[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Splitting Firewood (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 11/8/2009 7:40:32 PM EDT
| What do you guys use to split wood??? |
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30 ton
Splits 26 inch slabs with ease. Did about 4 years worth this past spring. Best investment for serious wood heating fanatics! |
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16 # Monster Maul
Rarely have to hit it more than once. 
To me, it beats picking up big pieces to put on the splitter, and winds up easier and faster. Sometimes, we'll have 3 or 4 guys around and just keep passing it around every 10-15 minutes. Gets a lot done FAST that way! |
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Eh. 20 ton splitter. Best thing I ever bought. Not only can I split, but the GFs will run it
and take care of most of the splitting now. I use a maul occasionally for convenience, but even looking at it for exercise I had no real desire to split 2-3 cords of wood. WIth the hydraulic splitter I utilize pieces I would have tossed aside before. |
built a splitter with motor,cylinder etc from Northern Tool. had the I beam, tires and pipe for tank laying around. cost less than half of store bought and splits anything i want. my brother and I cut and split wood for us and my FIL. close to 40 face cord a year.
kids are great for spliting wood!! daughter didn't think so but I did
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Quoted:
Eh. 20 ton splitter. Best thing I ever bought. Not only can I split, but the GFs will run it and take care of most of the splitting now. I use a maul occasionally for convenience, but even looking at it for exercise I had no real desire to split 2-3 cords of wood. WIth the hydraulic splitter I utilize pieces I would have tossed aside before. +1 I still swing an axe to cut pieces down a bit, as needed. But mostly the splitter does the work. That's fine with me as I'm too old, and don't have enough time, to split 7 cord a year by hand. 
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I have been getting some large Maple lawn trees from a local village, some are 48' in dia. I cut them into chunks and then pick them up with a set of log tongs and hold them over the splitter set up in the horizonal position and break them in to pieces I can handle. This takes two people but is very easy only requiring someone on the frontend loader and one operating the splitter and repositioning the tongs.
If I have easy splitting wood like Oak, Cherry or Ash I will use a maul but other than that it is the splitter all the way. |
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a buddy loaned me his manual hydraulic log splitter. i didn't think it'd be worthwhile, but i'm splitting green wood, so it'll dry quicker, and it works well. it has one handle that is really easy (moves the ram very little) and one that is much more difficult (moves the ram a lot). i generally will get one of my kids (6.5 and 4) on the easy handle and we split wood together. i've split 18" long 16" diameter oak logs, it's a work out, but it works.
if TSHTF, and medical care is hard to find, it'll be prudent to reduce as many risks as possible. a hydraulic wood cutter is the best way to reduce risk when you're cutting wood. granted i've never hurt myself cutting wood, but the less risk the better. |
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This thread reminded me of a YouTube video that I saw about a year or 2 ago... I don't own a Bobcat but that thing looks like a really cool "attachment"...
What do you guys use to split wood??? |
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DH prefers a maul (8# I think he got) or sometimes a Monster Maul. The wedge he prefers is a Wood Grenade.
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Eh. 20 ton splitter. Best thing I ever bought. Not only can I split, but the GFs will run it and take care of most of the splitting now. I use a maul occasionally for convenience, but even looking at it for exercise I had no real desire to split 2-3 cords of wood. WIth the hydraulic splitter I utilize pieces I would have tossed aside before. +1 I still swing an axe to cut pieces down a bit, as needed. But mostly the splitter does the work. That's fine with me as I'm too old, and don't have enough time, to split 7 cord a year by hand. In another year or two, you can set the wood, and the little guy can run the ram. Just think about how much faster it will go, and he will feel (correctly) useful. Great for his self esteem. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
This thread reminded me of a YouTube video that I saw about a year or 2 ago... I don't own a Bobcat but that thing looks like a really cool "attachment"...
