Larger versus Small Split Wood - Locust Nightmare Scenario

[GoodJBoy]

Is the bark already gone, or at least falling off of this wood now? I've split some that was very dry, down around 16% on the moisture meter, and it wasn't too hard to split. The rounds weren't huge though....maybe like 12" at the biggest.

My rounds are around 24" give or take a few inches. The bark comes off easily. I don't have moisture meter yet. I have hand split different kinds of woods and usually there is some moisture in the woods that gets squeezed out when you drop the axe into it. Most of this locust is bone dry. No moisture comes out when I sink the axe in.

 

[Jags]

Couple of things here. This is a 1.7 cuft fireplace - not a large stove (meaning - keep your heating expectations reasonable). Heating 1800 sqft from a stand alone stove will have its challenges, an insert will be even more challenging. This fireplace does have the availability to hook directly to forced air ductwork, if that is an option. This may allow for better heat distribution.

With a smaller stove, I think it would be very important to have a variety of split sizes. You will want some larger pieces for the long burns and you will want some smaller splits to help you take advantage of every square inch of firebox you have (think "packing" the stove).

 

[Jags]

Most of this locust is bone dry. No moisture comes out when I sink the axe in.

Please do not consider this the "test" to base water content. It will fool you for sure. I gar-own-tee it.

 

[GoodJBoy]

An 8" round should be easy to split no matter what unless it has knots in it. Once you get to the knots and crotches all bets are off. There are pieces of wood that are downright impossible to split by hand. Are you looking for pre-existing cracks in the wood to split along. Starting your split at the edge and working across. And not bothering to try to split through a knot or a crotch? Another technique for incorrigible pieces of wood it to peel them like an onion, go round them whacking off pieces parallel to the bark, not across the log. That allows you to get the 'easy meat' off of the knotty ones.

Thanks for the advice. I do look for natural cracks and I have also used the onion peeling method on a few logs of other kinds of wood. The locust wood I have is essentially free of knots. It is bone dry. I take a metal peg and put it onto one of those natural cracks and sledge hammer it all the way in through the bottom of the log. The whole log starts splitting and making noises but there are lots of strains of wood (1/2" to 2" in width) that make waves back and forth between the two split pieces. So even though the peg went all the way through the wood and there are no connecting pieces in that spot, the rest of the wood is stuck together with these strands. Even with the peg all the way through, it is impossible for any human being to pry apart the two pieces yet. In order to get the two pieces apart, you have to pound the pegs through the remaining strands and use the axe to get the remaining strands. I also stick my sledge hammer in between the two pieces and use it as a lever to try and pry it apart. That helps too.

When it comes to those really dry pieces, I don't care how big and strong, how good of an axe and what techniques people have, there is not a human being alive that can split this stuff with just an axe using traditional methods.

 

[GoodJBoy]

that ain't locust, it's a big old hickory

I have to get a picture of it. The guy that sold it to me told me it was locust and there are a bunch of locust trees around here and the bark looks exactly the same. Maybe I am wrong though as I am a newbie. I have to get a picture for everyone. Maybe I will even post a movie of me trying to split this stuff. It will be very funny to watch.

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

When it comes to those really dry pieces, I don't care how big and strong, how good of an axe and what techniques people have, there is not a human being alive that can split this stuff with just an axe using traditional methods.

I could split it

 

[rideau]

Thanks for the advice. I do look for natural cracks and I have also used the onion peeling method on a few logs of other kinds of wood. The locust wood I have is essentially free of knots. It is bone dry. I take a metal peg and put it onto one of those natural cracks and sledge hammer it all the way in through the bottom of the log. The whole log starts splitting and making noises but there are lots of strains of wood (1/2" to 2" in width) that make waves back and forth between the two split pieces. So even though the peg went all the way through the wood and there are no connecting pieces in that spot, the rest of the wood is stuck together with these strands. Even with the peg all the way through, it is impossible for any human being to pry apart the two pieces yet. In order to get the two pieces apart, you have to pound the pegs through the remaining strands and use the axe to get the remaining strands. I also stick my sledge hammer in between the two pieces and use it as a lever to try and pry it apart. That helps too.

When it comes to those really dry pieces, I don't care how big and strong, how good of an axe and what techniques people have, there is not a human being alive that can split this stuff with just an axe using traditional methods.

What fun. This sounds like what ironwood does.

 

[GoodJBoy]

What are these steel pegs U speak of ?

I am a newbie to having a fireplace and I start splitting wood in the fall last year after I got a bunch of free wood from Hurricane Sandy. People had trees down everywhere and they would have tree services come and cut them into smaller logs and the town went around picking up the wood for trash. I went around with my car getting as much free wood I could. I got mostly oak and birch and some sycamore (which is another fun wood to cut like dried locust). I got myself a Fiskars super splitter axe and a one man 5' cross cut saw off of eBay.

So, to answer your question, those steel pegs are a newbie's incorrect way of saying steel wedges. I got four metal wedges.

