routine for splitting wood with a maul

[Kenster]

That brings up a good point, Master. Virtually all of my wood is oak and hickory. Mostly water oak. The hickory seems much harder. When I give it a might whack it tends to send the splits flying off several feet or more. If I don't hit it hard enough my 8 pounder barely made a dent in it. The oak, on the other hand, stays pretty much in place when I split it. Do different species of trees have different.... elasticity? (for lack of a better word?)

 

[gyrfalcon]

That brings up a good point, Master. Virtually all of my wood is oak and hickory. Mostly water oak. The hickory seems much harder. When I give it a might whack it tends to send the splits flying off several feet or more. If I don't hit it hard enough my 8 pounder barely made a dent in it. The oak, on the other hand, stays pretty much in place when I split it. Do different species of trees have different.... elasticity? (for lack of a better word?)

Heh. Well, my child....

I'm not any kind of master at this, I've just asked one heck of a lot of questions on this forum over the last several years. I figure if I keep pestering people here, I hope to become an Inferno before I die.

If Battenkiller is around and sees this, he can speak to your question with great specificity. Best I can do is say some are definitely harder to split than others, but whether that's due to elasticity or some other factor, I don't really know. In the hardwoods I have some experience with, it does seem that the higher BTU the wood is, and therefore the denser, the harder it is to split-- with the exception of Rock Maple. Rock Maple's saving grace is it has a nice straight grain, so when you do pop it a good solid one, it comes right apart. But just why it's so tough to make a dent in I have no idea. Hotter-burning stuff like Black Birch and Beech can often have very twisted and gnarly fibers, too, which is really a pain. Although I've burned some Shagbark Hickory and Hophornbeam given to me by a generous neighbor, I haven't tried to split those, but they sure look like they'd be tough.

We've also had debates here from time to time about whether dry wood is easier or harder or just the same to split as green wood, and I wonder whether that's something that varies from wood to wood, too. The country folks around here are sure convinced at least the Rock Maple is a lot harder to split when it's dry, and I tend to agree, though I haven't done a careful experiment with it to eliminate some of the variables.

Just a suggestion, btw-- if you never have, try a 6-pound maul if you can borrow one and see what you think. After using a 6-er for a few years and getting comfortable with it, I got an 8-pounder thinking it would make splitting the tough ones easier and found that it doesn't. It's just more weight to waste energy hoisting. It's not the weight of the maul head or even muscle power that does the splitting, it's the momentum of the downswing. My physics is rusty, but I believe that after a certain point, the extra weight actually adds very little to the applied force by the time it contacts the wood if you're swinging it right.

 

[stevetford]

Please do not take this wrong folks but I really find it hard to believe what some folks do when splitting wood. I've split lots of wood by hand with both axe and splitting maul. Really tough stuff I used sledge and wedges. I will admit I tried the tire thing as did both of my sons. The tire got thrown out fast. We never even considered tying some logs together to split. All this takes time and I agree, time is not necessarily a big issue here, but why not just stand the log up and whack it with the splitting maul? Pieces flying across the yard? I have no idea what you are doing to cause this as I've never experienced it.

Simply put, I'd just stand a log up and hit the danged thing with axe or maul. If it needed to be split again, simply turn it or move the body around to the right angle and hit it again. Job done. Methinks many are making this to be much harder work than it needs to be. We also never placed the log onto anything except the ground. I tell folks to not lift every log onto a hydraulic splitter because it makes no sense to be continually lifting this stuff but here you are lifting every piece onto a splitting block or placing it inside a tire or tying a rope around several logs etc., etc.

KISS. Stand the log up and hit the thing. If you have trouble with your aim, practice; change the way you swing. Guide the maul instead of driving it. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be.

