Question for the hand splitters

[mbcijim]

Ok, so in the last 12-13 months I have split 12-14 cords by hand with my Fiskars. Splitting wood has been my gym membership. I do it solely in the cold months. So I certainly am not an expert, but no FNG either.

Anyway, so I have about 2 cords left to split, and it is all the ugly stuff, that I threw to the side for the last year: Y's, crotches, 20"+ stuff, etc... I've been slowly (VERY SLOWLY) battering away at the last 2 cords with my Fiskar's and it isn't going well. Often it takes 5-10 hits to get that first chip off of the side. And even then I sometimes give up if the tree is absorbing 1" of my axe but not splitting.

All the other stuff I split was 6" - 16" in diameter. All my trouble pieces are 18"-36". It seems like once they get to a certain size 24"-30" you have guaranteed knots in them. I can chip off all the sides, but I get to where a knot is and I am done.

I know that I have to get a splitter in, but I like doing this by hand. It's my hobby. I am looking for advice on how to do these last pieces by hand? Should I just give up? I don't have a maul, should I get one? Will a maul work better? I am not real crazy about a wedge & sledge hammer, but if I get off the knot piece, will I be able to keep going by hand then?

Do you guys stay away from such big wood, i.e. 18"+? I have the liberty of doing that if I want. Most of my wood is red oak, red maple, and ash.

Thanks, in advance!

 

[Archie]

Maul, plus wedge and sledge hammer can be very useful, and it provides a workout too. Consider cutting down the length / height of your good logs with a chainsaw prior to splitting. For me, some stuff just goes into the chunk pile, although I do try to get it down to a reasonable length first. If you don't have a chainsaw, you might want to consider it.

 

[wood spliter]

I do what Archie is doing. I have to split allot with a wedge. I use a 8lb maul plus a sledge and 2 wedges. Anything I can't split gets cut small enough to get in and burn. Do not use anything but a sledge on the wedges. What don't you like about it.

 

[Wood Duck]

I have only an 8 pound maul, but manage to split almost everything. Sometimes you need to find the weak spot in a log in order to get it to start splitting. Try both ends, look for cracks that indicate a weak spot, and keep at it. You'll eventually get most everything to split.

 

[maxed_out]

I do the same as Archie too. +1 on the gym membership. If the weather is good I'll split for a couple of hours. today, no way. One wheel barrel load and done.

 

[Gunks]

The diameter of the round should not post a problem unless the round has a lot of knots in it. Try to split it on either side of a knot. Try both ends. When all else fail, cut the round into shorter pieces.

 

[joshlaugh]

I use a wedge and maul some. That in itself is quite a workout. For big wood, 20"+, stuff that doesn't split easily, I will take my saw and cut the round in 1/2. That works for me since one of my stoves takes smaller size wood. It makes the rounds easier to split than

 

[quads]

Stand the round upside down from the way the tree grew, then line up with the knot or crotch and split the round straight through the middle, also splitting through the middle of the knot/crotch. You'll end up with two halves that are sort of fan shaped. Don't try to take pieces off the edge, or you will get a big odd shaped piece that's really hard to split.

Here's a couple videos I made. These rounds aren't as big as you are talking about, but they will show you the method I am talking about. Bigger rounds still split the same, sometimes even easier, but just have more wood in them.

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[bogydave]

Get a maul? Yes.
Pick a cold day that was cold the night before also helps. (below freezing)
If you hit the same spot enough, it should split.
I don't have a wedge but I here they help.
Sometimes you have to get mad, but still hit the same spot.

 

[wellbuilt home]

Before i bought my splitter i would rent one and try to split all the hard stuff .
Then i would try to get every thing 1/4ered .
I could get 5 cord ready to be hand split on a half day rental .
I liked a 12lb maul for smaller rounds but for the big boys i had a really large maul maybe 16 or 18lbs .
I could break almost any size round with 1 or 2 swings .
Now the splitter is so easy . John

 

[Stihl Country]

I just grab a saw and noodle them. Then go at them with your maul.

 

[pyper]

I have a maul and a big yellow wedge with fancy "wings".

