I am cutting some green shagbark hickory. I know from experience that green it splits like a *****. When is the best time to split?
Shagbark hickory, favorite time to split?
- Thread starter Indianawood
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Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
Hickory seems easiest to split after it has set a while and checked on the ends to me. Its definitely a bear when green that's for sure.
WoodBurnerInWI
Feeling the Heat
Agree that its a tough wood to split fresh cut. Now if you have log splitter not too much of a big deal, then you can split whenever you have time. If splitting by hand then yeah, wait some time till checks start forming on the ends of the rounds. And if you live in an area that gets sub zero weather, those days also tend to help the wood splitting process greatly 
Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
Hickory is funny though ya know. Sometimes I'll have a round from a nice straight tree and it just flies apart on the first or second swing. Get the next round.... and I'm feeling all confident cause the lady just saw me dominate that last round. I take a swing and don't you know it's going to be the one to take ten swings and bring you to your milk. Confidence busted lol.
MoDoug
Minister of Fire
I just split a few truck loads, freshly downed. With hydraulics, no problem, I wouldn't want to do it by hand.
hickoryhoarder
Minister of Fire
I split most stuff after a year (with a maul). Cold weather is better to me. Things that split easy after three months -- white pine, cherry, and ash.
You have better luck than I! Seems like I can knock wood into kindling all day long with barely any effort. Thread the maul down the same opening split, swing after swing. The minute anyone walks up, I usually get a round that acts like used tire rubber...maul goes in 1/4 inch with a dull 'thud' - or just bounces off completely! 10 swings later and I have a nice hash pattern of 10 separate strikes all across the face of the round!
Favorite time to split hickory? Ideally, I'd now wrestle it into the hydro splitter and pull the splittin' lever about 1-1/2 to 2 years before I intend to burn it.
Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
You have better luck than I! Seems like I can knock wood into kindling all day long with barely any effort. Thread the maul down the same opening split, swing after swing. The minute anyone walks up, I usually get a round that acts like used tire rubber...maul goes in 1/4 inch with a dull 'thud' - or just bounces off completely! 10 swings later and I have a nice hash pattern of 10 separate strikes all across the face of the round!
Favorite time to split hickory? Ideally, I'd now wrestle it into the hydro splitter and pull the splittin' lever about 1-1/2 to 2 years before I intend to burn it.
Oh I have many that go in the hydraulic splitter pile, dont let me fool ya lol.
hickoryhoarder
Minister of Fire
If it's seasoned a year, yes, I think so. But hickory is always stringy. But after a year I can cut through those strings easily.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
I have had both shag bark and pignut hickory.. I split them pretty fresh.. It may sit in log lenth for a month or so put still pretty green. I go hydraulic so I'm not having any problems. Split green if you can. athe seasoning process really doesn't start untill the wood is split. So if your wood sits for 5 months.. that will not count. If your Relying on this wood for next year, you should have split it yesterday...
Actually i did. It split pretty well. Not a large tree. It was stringy but manageable
MoDoug
Minister of Fire
This is why I split mine as soon as I can, so it starts seasoning. I don't have so much wood I can afford to let it sit for months, especially if it takes 2 - 3 years to season.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
most wood will season in less than 24 months. I really depends when you split it and where its stored. All of my wood sits in weed sheds.. with back and sides vents as well as facing the summer prevailing winds. In the summer you can stand behind my shed and feel the aire blow out the back. I only go 3 stacks deep also. I usually split and stack by the end of March.. so say this March of 2021.. this wood will be ready.. the end of September 2022 .. thats 18 months.. The key is rain never touching the wood.. air movement through the stacks.. and 2 full summers of warmth.. The majority of the wood I have like 90% is oak.. and alot is split thick.. like 4x5... 5x5.. size stuff
In a pinch.. there also a solar kiln... split in march.. kiln it in july... ready to burn in September... 6 months...
MoDoug
Minister of Fire
I intended to reply a lot sooner, but it's been one of those weeks. That's a good setup you've got. I usually split and stack by the end of January. My wood storage just kind of evolved. It started out as one rack, eventually I made another, then extended them recently out of necessity. Now I'm slowly taking over a metal carport that was intended for other uses, I think my wife realizes it but hasn't said anything.
She's really on board with this wood stove. The carport works out really well, the side supports make great racks, it's covered and mostly open. The other racks are out in the open, but the tops will be covered. Most of this wood won't be touched for 2 years.I checked out your setup on the solar kiln, it's amazingly simple and cheap. My racks are mostly in the shade in the summer months, so I'm not sure how effective it would be for me. I thought about trying to enclose my metal carport and trapping heat during the summer months, but I don't think that will work. The metal top gets hot, but it's also in shade.
