weatherguy said:
Since Im now a scrounge addict and have 3 1/2 cords of rounds to split I was just wondering how everyone splits their wood. Do you own a splitter, rent a splitter, use a Fiskars. I have at least 2 more cords coming so Ill have 5 cords to split minimum. This wood is for future winters, not this year so I can take some time doing it. I split some of the smaller rounds with my home depot splitter, the oak I have split nice and easy but maybe I should rent a splitter and knock it off one weekend.
So, Im interested in hearing how you guys handle your wood.
You can see by my avatar that I use hydraulics. However, it was not always that way. If memory serves me, I started splitting wood somewhere around 1949 or 1950. Back then we used either a double bitted axe or for the tough ones we used a sledge hammer and wedges. After I got married it seemed pretty nice for a few years to not have to mess with the wood.....but I did miss it. Still, fuel oil cost a whole $.12 per gallon and gas cost generally around $.23 per gallon so heating the house was not a big deal as far as money went. But yet.....something was missing and that something was good steady warmth.
So, we got back to burning wood and still do with no plans on stopping. Sometime around 1970 or thereabouts someone bought me a splitting maul. I'd never used one before this but ended up using it more than the axe. Then in 1984 I had an unfortunate accident and that successfully ended my love of splitting wood. I held off and even bought wood one year. One year I also split some wood by sitting on one log and using a sledge and wedge, I just tapped the wedge slowly until the wood split. I just had to get out of the house and do something and that seemed like a good thing to do. Fortunately that year I had all ash so it split very nicely.
So I started thinking very strongly about a hydraulic splitter but knew of nobody who had one other than some who had one for use with their tractor but they were slower than me sitting and tapping on a wedge. But I read about some and was curious. One evening we happened to be in Quality Farm and Fleet (now bought out by Tractor Supply) and they had several splitters on the floor. My wife and I was looking and discussing it when the manager saw us. He came to talk and in the end suggested that that little 20 ton should do all we needed done. Of course I told him my fear was it would be too slow and also would not split all of our wood, which amounted to a good amount of elm along with several other types.
He then countered that if I bought the splitter and it did not do what I wanted that I could bring it back for a full refund or trade it for a larger model. The splitters were marked at $100 off so I told him if he'd knock another hundred off I'd buy it right then. I had to take it in a box and put it together but that night we became the proud owners of a 20 ton MTD splitter. That was over 20 years ago. The only thing I've fixed on this thing is I had to shorten the starter rope when it broke. The little 5 hp Briggs and Stratton engine is beginning to use just a tad bit of oil but other than that all is well. We've split well over 200 cord of wood with this thing.
In all this time, I have thrown one piece of wood away. Perhaps I could have split it by monkeying around turning it and such but it was a gnarly old elm and it just was not worth it to me and I threw it away. That is the only piece of wood that has given me any problem so the 20 ton does very well. I can add that we have split a LOT of elm with this splitter too. So we can say it has been trouble free for over 20 years now so I think we have gotten our money's worth from it. I do not doubt that I could sell that thing for $600 either and we paid less than $800 for it! That just sweetens the pot.
My big point though is that if you enjoy splitting wood by hand then continue with it as long as you are able. It is great exercise and a wonderful thing to do during the winter months. I hate splitting even with the hydraulics when the weather is warm, but am doing some now for a neighbor. But do what you can when you can with what you have. If you are forced into buying something else, then do that.
One good example of doing with what you have is quads. Look at his splitting maul. He does a lot of splitting every year with that. Of course, he is an Irishman so he is a tough one so don't try to outdo him. He will win! Well, he's an awfully nice guy too and we all love him here on hearth.com
Good luck.
