SPLITTING

[Gibbonboy]

I noticed that my local Home Depot now has two kinds of wedges: the normal 8lb kind like I have (natch) and a "premium" model for 3-4 dollars more that looks something like that Fiskars above, with wings.

I got the one from Lowe's with the red handle that has the little curvy section at the bottom of the handle. I was skeptical, but it works well to keep your grip controlled on the maul. Sets you up for some abuse from your friends, though. I've split about 2 cords with it so far, and I'm happy. My best friend has one that has the same kind of side "wings" on the head, his gets stuck in the log all the time. The helko Vario is a work of art, I wouldn't want to use it!

 

[kevinlp]

The only thing I used for splitting is a sledge hammer and a wood grenade (pictured below). Since it comes to a point, it sticks into the wood with a gentle tap. Usually two decent hits from the sledge hammer and the two pieces of wood are flying apart. It makes it very easier to split the pieces exactly how you want them. I can process a 12" round in 2-3 minutes (that is when I was making my pieces too small and and making 6 or so splits out of that). I can get thru 20 rounds an hour with the wood grenade. Virtually improssible to get stuck, unless you try to go dead center on a 30" round or directly into a big crotch.

On one of the grenades I bought, it had been made in china and had the chinese english translation that said "Most Explosive Splitting Force"

They are hard to find. Only place I have seen them is Tractor Supply and Lehmans. The ones from Tractor Supply are made from chinese crap metal and I had broken several in less that a couple hours of splitting.

The one I am using now is from Lehmans and I probably have 20 hours on it. Seems to be better quality.

(broken link removed to http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=3334&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=671&iSubCat=886&iProductID=3334)

 

[DriftWood]

To split wood I use a large Monster maul, small Monster maul, 5 steel wedges, 8lb SEARS Craftsman sledge (free replacement for mushed heads, broken handles) and a WWII Army machete.

 

[Gibbonboy]

Here is the maul I got:
Maul Picture

No, the saw is NOT running. The boy wanted to send a picture to his grandparents in Japan. He's actually a lot of help stacking wood, though I'm sure that will change in a few years, if I remember MY teen years correctly.

 

[Andre B.]

On one of the grenades I bought, it had been made in china and had the chinese english translation that said "Most Explosive Splitting Force"

Evidently they do not know about this kind.
(broken link removed to http://www.gasenginemagazine.com/complete-archive/539/)
_____________
Andre' B.

 

[quads]

Splitting by hand is great exercise and pretty satisfying work, too. I do about 20 full cords a year with an 8-lb maul.

I agree! Although I don't do quite that much wood every year anymore, splitting is my favorite part. Running the saw, hauling, stacking, and burning are just preparation for, or the result of, splitting. I have a wedge, but have never really used it. On the rare occassion that I come across one that I can't split with the maul (maybe two or three pieces a year), it gets left in the woods with the brush pile. I will never own a power splitter. Too slow, costs too much, one more thing to maintain and drag around in the woods. I am currently processing wood for 2012, but have run out of room in my yard to pile it so am splitting and stacking it in the woods. I like to keep a few years ahead!

 

[KateC]

I do... and so far am ejoying the excercise also.

However, when I get back in, the wife just says to me, "You need a shower before you come to bed." I don't think she's impressed with the pits...

Matt

Welllll..... have to say that when my honey grabs the maul I grab me a lawn chair, a glass of wine and opera glasses---way better than TV!

"Tarzan keep Jane warm" :coolsmile:

 

[colsmith]

I feel like an Amazon woman here. I use an 8 lb. maul as my regular splitting tool, and a 12 lb. Monster Maul type device on the bigger/harder rounds. At first the 8 lb. one seemed heavy, but now that I am able to use the bigger one (took a while to work up to it) the eight pounder seems so light! I like to split wood, it makes me feel very powerful when I take a swing and thwack! it flies into two pieces. Hubby splits wood, too, and does the really difficult and big pieces. He has a lot more wood splitting experience from all his camping and Boy Scout days. But he hurts his back frequently, so I am perhaps the more reliable one for the long haul. I have been using the weight machines at the Y and then my health clubs semi-regularly over the past 8 years, so I imagine that helped me get the strength.

I am intrigued by the wood grenade idea. I don't use the wedge and sledge thing, I leave that to hubby, I have no wedge experience yet. I learned my splitting technique from the internet! I read a lot about stoves and wood before we got our stove, online and in books. I have very good splitting aim, too, I am sure that helps. Its almost odd because I have never been good at estimating distances, and I have bad depth perception, but I hit the wood exactly where I am aiming most of the time.

 

[kevinlp]

Try the wood grenade. You'll be amazed. Get the cheap one from Tractor Supply to try it. Tap, Tap to get the grenade to stick. Wham, wham and watch your shins as the two pieces go flying and the grenade is stuck in the ground.

 

[DonCT]

I think this calls for a video :coolsmile:

 

[wg_bent]

I do... and so far am ejoying the excercise also.

However, when I get back in, the wife just says to me, "You need a shower before you come to bed." I don't think she's impressed with the pits...

Matt

Welllll..... have to say that when my honey grabs the maul I grab me a lawn chair, a glass of wine and opera glasses---way better than TV!

"Tarzan keep Jane warm" :coolsmile:

2 hours later, Tarzan grabs a beer and watches Jane fire wood into stove? :lol:

 

[hardwood715]

noticed that my local Home Depot now has two kinds of wedges: the normal 8lb kind like I have (natch) and a “premium” model for 3-4 dollars more that looks something like that Fiskars above, with wings.

When I broke the handle of my 8 LB, I replaced it with the yellow fiberglass handle, noticed the other maul with the fancy head. I bought it 6 LBer. Thought that fancy head would really make a difference, I'm back to using my 8 LBer, leave the fancy one for anyone that wants to help me when I split my wood.