If I hit the wood 4 or 5 times with the maul and it doesn't split, I put the wedge into the best looking crack and "set" it with a 3# hammer. Then I beat on it with the sledge end of my maul. It will eventually go through anything. The wedge is great.

 

[patch53]

Rent a splitter. I rented one last year for $50 for one full day to split all my ugly knotty stuff. Don't break your back and risk an injury screwing around with those things. I split 200 rounds in one day last year with it. Was only going to use it on the ugly ones, but got done sooner than I thought so I used it to split up a bunch more bigger splits into smaller ones. JMHO.

Pat

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Get a Monster Maul (or a clone) they will split just about anything and really give you a great workout. I refuse to use a wedge, they seem like a pain to me every time I tried them. I am doing the opposite of you, I have been splitting with the MM and now I bought a Fiskars to check it out, but I am guessing I will use it more for the smaller stuff. There are one or two crotches I even had to give up on with the MM, but that is extremely rare.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

If I have any ugly stuff that's that's too much for my standard mauls I have a homemade monster maul that will split anything, providing you can swing it, problem is it's powered by 100% pure testosterone. Anything less than 100% and you are asking to get hurt. It can be fun for a few swings, but after that I start noodling.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I had the same problem last year....had a huge pile of ugly stuff....didn't want to rent a splitter.
Basically, if each log was 18" or so, I cut each in half with the saw and then they split much easier....kinda tough to stack, and I have a small insert, so I have a bunch of cut up cookie type splits that will work great in my Lopi as before I could only load E/W...now I can put some of the shorter pieces N/S
If you have a lot to aplit, it might make sense, but I just used what I had as it was only perhaps 1/2 cord or so of the ugly stuff.
Good luck

 

[Got Wood]

I had a similar pile at the end of last winter - those tough pieces I set aside. Used a splitter on them and its well worth it. No sense beating yourself to death of those pieces. If you love manual splitting get more rounds.
Due to a shoulder injury (likely caused in part from trying to split those SOB pieces) I bit the bullet and bought a splitter this year.

 

[sksmass]

If you have access to a lot of wood, why risk injury coaxing a few more BTUs from crotches and Ys that won't split. IMO it just ain't worth it. I just throw the toughest of the tough customers back into the woods and move on to the next tree. If we were not there to cut them down, all that carbon and minerals in the wood would eventually find its way back to the forest floor anyway.

 

[ansehnlich1]

I set those rounds on end and chainsaw down into em, then set a wedge in the kerf and pound on it. Or, just use the chainsaw and cut the bast@#$s into stove size and be done with it.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

I use the Monster Maul. One advantage is it won't get buried.

But after a few swings with no progress, it's time to move on. I set that stuff aside and burn it just the way it is. I have a bunch of Oak root balls (trees were apparently pushed over with a dozer) that I have quartered and are quite funky shaper. When the weather warms a bit, they will be going into the GW NorthSouth.

When chunks won't crack after 4-5 swings of the MM, my belief is it takes less energy to drive a couple of wedges. But with Oak or ash, this should be rare!. Maple, on the other hand, can be a b!tch to split if it's sugar. Leave those growing and tap 'um :coolsmirk:

 

[mbcijim]

Thanks everyone I appreciate the advice.

I spent two hours this weekend playing with the wedge & sledgehammer giving your ad I split wood at least 30 days for 30 min-1 hour since Dec. 1. I was DYING with the sledge after 5 minutes.

For the most part, The wedge had to go in 3-4" for the piece to crack. I know now why I threw those pieces to the side. They SUCK! I will have to think about getting a maul. When I fall into a cheap one, I'll probably get it. I am not in maul use shape, I go more for endurance than brute.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Like I seedeadbtus said, just use them in an outdoor fire pit or throw them back. There are alot of fish in the sea.

 

[gerry100]

If I can't split it with my 8lb maul but it's still small enough to fit thru the stove door I toss it aside for an extra year or two for seasoning.

If its still too big , I can almost always noodle it down to stove door size with the maul.

If I can't handle as above I'll either leave it in the woods or out front for the wood thieves

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

If I can't handle as above I'll either leave it in the woods or out front for the wood thieves

Can the wood thieves sue you if they get an hernia stealing wood from you property?!? :coolmad: