What is the biggest round you've ever split.

[spot]

I'm currently splitting oak rounds 2.5 feet across and 16 inces thick.
No hydraulics here, just me and the maul (and aspirin).
One can hear when the wood is beginning to give,
after about 10-20 swings...the "thunk" of the maul hitting the wood gets deeper
and deeper, then - the round cracks open.
Then it's time for rest.
(pant-pant-pant)

What is the biggest round you all have ever split?

What is the biggest that is possible?

Is there a world record?

 

[begreen]

We split up the 40" trunk of a madrona a few years ago. That was fun. They're pretty easy to split green, but a lot tougher when dead or seasoned.

 

[DriftWood]

Not really a round but a stump end at the city wood yard in the 80s. It was way to big for my 24 inch mac so I cut and split off chunks with wedges and a sledge and cut some more. Size? To avoid a fish story, way over 48 inches Dia

 

[Roospike]

62" base of an wind blowned downed old Oak . Got the whole tree and lost count of pick up loads. Splitter walked right through it ............awe , that was an easy year.

 

[restorer]

We split up the 40" trunk of a madrona a few years ago. That was fun. They're pretty easy to split green, but a lot tougher when dead or seasoned.

You did that by hand?? My hat's off. Turned some base of trunk wood for a customer. It was all I could do to split the waste off. The Madrone had sat for two years, in 36 inch rounds. Heart was still green. Did the splits by hand, but swore I would never do it again.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I recently got some 36" locust "rounds" (I wouldn't call the shape round, exactly, but a full cross-section anyway). Split like a dream. I don't think it would have mattered how big across they were.

Years ago I passed up what were probably 48" white oak rounds. Considering I couldn't hand-split some of the 12" rounds from the same tree (very wavy grain), I think I made the right decision.

 

[begreen]

The bulk of the splitting was done by power. We groaned with the large trunk slabs. Had to hand split them in order to move them to the power splitter. The really large chunks were sawn into major splits. They weighed a ton. Then two years ago we took down a green madrona. I split a lot of it on site. It was nice and easy, very clean splits. The stuff sets like glue when it seasons. But it burns really nicely.

 

[babalu87]

Yeah the ear will definitely tell you when she is ready to give. I have counted and one BEEG red oak round from last year that was one up from the stump took 27 wacks with an 8lb maul. The last few wacks I kept saying "this is the one" and nothing. I think I expended more caloric value on that piece than it will provide in the form of heat when I burn it I cut my logs at just over 20" and believe me it definitely makes it harder. Sometimes you cant help but have a round or two be shorter and when I get those 16" rounds its like candy compared to the over 20 crowd.
That entire tree (just over a full cord) is still stacked and I aint breaking into that till next season.
The thing about those big rounds is once you get it split up you look at the pile and think geez thats gotta be two/three days burning

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Over 4 feet. Lots of wedges and my 10lb sledge. They were long 3-4ft long pieces of maple. Given all the work I put into splitting up that tree I hoped it would burn twice as long and twice as hot as oak. It burnt well, but didn't throw nearly as much heat as I hoped.

Matt

 

[zzr7ky]

Hi -

Like Roo I had a 60+" Oak fence row tree blown down. Since no power saw we could get would cut it I bought a used 2 man saw. My buddy and I cut 2 slaces a night. Ate a sandwich, had a beer, then split it with wedges and maul. It made a good load in the old 1 ton p/u truck. It wasn't the huge task it seemed.

The neighbors seemed to think we'd lost our minds.

ATB,
Mike P

 

[DavidV]

after a hurricane blew thru here a few years back, when I started my wood stack. Guy down the streed lost some big trees. he hauled the root sections up to the road along with all the rest of the trees, using a tractor. I don't know how big it was orriginally but it was sections about 20 inches long and 2 feet wide. Some were too big for me to pick up so I woulid lift one side, set it on tyhe edge of my trailer, then pry the other side up on it. Those hatefull things took a long time to split. If I had my woodworking tools then I would have made somethig with the wood because the grain was beautiful. I would go out side and swing the maul at one of them for about 15-20 miuntes with no effect, then I would move to another stack of normal rounds. I did that for several months. Every once in a while I'd get a piece to split. After it had dried for 2 years you could just whack it with the 4 lb splitting axe and it came apart.

 

[spark949]

This is about the only round I want to split anymore.

 

[mikedengineer]

I have split around 48" diameter 4 foot long before. We used them for heating the maple syrup boilers. This was done with the use of a backhoe putting the log on the splitter. The splitter was run off a tractor. I don't recall the cylinder diameter, but it was pretty big. Those were the good ole days.