 

[KateC]

I do... and so far am ejoying the excercise also.

However, when I get back in, the wife just says to me, "You need a shower before you come to bed." I don't think she's impressed with the pits...

Matt

Welllll..... have to say that when my honey grabs the maul I grab me a lawn chair, a glass of wine and opera glasses---way better than TV!

"Tarzan keep Jane warm" :coolsmile:

2 hours later, Tarzan grabs a beer and watches Jane fire wood into stove? :lol:

:lol: Hah! IF he's still awake that is. With his penchant for tossing in big wet smoke-bombs I prefer it that way.

Now I'm mentally gearing up to try splitting too---but I have tendonitis in both arms already and very bad eyesight so I don't expect much more than amusing the neighbors.

 

[jldunn]

With the results from the how big a chunk do you dare thread I'd think splitting wouldn't be a big activity. Chop down the tree, drag it into the living room, shove the trunk into the firebox. Just feed it in as the end burns up, might have to buck off some of the branches towards the top if you can't compress them enough to fit through the door.

 

[zzr7ky]

Bugette -

Don't underestimate yourself. Start small. Starting with smaller pieces, starting to work off the outer sections instead of attacking the middle of a big round can also help. That's what my 8YO son does. He also carefully gauges how hard to hit the round to split it, but not knock the remaining portion off the splitting block.

I had some serious surgery several times and tendonitis also. I built up slow and have no issues now. Start small, short seesions and have fun!

ATB,
Mike P

 

[KateC]

Jeremy---- :lol: ...but that would probably lead to another thread---"Shut the Dang Door!?"

zzr7ky----good tips and thanks for the encouragement---I'll definitely start small---like one whack at a rotted stump just to see if I can even get a maul up in the air!

 

[mtarbert]

Fiskars splitting axe..........is this some kind of Joke? I'm splitting 24-36" rounds of black oak and hickory and this thing looks like a toy. At 2 1/2 lbs there is no way I could swing this thing hard enough to split what I need split.
Mike

 

[Eric Johnson]

For pure economy and bang for the buck, a blunt-edge 8-lb maul that takes a standard sledge hammer handle is your best bet.

Kind of like my old '64 Rambler: nothing fancy, but it gets you down the road every time.

 

[jldunn]

I think you could swing it fast enough to generate quite a bit more power than your standard 8 lbs maul. Since our standard kinetic energy equation is (1/2)m(v^2) (no way to do math in here well, one half mass times velocity squared).

So we've got an 8 lbs maul, the energy of our impact is going to be

0.5 * 8 * 1^2 = 4 units (where the unit is based off the speed of an 8 lbs. maul on impact)

If you could swing that 2.5 lbs maul twice as fast, you'd get

0.5 * 2.5 * 2^2 = 5 units.

So if you can swing your 2.5 pound maul twice as fast (hard) as your 8 lbs maul you'll get the same force as if you were swinging a 10 lbs maul at the same speed as your 8 lbs maul. If you're not strong enough to hold an 8lbs maul over your head and really swing it down hard, it's probably quite likely that a person could swing a 2.5 lbs maul twice as fast as an 8lbs maul.

 

[quads]

Fiskars splitting axe..........is this some kind of Joke? I'm splitting 24-36" rounds of black oak and hickory and this thing looks like a toy. At 2 1/2 lbs there is no way I could swing this thing hard enough to split what I need split.
Mike

My dad used a double bit ax for splitting. It's all he had and he never had a problem with it. What's that weigh? A pound maybe?

 

[Bushfire]

For all you doubters out there (2.5 lbs, some kind of joke), I say go ahead and try the fiskers. You can be far more accurate with the thing, too. It done a good 4-5 cords for me, and still looks close to new. Now, most of the type of woods I split are straight grained and not stringy, so that may be the real issue here. You can also make this thing razor sharp, which is great for taking bark off. I'm telling you, it's the best 25-30 bucks I've ever spent.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Carpniels, if you're out there--what say you, bro?

 

[tradergordo]

Heh, we've already been though this before:
Physics: Calculating the impact of different size axes/mauls used for splitting.

From real world experience I have concluded that the heavier mauls (6-8lbs.) are generally more effective for splitting for most people (the effectiveness curve of speed vs. weight probably peaks around 8lbs for the average male wood splitter - only a physically weaker person will benefit from a lighter weight maul/axe - you physically cannot get the velocity of a lighter maul up enough to compensate for the lower mass).

I think you could swing it fast enough to generate quite a bit more power than your standard 8 lbs maul. Since our standard kinetic energy equation is (1/2)m(v^2) (no way to do math in here well, one half mass times velocity squared).

So we've got an 8 lbs maul, the energy of our impact is going to be

0.5 * 8 * 1^2 = 4 units (where the unit is based off the speed of an 8 lbs. maul on impact)

If you could swing that 2.5 lbs maul twice as fast, you'd get

0.5 * 2.5 * 2^2 = 5 units.

So if you can swing your 2.5 pound maul twice as fast (hard) as your 8 lbs maul you'll get the same force as if you were swinging a 10 lbs maul at the same speed as your 8 lbs maul. If you're not strong enough to hold an 8lbs maul over your head and really swing it down hard, it's probably quite likely that a person could swing a 2.5 lbs maul twice as fast as an 8lbs maul.

 

[Corie]

I'm with gordo on this one!

Hey gordo, its been colder down here these last few days, how has the dutchwest been running for you? I'm curious.....

 

[Eric Johnson]

All fancy math aside, it's the real-world experience that counts. And Gordo (who did all the fancy math before he wised up) is exactly right, IME.