What do you guys use to split wood??? For about $20k it better be a "cool" attachment. |
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For the wedge and sledge guys I think I posted this last winter––this guy might still be alive if he had a tourniquet handy:
Maine man dies while splitting wood By Associated Press September 24, 2008 8:41 AM HOULTON, Maine — A Maine man died this week in a freak accident while splitting firewood. Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin says the victim, 58-year-old David Violette, was using a sledgehammer and a wedge to split wood on Monday when a piece of the wedge broke away and shot into his leg, severing his femoral artery. Violette managed to get back into his truck before he died from blood loss. Asselin says Violette apparently spun the wheels of his truck, which was stuck. The spinning tire caused a small fire that was quickly doused. An X-ray confirmed that a piece of metal was stuck in Violette's leg. The Monticello man was employed by Aroostook County as the superintendent of buildings. |
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Indeed!!! If your right, you can get a gently used Bobcat for less... I wonder what it costs to rent one for a half a day??? Quoted:
Quoted:
This thread reminded me of a YouTube video that I saw about a year or 2 ago... I don't own a Bobcat but that thing looks like a really cool "attachment"...
What do you guys use to split wood??? For about $20k it better be a "cool" attachment.
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Quoted:
For the wedge and sledge guys I think I posted this last winter––this guy might still be alive if he had a tourniquet handy: Maine man dies while splitting wood By Associated Press September 24, 2008 8:41 AM HOULTON, Maine — A Maine man died this week in a freak accident while splitting firewood. Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin says the victim, 58-year-old David Violette, was using a sledgehammer and a wedge to split wood on Monday when a piece of the wedge broke away and shot into his leg, severing his femoral artery. Violette managed to get back into his truck before he died from blood loss. Asselin says Violette apparently spun the wheels of his truck, which was stuck. The spinning tire caused a small fire that was quickly doused. An X-ray confirmed that a piece of metal was stuck in Violette's leg. The Monticello man was employed by Aroostook County as the superintendent of buildings. Ya, well... my father had a piece of a wedge stuck in his knee for 70 years. It happens but the odds of serious injury are about the same as getting killed by a meteor. |
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When I was about 12 I was holding a maul by the handle when my dad hit it with a sledge hammer. A piece broke off and embeded itself in my chest right next to my sternum. They took me to the ER in our small town, and our family practice doc took it out with a needle driver. I can to this day remember the scraping on my ribs as he grabbed them trying to find the piece of metal.
Today, I am an ER MD, and I look back at that and think that guy was completely insane. There was no surgeon in town, and I wonder what he would have done if he gave me a pneumothorax, or if he had lacerated a costal or internal thoracic artery. Oh well, ignorance is bliss, I guess. Just a little reminder to wear eye protection, and keep anyone who doesn't need to be around a good distance away when using a wedge or hitting a maul with a sledge. |
I like a 6-8 lb maule. Velocity works better for me than something like the monster maules. I can put up alot of wood with a maule. If it's big diameter stuff I split the edges first, and work inwards. I keep them pretty sharp too. Staying in the woods or on the field, the edge lasts. When I get older maybe I'll need a splitter. Maules can be seen above in first photo. Nothing like thge sound of splitting wood on a crisp day.
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here is the info
Actually there are a couple of sites that put the cost of the attachment closer to $24,000, then you get to come up with the skid steer. Vid and pics on the site. |
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For the wedge and sledge guys I think I posted this last winter––this guy might still be alive if he had a tourniquet handy: I lost track of how many cords of hickory and elm I split with a sledge and iron wedges. I started wearing eyepro after I got hit by a few fragments. Never anything flying that fast... ETA: Quoted:
spend my days splitting 24" cherry and black walnut rounds with a maul and a wedge? no thank you. 