I'm glad you spoke up, I was reading this topic and thinking to myself I have never had any piece fly across the yard what am I doing wrong. All of my splits fall no more than 1" on either side of my maul when it hits the ground with some splits having to be manually pulled apart. Untill this wednesday I have been using a 8lb maul, but I also jumped on the bandwagon and bought a Fiskars super splitting axe. I'm poor so I never had the luxury of using a hydraulic splitter and split all my wood just as Backwoods Savage described, sit it on the ground and hit it till it splits.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I'm glad you spoke up, I was reading this topic and thinking to myself I have never had any piece fly across the yard what am I doing wrong. All of my splits fall no more than 1" on either side of my maul when it hits the ground with some splits having to be manually pulled apart. Untill this wednesday I have been using a 8lb maul, but I also jumped on the bandwagon and bought a Fiskars super splitting axe. I'm poor so I never had the luxury of using a hydraulic splitter and split all my wood just as Backwoods Savage described, sit it on the ground and hit it till it splits.

Just curiously, what type of wood are you splitting? The only stuff that flies several feet away for me is the Rock Maple. Everything else politely just falls down a few inches away.

I'lm really going to have to spring for one of those Fiskars. They just sound too wonderful to pass up.

 

[pshking]

I like an old 6 pound maul that my dad bought back in the 70's. It has a little different shape to the head than today's maul's.

On the bigger rounds, start on the edge and work your way in. It is easier to split along the natural cracks.

 

[quads]

I like an old 6 pound maul that my dad bought back in the 70's. It has a little different shape to the head than today's maul's.

On the bigger rounds, start on the edge and work your way in. It is easier to split along the natural cracks.

That sounds just like my maul. It's well over 30 years old, and had the same handle on it for over 25 now. This winter I might just have to break down and put another new handle in it, it's getting kind of ragged after all these years. If I had known that I would have to put a new handle in it every 25 years, well....darn it! HA!

Here is another short sample video of how I split with it:

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[gyrfalcon]

I like an old 6 pound maul that my dad bought back in the 70's. It has a little different shape to the head than today's maul's.

On the bigger rounds, start on the edge and work your way in. It is easier to split along the natural cracks.

No doubt, but that only works for those of us with good enough hand-eye coordination to be able to reliably hit those cracks. I've gotten fairly good at splitting with a maul over the last several years of practice, but coming close to hitting where I want to except by pure accident isn't something I can do, alas, and even an inch away from one of those cracks doesn't do the job.

 

[stevetford]

I'm glad you spoke up, I was reading this topic and thinking to myself I have never had any piece fly across the yard what am I doing wrong. All of my splits fall no more than 1" on either side of my maul when it hits the ground with some splits having to be manually pulled apart. Untill this wednesday I have been using a 8lb maul, but I also jumped on the bandwagon and bought a Fiskars super splitting axe. I'm poor so I never had the luxury of using a hydraulic splitter and split all my wood just as Backwoods Savage described, sit it on the ground and hit it till it splits.

Just curiously, what type of wood are you splitting? The only stuff that flies several feet away for me is the Rock Maple. Everything else politely just falls down a few inches away.

I'lm really going to have to spring for one of those Fiskars. They just sound too wonderful to pass up.

Mostly red/whit/pin oak some maple and very little hickory. Honestly my 8lb maul was all I needed but would really wear you out after a few hours. I read so many great reviews on the Fiskars and really liked the lightweight of it so I decided to buy one and find out for myself. I was a little worried about the short handle length but after using it these past few days I have not one complaint. This thing does everything my heavy maul does but without the workout. I can honestly split wood all day now and am actually looking forward to spring time when I begin splitting for next winter. There was no retailers anywhere near me who sold the Fiskars ss axe so I ordered it from Amazon and had it shipped to my door for $41.95

 

[northwinds]

This is a long thread that I haven't read word-for-word, but I think a key point is that less can be more. Quads is
hitting the wood in such a way that he's just barely getting through the round, and then it doesn't blast away in
different directions. No wasted effort. On the first couple of hits through the bigger rounds, I make a point not to
split all the way through the wood. Let a few fibers ( or more) hold the round together. As one gets works around
the round, those partially split pieces usually fall away from the round anyway.

The point that different wood behaves differently for hand splitting is a good one. If I blast through red oak with a maul,
I can get the wood flying across my processing area. With elm, it usually takes several hits anyway to get through a split
with the fibers hanging on to dear life all the way through the cussing that's taking place.

