Summer weather was not the problem here.

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hickoryhoarder

Minister of Fire
Apr 5, 2013
764
Indiana
Hundreds of trees came down in our small city last week, unfortunately. One was a native black cherry in a friend's yard. I normally split nothing in the summer, but along came a morning of 58 degrees, and we did not sweat. But don't be deceived -- hardest work I've ever done splitting.

The photo shows 90 minutes of splitting work, starting with big rounds (16" long). Should normally be 30 minutes work. The tree had been alive, so green as anything (lots of water). And the grain varied from a bit twisted to major twisted.

The easiest wood to split is seasoned cherry without twisted grain, so I was telling my friend, "Oh, that should go easy...."

On some rounds we had to use the wedge many times -- on the round, on the halves, on the quarters...

People over 55 do not attempt this, unless somehow you still have great shoulders and elbows. I'm 70, and will not work with both a twisted grain and green wood again. (Split with a maul, wedge, and sledge.)

[Hearth.com] Summer weather was not the problem here.
 
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Yeah, it is reminiscent of elm, which I fortunately last split in 1984.
 
That is why many years ago I bought a splitter

[Hearth.com] Summer weather was not the problem here.
 
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That is why hydraulics rule, work smarter not harder.
Agreed, however if I can buck up easy splitting stuff like ash and oak I find I can split it by hand with almost no bending or lifting and then simply pickaroon the pieces into the trailer. And if I'm in a groove I can usually swing an axe faster than a splitter for the first couple hours at least....
 
Agreed, however if I can buck up easy splitting stuff like ash and oak I find I can split it by hand with almost no bending or lifting and then simply pickaroon the pieces into the trailer. And if I'm in a groove I can usually swing an axe faster than a splitter for the first couple hours at least....
I agree Oak and maple can be easy to split but Elm, Hickery and Ironwood
are not so easy and at 74 the splitter is the only way to go
 
Most of the pains I have now are results of what I did when I was younger. Use your brain instead of your brawn, no awards given for pains only Ibuprophen. Learn from the experience of others.
 
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Most of the pains I have now are results of what I did when I was younger. Use your brain instead of your brawn, no awards given for pains only Ibuprophen. Learn from the experience of others.
Very true but as a guy who works in orthopedic surgery I will actually tell you more of the people I see with problems are the sedentary type. And my farmers and contractors who have been working their butt off their whole life do sometimes still end up with issues but they usually bounce back great from treatments
 
Very true but as a guy who works in orthopedic surgery I will actually tell you more of the people I see with problems are the sedentary type. And my farmers and contractors who have been working their butt off their whole life do sometimes still end up with issues but they usually bounce back great from treatments
Yes, being active (without hurting yourself) is good. I'm just 3 years behind the OP. I've encountered a lot of wood like that. At a certain point I'll stop working on a stubborn piece. It may be larger than ideal, but it will still burn, albeit maybe not how we'd want it to.

No splitter here yet.