# splitting tire



## Rebelduckman (Mar 12, 2014)

What would be a good size tire to use for a splitting tire?


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## razerface (Mar 12, 2014)

i use a couple different ones,,,but they are all wide. It helps wood stay in,,,skinny ones let it fall over if not full


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## Rebelduckman (Mar 12, 2014)

razerface said:


> i use a couple different ones,,,but they are all wide. It helps wood stay in,,,skinny ones let it fall over if not full



Gotcha, I figured the wider the better


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## bassJAM (Mar 12, 2014)

I'm using a 16" offroad truck tire, only because it was sitting around the place.  Works great but I wish I had a tire with a smaller sidewall.


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## Ashful (Mar 12, 2014)

Doh... I just tossed a front tire from my 4wd tractor that would've been perfect for a splitting tire!  Wasn't thinking.


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## tsquini (Mar 12, 2014)

I use a 15" tire on a 25" block. I drilled 2 holes in the wood block and have two 4.5" pins mounted on the tire. Just slip the pins it into the holes in the block to keep the tire from moving around. When I have a piece of wood over 15" I can just remove the tire and use the block.


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## Paulywalnut (Mar 12, 2014)

I have an old 12 inch tractor tire I use. It's actually too wide But the piece won't fall over. My x27 bounces a bit off the rubber.


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## Rebelduckman (Mar 12, 2014)

tsquini said:


> I use a 15" tire on a 25" block. I drilled 2 holes in the wood block and have two 4.5" pins mounted on the tire. Just slip the pins it into the holes in the block to keep the tire from moving around. When I have a piece of wood over 15" I can just remove the tire and use the block.



Great idea, may steal that one


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## STIHLY DAN (Mar 12, 2014)

22 inch car tire works awesome.


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## Sinngetreu (Mar 12, 2014)

Rebelduckman said:


> What would be a good size tire to use for a splitting tire?



Bicycle tire. 

Just kidding, I like the free variety.


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## Rebelduckman (Mar 12, 2014)

STIHLY DAN said:


> 22 inch car tire works awesome.



Picked up one from local tire shop. Got a 10 wide and 12 wide.


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## Ashful (Mar 12, 2014)

Had some wood dropped off by a neighbor tonight.  Went out to split a few rounds in my PJ's, after putting the kids to bed.  Was stacked by the driveway, and the yard is a soggy mess, so I was splitting on a short round set on the driveway.  Should've had a tire, since one of my follow-thru's made contact with asphalt.  The damage to my nicely ground edge is deep enough that my maul is going to lose weight in the repair!  Won't be able to see the damage to the driveway until daylight.


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## Rebelduckman (Mar 12, 2014)

Joful said:


> Had some wood dropped off by a neighbor tonight.  Went out to split a few rounds in my PJ's, after putting the kids to bed.  Was stacked by the driveway, and the yard is a soggy mess, so I was splitting on a short round set on the driveway.  Should've had a tire, since one of my follow-thru's made contact with asphalt.  The damage to my nicely ground edge is deep enough that my maul is going to lose weight in the repair!  Won't be able to see the damage to the driveway until daylight.



Good excuse to get the fiskers.  I split a face cord today with mine and didn't break a sweat. I was skeptical until I got it but I'm sold now. It's well worth it.


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## Ashful (Mar 12, 2014)

Rebelduckman said:


> Good excuse to get the fiskers...


Already got way too many axes, and at my usage rate, too little real use for them.  I'm hoping my hydraulic splitter will be back from repair in a few days, as I've got about 8 cords I want to get split, ASAP!


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## Tom Wallace (Mar 13, 2014)

I use a 19" rim, low profile tire that's pretty wide, too. Picked it out of Discount Tire's disposal bin.


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## iceguy4 (Mar 13, 2014)

nascar tire


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## pen (Mar 13, 2014)

I still just can't get myself to try the tire...... After the number of habits this site has changed of mine (for the better) one would think I wouldn't fight this so much anymore.


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## Sinngetreu (Mar 13, 2014)

iceguy4 said:


> nascar tire



You have my vote for the coolest tire!


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## BrotherBart (Mar 13, 2014)

I tried it but the tire kept falling off of the little electric splitter.


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## BrotherBart (Mar 13, 2014)

Joful said:


> Had some wood dropped off by a neighbor tonight.  Went out to split a few rounds in my PJ's, after putting the kids to bed.  Was stacked by the driveway, and the yard is a soggy mess, so I was splitting on a short round set on the driveway.  Should've had a tire, since one of my follow-thru's made contact with asphalt.  The damage to my nicely ground edge is deep enough that my maul is going to lose weight in the repair!  Won't be able to see the damage to the driveway until daylight.



Want a pic of the concrete floor in my breezeway after the maul bit it 25 years ago on a cold, snowy and windy March night? When I needed just one more medium split...


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## Rebelduckman (Mar 13, 2014)

iceguy4 said:


> nascar tire



I found an old good year eagle one tire so pretty close


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## Ram 1500 with an axe... (Mar 13, 2014)

We roll with a 20 and a round of red oak that fits nicely.....


