Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[KennyG]

Just finished splitting a couple of ash and elm trees by hand. Been a couple of years since I've touched my maul, but I finally got back in the groove (sort of). Had to partially split some of the bigger elm pieces with the saw before I could make any progress on them...

Getting ready to drop another dead elm today and hoping it is dead enough to split a little easier.

I would like to have a splitter, but just don't normally process enough wood to justify it.

For me it would take about three rounds to justify the splitter. I quit using a maul about 20 years ago.

 

[WinterDeere]

I would like to have a splitter, but just don't normally process enough wood to justify it.

For several years before buying my own, I used to split about 75% - 90% of my wood by hand, and just toss aside the stuff that was going to be difficult. Then I'd rent a splitter one day or weekend per year, to both plow thru the difficult stuff, and get a little ahead on the rest. A Saturday rental once per year wasn't that expensive, and my local place would give me Sunday for free, as long as I had it back by 7 or 8 am on Monday.

 

[dodge man]

I like mixing elm in with oak, it seems to keep the oak burning better.

 

[John_Mc]

Just finished splitting a couple of ash and elm trees by hand. Been a couple of years since I've touched my maul, but I finally got back in the groove (sort of). Had to partially split some of the bigger elm pieces with the saw before I could make any progress on them...

Getting ready to drop another dead elm today and hoping it is dead enough to split a little easier.

I would like to have a splitter, but just don't normally process enough wood to justify it.

Well, you a working with the two opposite ends of the spectrum as far as hand-splitting difficulty goes. Ash almost splits itself (we joke that if you look at it too hard, it will split clean in two). Elm is a total pain in the butt to split: that twisted interlocking grain makes it a bit of a pain even with a hydraulic splitter.

A trick when hand-splitting large Elm: instead of trying to split it into "pie wedges" (split through the center of the log) as you would split most wood, try splitting flakes off the outside, so much of your splitting effort "sort of" follows the growth rings, rather than cutting across the rings and through the middle of the log.

Not sure if I'm describing it well or not. If you are doing what I'm saying, the remaining unsplit log will look a bit like a hexagon or octagon when you are done with the first round of splitting off flakes. If needed, go around again, making that hexagon smaller. Only when you have a relatively small core remaining do you bother trying to split it in half through the center of the log.

 

[Runner]

Well, you a working with the two opposite ends of the spectrum as far as hand-splitting difficulty goes. Ash almost splits itself (we joke that if you look at it too hard, it will split clean in two). Elm is a total pain in the butt to split: that twisted interlocking grain makes it a bit of a pain even with a hydraulic splitter.

A trick when hand-splitting large Elm: instead of trying to split it into "pie wedges" (split through the center of the log) as you would split most wood, try splitting flakes off the outside, so much of your splitting effort "sort of" follows the growth rings, rather than cutting across the rings and through the middle of the log.

Not sure if I'm describing it well or not. If you are doing what I'm saying, the remaining unsplit log will look a bit like a hexagon or octagon when you are done with the first round of splitting off flakes. If needed, go around again, making that hexagon smaller. Only when you have a relatively small core remaining do you bother trying to split it in half through the center of the log.

Thanks for that info. I kind of learned the trick of "chipping around the outside" you describe by accident, but yes it really helps. I have also noticed that, if I can get lucky and split down the middle first, I can usually split the halfs easily.

For that reason, on the really difficult pieces, I have gone to cutting a groove down the middle first with the saw.

 

[Runner]

For me it would take about three rounds to justify the splitter. I quit using a maul about 20 years ago.

I've wanted a splitter for about twice that long. After having to deal with a rash of dead trees this year, I started thinking about it again, but I keep coming back to three issues:

Storing a splitter takes up space, don't want another engine to think about and I really don't have to split that much. I don't burn wood and everything I split is just saved for friends and family to use.

I briefly considered a three-point splitter, but after watching a few videos and looking at my specs, it looks like it would be exceedingly slow on my JD2520 due to hydraulic flow rate.

 

[John_Mc]

I like mixing elm in with oak, it seems to keep the oak burning better.

If your Oak isn't burning well, are you sure it is properly dried? Oak seems to be the one wood I cannot get into the desired 15-20% moisture content range with just one summer's worth of drying.

Most other species, if I get it split and stacked out where it is exposed to the sun and wind in the spring, it will be ready to go in the fall. (I tend to stack in single rows for quicker drying, rather than butting multiple rows up against each other.) For Oak, I generally need two summers, unless I'm splitting it almost down to kindling size.

 

[CalG]

Thanks for that info. I kind of learned the trick of "chipping around the outside" you describe by accident, but yes it really helps. I have also noticed that, if I can get lucky and split down the middle first, I can usually split the halfs easily.

For that reason, on the really difficult pieces, I have gone to cutting a groove down the middle first with the saw.

The electric motor powered inertia splitters might be a choice for you.

I just took a look at the search returns and didn't see the type I remember. (Domestic production)
A fellow I worked with had nothing but good to say about the one he had.

 

[Rockbadchild]

it is true that you guys summer are longer but ourself up north we need 2 summer minimum...although 4 summers stored in the elements is too long.

 

[Gregster613]

I peeled a half dozen 16 foot hemlock logs last week. I used a long handled "edger". As I have for the past 30 years. I haven't come across a proper spud.

I'm still aching in the upper body. 72 years old is too late in life to be peeling logs. But I just added four new ones to the pile ;-)

I can just imagine how sore you must feel! I peeled a lot of popular wood when I was a teenager and had lots of spunk, I don't even think about anymore! We used a sort of tire spoon and in the summer the sap would make the logs peel fairly easily, but was still quite a chore. I'd try to get a hundred 8' sticks a day but often fell short of that.