# Stringy wood sucks. Is hickory a stringy wood to split?



## wahoowad (Oct 28, 2006)

I think I have Pignut (also called Smoothbark) Hickory as per my Audobon Tree Guide. Running some 8" to 12" rounds through my Ryobi splitter and having to pull the dang stringy splits apart sucks. These are my first hickory logs and I hadn't heard folks complain about it. Wondering if I have something else than hickory...? The leaf matches super close in my field guide though.


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## ChrisN (Oct 28, 2006)

I split lots of shagbark Hickory and it is not at all stringy.


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## Todd (Oct 28, 2006)

Elm?


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## ourhouse (Oct 28, 2006)

White oak?


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## Roospike (Oct 28, 2006)

wahoowad said:
			
		

> I think I have Pignut (also called Smoothbark) Hickory as per my Audobon Tree Guide. Running some 8" to 12" rounds through my Ryobi splitter and having to pull the dang stringy splits apart sucks. These are my first hickory logs and I hadn't heard folks complain about it. Wondering if I have something else than hickory...? The leaf matches super close in my field guide though.


Sounds like * ELM* .



			
				Dylan said:
			
		

> My guess is that the slow splitting 'action' of your splitter doesn't provide the momentum to the splits which would stretch and snap those fibers.



I split ELM with a 28 ton gas splitter and "speed" does not help with splitting that stringy stuff. 
The nice thing about the bigger full size splitters and ELM is when its splits you can pull it apart with out the splitter moving. Just leave the wedge in the wood and pull it apart.


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## Roospike (Oct 28, 2006)

Dylan said:
			
		

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No , I dont think so. I have split ELM with a MAUL and a 28 ton splitter and again ......Speed does not seem to make a difference with ELM. 

If maybe your reading into the statement deeper than how it was written and think i was saying that a 28 ton splitter is faster at tip speed then "no" to that too.


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## Roospike (Oct 28, 2006)

Dylan said:
			
		

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Is your theory just to Hickory or are you splitting ELM in the same fahion as well ? 
I myself have yet to hear of the "best" way to split elm with out the strings holding it together.


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## KateC (Oct 28, 2006)

EEEP! :gulp: 


I'll just be a-tippy-toein' outa here now

 :red:


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## Roospike (Oct 28, 2006)

Hum ............. I didnt think it was like that .

Maybe i need to add a smiley . hahah 

Here Dylan , This goes with my last NON-baiting question . --->


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## wahoowad (Oct 28, 2006)

It is hickory. It is stringy, at least compared to the poplar, white oak, red oak, sassafras, locust and cherry I split right along side it. Those split cleanly, what didn't split cleanly was pulled apart effortlessly. I had to fight the hickory with every split. I had to stand on it and pull or even use the machette! Definately hickory - I had the leave still attached to some logs!


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## cbrodsky (Oct 29, 2006)

chrisN said:
			
		

> I split lots of shagbark Hickory and it is not at all stringy.



I just split some of that for the first time today - you are right about that!

I had cut the tree back this summer to open up some more sun to my garden, and left the rounds stacked up.  Finally got around to splitting it today and I would say it's my favorite of anything I've split so far aside from ash which makes anyone look like a stud when you easily bust up a 18" round of it 

Already have a huge dead ash to take down but will also be looking around our land for some more shagbarks to thin this winter.

-Colin


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## wg_bent (Oct 29, 2006)

Big sigh.... Elm sucks...Hickory might as well be ash compared to elm....  White oak can be pretty stringy, so can sycamore, but elm is the king of stringy...Spike has is right...speed is not what it takes to split elm.  I split a lot of it with a 6 lb maul and at this point I can swing that thing darned fast.  Once the round cracks, it takes repeated blows to chop, or bludgen my way through the strings that are left.  I've split hickory in my days, and it's nothing compared to elm

did I mention that I hate elm?  (it does heat the house better than pine though)


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## Roospike (Oct 29, 2006)

Dylan said:
			
		

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Well if you do come up with something faster or magic splitting method for Elm make sure you post your findings. 