-Mike

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sure, we've split some mighty big ones using maul and wedges but just because a log is big doesn't tell the story. What really tells the story is what type of wood you are splitting and, with some, how you are splitting it. For example, if you split, say, a 48" red oak and then a 12" elm, which did you work the hardest at? Or let's take a maple and put beside it a beech. As most everyone knows, that maple will split nicely through the heart, but, that beech will not split through the heart so good. Better to split beech a slice at a time from the edges.

Have to tell a little story. Many, many moons ago paleface, we bought a splitter (had hurt my back and splitting doesn't set well any longer). A fellow who lives a mile from us had been splitting his wood with a splitter also, but one that was home made and used behind the tractor. He was always cussing that slow thing and the fact that it didn't work all that great. I suggested he should get one like ours. At first he just mumbled something. Some time later we went through that whole scene once again, but this time he mumbled a little louder and said he didn't think so.

This went on from time to time until probably 5 or 6 years later, one day he finally let more of his thoughts out. He was here and said that he wouldn't want one like ours because it would be too much work putting the logs up on the splitter. I said, "What?" Then walked over to the splitter, pulled the pin and stood the beam up vertically. Guess he had no idea it would do that. Well, it must have started him thinking a bit because about a month later he came down again and said he had some big white oak that he couldn't split and wondered if I could split them. No doubt he thought he'd show me a thing or two! lol So I hooked on to the splitter and took it to his place. Started it up and, with his help, rolled the first one on. In no time we had all 10 blocks, or logs, split. I told him any time he wanted to use it he was welcome. That afternoon he went to town and bought his own!

Believe me fellas, if you do much splitting, a good splitter is worth its weight in silver. Ours is only a 20 ton splitter but we've found only one block that it wouldn't split without a little help. Yes, that was elm. We split a lot of elm too so it gets a good workout every year. I can usually split for hours without hardly breaking out in a sweat.

 

[mikedengineer]

Sure, we've split some mighty big ones using maul and wedges but just because a log is big doesn't tell the story. What really tells the story is what type of wood you are splitting and, with some, how you are splitting it. For example, if you split, say, a 48" red oak and then a 12" elm, which did you work the hardest at? Or let's take a maple and put beside it a beech. As most everyone knows, that maple will split nicely through the heart, but, that beech will not split through the heart so good. Better to split beech a slice at a time from the edges.

Have to tell a little story. Many, many moons ago paleface, we bought a splitter (had hurt my back and splitting doesn't set well any longer). A fellow who lives a mile from us had been splitting his wood with a splitter also, but one that was home made and used behind the tractor. He was always cussing that slow thing and the fact that it didn't work all that great. I suggested he should get one like ours. At first he just mumbled something. Some time later we went through that whole scene once again, but this time he mumbled a little louder and said he didn't think so.

This went on from time to time until probably 5 or 6 years later, one day he finally let more of his thoughts out. He was here and said that he wouldn't want one like ours because it would be too much work putting the logs up on the splitter. I said, "What?" Then walked over to the splitter, pulled the pin and stood the beam up vertically. Guess he had no idea it would do that. Well, it must have started him thinking a bit because about a month later he came down again and said he had some big white oak that he couldn't split and wondered if I could split them. No doubt he thought he'd show me a thing or two! lol So I hooked on to the splitter and took it to his place. Started it up and, with his help, rolled the first one on. In no time we had all 10 blocks, or logs, split. I told him any time he wanted to use it he was welcome. That afternoon he went to town and bought his own!

Believe me fellas, if you do much splitting, a good splitter is worth its weight in silver. Ours is only a 20 ton splitter but we've found only one block that it wouldn't split without a little help. Yes, that was elm. We split a lot of elm too so it gets a good workout every year. I can usually split for hours without hardly breaking out in a sweat.

Good story. Those pieces I split where nothing compared to 24" diameter elm. That stuff is nearly impossible no matter how strong your splitter is. Maybe when it dries out it gets easier. I remember using the tractor to split elm and that stuff whould just twist and turn. I always thought you'd be better off bringing it to a mill and getting it ripped in half and call it a day. I have a 22 Ton splitter and I've recently did some 36" maple. It was some REALLY knotty stuff. My splitter made it through, but slow. I think it having the wedge really sharpe helped "cut" through the knots.