ar-jedi http://wopr.losdos.dyndns.org:8081/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2500 But seasoned cherry splits so easy 
The only wood that ever drove me nuts was elm. Stringy as hell, would absorb wedges, and didn't even heat that well.... |
| I don't heat with wood, but the farm I worked on did. I can say without reservation that the vertical hydraulic spliters are 10 times better than the horizontal versions. Lifting some of those very heavy logs is for young people. With the vertical spliters you can just spin the log onto the plate and split away. No reason to lift anything but the chunks. The farm has a horizontal spliter for the back of a tractor, but they quit using it all together when they got the vertical. |
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I don't heat with wood, but the farm I worked on did. I can say without reservation that the vertical hydraulic spliters are 10 times better than the horizontal versions. Lifting some of those very heavy logs is for young people. With the vertical spliters you can just spin the log onto the plate and split away. No reason to lift anything but the chunks. The farm has a horizontal spliter for the back of a tractor, but they quit using it all together when they got the vertical. Horizontal splitting is much faster for me than vertical with smaller wood. I concur wholeheartedly though with the big stuff. I split a fair amount of big wood this season and hoisting it onto a horizontal splitter just wouldn't have been feasible. |
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Horizontal splitting is much faster for me than vertical with smaller wood. I concur wholeheartedly though with the big stuff. I split a fair amount of big wood this season and hoisting it onto a horizontal splitter just wouldn't have been feasible. i support the above post. 
the splitter i have does both horizontal and vertical. (ARFCOM approves?) there is simply no way to lift 18"-24" diameter cherry rounds all afternoon –– it's hard enough just to stand them up under the machine. ar-jedi |
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Depends on what kind of wood I am splitting.
If oak, poplar, etc. (straight grain wood) I use a splitting maul on the smaller pieces and on the bigger pieces I might use a sledgehammer and a wedge. I can split it with a maul IF THE MAUL HAS A GOOD STRAIGHT BLADE much quicker than I can with anything else––including a mechanical logsplitter. I can almost split it as fast as I can walk (slowly) on the smaller pieces if it is laying in a line like the tree fell, if that makes any sense. I set thm all up on the end I want up and the POP POP POP POP. The key on these is to not put TOO MUCH UMPH behind the swing. This will cause the maul to go THROUGH the wood and into the ground, causing you lost time. Aim for the cracks, when the mail hits pull it a little so it don't get stuck and it basically busts itself. A lot of this kind of wood I split the blade of the maul only goes an inch or two into the wood, the wood POPS open rather than splits. Wased energy to keep it going. It can also cause damage to the maul's handle if it hits the wood as it falls or if it doesn't split all the way. The little pieces––by this I mean about 12-15 inches in diamater or less, tend to move around and fall back on you when they split. If it has knots on it put them on the BOTTOM of the piece as you split it so the presure of the unknotty end will FORCE it to open. The bigger pieces or bad knotty ones need all your ass and back put behind your swing. NOTE: This goes for a maul or sledgehammer. Swinging wtih your arms and chest with the maul starting at head height will NOT split it well and will wear you down quicker. Your forearms are what put the power behind it on the downswing, not your biceps. Remember, as the maul comes from behind you––on a hard swing preferably from the back of your heels the part of your body you are putting behind the swing basically follows your swing.....ass....back...shoulders....forearm PULLS it down and you should come up on your toes as the maul hits. You got to give it all to the maul.
Again, follow the cracks. On big pieces I hit the center biggest crack a time or two and if that hollow THUMP sound comes I then move to the part of the wood closest to me, hit it once then if needed hit the far end CAREFULLY to avoid damaging the handle. . then start over. Hard to describe without pictures. A very important thing to remember when buying a maul is DO NOT buy one unless the blade has straight sides going back to the handle. It should look like a V when you are looking at it from the end. Daddy has one that flares out past the blade edge and you will kill yourself using that thng even on poplar. The blade is too thick. It should look basicallt like an axe head but with a thicker flat end. If it is pecan, sweetgum or some other tough wood a logsplitter is the only way to go, with a sledgehammer and wedge the distant second place.
GR |
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Quoted:
Horizontal splitting is much faster for me than vertical with smaller wood. I concur wholeheartedly though with the big stuff. I split a fair amount of big wood this season and hoisting it onto a horizontal splitter just wouldn't have been feasible. i support the above post.
the splitter i have does both horizontal and vertical. (ARFCOM approves?) there is simply no way to lift 18"-24" diameter cherry rounds all afternoon –– it's hard enough just to stand them up under the machine. ar-jedi http://wopr.losdos.dyndns.org:8081/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2549 You got to bow up and take it!
GR |