 

[Kenster]

From reading, and watching Quad's videos, I've come to the conclusion that I'm doing it all wrong. I've always tried to power through the split - to drive the maul all the way through the round in one swing. I'm thinking now that I'm relying too much on my own strength and not letting the maul earn it's keep. I'll have to work on my form... once I get over this broken ankle. (maybe before that if my Bride's not around to stop me.)

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Kenster, you will find that neither quads nor myself sit a round up on a stump to split it. We leave them on the ground. No lifting! That is a lot of bending over and lifting that you do not need to do.

But, but, but... doesn't that mean you're bending over when you're swinging the maul instead of standing up more or less straight? I almost cried with relief when I was learning how to do all this the first time I got a big round and stood the pieces up on it to split them.

No, that does not mean you are bending when swinging. Watch the videos that our friend quads has so graciously provided. You won't see much bending done there.

Think about the swing of the axe or maul. If you are standing the wood up onto another big log or stump, you are also losing several inches in your swing. By allowing the axe or maul to travel those extra inches you are gaining in the amount of power you provide for the tool.




Also, maybe your ground is harder than mine, but until it freezes, splitting a piece when it's just standing on the ground means a good part of the energy of the swing just goes into driving the piece a half inch or whatever into the soil.

That is very true that the soft ground will take something away from the strength of splitting. However, I've never found this to be an issue.




I'm not splitting big rounds all that often, but giganto splits that need to be split down further to go in my small stove, so hoisting them onto a splitting round isn't that big a deal (it's a small deal, but nowhere near as big a deal as the rounds you're doing in the video)

No big deal but still extra work that is not needed.




Also, I think how far the pieces go flying has at least partly to do with the wood. Even a smaller piece of rock maple takes one heck of a whack just to get the blade to bite instead of bouncing off, and when you do hit it right, it really pops apart and goes flying. Softer woods like Red Maple or Red Oak not so much.

I don't think any wood has more of a tendency to pop off violently. For example, when I am splitting wood with the hydraulic splitter, the soft maple are the only ones that go flying if I am not careful. But if I am careful in how I place the log, those splits do not go flying. However, if I am making kindling with the hydraulic splitter, those definitely can go flying. Yes, I've stung a shin a couple of times but nothing serious. As stated, I am usually very careful and know ahead of time what the split is going to do. That comes only from experience. To teach anyone the technique would require you to be right there with the person for many hours or days or weeks.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That brings up a good point, Master. Virtually all of my wood is oak and hickory. Mostly water oak. The hickory seems much harder. When I give it a might whack it tends to send the splits flying off several feet or more. If I don't hit it hard enough my 8 pounder barely made a dent in it. The oak, on the other hand, stays pretty much in place when I split it. Do different species of trees have different.... elasticity? (for lack of a better word?)

Yes, they do. But if those splits go flying, it has something to do with the way you are splitting. I've simply never had that problem so it is difficult to explain or know what you are doing or how you are splitting.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Please do not take this wrong folks but I really find it hard to believe what some folks do when splitting wood. I've split lots of wood by hand with both axe and splitting maul. Really tough stuff I used sledge and wedges. I will admit I tried the tire thing as did both of my sons. The tire got thrown out fast. We never even considered tying some logs together to split. All this takes time and I agree, time is not necessarily a big issue here, but why not just stand the log up and whack it with the splitting maul? Pieces flying across the yard? I have no idea what you are doing to cause this as I've never experienced it.

Simply put, I'd just stand a log up and hit the danged thing with axe or maul. If it needed to be split again, simply turn it or move the body around to the right angle and hit it again. Job done. Methinks many are making this to be much harder work than it needs to be. We also never placed the log onto anything except the ground. I tell folks to not lift every log onto a hydraulic splitter because it makes no sense to be continually lifting this stuff but here you are lifting every piece onto a splitting block or placing it inside a tire or tying a rope around several logs etc., etc.

KISS. Stand the log up and hit the thing. If you have trouble with your aim, practice; change the way you swing. Guide the maul instead of driving it. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be.