 

[Jags]

"Splitting wedges" is common terminology for these. Why define them? Well, there are also felling wedges, and they are usually plastic.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Mine was yellow in the center and then turned reddish as it stArted to dry

 

[Woody Stover]

The other locust logs I got are gray instead of brown. They are obviously very old and completely dry. So you are saying that the wood normally needs to be split and then it has to sit for a year?

The bark comes off easily. I don't have moisture meter yet. I have hand split different kinds of woods and usually there is some moisture in the woods that gets squeezed out when you drop the axe into it. Most of this locust is bone dry. No moisture comes out when I sink the axe in.

Please do not consider this the "test" to base water content. It will fool you for sure. I gar-own-tee it.

Yes, Oak needs to be split and stacked in the wind for at least two years before it will get dry enough to burn well, most other woods may be close to ready after a year in the stack.
Some of the BL I got, that was lying on the ground with no bark and only 4-5" in diameter, was actually brown inside on a fresh split. That stuff was down to about 16% moisture when tested with the meter....super dry.
Just because water doesn't squish out when you split it, doesn't mean that it's dry enough to burn well. The fact that some of the pieces are brown or gray on the end is a hopeful sign; You may have some stuff that will burn acceptably. As you split, try to get a feel for the weight of the wood splits. Within the same specie, heavier pieces will contain more moisture, obviously. Separate the lighter, drier pieces out so you can burn those first. A cheap moisture meter can be a big help the first year in trying to determine what is dry enough to burn acceptably and produce good heat in the modern stoves.
If you use the search feature you can find several strategies for dealing with wood that isn't quite dry enough to burn well. You might be able to obtain wood from dead standing trees, which can be pretty dry in the top section where the branches are smaller, and mix that in with your loads. You can get some type of wood that will dry in several months, like soft Maple, and split it small to speed drying. You can mix in pallet wood or Bio-Bricks (compressed-wood logs.)

 

[ansehnlich1]

I have to get a picture of it. The guy that sold it to me told me it was locust and there are a bunch of locust trees around here and the bark looks exactly the same. Maybe I am wrong though as I am a newbie. I have to get a picture for everyone. Maybe I will even post a movie of me trying to split this stuff. It will be very funny to watch.

Oh man, my bad, I was looking at HDRock's picture there, must be sometimers settin' in

Get ya some pictures up on here so us old guys don't get confused!

 

[ScotO]

I got a Napolean NZ-26. My house is about 1800 square feet with around 800 square feet on the first floor where the fireplace is and another 1000 square feet on the second floor. They also installed a vent that I can open and close to let the heat naturally poor into the upstairs. We shall see how well this heats the house this winter. Our house is insulated very well with new windows and doors so I am hoping that this fireplace, rated up to 2000 square feet, will handle the job. We shall see.

Not to change the subject, but how do you like your NZ-26? I just finished installing my NZ-3000 this past winter and that baby throws the heat! My install is in the link in my signature below...

Welcome to the clubhouse. Yes, locust can be a real bugger to split when it dries out, but not all the time. Kinda sounds like you may have some American elm there, or even possibly some hickory. That stuff can be treacherous to split. Just another reason I love my hydraulics....

 

[GoodJBoy]

OK, I am planning I getting pictures soon. I figured out how I ended up with these ancient locust logs. When I placed my order for the wood, I asked for logs that needed to be split that would be seasoned and ready for burning by this October. I placed that order in June. I didn't know that you need to let the wood sit for a year (or two with oak) AFTER you split it. I thought the logs just needed to sit for a year. As a result, the guy I bought the logs from probably knows it needs to sit for a year after splitting and he probably picked out really old logs that he thought were all ready dried out. After receiving the wood and splitting a lot of it, I told him that the locust could only be split with a sledge hammer and wedges and he told me that I needed to get Maple next time. He knows I have a small yard and that I can't keep years worth of logs laying around seasoning. I can store about 4 cords on my yard. My home is 1800 square feet and well insulated. I was told that 3.5 cords of seasoned wood would heat our home for the winter here in New Jersey. Does that sound right?

BTW, the coolest thing happened the other day when I was splitting wood. I got this log with some small holes in it and I split it. When it split, millions of carpenter ants instantly appeared all over the wood. It was like I popped a balloon full of carpenter ants. That was really cool.

 

[oldspark]

Well other then the splitting (surprises me that it splits that hard) he picked a wood that has low moisture content on the stump so it does dry fast for a hard wood, as far as drying time YRMV, here in Iowa I can dry wood much faster then reported by many. Single rows, wind, and sun are your friend plus smaller splits and shorter pieces will speed up the process.

 

[oldspark]

3.5 cords for a well insulated house and a good stove should be about right, a good figure to use as a guide line IMHO, Locust does split easily when green with just a maul, split up a good size Locust tree a few years ago with no problems what so ever.

