the end of the day the pile didn't seem any smaller.
My little chainsaw and the new splitter.
The first day I set up my work area not really knowing what I was going to do but it worked out all right. I got done what had to be done and didn't cut my leg or arm off.
Today, the second day, I enhanced my operation a bit and things went about as easy as they could for me. Again, no limbs severed or even nicked. I will say that twice as I was pulling a log off the splitter after the first split I pulled it too soon and the damn log clamped down on my fingers, hard, and it was a royal pain to get it out. I actually had to walk around the house to the garage, 'wearing' the log, to get a breaker bar to pry the log open. After the second time I changed how I took the log off the thing.
Full load. That rack is 6 feet by 4 feet so it's a lot of wood. There is plenty more to do -- I'd say I've done about half of it -- but I'll have to think about when I'm going to do it and how to store it when I do. All in all, some good work and now I can build a fire in the fireplace should the mood suit me. More importantly, with my splitter and all the experience I've picked up I'm really getting excited about getting my trailer on a few acres just so I can do this some more!