Good fences make good neighbors...

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
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...because your horses won't be fertilizing your neighbors' lawn! :D The permanent fencing around our horse pasture is pretty ancient and weathered so it's often in need of a little extra propping up. I like to split rails to make the repairs for free while making most efficient use of the wood available on my small plot. Splitting rails takes requires different geometry than a conventional splitting wedge since you use two or more wedges to walk your way down the length of the pole. The wedges benefit from being smaller and thinner to make the process more controllable. After completing the travel of your splits down the length you then chop through the connecting strands with a hatchet or other similar tool.

Traditionally, back in the day when metal tools were more precious, the usual kit was a beetle mallet, one iron wedge, and a couple of gluts (wooden wedges) but while a wooden mallet is still preferred, metal wedges work better for the task if you have them available vs. the gluts. The problem is there aren't many metal wedges on the market that are the right size/dimensions to be good rail splitters. However, these li'l guys landed at my door today and I can't wait to give them a go. Small aluminum felling wedges. This should work a lot better than the couple of unhung hatchet heads I was forced to use (and baby) before.

1796535_10203002767258575_1612150453_n.jpg


Anyone else use wedges for non-firewood duty? A humble edged tool, but a dang handy one. :)
 
It will be interesting to see how those hold up. Do you know the aluminum alloy used?
 
Nope! Should hold up fine though. I use a wooden mallet so damage should be minimal if any crops up. Will definitely keep ya' posted, though. I'll be grinding an edge on these but it'll be more similar to the bevel on a shovel than one on a steel wedge.
 
For those that are curious I just weighed one and it's 8.4 oz :)
 
Every time I've split rails (and one time planks) off seasoned cedar logs I used wooden wedges (red alder, cut on site) but then cedar practically splits itself and I wouldn't call it a true test of a good wedge. One nice thing about the made on site wedges was that I could make them as long as I needed for the log I was working.
 
Cool. Please let us know how they perform. I only have one aluminum wedge and I haven't even tried it out yet. I suspect that even using a wooden maul or beetle that the aluminum wedges will eventually mushroom. But they'll last a good long time.

At a trail work party I once split an 18 foot cedar log with plastic felling wedges. Thank goodness we had a lot of them.

Splitting%20the%20log.jpg
 
The reason why I prefer metal for the wedge vs. wood is that I can better guide the split as I walk the wedges down the rail. Crooked pieces will sometimes want to deviate or wander if you let the split walk itself. The edge of a metal wedge can bite to scribe the path of the split when needed to keep it on track. I also have a vintage steel felling wedge on the way from the 'bay. It'll see the "rougher" bits of guide work to keep the strain off the aluminum ones.
 
Nice picture s_p.

Please excuse me for this novice question,

There's a large sugar maple (2 foot diameter) that I have access too, but I don't have a chain saw so I've cut a 40 inch section with an axe with the hopes of splitting some pieces to use for handles. I've never split anything so long and wide (and heavy) and I'm afraid to make a mess of it. Is my best (only?) option to use wedges?

Sorry for interrupting the thread, and thanks for any replies,


wdmn
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The reason why I prefer metal for the wedge vs. wood is that I can better guide the split as I walk the wedges down the rail. Crooked pieces will sometimes want to deviate or wander if you let the split walk itself. The edge of a metal wedge can bite to scribe the path of the split when needed to keep it on track. I also have a vintage steel felling wedge on the way from the 'bay. It'll see the "rougher" bits of guide work to keep the strain off the aluminum ones.
Click to expand...

I think steel wedges are the best for this work. Kept sharp, you can drive them into cross grains and sever the connection. The trouble with felling wedges is that they are narrower than the sledge. Once they sink below the surface you need a narrow hammer to drive them. Or you can double them up.

wdmn said:
There's a large sugar maple (2 foot diameter) that I have access too, but I don't have a chain saw so I've cut a 40 inch section with an axe with the hopes of splitting some pieces to use for handles. I've never split anything so long and wide (and heavy) and I'm afraid to make a mess of it. Is my best (only?) option to use wedges?
Click to expand...

If your piece is straight-grained then it will split fine with wedges. I would have at least 3 and more likely 4 wedges on hand before I attempted that split. In a pinch, 2 steel wedges and 2 wood wedges would probably do.

If your stock is not straight-grained then it won't make a very good axe handle anyway.


Sorry for interrupting the thread, and thanks for any replies,

wdmn
Click to expand...

I like the interruptions. Questions keep things interesting.
 
Thanks Square_peg;

It's a beautiful tree with nice straight grain. The only reason it was cut down was because it's too close to some power lines. All of a sudden I have access to more good hardwood than I could possibly manage even if I wasn't a novice without a chainsaw.
 
Square_peg said:
I think steel wedges are the best for this work. Kept sharp, you can drive them into cross grains and sever the connection. The trouble with felling wedges is that they are narrower than the sledge. Once they sink below the surface you need a narrow hammer to drive them. Or you can double them up.
Click to expand...


Most of the rails I split are from trees only about 4-6" in diameter, so it's not really an issue. If I were doing bigger stuff I'd be using long wooden gluts in tandem. Ideally I'd have a bunch of steel wedges in different dimensions all at my disposal, but aluminum was the hardiest stuff I could find in the dimensions that were ideal for my particular splitting tasks. :)

There are those nifty socket wedges out there, but again the ones available in the US are only aluminum. I've found some Austrian-made steel ones, but it was on a foreign site that doesn't ship to the USA.
 
Just a thank you to FortyTwoBlades, Benjamin, for his help in locating some 7" aluminum felling wedges. They were a very reasonable price too.
He gave me the info via a P.M.

I have several plastic and vintage steel felling wedges, but just couldn't find any aluminum felling wedges in the USA.

Thanks again for your help, Tom
 
FortyTwoBlades, Benjamin, WOW...I have to thank you for the help with the 7" aluminum felling wedges. They arrived today, they shipped 3 of them priority mail for $8.95. The larger size felling wedges were priced at $12.39 each. That's one heck of a deal. I've seen plastic wedges priced around this price point and higher.

They are just what I wanted and haven't been to find for the last several years.

They are the mirror image of the ones you posted, only larger. They measure 7" long, the bit is 3.25" and the heel is 1.5 X 1.75 inches. They are made in Canada. I really like the rough sand cast finish on them along with the ridges that are cast into them. They will bite when driven into a cut and I'm sure they will not slip back out.

I have several trees to fell up at our place in the U.P. MI. It is a wooded forty that hasn't been logged for 20+ years and some of the popple (Aspen) trees have really gotten large. Some are within falling distance of our buildings and should come down before they become wind falls.

Thanks again for your kind reply with info about these. They will be put to use.

My regards, Tom
 
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Glad to hear it! On a similar note I had a large vintage steel felling wedge arrive that'll be perfect for doing the rougher parts of the splitting. It'll need some cleaning up, though--the corners have some nice cracks that are ready to let go.
 
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