Stocking firewood without chainsaws, what works best?

[Justus]

Work smart, not hard.

Homemade manual wood splitter 2013 - YouTube

I'd like to see that guy try that on some elm and cherry

 

[BrewerGeorge]

After hearing my BIL sold off his tractor and spliters (he just turned 60 and has lost the desire to cut/split) I am now considering the real answer here is call someone with a truck load of wood for sale. That may be the real answer here. Sell the saws and pay to have a load delivered and stacked....

I am fast approaching 65 and I was not looking forward to the task of replenishing all the wood we used up last winter. Looks like another rough on is coming.

There's a big danger of borer beetles doing this. I lost a fantastic Elm tree doing just this.

 

[churchmouse]

There's a big danger of borer beetles doing this. I lost a fantastic Elm tree doing just this.

There is inherent dangers in a lot of things we do.
We have 2 maples on the property as we live in town. I plan on doing this later in sept. and the wood is already cut/split.
We bought a lot of wood last winter as we had no idea it was going to be that freaking cold. We had ample put up for a normal weather pattern. It got so bad where we cut wood that there was no way into the area to cut. Had to buy it.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

There's a big danger of borer beetles doing this. I lost a fantastic Elm tree doing just this.

When you think that most people who buy wood are not hauling it from very far away, any pests you might get from the firewood are close enough to infest your trees anyway, it's not really a concern.

 

[ghitch75]

i'm getting lazy in my old age.......made one of these for my hoe.....

 

[churchmouse]

i'm getting lazy in my old age.......made one of these for my hoe.....

PERFECT.....I love it.

 

[9mmfan]

My dad used a splitting axe and on occasion a splitting maul and sledge hammer. Very labor intensive but he was in fair shape. No flab on him.

 

[Force10]

i'm getting lazy in my old age.......made one of these for my hoe.....

That is awesome! Have you seen the attachments the make for a bobcat that takes a entire log and cuts it to a uniform length, then splits it into 6 pieces? It's pretty impressive but complicated. I like the simplicity of your creation.

 

[ghitch75]

That is awesome! Have you seen the attachments the make for a bobcat that takes a entire log and cuts it to a uniform length, then splits it into 6 pieces? It's pretty impressive but complicated. I like the simplicity of your creation.

yes i have seen them.....the pic is not mine just one i got off the net.......mine is the same just don't have any pic's of it...

 

[DougBarnes101]

i'm getting lazy in my old age.......made one of these for my hoe.....

That ain't lazy - Work smarter not harder!

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Splitting maul. Momentum alone will split even the knottiest of woods, so long as they're properly seasoned. I wouldn't bother to try to split any wood that wasn't already seasoned.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Splitting maul. Momentum alone will split even the knottiest of woods, so long as they're properly seasoned. I wouldn't bother to try to split any wood that wasn't already seasoned.

I use a splitting maul also for all the wood I burn. I usually start to split right after I cut, just to get a start on it. I cut my firewood kinda short, about 16 inches so that it's easier to split. I did cut a big gnarly Osage tree and I looked online and several people said to split it right away, since it's hard enough to split when it's green, but harder when it's dry. I split a lot of it when it was green, but then I brought home more wood and buried up the osage with ash and maple, and when I get back to the Osage it will probably be dry, so I'll find out about that. Osage is really fibrous and tough stuff, but I hear it burns extremely hot.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I use a splitting maul also for all the wood I burn. I usually start to split right after I cut, just to get a start on it. I cut my firewood kinda short, about 16 inches so that it's easier to split. I did cut a big gnarly Osage tree and I looked online and several people said to split it right away, since it's hard enough to split when it's green, but harder when it's dry. I split a lot of it when it was green, but then I brought home more wood and buried up the osage with ash and maple, and when I get back to the Osage it will probably be dry, so I'll find out about that. Osage is really fibrous and tough stuff, but I hear it burns extremely hot.

I've found that most wood splits best at least 4 weeks after being cut (including osage). That gives it enough time to begin drying so the ends check and you can see the lines where it will split easiest. That also allows the wood to hard enough so that it splits and doesn't just flex away from the maul/axe. I normally try to split wood around that 4 week time-frame but sometime it goes as long as a year. The easiest wood I've split was some silver maple that had sat about a year. I split 1/2 cord in about 40 minutes with my Fiskars.

As far as Osage Orange specifically. I cut my wood 20" long and I had no problem splitting a bunch of Osage by hand. Yes, it does burn hot. It has the highest BTU content of ANY wood native to North America. It is heavy, rot resistant (heart-wood), and burn about like coal. I use Osage on the bitter cold winter nights to keep the house warmer, longer (so I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to stoke the fire).

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

I've found that most wood splits best at least 4 weeks after being cut (including osage). That gives it enough time to begin drying so the ends check and you can see the lines where it will split easiest. That also allows the wood to hard enough so that it splits and doesn't just flex away from the maul/axe. I normally try to split wood around that 4 week time-frame but sometime it goes as long as a year. The easiest wood I've split was some silver maple that had sat about a year. I split 1/2 cord in about 40 minutes with my Fiskars.

As far as Osage Orange specifically. I cut my wood 20" long and I had no problem splitting a bunch of Osage by hand. Yes, it does burn hot. It has the highest BTU content of ANY wood native to North America. It is heavy, rot resistant (heart-wood), and burn about like coal. I use Osage on the bitter cold winter nights to keep the house warmer, longer (so I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to stoke the fire).

I've only used a maul for splitting, but I'm just about convinced to get me a Fiskars X27.