5 Firewood Harvesting and Heating Tips For Woodsmen, from a 68 Year Old Chemical Engineer Turned Forestry Super Tool Inventor!
"There HAS to be a better way to do this!"
Is there a person who's spent the day loading a log splitter, continually bending over to load round after round, and not thought the same thing?
“I'd used a pulp hook to load my log splitter for years, but I realized that wasn't actually making it much easier.” said Jon Roberts, who found harvesting 4-5 cords of firewood per year with his wife to heat their Vermont log home to be increasingly difficult, especially after their two children who used to help had grown up and moved across the country.
LogOX Inventor Jon Roberts' favorite firewood tips:
-
Protect your back at ALL costs. The most common injuries in the woods happen when fatigue and poor form set in after repeatedly bending over. Often while using a chainsaw, consolidating branches/log rounds, and loading a log splitter. Being mindful to ensure proper lifting form throughout the day can help prevent injuries.
-
Scout out "windfall trees" in the spring. Most property owners can find enough fallen trees that came down during winter storms to keep them busy. By identifying these trees and removing the root bulb or felling them in the spring, you can help speed up the firewood seasoning cycle. That's because even while on the ground the tree will produce leaves as usual. Without a connection to the roots that still draw water from the ground, the new leaves will draw moisture out of the wood, making it easier to split in the fall.
-
Use the tree's shape to your advantage. Before removing the limbs, which can help suspend the tree off the ground, consider what manageable length sections you want divide the tree into. Identifying where elevated areas with space underneath exist, due to the natural curvature of the tree, can help you logically make those decisions. A little planning can go a long way towards making the process easier and more efficient.
-
Get the right tools for rolling and lifting logs. For sections of the log larger than 12" in diameter, make 1/2 depth (stove length) cuts down the length of the log, then use a cant hook to easily roll the log over and finish the cuts. This will prevent your chainsaw's bar from getting pinched halfway through the log.
While bucking up the rest of the tree and large branches, a timberjack can be used to elevate the log off of the ground then buck them up, preventing ground strikes, kickback, and bar pinch.
-
Heating with firewood should be fun! I started harvesting my own firewood over 45 years ago, and I've found there to be perhaps no better outdoor family activity for enjoying the great outdoors together, teaching the intrinsic value of hard work to my kids, and reducing the cost of heating my home in New England.
As a systems-minded engineer, Jon recognized that his main pain points in the process of harvesting firewood were coming from three key areas:
#1: Bucking up the log
Using a chainsaw to cut the tree into stove length log rounds required a lot of bending over and wrestling logs into position to avoid pinching his chainsaw bar, or running his chain into the ground and dulling it instantly.
Using a chainsaw to cut the tree into stove length log rounds required a lot of bending over and wrestling logs into position to avoid pinching his chainsaw bar, or running his chain into the ground and dulling it instantly.
As a systems-minded engineer, Jon recognized that his main pain points in the process of harvesting firewood were coming from three key areas:
#1: Bucking up the log
#2: Consolidating the log rounds
Once cut up into a nice row, the log rounds need to be moved to a central pile or wagon to be split. That means straining to bend over and lift each round and then carrying it.
Once cut up into a nice row, the log rounds need to be moved to a central pile or wagon to be split. That means straining to bend over and lift each round and then carrying it.
#2: Consolidating the log rounds
#3: Loading a log splitter
Of the whole process, the repetitive bending over and lifting log round after round onto a log splitter is perhaps the most strenuous.
Of the whole process, the repetitive bending over and lifting log round after round onto a log splitter is perhaps the most strenuous.
#3: Loading a log splitter
His wife Lynne cringed every time she watched him swing a pulp hook inches from his shins to lift log rounds onto his log splitter, and it still required a lot of bending over to engage the round. Meanwhile flimsy log hand tongs were far too cumbersome and limiting to use effectively.
With this in mind, Jon set out to create a new tool that would allow him to lift the log rounds from the ground, consolidate them, and then load them onto his splitter without continually bending over.
Jon realized that his trusty wooden cant hook could not only roll logs, but also pick up log rounds if it were placed directly over them and lifted.
Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, just solve his own problem, he simply cut his cant hook's handle down to a more manageable length and tried using it to load rounds onto his splitter. However, he quickly came to the unfortunate realization that it would only engage and lift the round properly about 65% of the time.
Putting his engineering background to use, Jon realized that if he could create a unique handle design that would leverage the weight of the log against the body of the tool with the hook, it would allow him to safely and consistently lift and release them.
This began a series of trial and error experiments to develop the perfect length and handle placement for the tool that would take on many more tasks than he originally thought.
As you can see from the original "Log Lugger" prototype he's holding, once Jon perfected the mechanical design of the tool, he knew he could replicate it with a simpler design.