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## KindredSpiritzz (Mar 14, 2014)

I never quite understood the tire thing. I suppose if you're using a Fiskars and having to whack away multiple times to split a round it'd come in handy. 
I prefer swinging a real axe once and being done with it, a tire would just be in the way.
(yeah, i said it)


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## Rebelduckman (Mar 14, 2014)

KindredSpiritzz said:


> I never quite understood the tire thing. I suppose if you're using a Fiskars and having to whack away multiple times to split a round it'd come in handy.
> I prefer swinging a real axe once and being done with it, a tire would just be in the way.
> (yeah, i said it)



It would come in handy cause you could bust up 3 or 4 rounds in a minute and not have to bend over 10-15 times doing it. I've only had my Axe one week but the most swings I've took to split a log was 2 hits. I have nothing bad to say so far


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## Boiler74 (Mar 14, 2014)

KindredSpiritzz said:


> I never quite understood the tire thing. I suppose if you're using a Fiskars and having to whack away multiple times to split a round it'd come in handy.
> I prefer swinging a real axe once and being done with it, a tire would just be in the way.
> (yeah, i said it)



I can stuff three, four, sometimes five smaller rounds in my tire, pick up the X27 once and split them all with one swing each. But they all stay in the tire so I don't have to bend down to pick up all the splits again. (I split on a big round, not the ground). Same goes for one larger round..... Most times all the splits stay IN the tire and I don't have to pick em up again. That's why I use the tire. There is a lot of work in what we do here.... The tire takes just a little but of the work out if it.


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## BEConklin (Mar 14, 2014)

Boiler74 said:


> I can stuff three, four, sometimes five smaller rounds in my tire, pick up the X27 once and split them all with one swing each. But they all stay in the tire so I don't have to bend down to pick up all the splits again. (I split on a big round, not the ground). Same goes for one larger round..... Most times all the splits stay IN the tire and I don't have to pick em up again. That's why I use the tire. There is a lot of work in what we do here.... The tire takes just a little but of the work out if it.



Maybe some people just like bending over more than others...


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## KindredSpiritzz (Mar 14, 2014)

Boiler74 said:


> Most times all the splits stay IN the tire and I don't have to pick em up again



sure you do, you have to sit and take each one out of the tire after its split. I split mine on a stump round, after its split it falls off on its own and i can put the next round up there to split. You have to put them in the tire, then bend over and take them back out again to put more in. Seems like an extra step to me.


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## tsquini (Mar 14, 2014)

The block that I mount my tire to is only about 10" thick. I don't have to pick up the round too high.


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## bassJAM (Mar 14, 2014)

KindredSpiritzz said:


> sure you do, you have to sit and take each one out of the tire after its split. I split mine on a stump round, after its split it falls off on its own and i can put the next round up there to split. You have to put them in the tire, then bend over and take them back out again to put more in. Seems like an extra step to me.



Not with larger logs that need 4 or more splits.  Nothing is more annoying to me than lifting a log that needs quartered on the splitting block, and then after the first swing both halves fall off and I have to lift them both up to split again.


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## BEConklin (Mar 14, 2014)

KindredSpiritzz said:


> sure you do, you have to sit and take each one out of the tire after its split. I split mine on a stump round, after its split it falls off on its own and i can put the next round up there to split. You have to put them in the tire, then bend over and take them back out again to put more in. Seems like an extra step to me.



So I suppose once your splits fall off the block and land on the ground you just leave them there? Of course you don't - you bend over, pick the splits up and throw them into your pile, or pick up truck, or wagon, or whatever. 

So what is the extra step involved with putting a round in a tire, splitting it, then taking the splits out of the tire and putting them on the pile? There is no "extra step" and there's less bending over involved when you use the tire because the splits never fall out of the tire. 

And then of course there's the rounds that need to be split more than once - 

Using your method will often result in splits that need to be split again - so you have to bend over, pick those bigger splits up, put them on the block and split them again, then bend over, pick them up and toss them on the pile. 

Use a tire and you do a lot less bending over.

But like I said before - if you actually like bending over and picking up splits off the ground - who am I to argue?


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## brant2000 (Mar 14, 2014)

I haven't tried the tire method out, but like the idea of it.  I'll have to give it a shot this weekend.


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## KindredSpiritzz (Mar 14, 2014)

ok, you have some valid points i guess. I have an old tire laying around somewhere, maybe i'll give it a whirl.


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## Ashful (Mar 14, 2014)

The only old tire I have here is a 40" x 17" x 15" Ground Hawg.  I don't suppose that would work too well...


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## BEConklin (Mar 14, 2014)

Joful said:


> The only old tire I have here is a 40" x 17" x 15" Ground Hawg.  I don't suppose that would work too well...
> 
> View attachment 129637



Shoot - the axe is likely to bounce off one of them tires and smack you in the head


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## tsquini (Mar 14, 2014)

Joful said:


> The only old tire I have here is a 40" x 17" x 15" Ground Hawg.  I don't suppose that would work too well...
> 
> View attachment 129637


I like the low rider. Who needs sidewalls.


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## Ashful (Mar 14, 2014)

For the record, not my vehicles, but I had a 1978 Bronco with those same tires about 20 years ago.  Sat at the same height as that Blazer, but I had proper cut-outs / flares on my fenders, and heavy duty axles.  This guy is going to have crunched rockers, if he ever actually takes that Blazer off road.


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## Boiler74 (Mar 14, 2014)

KindredSpiritzz said:


> sure you do, you have to sit and take each one out of the tire after its split. I split mine on a stump round, after its split it falls off on its own and i can put the next round up there to split. You have to put them in the tire, then bend over and take them back out again to put more in. Seems like an extra step to me.



Not sure I understand "you have to sit and take each one out... after split."  My splitting block is a bit higher than knee high for me.  I don't sit.  I'm 6'7" tall, so I lift the round (or rounds) into the tire.  Split them all.  Then I take them out of the tire and either set them into the back of the ranger or onto the stack directly.  I don't have to bend down to do this, even at my height.  Splitting red oak, if I split a 12" round with one strike, without the tire I would be picking the half splits up off the ground to split them again.... and once again they go on the ground.  Repeat until everything is sized the way I want.  With the tire, I split the round as I want.... no bending over to replace the split because they ALL stay in the tire.  Well, not always.  Sometimes they still like to jump out when I swing too hard.  But not often.

I'm not saying your way is wrong, but since I found the tire method here I won't do it the other way again.


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