I'm glad you spoke up, I was reading this topic and thinking to myself I have never had any piece fly across the yard what am I doing wrong. All of my splits fall no more than 1" on either side of my maul when it hits the ground with some splits having to be manually pulled apart. Untill this wednesday I have been using a 8lb maul, but I also jumped on the bandwagon and bought a Fiskars super splitting axe. I'm poor so I never had the luxury of using a hydraulic splitter and split all my wood just as Backwoods Savage described, sit it on the ground and hit it till it splits.

Steve, the only reason I purchased a hydraulic splitter is because of an injury from an accident forced the purchase. I always did enjoy splitting most wood. I would just do a bit at a time. Some days maybe split 5-10 logs, other days more and some days none at all. It is a great way to warm up during the winter months. Take the coat off and split a few rounds and you no longer are cold.

As for the Fiskars axe, I've looked at them in the store. That was enough to convince me to not buy one! I guess it works well for some folks but I do not even want to try one.

btw, I do occasionally do some splitting by hand yet; it is just very minimal and usually in the woods when the log is just too heavy to lift. Then I split it using a splitting maul. I have never, nor do I ever intend to ever noodle a log.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I like an old 6 pound maul that my dad bought back in the 70's. It has a little different shape to the head than today's maul's.

On the bigger rounds, start on the edge and work your way in. It is easier to split along the natural cracks.

That sounds just like my maul. It's well over 30 years old, and had the same handle on it for over 25 now. This winter I might just have to break down and put another new handle in it, it's getting kind of ragged after all these years. If I had known that I would have to put a new handle in it every 25 years, well....darn it! HA!

One thing that stands out about how quads handles the maul. I've seen videos on this forum that show someone splitting and notice they never change their hand position on the handle of the maul. Watch how quads will slide his hand up the handle to lift the maul and then as the swing starts, the hand naturally slides down towards the end of the handle. That is how it should be done and when folks learn to do this they will find they have been doing it the hard way and wonder why they haven't tried it this way before.

Thanks for the video quads.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I like an old 6 pound maul that my dad bought back in the 70's. It has a little different shape to the head than today's maul's.

On the bigger rounds, start on the edge and work your way in. It is easier to split along the natural cracks.

No doubt, but that only works for those of us with good enough hand-eye coordination to be able to reliably hit those cracks. I've gotten fairly good at splitting with a maul over the last several years of practice, but coming close to hitting where I want to except by pure accident isn't something I can do, alas, and even an inch away from one of those cracks doesn't do the job.

gyrfalcon, while hand-eye coordination does come into play, we've found that those who have a hard time hitting where they want to are just madly swinging that maul as hard as they can. While you do need to supply some power, you also need to guide the tool rather than just try to power through. Practice and remember that you do not have to put all of your power into the swing. Again, watch quads and just imagine how much power he is supplying. I can guarantee he is not swinging with all of his might (with his size, the maul might end up in China!).

 

[Backwoods Savage]

This is a long thread that I haven't read word-for-word, but I think a key point is that less can be more. Quads is
hitting the wood in such a way that he's just barely getting through the round, and then it doesn't blast away in
different directions. No wasted effort. On the first couple of hits through the bigger rounds, I make a point not to
split all the way through the wood. Let a few fibers ( or more) hold the round together. As one gets works around
the round, those partially split pieces usually fall away from the round anyway.

The point that different wood behaves differently for hand splitting is a good one. If I blast through red oak with a maul,
I can get the wood flying across my processing area. With elm, it usually takes several hits anyway to get through a split
with the fibers hanging on to dear life all the way through the cussing that's taking place.

And you will also find that the power you supply to the tool can vary a lot depending upon the wood you are splitting. Again, this will come only through experience.

Again, I can't visualize how folks are making the splits fly all over the place...but I can imagine the cussing.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

From reading, and watching Quad's videos, I've come to the conclusion that I'm doing it all wrong. I've always tried to power through the split - to drive the maul all the way through the round in one swing. I'm thinking now that I'm relying too much on my own strength and not letting the maul earn it's keep. I'll have to work on my form... once I get over this broken ankle. (maybe before that if my Bride's not around to stop me.)

Kenster, you are well on your way to doing some efficient splitting. When you buy a tool (maul or axe), you get that tool so you don't have to work as hard. Therefore, one needs to learn how to properly use the too.

