Box Wedge Testing - Round 2 with Wolfe Ridge

Testing the 4.5”x4.5” box wedge, 3”x3” box wedge, and 2”x3” box wedge with Bob & Wolfe Ridge MFG.
Have a great day Around the Yard!
Brent
#2024 #wood #ash #woodhound #firewood #getsplitdone #wolferidge #madeinusa #highoutputsplitters #firewoodbundles #firewoodproduction #logsplitter #logging #commercial #log #splitter #aty #aroundtheyard #teamwork #behindthescene #fypシ

[@fricknjeep]

hi there well done . best to both john

[@AroundTheYard-MN]

Thanks 👍.John have a great day!

[@BigWoodMountain]

Awesome looking blocks coming off there. 👍🏻🔥🪵

[@AroundTheYard-MN]

A little big for my customers, but it’s definitely a wedge I wouldn’t mind owning. It definitely has its place.

[@BigWoodMountain]

I have some customers that want big chunks and some that want smaller splits. I try to cut the bigger ones early in the season and then the smaller splits so that they all are dry around the same time, in time for fall.

[@DanielAtkinsFirewood]

Thoes splits turned out nicely. 😉👍

[@AroundTheYard-MN]

I think so too! I think if i were in the market for another wedge it would be the 5-way. I really liked that size for the fireplace / wood furnace.

[@RicksOutdoors29127]

Bob. That 4.5 looks good

[@AroundTheYard-MN]

That 4.5” is a great wedge, there is definitely a use for it. It’s on my short list of wedges for sure now. For bundling the 2x4 prototype is hard to beat.

[@hayesrutherford9415]

I like to add some feathers. The typical camper doesn't have a jug of off road diesel with them so just me thinking a bundle should include some material to get the fire going.

[@AroundTheYard-MN]

My bundles always include feathers 🪶 The 4.5” box I would argue is for OWB outdoor wood boilers or for established fires, but it definitely has a place, it’s just not in bundles in my opinion.

[@thefirewooddoctor]

In your opinion, box wedge or noodle and go with a vertical splitter for tree service wood? How hard would it be to push the box wedge stuff into an older truck that has a lower tailgate height to make splitting into the truck somewhat feasible? Goal is bundle wood while being able to make regular firewood. BBQ wood is something I want to get into, so not sure if the vertical is too big of a compromise on everything else that isn't bundle/campfire wood sized..

[@AroundTheYard-MN]

IMHO The box wedge is the Swiss Army knife of log splitters, it does many tasks well. To answer your questions, #2 - As long as the splitting table is above the tailgate, you’re not going to have a problem with the 35 ton ram pushing wood into the box. #1 - Too soon to tell, I have only put one (1) round on the Wolfe Ridge 17VS-C, I would say either splitter is good for up 22”-24” rounds without noodling first, sure you can go bigger, but your body is going to feel it. Your goal statement - BBQ wood is unique, I could see either splitter working very well for this. Say you’re after 3” chunks, cut 3 inch cookies and stack them up on the 17VS and split OR load the cookie disks onto the log table of the box wedge and send them through the appropriate size box to produce your end product. Overall I think the vertical splitter is going to allow you to customize your split size easier b/c you only have the one wedge to worry about, but I believe the trade off is time. It takes time to be precise, whereas if you select the correct wedge for the job at hand, the box wedge is going to be much faster and save time. Still another factor to consider is trash, in my very limited experience with the 17VS-C (1 round) it produces less trash in solid oak than some of the rounds I ran through the box wedge at the frenzy. With either machine you have to be okay with an amount of trash, what that is, I don’t know. For me and the 35 SHO box wedge, that is something like a couple of wheel barrows full per cord, but that includes bark that is taken off in the process of going through the BW, that doesn’t necessarily happen with the vertical or even some of the other horizontal splitters, but it is trash when its time to move or sell the dry wood. When the wood is dry the bark generally falls off, for me I would rather deal with the mess once in the beginning, rather than at my customer’s house or at my bagging station. Hope this helps Jeff, I’d be happy to answer more questions on my experience as you get closer to making your decision on which route to go. As always, have a great week Around the Yard! - Brent

[@thefirewooddoctor]

@@AroundTheYard-MN was thinking that with the vertical, have a wheelbarrow to sweep splitting debris and bark into while clean wood for stacking goes up the conveyor into the truck. But the outfeed table extension will work as grizzly bars with the splitter shoving wood into my truck.

[@BeavertonFamilyFirewood]

We use a BW 35sho, a lot of trash. But it's a fast machine, saves us a ton of time and wood is free. We have a small pizza oven, we use a bit of chips for that, still trying to figure out how the rest of the chips will be used. We have a kiln made from 40 ft reefer container, would love to convert to wood furnace and burn trash there to dry wood in winter.

[@popandnanao]

The only problem with a box wedge is that doesn’t grow square trees😢

[@AroundTheYard-MN]

Sure makes stacking blocks nice and easy though.