-Mike

 

[DiscoInferno]

I recently got some elm from a neighbor that had it stacked in the backyard for several years. The bottom layer was completely rotten, but the rest had just enough fungal growth to weaken the grain but not so much as to make it punky (still made a nice resonant sound when rapped). At least, I'm assuming this is why it was suprisingly easy to hand split, even the larger logs and crotches.

 

[Highbeam]

33" cottonwood, green. I know it wasn't that hard but the rounds were heavy. I've had more trouble with tight grained fir at half the diameter.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

[quote author="mikedengineer" date="1174003000]
Good story. Those pieces I split where nothing compared to 24" diameter elm. That stuff is nearly impossible no matter how strong your splitter is. Maybe when it dries out it gets easier. I remember using the tractor to split elm and that stuff whould just twist and turn. I always thought you'd be better off bringing it to a mill and getting it ripped in half and call it a day. I have a 22 Ton splitter and I've recently did some 36" maple. It was some REALLY knotty stuff. My splitter made it through, but slow. I think it having the wedge really sharpe helped "cut" through the knots.

-Mike[/quote]

Mike, we have a 20 ton splitter with a two stage pump and have already have split about a cord this winter (even did some today). Some did split pretty hard and I remember 2 that the wedge would not go through. I simply turned the log end for end and got it split that way.

Also, when you get one of those elm that splits easy, and we occasionally get them, count your blessings. Most people won't even mess with it. As for whether it splits easier green or dry, I do think it is a little easier with the elm at least partially seasoned. We cut most of our elm after the bark has fallen off the tree so it is not totally green when we cut it.

 

[Andre B.]

I'm currently splitting oak rounds 2.5 feet across and 16 inces thick.
No hydraulics here, just me and the maul (and aspirin).
One can hear when the wood is beginning to give,
after about 10-20 swings...the "thunk" of the maul hitting the wood gets deeper
and deeper, then - the round cracks open.

How were you splitting it, into two equal size pieces thru the center?

If so it works much better if you start at the edge and just take off small splits working your way around the block, those 10-20 swings would get you 8-16 splits.
Large blocks or small if it is the same type there is not much difference in how hard it is to split.

Not sure how long I will be online, network here took a hard hit Wednesday night and they are just now getting some of the computers back up.

 

[WarmGuy]

I've done some 36" pine that was dead easy. I usually split off a chunk from the side (that is, hit it just a few inches in from the edge). Once you get that first one, you just "walk" around the circumference -- whack, whack, whack.

 

[Mo Heat]

24" white oak yard trees with twisted grain. The core left after circumsizing those monsters was so twisted or forked that I had to leave a couple of them at about double size the norm, which is already pretty big for me.

Check out this monster elm that I discovered in Tennessee. It's over 6 feet in diameter IIRC. The placard claimed it was the biggest elm in the U.S.A. (or was it North America... or was it THE WORLD!?).

Warning: May cause nightmares in those who split by hand!

 

[spot]

--How were you splitting it, into two equal size pieces thru the center?--

Yep, right down the middle...
Each round in half, then each half in half, then each quarter in half.
Then chop off the "tips" of the (eighth) splits, then split the remainder in half.

Getting about 24 pieces (or more) from each round.

 

[keyman512us]

How's this one:

Maybe not "trully' splitting...a cross between splitting and carving. This pine stump was over five feet across (the 'splay' at ground level even wider). I do stump grinding...and my 'reputation' got me this job. The homeowner wanted the stump gone...but didn't want his lawn damaged by huge equipment (again...as big as the tree was it 'took some doing' to get it out with minimal damage). My machine will grind good sized stumps...but not if they are too high...so I had to 'cut it down a bit' (not to mention reduce the amount of chip) While the competition has 'bigger and better' equipment that could have made short order of this stump...I provided the level of service the homeowner wanted...and he paid accordingly...one of the best stump jobs I ever did too.

I would say "honorable mention" to the fact "tree guys" saw "high above the ground" to avoid the 'dirt splash' of the lower portion (which quickly dulls a chain)...cutting something this big...low to the ground isn't easy on a chain...
The 'splits' are 18" tall...the saw is a Stihl 036 with (I believe at the time) a 22" bar and chain.

 

[Andre B.]

No one uses a stick of dynamite when the going gets tough?

There was a time.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4351376.html

 

[burntime]

36" red oak. Had to cheat and cut it into 3rds or halves first so that I could actually menuver them onto the splitter. Just a 22 ton speedco/husky did it in. The wood has been seasoning for 15 months so far...it is NEXT seasons gold!