Now about that ankle, that sounds nasty. I hope you heal fast.

 

[gyrfalcon]

gyrfalcon, while hand-eye coordination does come into play, we've found that those who have a hard time hitting where they want to are just madly swinging that maul as hard as they can. While you do need to supply some power, you also need to guide the tool rather than just try to power through. Practice and remember that you do not have to put all of your power into the swing. Again, watch quads and just imagine how much power he is supplying. I can guarantee he is not swinging with all of his might (with his size, the maul might end up in China!).

That's a good point, Backwoods, and there's no doubt you're right. However, that's not an issue in my case. As a female not built for upper-body strength like you guys, I don't even have that option. It took me about three ineffectual whacks the first time I picked up a maul to understand that I have to rely on the momentum of the swing rather than muscle power because that's something I simply don't have. I've gotten more accurate with the tool as I've learned how to use it over the last several years (ie, I rarely miss a split altogether anymore...), but real precision requires a perceptual/coordination ability I just lack. I suck at tennis, too.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

gryfalcon, I did realize you are a female and therefore you can't have the upper body strength that most men have. One more reason to go with hydraulics! I suck at tennis too.

 

[gyrfalcon]

gryfalcon, I did realize you are a female and therefore you can't have the upper body strength that most men have. One more reason to go with hydraulics! I suck at tennis too.

Yeah, but the hydraulics are nowhere near as much fun. I have no woodlot, etc., so I have to buy my firewood c/s/d, but with the very small stove have to split down further most of the splits I get. Can't begin to tell you how much pleasure I get out of doing it, especially on cold winter days. And as a profoundly lazy person who hates exercise for the sake of exercise, a couple hours a few times a week of whacking the firewood has been incredibly good for me physically.

I have noticed over the years that some of you Y-chromosome people try to use more muscle power to do stuff rather than thinking it through because you have that muscle power available. The guy with the hammer thinks everything is a nail, yeah? Can't tell you how much I sometimes envy that built-in easy strength. But when you don't have a hammer, you have no choice but to figure out another way.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, I do think the hydraulic thing is fun! I was amazed because I did not think I would like it when I bought it but really fell in love with it within just a few minutes. Now that I've split a couple hundred cord, I still like it just as well. However, in your case, I do not think it would be wise to go with hydraulics because you are buying the wood. I would simply be unreasonable to buy a splitter in your case.

I agree on the exercise. Much better than doing repetitious exercises in the house. In fact, I think the other word for aerobics is boring, or something like that.

You are also correct on some of the men who think muscle power is the do-all. But the wise ones still figure things out so as not to have to use all that muscle power. Then there are injuries and age factors that cause you to reflect on how some things are done. No move of the "Don't force it. Just get a bigger hammer" ideas.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Well, I do think the hydraulic thing is fun! I was amazed because I did not think I would like it when I bought it but really fell in love with it within just a few minutes. Now that I've split a couple hundred cord, I still like it just as well. However, in your case, I do not think it would be wise to go with hydraulics because you are buying the wood. I would simply be unreasonable to buy a splitter in your case.

I agree on the exercise. Much better than doing repetitious exercises in the house. In fact, I think the other word for aerobics is boring, or something like that.

You are also correct on some of the men who think muscle power is the do-all. But the wise ones still figure things out so as not to have to use all that muscle power. Then there are injuries and age factors that cause you to reflect on how some things are done. No move of the "Don't force it. Just get a bigger hammer" ideas.

Oh, I agree the hydraulics are great fun, like any good machine. But I'll take the cold, clean outdoor quiet punctuated by the smack of the maul and the feeling of the blood rushing through your body any day over the noisy, smelly, fussy fun of a machine doing all the work for me and slicing through tough wood like butter any day. There are days when I really, really, really don't wanna go out there and do the work and have contemplated getting one of the smaller electric splitters, but once I drag myself out and start, I have a great time.

Aerobics, treadmills, forced marches around the block, all of it, yech. If the energy expenditure doesn't actually result in something concrete accomplished after you're done, I can't make myself do it.

