Hand Splitting Firewood

[RI Chevy]

Black Birch is a piece of cake Kenny. EZ
I cut several trees. In fact I even milled a piece.

 

[RI Chevy]

Here you go Kenny!

@Lightning Performance

 

[Wood Doctor]

I used to love splitting black birch in Connecticut last century. Hard to find it around here and hickory is just as rare. I used an 8-lb maul that I still own. Hydraulic splitters spoiled me.

 

[CrystalRiver1]

@Willhelm, do you have a pic or link for that ax friend? I tried to google it and got all kinds of fantasy BS.

Fantasy BS! lol
Was it Billy Idol who use to squall out, "Flesh For Fantasy?"

 

[fearofpavement]

I split most wood green because I have to get it stacked up or it goes bad quickly in our tropical Georgia weather. Now sweet gum is a different story. That stuff green will bounce a maul right back in your face. So it either gets dealt with later or with the hydraulic splitter. Nothing says "no" to the hydraulic.
Sometimes I noodle rounds but that's usually because I'm testing a chainsaw.

 

[Lightning Performance]

I split most wood green because I have to get it stacked up or it goes bad quickly in our tropical Georgia weather. Now sweet gum is a different story. That stuff green will bounce a maul right back in your face. So it either gets dealt with later or with the hydraulic splitter. Nothing says "no" to the hydraulic.
Sometimes I noodle rounds but that's usually because I'm texting a chainsaw.

I have a better option for sweet gum, just give it away for free.
Maple will rot here if not cleaned up, split and stacked.
Red oak is going to be gone to mush in five years laying, I'd bet, with double the rain fall the last three years. Ground here is saturated now.

 

[fearofpavement]

We burn about any kind of wood except for pines but it's all a result of doing tree work. If the wood is an undesirable species, we try not to bring it here but if we need to remove wood off the site we usually will utilize it. Pine we just pile up and burn. It's worth quite a bit if you have acres of it but if you just have a few trees you'll have to pay to get rid of it. Oaks, hickories and sweet gum makes up most of our desired firewood. I sell some but it's not worth much here. ($140 a cord) I currently have about a 4 to 5 year supply in stock.

 

[Al Smith]

I split it by hand for years even when I sold it but I was a lot younger then .It took me about 20 years to scrounge up enough stuff to build a splitter and 4 days to make it .With a 5 inc h cylinder it will split anything .A majority of my stuff is either already cut up or standing dead .It doesn't hand split that well but nothing stops that splitter .I get tired swinging an axe but that 11 HP Briggs engine doesn't need a break. Works for me .

 

[Wood Doctor]

Black birch has a bit more heat content than the river birch that grows around here. Regardless, I just got a call from a lady who has a truckload of river birch that was cut over a year ago. She says it's all mine if I want it. Not sure what the lengths are, but I think it's worth checking out, especially since it's dry. Cheers!

 

[Wilhelm]

Gnarly knotty turkey oak, no noodling just splitting with my Dragon Slayer ax.

 

[Wilhelm]

The bigger knotty pieces will make for very long burns in my cast iron fireplace.



Gnarly . . .

 

[stihl livin]

Why was frozen not a choice? Asking for a friend

 

[Wood Doctor]

Whenever I pick up a whole bunch of short stuff like this, I usually burn it along with regular 16" to 18" logs. My Federal Airtight 288 stove loves the chunks and swallows them like dessert along with the longer logs.

 

[Wilhelm]

Why was frozen not a choice? Asking for a friend

Because RI Chevy's mauls heated handle crapped out, as such he doesn't consider splitting at freezing temps.

 

[Wolverine]

Here you go Kenny!

@Lightning Performance

Can you make a vid like this for fresh cut elm? Asking for a friend..

 

[RI Chevy]

Lol. Not sure Ive ever cut one?

 

[RI Chevy]

Because RI Chevy's mauls heated handle crapped out, as such he doesn't consider splitting at freezing temps.

Smart guys never have to split wood at cold temps. All done ahead of time.

 

[Wilhelm]

Smart guys never have to split wood at cold temps. All done ahead of time.

So true.
I find myself processing firewood in Spring and Autumn for the most part.
I don't mind doing it in the Winter, but I hate doing it in the Summer.

 

[deye223]

Sometimes I just use a 50cc splitter especially on s*** like this .

 

[RI Chevy]

Wow. I've had a few rounds like that. Once the seal is broken they go a little easier.