How to split large 4' - 6- rounds??
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I have a bunch of large maple rounds that are knotted and twisted...I have whacked away at them till the cows come home and have been defeated every time so far...I only have 2 wedges and a maul. I wonder if renting a splitter would be worth it @ 60 bucks a day or just junk the gnarly bastages and buy a face cord CSD for the same price.
smokinjay said:
Thanks for the advise. As soon as this nor'eastern clears out, will give it a try.
Oh yeah, I'll post pics.
Thanks again!
We have the same issue, but it's doug fir and hemlock, 4-5', 18" thick rounds. I buried 2 wedges and have started the split, but it looks like it will need to be rolled over and I have to go out and buy some more wedges to get it to separate clean through. These ole bones are not going to be rolling around 2-400# rounds. In my younger years I might have been eager to hand split, but considering there's about 5-6 cords of this stuff, it will take more than me.
Work around the edges by hand, preferably with a Fiskars. Big Oak is an easy hand split. I'm guessing it would be easier to split it by hand where it is than to drag it to the hydraulic splitter. The big stuff is no harder to split than the smaller stuff. In some ways its easier or quicker because you don't have to stop and get the next round for a while. Don't try to half it. Just take slabs of the edge.
A point worth mentionioning is to let the blocks set for a while after
bucking. A round that takes a wedge and not spilt will split a lot easier after
it dries for a while. Split on the check lines. BFS +2 MM
bucking. A round that takes a wedge and not spilt will split a lot easier after
it dries for a while. Split on the check lines. BFS +2 MM
I am getting that impression with the fir that that would be a good plan. I can let the rounds sit for a few months. There are exceptions. Madrona is fairly easy to split green and much harder to split after it starts to dry out.
The above is what I do also with large rounds and if the wedge gets stuck in a knot out comes the twenty pound sledge.EatenByLimestone said:
![[Hearth.com] How to split large 4' - 6- rounds??](/talk/data/attachments/21/21540-a38b33e6c4d7af3379c04ab2649e2979.jpg?hash=YRJEg7rSrx)
I have some logs about 4' diameter. Most are oak. I won't be able to get to them for a few more weeks. To give myself some walking room. yesterday I cut off a round on the end of one log. Actually it wasn't a "round". I had to chunk it down as my Makita only has a 20" bar. On a whim I counted the rings. Roughly there were at least 160 rings. Luckily I do have a splitter as I tried to sink a pulp hook in one of the heart sections. HA! The hook just bounced off. It took seven or eight tries to get the tip of the hook to penetrate. I think trying to hand split would be a very frustrating & exhausting experience.
Al
Al
My Dad said that when it was zero F, the big rounds split as easily as glass. He spent the winter of 1929 keeping a resort supplied with firewood. One man, an axe, and a crosscut saw.
Got the Fiskars and a grenade. After some practice, the Fiskars worked fairly well on 24" rounds by slabbing off the edges. But the really big rounds just laughed at both tools. I may just need to wait until it's had a chance to dry out some.
Tried the Fiskars on some 36" hemlock rounds today. They are also green, but a completely different tree. The Fiskars worked well at flaking off the sides. Progress was pretty quick. I also tried again on the large fir rounds, but they laughed at all I tried. It looks like waiting until these rounds start showing checks before splitting is the best plan here.
BG,
Never having seen a big hemlock, can you tell me if you get splits in the heart like my crude drawing. If you do, try taking your saw & cutting a groove in line with them deep enough to start a wedge. I tried a couple of crude approximations of wedges. I use a 3 lb hand hand sledge to get them started. Then you can take a mighty swing with a sledge & usually split them. Otherwise like you say, whatever edged tool you swing at it, just bounces off.
Al
Never having seen a big hemlock, can you tell me if you get splits in the heart like my crude drawing. If you do, try taking your saw & cutting a groove in line with them deep enough to start a wedge. I tried a couple of crude approximations of wedges. I use a 3 lb hand hand sledge to get them started. Then you can take a mighty swing with a sledge & usually split them. Otherwise like you say, whatever edged tool you swing at it, just bounces off.
Al
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