I split ELM in the winter time as green and seasoned per gas splitter and Maul and have also split ELM in the summer green and seasoned per gas splitter and Maul .......... 
Nothing seems to be a hands down faster way that i have found.


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## day52 (Oct 29, 2006)

My experience has been that a forest tree will be straighter grained and easier to split than a field tree. Also the woods trees will not have as much grit embedded in shagbark as field or yard trees will--a lot easier on the saw. All the pignut I've worked with has been stringier than than the shagbark, but better than elm--lots more heat and is fairly manageable. Of course the only elm we get around here is only up to a foot across or so. Bugs and disease almost always get them by then.


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## DavidV (Oct 29, 2006)

Wahoowad I am only about 60 miles from you and Iknow exactly which tree you are talking about.  By the leaves I also believe it is Hickory.  The bark is pretty smooth untill the tree gets older and starts to get some more features in the bark.  And yes it's stringy as hell.   I keep a very sharp Phillipino jungle knife outside with me when I'm splittle that stuff so I can just cut the strings instead of fighting it.  it is VERY close to elm in it's PITA factor.  And to those who say they can whack it apart with a maul....I"ll kiss your $#$ if you can.  The only success I've had with getting clean splits from that stuff is when it's frozen.  Get a string of days where it's in the teens and you can load up on it and bust it apart with the 8 lb'r.  
I have another variety of Hickory that splits like butter but is hard as kech on my saw.


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## Sandor (Oct 29, 2006)

Dylan said:
			
		

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Sweet Gum do readily grow in Va. But I really do not know how you can confuse a gum and hickory. The leaves are totally different.


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## DavidV (Oct 29, 2006)

Gum is different.  not fibery at all, just doesn't split.  Burns ok and you can make nice bowls from it.  Got a ton of it in the back yard rotting away because it isn't worth the effort to split.


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## Sandor (Oct 29, 2006)

Dylan said:
			
		

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OK. A split of hickory looks much different than Gum!


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## ChrisN (Oct 29, 2006)

NY Soapstone wrote:





> I just split some of that for the first time today - you are right about that!
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> I had cut the tree back this summer to open up some more sun to my garden, and left the rounds stacked up.  Finally got around to splitting it today and I would say it’s my favorite of anything I’ve split so far aside from ash which makes anyone look like a stud when you easily bust up a 18” round of it



Colin, If you had fun splitting that hickory, just wait until you burn it.  It is my favorite species in the Jotul!

Chris


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## wahoowad (Oct 29, 2006)

Hickory on the left, oak on the right, tulip poplar on the bottom.


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## wg_bent (Oct 30, 2006)

wahoowad said:
			
		

> Hickory on the left, oak on the right, tulip poplar on the bottom.



WOW, that Hickory does look nasty.  I haven't come across anything that looks like that yet.  except elm.

Some of the old oak I have can get a little stringy, but doesn't require literally cutting the strands like the elm or that hickory.


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## Loft32 (Feb 22, 2009)

I'm bringing up an old thread...

I've got alot of shagbark hickory on the property and I just felled one for the first time - about 2' diameter at the base and quite healthy.  I'm having a bear of a time splitting the rounds.  I thought I cut them fairly short at about 18", but maybe not short enough.  

My 10 lb. maul just bounces off of it...and when it finally does split, it's really stringy and I've got to fight each split to get them apart.  Should I just stack the rounds and let them dry out for a month or so?  Will that help?  Any advice?


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## bambam (Feb 22, 2009)

Just dropped a hickory about 3 feet across at the stump, wait until it is frozen and it will split much easier.  I think it is because the when it is froze the strands tend to swell and that leaves the wedge, maul, or splitter seperate the strands much easier, I think I heard that before.  I do know it is best to have a hatchet or something to cut the strings is worth its weight in oil (beats getting a hernia).


