A friend is felling a 30 ft sweet gum tree and asked if I want it. My splitting equipment consists of a maul and a 52yo body. Would this be a ton of effort to split w/o hydraulics? Thanks, Doug.
Sweet gum splitting?
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I know I'd take it for sure. Free wood is free wood, and it may be tougher to split than some other species, but I think you'll get the job done without too much hassle. What do you have to lose by trying?
Just like all opportunities its all relative. It depends on your needs + resources. I wouldn't take it, because I always find higher quality woods and have enough to be discriminating. While your taking the gum maybe some ash will become available, or maybe you won't have any room to take higher quality wood after taking the gum. Its a very relative decision!
webby3650 said:
I risk injury by excercising, you risk heart disease by not, and we all end up dead anyway. I plan to go down swinging.
Yeah....agree with the relative factor. If I was low, might give it a shot. But I've got 5 cords of oak, hickory, birch, pine ranging from 1-3 years split. And I'll say - the toughest I've found to split was the pine (probably yellow pine). Thanks for the input guys. Doug
I haven't split gum either - Sweet Gum is not native in this part of Pennsylvania, and not too common as a shade tree. I guess I should be glad that i don't have to put my money where my mouth is. We do have lots of elm, however.
I have split/burst a lot of sweet gum. The stuff is downright evil. Busts into a knarley mess. Stinks burning and is generally painful start to finish. I let'em rot in the woods anymore.
Thanks, everybody for input. BB, I relayed your words to my friend - raucous laughter ensued and to the street for county pickup, the sweet gum goes. LOL
I wouldnt touch it with a 30 foot pole with out a decent log splitter. I have tryed to split it with my fiskars ss and just bounces off even my 30 ton ram log splitter groans and grunts on the stuff just nasty
I like it, but you have to split it within a couple days of being cut or it is a nightmare. Love the way it burns.
My 8 lb maul and fiskars bounced off and I was swinging and connecting hard. The wedge kept poping out. So I loaded it in my truck and went to use my buddies splitter ( before I bought my own ) and it shredded on the splitter. I did not get a clean split on any of it. It does not stack well because of all the shredding. That was last year and I have not burned any yet. Maybe I will go get a piece to try.
If I needed wood I would take it but if any other option was available I would pass on it.
If I needed wood I would take it but if any other option was available I would pass on it.
Eisele said:
I have to try splitting a couple of Sweet Gum rounds, just to make me appreciate the other wood that I currently think is hard to split.
myzamboni is right, you have to split it right after its cut and then its not total torture. but its very wet when green so you can't stack it in a tight shed right away or it will mold. and when it dries its very light.
Thanks, Flint. I must be a wimp - I avoid even partial torture. LOL.FLINT said:
When thinking back - I split these 5 cords with a maul---and one species (maybe the birch?) split so straight and easy. Like the maul air current from a miss would still cause a crack. I gotta figure out what species that was and FIND MORE.
no way, you aren't a wimp. splitting gum SUCKS! no matter how you do it - it even kind of sucks splitting it with a log splitter as its so stringy you sometimes have to rip the pieces apart.
i was just saying, if you can split it green right after its cut, its a little better, but still not fun.
the only other thing that I can think of that was comparably horrible was some huge knotty beech that we tried to split one year - that was ridiculous.
never split birch, but tulip poplar, ash, and red oak are all very easy to split (usually) and cherry can be easy.
i was just saying, if you can split it green right after its cut, its a little better, but still not fun.
the only other thing that I can think of that was comparably horrible was some huge knotty beech that we tried to split one year - that was ridiculous.
never split birch, but tulip poplar, ash, and red oak are all very easy to split (usually) and cherry can be easy.
I have a lot of it around and burn it often but I will not split it. It usually grows tall and straight so if it is less than 9" in diamater I will buck it, stack it, and burn it. It burns better than Poplar.
Bspring, how long do you dry a 9" round of sweet gum?
I need to visit upstate SC. Grew up in the most redneck town in SC - Gaffney and did undergrad at Wofford.
I need to visit upstate SC. Grew up in the most redneck town in SC - Gaffney and did undergrad at Wofford.
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