While I appreciated the gesture, that thing liked to have killed me. Oh, it works - if the wood is dry and if the grain is straight. I managed to split everything but the trunk using that and a maul, but when it came time to do the trunk I broke down and bought a wood splitter.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
What doesn't kill you will make you strong
Shortly after we moved in here, we had a huge hickory tree come down on the property, leaving me to cut it up and split it to burn. I was over at my in-laws bitching about having to split that entire tree with just a maul and wedges, so they went down and bought me the commercial version of the tool in the video. I don't think they realized how much wood I had to split.
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People pay big money to go the gym for that kind of work out.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the old adage about fire wood warming you twice, once when you cut it and again when you burn it.
You forgot the part about stacking it. That warms you another time
DeleteIt's actually four times according to my ex-mother in law from VT.
DeleteCut, split, stack, burn.
Nemo
You"ll find that Hickory trees don't have a center tap root and are much more susceptible to getting blown over. If you have a few days of rain followed by a windy day you will lose hickory trees. On the up side it makes great firewood.
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect all variety of Hickory due indeed have a tap root as well as walnut,butternut,white oak https://www.extension.iastate.edu/pages/tree/site/roots.html
DeleteI got my splitter 3 yrs ago and it WAS some of the best money I ever spent. Watch them digits bro.
ReplyDeleteScrew that, get a hydrologic log splitter, either gas or electric,
ReplyDeleteThis just replaces the maul and wedges; it doesn't make the work any easier.
ReplyDeleteAll well and good on small stuff but there are always those gnarly ones that require two wedges.
Of course they're cherry-picking (ha! wood joke) the pieces they're splitting to show off the tool
Item last. Video looses credibility with the soft-toed, canvas shoes.
Folks that know got to use tools and work with their hands don’t need such bullshit. Stay in the city pussy, you will get hurt. Keep that mask on, it helps to filter your bullshit.
DeleteI noticed that too, the urban millennial, soft shoes.
DeleteHere's the method I use to split wood:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.firewood-for-life.com/splitting-block.html
Works great because (1)The tire cushions the blow and keeps the maul head inside the tire (safer) (2)You don't have to bend over to pick up the split pieces. (3)You can put one large log inside the tire or several smaller pieces. (4) It costs almost nothing to make one of these set-ups.
I used to use a heavy maul until I got a lighter Fiskers maul. Much easier to swing, indestructible handle. Just keep it sharp. I've never done a time test but I'm certain it's much faster than a gas powered splitter. Plus there's no gas engine to maintain.
That looks almost as fun to operate as a post pounder.
ReplyDeleteI think I've tried about ever gadget there is. The best is a hyrdraulic splitter. I'll cut my wood all season, then go rent one on a Friday from United Rentals and turn it in Monday morning. It costs less than buying one, and if it breaks down, they repair it. I can rent one for 6 seasons for the cost of buying a new one. Sometime in those 6 seasons, you know they will be replacing it with a new one. So I get to use newer equipment, too.
ReplyDeleteHaving just spent a few hours this morning cutting and splitting wood wood I hoped that video would show me an easier way, no I will stick to the maul and wedges. It's not even for me but for a old lady who likes her comforts but is strapped for cash.
ReplyDeleteThat looks a lot harder then my maul and wedges to use. I have been heating with firewood exclusively, for over 30 years. I did buy a splitter but I used it for two years and its sat ever since. Won't even run now. I enjoy splitting with a maul, its great exercise and its out of doors and not a noisy temperamental PIA!
ReplyDeletePull the cover for your pull start and clean the corrosion off the flywheel and magnets. Mine quit running too and that was what was wrong with it. Took me 15 minutes.
DeleteIf you decide to sell it, you'll get better money if it's running.
Pretty sure I wouldn't be doing that work while wearing running shoes.
ReplyDeleteHydraulic wood splitter.
ReplyDeleteHydraulic wood splitter!
ReplyDeleteUnless you own one of those high end expensive bobcat attachments that does ALL the work for you wrangling firewood is work.....period. But firewood helps keep you independent from utilities...and thus government.
ReplyDeleteIndependent from government ... until the assholes in the county decide burning wood will Destroy The Earth and ban it for all homes except those heated only with firewood.
DeleteKen, Would you be so kind to post the link to the you tube vid? When I right click the menu does not include the usual info to copy the you URL.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nemo
It's not a youtube video, it's from a site that I use for videos.
DeleteHere's the link - just hit the download button below the video and it'll dump it on your computer or phone.
https://izismile.com/2021/03/02/thats_a_neat_device_video.html
OK, a couple of things. I thought the EPA essentially outlawed wood stoves. I used to have a wood stove that was my only source of heat for the house. However, I did it the easy way. I used to work for a truss plant. The cut offs fit well and I could stoke the stove to burn all night. Didn't cost anything but a little time to stack.
ReplyDeleteThey're not outlawed in Tennessee. I've got one in my house and all the farm and hardware stores sell them every fall.
DeleteDo you live in California by any chance? I know they're outlawed there unless it's your only source of house heat.
In California EPA approved stoves and inserts are required in new construction homes but not in older ones. Our place was built in '94 and we heat with a Fisher Grandma Bear, 80's vintage.
DeleteMy county doesn't have no burn days because of air quality like they do in the valley, where you sometimes can't have a fire even in an EPA approved stove.
I used a splitting maul exclusively for about 15 years. 3 years ago I got a kinetic log splitter. It beats the mail hands down and is way faster than a hydraulic splitter. It’s a 3 second cycle.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t used the mail since I got it.
Ha, Best time to work on wood is in the morning.
ReplyDeleteAs a boy, I split a lot of wood with my Dad back in the day. Dad never did anything small, so we had 3 wood splitters and a set of wedges & maul. Two "unicorn horn" splitters running from a tractor power take-off and one of those hydraulic ram things that pushes the wood into an axe blade things.
ReplyDeleteSplit it, throw it in the truck and stack it somewhere to dry, then take it to the house to burn, all year long.
If I never split another piece of wood it'll be too soon!
I said all that so I could say, it's good experience to have!