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## WOODBUTCHER (Feb 22, 2009)

wahoowad said:
			
		

> I think I have Pignut (also called Smoothbark) Hickory as per my Audobon Tree Guide. Running some 8" to 12" rounds through my Ryobi splitter and having to pull the dang stringy splits apart sucks. These are my first hickory logs and I hadn't heard folks complain about it. Wondering if I have something else than hickory...? The leaf matches super close in my field guide though.



I've split both Pignut and shagbark, if it's green it can get stringy and or pretty hairy around knots and y's.
In the srping of 2007 we got a whole grapple load of pignut and shagbark, it was green and heavy........you will never mistake hickory again after lifting and splitting 4 cords of it in one day.
It splits better in log form after about 12 months.


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## WOODBUTCHER (Feb 22, 2009)

Some hickory bark variations and some "hairy" pieces.
The wood pictured is close to 2 years old and the heartwood has lost some color.

WB


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## f3cbboy (Feb 22, 2009)

i am glad i read this thread - i have a pile of this stuff that requires much work to split.  My 8 lb maul bounces off but i get it started with a splitting axe and then use the wedges.  is it worth leaving this stuff sit for another year in rounds that are bucked about 16" long and anywhere from 12 - 15 " in diameter??  Thanks


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## savageactor7 (Feb 22, 2009)

Loft try and not split down the middle...come in about 3-4" for the outside diameter and work it that way. It's not as neat looking but it works...btw that's the way we work elm by hand up here...that's stringy too.


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## WOODBUTCHER (Feb 22, 2009)

f3cbboy said:
			
		

> i am glad i read this thread - i have a pile of this stuff that requires much work to split.  My 8 lb maul bounces off but i get it started with a splitting axe and then use the wedges.  is it worth leaving this stuff sit for another year in rounds that are bucked about 16" long and anywhere from 12 - 15 " in diameter??  Thanks



I'd try to split it while it's frozen, hickory is tuff stuff on a maul and your back.
When I split it green, I have to run the splitter ram all the way through on just about every chunk.
I wish it split like red oak.......

WB


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## wahoowad (Feb 26, 2009)

2 years later and I am finally burning some of this stuff. It burns really, really good!


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## rphurley (Feb 26, 2009)

Split lots of Hickory.  I'm not sure what type but it seems stringy to me.  Heavy as heck too, but worth every bit of sweat!


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## wendell (Feb 26, 2009)

Warren said:
			
		

> Big sigh.... Elm sucks...Hickory might as well be ash compared to elm....  White oak can be pretty stringy, so can sycamore, but elm is the king of stringy...Spike has is right...speed is not what it takes to split elm.  I split a lot of it with a 6 lb maul and at this point I can swing that thing darned fast.  Once the round cracks, it takes repeated blows to chop, or bludgen my way through the strings that are left.  I've split hickory in my days, and it's nothing compared to elm
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> did I mention that I hate elm?  (it does heat the house better than pine though)



I'm on my last 20 rounds of over 3+ cords of elm (beggars can't be choosers!) and anybody man enough to split it with a maul gets my respect. It's hard enough with a splitter, not to mention time consuming because you have to run the wedge all the way through every split  to tear the fibers apart. I didn't realize how easy splitting could be until I got into a few pieces of soft maple. That stuff splits itself just looking at the wedge.

The only thing I have to help split elm is doing when the temperature is around 0.


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## f3cbboy (Feb 26, 2009)

I’d try to split it while it’s frozen, hickory is tuff stuff on a maul and your back.
When I split it green, I have to run the splitter ram all the way through on just about every chunk.
I wish it split like red oak.......

WB 

Thanks WB - i got this stuff last summer and it was a bear - i'll try to take care of it now while it is still frozen.  I can't believe how much i have come to know about tree id in the last couple of months. thanks again


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