Hickory is brutal!!!

[jpcjguy]

So I took down some hickory on 9/21 and cut it into 18" lengths for my wood burning insert. Just went out and started splitting it - holy heck This stuff is string and tough! Using my 27 ton splitter and it almost stalled it several times. Is this normal? Should I wait a while before splitting? Makes the oak I just did seem like a joke....
Pics of the pile and the result of a couple splits. The pic "wood4" is an absolute mess....

 

[johneh]

To me, it is no worse than ELM with the splitter I have which is a 22-ton Surge Master
Makes its own kindling

 

[MRD1985]

It can certainly be tough. I couldn’t split 16” rounds with my x27 with less than 6 hits. Had to use the maul and still took a couple. Once rounds were split it was more manageable with the axe. Still tough wood though

 

[jpcjguy]

So it does not matter if I split now, few months or even 6 months? Same PITA? 😂

 

[MRD1985]

The faster you get it split and stacked the faster it will dry. I cut mine in early May and it’s down to 24% as of a few weeks ago. Mine was straighter grain than what you have pictured

Edit. Maybe bigger than I remember

 

[MongoMongoson]

With hickory, it often works best to split slabs off the outside of the round, working towards the center. The same goes for elm, especially red elm.

If your wedges start to fly out of the log, I have found that using a 16 lb sledge rather than an 8 lb sledge really does the trick to keep them from popping out. It also really does a number on the wedges.... but I split a bunch of hickory this year with the 16 pounder.

Multiple wedges in a line really help as well.

A narrow bladed very sharp axe is extremely helpful. Sometimes you just have to get in there with the narrow blade and chop some of the connecting strings to make progress.

I have a 25 ton splitter, but try to do all that I can by hand because I need the exercise anyway.

 

[jpcjguy]

This is ridiculous….

 

[bigealta]

Yeah at this point i'd cut the rounds in half or even smaller. It's not ideal to stack "shorties" but better than dealing with that mess on the splitter.

you can even cut 3,4 or 5" discs

Better to clear this one out and Move on to the next tree.

 

[jpcjguy]

Wondering if this could be an elm? That is what y’all are saying is the worst. I do know that they were four trees all within 20 feet of each other with a bunch of the hickory nuts all around the ground. Could that be? Here is a picture of the bark, it is more rugged than the others

 

[jpcjguy]

Here is the bark of a round that is splitting much easier. Not as easy as oak, but much better than that mess

 

[bigealta]

Oak is one of the easiest trees there is to split. You are spoiled with that other oak.
But that said oak is just about all i want, and easy splitting is a major reason.

 

[MRD1985]

It could be elm ? 🤷🏻‍♂️. Any leaf photos? I don’t see much hickory heartwood there. That’s way more stringy than the hickory I’ve dealt with. I stay far away from elm. Not worth my time. JMO

 

[johneh]

That looks a lot like American Elm we burn a lot of standing dead from our tree lines
Yes it is more work but we waste not want, not when it comes to keeping this land productive
And it heats this old house maybe not as well as Oak but free BTUs are better than non