“Tools in other industries have been improved over the years, but it seemed like no one had given the hand tools we use to harvest firewood any thought since the 1850's” he remembers.
Starting with flat steel, Jon realized that he could add a cant handle extension, so the tool could be used to roll logs like his original cant hook. Then he added a T-Bar was added to the base, to give it a timberjack function to make bucking log rounds easier. This was later improved in 2022 with the patented BigFoot Timberjack attachment.
By 2016, his original prototype had evolved from a sawed-off wooden cant hook into the truly modular "LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool," made with tubular American steel. With his wife, Lynne, and son, Austin, who had recently finished serving in the US Army, he started the LogOX company.
Since then the LogOX has been hailed as a truly life-changing tool, especially for people with serious physical limitations. So much so that it was added to the Purdue University based non-profit organization AgrAbility's online product directory "The Toolbox," which is a resource that contains assistive technology solutions for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities.
“When somebody comes up to you at a show and says, ‘Wow, I can do work with this thing I didn't think I could anymore,’ That makes the challenges of running a small business all worthwhile.”
Starting with flat steel, Jon realized that he could add a cant handle extension, so the tool could be used to roll logs like his original cant hook. Then he added a T-Bar was added to the base, to give it a timberjack function to make bucking log rounds easier. This was later improved in 2022 with the patented BigFoot Timberjack attachment.
By 2016, his original prototype had evolved from a sawed-off wooden cant hook into the truly modular "LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool," made with tubular American steel. With his wife, Lynne, and son, Austin, who had recently finished serving in the US Army, he started the LogOX company.
Since then the LogOX has been hailed as a truly life-changing tool, especially for people with serious physical limitations. So much so that it was added to the Purdue University based non-profit organization AgrAbility's online product directory "The Toolbox," which is a resource that contains assistive technology solutions for farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural workers with disabilities.
“When somebody comes up to you at a show and says, ‘Wow, I can do work with this thing I didn't think I could anymore,’ That makes the challenges of running a small business all worthwhile.”
Along with thousands of five-star customer reviews across the internet attesting to its benefits, a published ergonomic impact study at the Fairfield University School of Engineering in 2019 found conclusively that using the LogOX Hauler to lift and carry log rounds reduced back strain by up to 93%, arm strain by 76%, and quadricep strain by 89%, compared to doing the same tasks by hand.
Designed in Vermont and 100% Made in the USA, the LogOX offers a risk-free 90-day money-back satisfaction guarantee, and a lifetime manufacturer's warranty.
Along with thousands of five-star customer reviews across the internet attesting to its benefits, a published ergonomic impact study at the Fairfield University School of Engineering in 2019 found conclusively that using the LogOX Hauler to lift and carry log rounds reduced back strain by up to 93%, arm strain by 76%, and quadricep strain by 89%, compared to doing the same tasks by hand.
Designed in Vermont and 100% Made in the USA, the LogOX offers a risk-free 90-day money-back satisfaction guarantee, and a lifetime manufacturer's warranty.
The LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry multitool replaces over $530 worth of forestry tools in a single, compact, and modular tool. You can change between the 3 different modes within seconds, as you can see below. Order yours today and see what an incredible difference it makes having it on your side. We're gonna pay for your shipping anywhere in the world.
Choose Your Package
The LogOX Hauler
LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool
LogOX Forester Package
About LogOX
What people are saying their LogOX...
“More than 9 Months after receiving and using the LogOX Forester Package, it has become my #1 companion in the forest. Whether splitting or sawing firewood, it goes where I go now. At 56 years of age, I was shocked at the difference it makes in lifting and moving blocks around in the forest all day. I have lower back and hip challenges and hands down, the LogOX has made a world of difference in minimizing the back pain I used to feel after spending even just a few hours out there, sawing and splitting firewood. It's my new best friend in the forest. Worth every penny!”
Gord P.
"After having 30+ trees taken down, the task of cutting, splitting and staking lay ahead. While I was doing research on splitters the LogOX promos kept popping up. I was skeptical, but my aging back had more optimism. I spent more than 3 hours splitting recently and walked away feeling like a kid. I didn't bend over once to pick up a round. The LogOX added a level of ease to the process, no heavy lifting, and making the job more efficient. Hallelujah! I wholeheartedly recommend this product. Worth every penny."
Mark B.
“It’s a quality tool that will certainly last the remainder of my life and should last multiple generations in the future. I have already used it to save my back and avoid dragging firewood logs to be split out of a pile that could be hiding snakes, scorpions, ect."
Russ S.
“Great product and fantastic customer service experience, it got to Australia in about 5 days from completion of the order and works like a charm.”
Ken P.
See why Eric loves his
See why Gord loves his