I need tips on hand splitting large ammounts of wood

I remember as a kid simply setting up rounds for my dad. If you have any help - get it - pay kids to simply set up your rounds and carry them away.

That will make you simply swinging the maul.

TF
 
May I suggest an MP3-player (or something similar)?
You're gonna be at it for a while:D

-jontok
 
If you have a large amount of wood to split and can't buy or rent a powered hydraulic splitter, you can buy or make a manual operated splitter for less that the cost of a chainsaw. I've seen them made from Hi-lift farm jacks and hydraulic bottle jacks and they work great. Here is one commercially made:

http://www.westcoastminisplitter.com/

A video showing several different splitters in action:

http://www.askthebuilder.com/Log_Splitters_Video.shtml
 
I watched a friend splitting wood and realized his technique was far, far better than mine. I couldn't see myself and my swing, so I didn't realize what I wasn't doing that I should've.

When he splits, he swings the maul DOWN, BACK, past his ankle, then UP and OVER in a giant circle and DOWN on the wood.

No muscle, totally relaxed, and you'd have to see the velocity of that maul head to believe it.

He's a woodsplitting machine. I'm still working on copying him. :)
 
Why don't you have a BYOB party? You know, Bring Your Own Blade, and have a batoning party with all the batoners here? You should be able to get it done pretty quick. ;)
 
I burn 7 cords of white birch a year to heat this house. I use a good chainsaw to buck up firewood. A good saw reduces the time and effort to cut the wood. Keep your chain sharp, stop cutting if the chain is even a bit dull and resharpen. I find sharpening easiest by placing the chainsaw bar on a vice. Sharpen each tooth and inspect the chain for irregularities such as broken rivets. Adjust tension.

I use a 5 pound axe for regular spliting, and a heavier maul for stubborn wood. I use a pickaroon to move wood around. This tool will save your back and your strength.

This is alot of wood and I am not exactly young and my health is bad, so I spread the work through the entire year.

Logging truck delivers 10 cords of 8 foot long birch. Then I buck it up and split it. I may do only an hour a day. Some days I only cut up wood, other days split or do both. When I am in better health I pile wood. Piling wood is by far the most difficult task- hard on my back, neck and stomach.
 
Always were eye protection!
If a piece won't split, chuck it aside. Don't waste your energy on it.
When your tired.... stop or take a break
 
FreedmRider said:
Always were eye protection!
If a piece won't split, chuck it aside. Don't waste your energy on it.
When your tired.... stop or take a break
Click to expand...

Exactly, I never waste my strength on stuff that doesn't want to split. It only takes a couple of good blows to deternmine if the piece is a dud for splitting. Set those aside for the 'overnight log'.:thumbup:
 
gloves are a good idea too, even if you don't need them to keep away the blisters. they keep your hands clean and safe from splinters and sharp bits of wood.

last weekend splitting i had a small chunk break off of a log and bounce off of my hand-the one strike i didn't wear gloves for-and take a small chunk out of my knuckle. not a real problem, but annoying going in and out of my pockets.
 
siguy said:
gloves are a good idea too, even if you don't need them to keep away the blisters. they keep your hands clean and safe from splinters and sharp bits of wood.

last weekend splitting i had a small chunk break off of a log and bounce off of my hand-the one strike i didn't wear gloves for-and take a small chunk out of my knuckle. not a real problem, but annoying going in and out of my pockets.
Click to expand...

About two weeks ago that happend two me twice in a half hour. it was like splitting with gun powder lol
 
what kind of wood are you splitting, do you know?

i sent you an email by the way, don't know if you got it...
 
I will be splitting some for my dad very soon, he had a 3 foot steel rod welded into the head after breaking a few handles, and that thing is heavy, you just let it do all the work. The edge is probably nearly as dull as a pencil, thats on it's side, btw, so I will give it a going over with the angle grinder for sure, a dull axe is more work for you.
I have heard of putting smaller rounds in a tire, so they all stay upright and you arent stooping as much, I guess you can't pack them too tight though.
 
Bufford said:
I burn 7 cords of white birch a year to heat this house. I use a good chainsaw to buck up firewood. A good saw reduces the time and effort to cut the wood. Keep your chain sharp, stop cutting if the chain is even a bit dull and resharpen. I find sharpening easiest by placing the chainsaw bar on a vice. Sharpen each tooth and inspect the chain for irregularities such as broken rivets. Adjust tension.

I use a 5 pound axe for regular spliting, and a heavier maul for stubborn wood. I use a pickaroon to move wood around. This tool will save your back and your strength.

This is alot of wood and I am not exactly young and my health is bad, so I spread the work through the entire year.

Logging truck delivers 10 cords of 8 foot long birch. Then I buck it up and split it. I may do only an hour a day. Some days I only cut up wood, other days split or do both. When I am in better health I pile wood. Piling wood is by far the most difficult task- hard on my back, neck and stomach.
Click to expand...

you need a short Pickaroon! you swing at the firewood chunk, lift it onto the pile and it comes of the pickaroon. NO BENDING! i stacked god knows how much wood last year with two of them, took me no time.
 
Bushman, I have used short pickaroons as well when helping out the neighbor. I am tall, and found the short pick was too small. I can reach much better with a long handle.
 
" line up a whole bunch of rounds in your yard, and just walk down the line swinging hard into each one. reline them up and keep doing this until they are the right size. this makes it very quick and you don't have to bend over and pick up each block to put it on your chopping block."

I used to do this trick all the time as a kid when I chopped a bunch of wood. It also made you feel like a maniac or something ;)
 
another good thing (not sure if mentioned) is with larger logs to kind of peel the outer edges. that is, if the log is 18-20 inches in diameter, just take 6-8 cuts on the circumference and don't try to split it down the middle the first time.
 
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