 

[USMC80]

OK, I am planning I getting pictures soon. I figured out how I ended up with these ancient locust logs. When I placed my order for the wood, I asked for logs that needed to be split that would be seasoned and ready for burning by this October. I placed that order in June. I didn't know that you need to let the wood sit for a year (or two with oak) AFTER you split it. I thought the logs just needed to sit for a year. As a result, the guy I bought the logs from probably knows it needs to sit for a year after splitting and he probably picked out really old logs that he thought were all ready dried out. After receiving the wood and splitting a lot of it, I told him that the locust could only be split with a sledge hammer and wedges and he told me that I needed to get Maple next time. He knows I have a small yard and that I can't keep years worth of logs laying around seasoning. I can store about 4 cords on my yard. My home is 1800 square feet and well insulated. I was told that 3.5 cords of seasoned wood would heat our home for the winter here in New Jersey. Does that sound right?

BTW, the coolest thing happened the other day when I was splitting wood. I got this log with some small holes in it and I split it. When it split, millions of carpenter ants instantly appeared all over the wood. It was like I popped a balloon full of carpenter ants. That was really cool.

Before my new insert I was heating 1800 sq of poorly insulated house and inefficient wood furnace with about 4 cords so you should be fine

 

[gzecc]

OK, I am planning I getting pictures soon. I figured out how I ended up with these ancient locust logs. When I placed my order for the wood, I asked for logs that needed to be split that would be seasoned and ready for burning by this October. I placed that order in June. I didn't know that you need to let the wood sit for a year (or two with oak) AFTER you split it. I thought the logs just needed to sit for a year. As a result, the guy I bought the logs from probably knows it needs to sit for a year after splitting and he probably picked out really old logs that he thought were all ready dried out. After receiving the wood and splitting a lot of it, I told him that the locust could only be split with a sledge hammer and wedges and he told me that I needed to get Maple next time. He knows I have a small yard and that I can't keep years worth of logs laying around seasoning. I can store about 4 cords on my yard. My home is 1800 square feet and well insulated. I was told that 3.5 cords of seasoned wood would heat our home for the winter here in New Jersey. Does that sound right?

BTW, the coolest thing happened the other day when I was splitting wood. I got this log with some small holes in it and I split it. When it split, millions of carpenter ants instantly appeared all over the wood. It was like I popped a balloon full of carpenter ants. That was really cool.

What town are you in? Unfortunately you will never have sufficiently seasoned wood if you expect to get it delivered one yr or less in advance.

 

[albert1029]

Last year I got a small Buck wood stove after having an open fireplace. I had been burning Black Locust almost exclusively before I got the wood stove and last year after I got it. I use the small pieces to get the fire going and once it's up to temp the fat 16" pieces burn great. I burn only dry wood, if your wood is dry and if your fireplace is efficient, get the coals built up quickly with the smaller pieces and let the big pieces cruise.

 

[OldLumberKid]

I do have some elm wood mixed into the bunch of dried hardwoods I ordered. The elm is very hard to split but you can split it. When it comes to real old locust wood, it can't be split with an axe. The only way you can split it by hand is with a sledge hammer and pegs. There is not a human on this earth that can hand split the old dried logs of locust I have. I don't care how big and strong they are and how good of an axe they have. It isn't happening. Elm is a walk in the park compared to this stuff and elm is challenging to split.

I am holding off on getting a wood splitter because one of the main reason I bought the wood was for exercise. I found that traditional methods of exercise are boring to me and I don't keep up the routine. It is like swallowing bad medicine. But, I love splitting wood, even if I got to use a sledge hammer and pegs. It is a lot of fun and it is great exercise.

Ah would give the ole chainsaw some say in the matter, ask it if it feels like noodling today, and if the answer is in the affirmative, and you are copasetic, then noodle* (fun, fun, fun,) the bad boys in half — from there it should be a lot easier to split. Should be over quickly after that, with time to spare.

As for what to do with the pile of noodles, well if it's really hickory like ansehnlich1 suggested, well it is barbecue season.

* I am old, have no shame and noodle for pleasure.

 

[GoodJBoy]

Here are the pictures of the wood I believe to be locust. Not all the woods in this picture of locust. In the one picture that I stacked a log (half chopped up) on the other, I believe those two pieces to be locust. The wood is a little dirty but hopefully you can tell me what you guys think it is. I can say that it is definitely not pine! The pile of wood is a little over 5' tall at the highest point. I have been saving the bark on the top right side of the pile because I heard that the bark burns real slow and hot and great for putting on the fire at the end of the night to help it burn long. I don't know if that is true but if I heard it, then it must be true, right? LOL

 

[blujacket]

Not seeing Locust in those pics

 

[GoodJBoy]

The wood in stringy and when I put a wedge into some of the logs, you can put the wedge all the way threw and the two halves are connected with lots of strings. Could it be elm?

 

[oldspark]

The picture on the right in the top row looks like Elm to me.

 

[oldspark]

The wood in stringy and when I put a wedge into some of the logs, you can put the wedge all the way threw and the two halves are connected with lots of strings. Could it be elm?

Sure sounds like ELm, never heard of Locust being that stringy.