Splitting logs

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

Hi all.

I've just felled a couple of diseased trees. They weren't quite dead but are still wet.

I've sawn them into logs of the right length for my stove.

Do I leave them To dry before splitting them with an axe? Is it easier to do or is there not much difference between fresh wood and dried. 

Mick 

[ebinmaine 67,463]

Ease of splitting when wet or dry depends on the species.

We find maples, oak, Birch to split fine wet or dry but Beachwood when dry is a knotted up twisted up tough mess.

 

Either way, they need to be split to cure appropriately.

[WHX?? 48,815]

What flavor is it?

Smaller stuff will dry on it own but anything larger than say 4 in. or 10 CM  should be cracked open. it will dry faster. 

As much as important is to keep it under cover and not use it for at least a year depending on species. We call that "seasoning" here Mick. 

Best to try and split it and see if it is stringy. If it is let it dry abit first. 

[Ed Kennell 38,165]

I used the axe and wedges for 40 years and most wood splits best when green.     

 

Now, my hydraulic splitter doesn't care .....green or dry.

 

[WHX?? 48,815]

2 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

I used the axe and wedges for 40 years

My shoulders hurt just thinkin about that! Although when I was younger....

My dad used to ream me good for busting the maul handle! 

Edited April 12, 2022 by WHX??

[stevasaurus 22,729]

I find wood splits best, by hand, when froze in the winter.  

[ebinmaine 67,463]

3 minutes ago, stevasaurus said:

I find wood splits best, by hand, when .....

....... Done by somebody else!

 

[Achto 27,570]

2 hours ago, WHX?? said:

My dad used to ream me good for busting the maul handle! 

 

" hit the  chunk of wood with the head, not the  handle!!" That's what was yelled at me. 

[Handy Don 12,217]

i used to yell at myself when I did that. "Can't you hit it straight, Don? What'sa matta with you!? (subsequent expletives deleted)"

Finally got a fiberglass handle with a protective sleeve and NOW I've stopped missing--go figure.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Handy Don

[ebinmaine 67,463]

10 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

i used to yell at myself when I did that. "Can't you hit it straight, Don? What'sa matta with you!? (subsequent expletives deleted)"

Finally got a fiberglass handle with a protective sleeve and NOW I've stopped missing--go figure.

 

Interesting. I followed a similar path.

I couldn't keep a wooden handle on a splitter to save my bacon so I purposefully bought a Fiskars with what is supposedly an unbreakable fiberglass handle.

I've hit it a time or two but I rarely use it anymore. You know what though? I didn't break it...

[dcrage 628]

Oak (especially wood from red oak varieties) are really slow to dry without splitting. In fact the whole log can rot if not split. Rotting takes several years; you do not need to immediately split. 

[ebinmaine 67,463]

Just now, dcrage said:

Oak (especially wood from red oak varieties) are really slow to dry without splitting. In fact the whole log can rot if not split. Rotting takes several years; you do not need to immediately split. 

I've been told Birch will do the same thing. Especially White birch. It's best to peel the bark and split the log ASAP.

 

[Stormin 9,981]

Split it, Mick. Below is the easy way as my assistant is demonstrating. 

 

Then store under cover for a year. Not under a tarp or inside. Allow air to get to it.

[ebinmaine 67,463]

43 minutes ago, Stormin said:

Below is the easy way as my assistant is demonstrating

 

Trina and her mom do about 95% of the splitting for us. I find that to be very easy.

 

 

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,041]

The extent that wood dries is relative to the ambient humidity. Takes 2 years here.

Last summer tried something new. Cut down maple trees after the leaves were fully developed. Let them sit until the leaves had dried on the tree - 2 or 3 weeks. Then blocked and split. That wood is as dry now as what was cut 2 years ago and burns the same. The shrinkage checks are very thin if even noticeable.

I guess the leaves pulled the free moisture and that started the shrinkage.

 

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

Thanks for all the advice.

I decided to see how splitting them now goes, while still pretty fresh.

It was really easy, I have a fiskars splitting axe with the fibreglass shaft and it was a breeze.

Maybe thati won't be able to move tomorrow but at least the wood is in for next year. 

 

[ebinmaine 67,463]

On 4/12/2022 at 12:36 PM, ebinmaine said:

Fiskars

 

2 minutes ago, Mickwhitt said:

fiskars splitting axe

 

Excellent choice!!

 

 

Nice work on that stack o' burnables Mick.  

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

I know its not much compared to the volumes you guys deal with but it is good for us now energy prices have gone mental.

[ebinmaine 67,463]

2 minutes ago, Mickwhitt said:

I know its not much compared to the volumes you guys deal with but it is good for us now energy prices have gone mental.

We fell, cut, split, and stack maybe four cord a year.

I know it doesn't exactly fall into the category of enjoyable for many people.

The BBT and I may be just a tad bit twisted. We really do enjoy the time spent and the physical energy burned in the process. 

[Pullstart 62,848]

Atta’boy Mick!  I love my Fiskars!  An old tire helps to keep from picking it up constantly…

 

 

 

 

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

22 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

Atta’boy Mick!  I love my Fiskars!  An old tire helps to keep from picking it up constantly…

 

 

 

 

What are you doing… making toothpicks ?

[Mickwhitt 4,621]

Decent load of cut wood to dry now.  

we don't have fires every day and really only when its pretty cold and we want to be snug.

i also get off cuts of wood from a woodwork buddy so we are pretty cost free on the wood front.

just looking into solar panels to see if we can save some electricity.

[Pullstart 62,848]

12 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

What are you doing… making toothpicks ?

I was splitting small stuff smaller for a quick, hot fire.  You could hear the audible blower (air mattress fan ) pushing into the Maple Syrup Machine we dubbed the ManTucket Syrup Factory.  It used to get so hot, you can only imagine what had to get tucked out the way during working hours 

 

https://youtu.be/aJgNuteTI2s

[Pullstart 62,848]

+1 for the Fiskars again today!

 

Oak rounds.  The split is 39” across.  The wood is 17-18” tall.  I successfully used the wedges a bit at the end, once I actually noticed the wood moving apart and cracked to the bottom.  Notice one wedge has a handle for easy retrieval.  It’s not safe to swing as a splitter, the handle is terrible loose.

[Pullstart 62,848]

15 minutes to half, 9 minutes to obliterate.  Go Team Fiskars!