 

[quads]

That's a good point, Backwoods, and there's no doubt you're right. However, that's not an issue in my case. As a female not built for upper-body strength like you guys, I don't even have that option. It took me about three ineffectual whacks the first time I picked up a maul to understand that I have to rely on the momentum of the swing rather than muscle power because that's something I simply don't have. I've gotten more accurate with the tool as I've learned how to use it over the last several years (ie, I rarely miss a split altogether anymore...), but real precision requires a perceptual/coordination ability I just lack. I suck at tennis, too.

In your case then, a lighter short handled tool might work better for you. Something like a Fiskars might be just the thing. My wife is kind of tiny. Not that she ever helps with the firewood though, but one of the rare occasions that I got her to go out in the woods with me, I had her take a few swings with my maul. She can't handle it, it is too much for her. If she was ever inclined to split wood though, I would have her use one of my axes, or possibly get her a little Fiskars SS etc. It would take her longer and more swings to split wood, but would make it possible for her, I think.

And I of course have a video of that too:

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[gyrfalcon]

That's a good point, Backwoods, and there's no doubt you're right. However, that's not an issue in my case. As a female not built for upper-body strength like you guys, I don't even have that option. It took me about three ineffectual whacks the first time I picked up a maul to understand that I have to rely on the momentum of the swing rather than muscle power because that's something I simply don't have. I've gotten more accurate with the tool as I've learned how to use it over the last several years (ie, I rarely miss a split altogether anymore...), but real precision requires a perceptual/coordination ability I just lack. I suck at tennis, too.

In your case then, a lighter short handled tool might work better for you. Something like a Fiskars might be just the thing. My wife is kind of tiny. Not that she ever helps with the firewood though, but one of the rare occasions that I got her to go out in the woods with me, I had her take a few swings with my maul. She can't handle it, it is too much for her. If she was ever inclined to split wood though, I would have her use one of my axes, or possibly get her a little Fiskars SS etc. It would take her longer and more swings to split wood, but would make it possible for her, I think.

And I of course have a video of that too:

Oh, man. Does your wife know you're posting video of her doing this while you laugh in the background? Did you edit out the part where she turns around and whacks you a good one with the Fiskars?

After reading so many rave reviews of the Fiskars here, I'm intending to pick one up and give it a try when I have a few extra bucks to spare, but I confess I'm a bit dubious. The shorter handle reduces the momentum of the swing I rely on to do the work, doesn't it? I can certainly get greater accuracy if I choke up a bit on the maul handle, but then I can't generate enough force to make much of a dent most of the time because of the shorter swing. It's the equivalent of a bunt in baseball, no? That's where the lack of muscle power really seems to come in for me.

Also, I note that even your tiny wife has to bend over to smack the split sitting on the ground. Makes my back tired just watching it!

 

[quads]

Oh, man. Does your wife know you're posting video of her doing this while you laugh in the background? Did you edit out the part where she turns around and whacks you a good one with the Fiskars?

After reading so many rave reviews of the Fiskars here, I'm intending to pick one up and give it a try when I have a few extra bucks to spare, but I confess I'm a bit dubious. The shorter handle reduces the momentum of the swing I rely on to do the work, doesn't it? I can certainly get greater accuracy if I choke up a bit on the maul handle, but then I can't generate enough force to make much of a dent most of the time because of the shorter swing. It's the equivalent of a bunt in baseball, no? That's where the lack of muscle power really seems to come in for me.

Also, I note that even your tiny wife has to bend over to smack the split sitting on the ground. Makes my back tired just watching it!

Ha ha! Oh yes, she knows. Actually she watched me post it this time too. We still laugh about the fight with her hat! You should see some of the videos she takes of me, which fortunately you never will because she doesn't know how to post them!

I guess the shorter handle would depend on how heavy it is? If it's lighter you can still swing it as fast with the short handle? I don't know, but I do know that the short-handled axes I have, I do not like. But maybe if I was my wife's height it would be ok?

I'm not sure why she was bending to use my maul. I guess because she is afraid to take a full swing and is trying to 'tap' the round with it? Or simply because the six pounds out on the end of the full length handle is just too heavy for her to lift up high enough and gain the momentum. Anyway, we'll never know!