log splitting help

B

bmilla35

Joined
Aug 29, 2007
Messages
1,601
Hey guys, just making this question public.

I had recently cut up some trees that the electric company cut down on our property, and really need some help splitting it. The maul and splitting axe don't seem to be effective at all.

I'm not sure what kind of tree it is, but someone had said something about it possibly being Gum? I'll take pics next week and hopefully that will help.

Anyways, I was thinking about getting some wedges. My uncle was telling me how effective his are on woods with a lot of knots, and such. I could imagine that steel is the only way to go, and a long tapered edge would be preferred. Anybody here make them, or know where to get them?

Once again, i'll try and get some pics sometime within a week

Thanks guys
 
you can probably buy some halfway decent ones from the local hardware store, but if you want to go high quality you can take a look at these:
spiral wedge
gransfors bruks wedge

i haven't used either of those, but i assume that they are good.

i have a couple of the hardware store variety. i ground the edges a bit thinner and sharper so they would stick in the wood. i would like to thin them out a bit more, but don't use them too often so i haven't done it yet.

if you are using the mail try striking near the edge of the round, and try thinning and sharpening the edge of the maul a little bit. it should be able to stick in the wood pretty easily with just its own weight to drive it.

by the way, wedges are good to have in pairs, or if you only have one have one or two gluts (wood wedges) handy. if the log is really tough, you might not be able to split it with just one wedge, then you have to drive in another (or use a glut) to open the split wider to break the wood apart.
 
you got a chainsaw?

buck the logs into 14" lengths, then cut LENGTHWISE along the grain. Go SLOW , you will get nice loing "noodles" of sawdust as opposed to chips, as the chain is "ripping" along the grain. You can quickly quarter a firewood round up this way, and as a bonus you get PILES of sawdust noodles, which can be used for starting your fire !
 
Wedges are a must for splitting any large amount of wood.

The twisted ones work best, but a cheapy from Ace hardware works well too.
 
If you have a lot to split I'd just go rent a hydraulic splitter for a morning.

Good luck
Helle
 
Far and away the best tool I've ever used for splitting was called the 'Monster Maul'. It would go through the toughest wood easily. The original company doesn't exist anymore, however a quick google search finds a few similar versions but these are lighter than the original 16lb one. Monster Maul
 
siguy said:
you can probably buy some halfway decent ones from the local hardware store, but if you want to go high quality you can take a look at these:
spiral wedge
gransfors bruks wedge

i haven't used either of those, but i assume that they are good.

i have a couple of the hardware store variety. i ground the edges a bit thinner and sharper so they would stick in the wood. i would like to thin them out a bit more, but don't use them too often so i haven't done it yet.

if you are using the mail try striking near the edge of the round, and try thinning and sharpening the edge of the maul a little bit. it should be able to stick in the wood pretty easily with just its own weight to drive it.

by the way, wedges are good to have in pairs, or if you only have one have one or two gluts (wood wedges) handy. if the log is really tough, you might not be able to split it with just one wedge, then you have to drive in another (or use a glut) to open the split wider to break the wood apart.
Click to expand...

I thought about thinning it out, but have absolutely no idea on how to go about doing that. Any ideas? It resembles the "monster maul" mentioned.

Also, I would definitely agree in that I would have to get two. This is some nasty stuff.

BTW, Helle, while i'm still young I kinda actually like splitting wood by hand :p. Just call me crazy
 
bmilla, i know what you mean about splitting by hand...my uncle has some 3 foot diameter oak logs in his yard waiting to be split. i keep asking him to let me come and split them up with my wedges but he wants to wait until he can buck them and borrow a hydrolic splitter for me to use...it would be done by now if he would have let me at them...

but anyways, your question: do you have a bench grinder with stone wheels on it? this is what i used on my wedges after seeing how much metal i would need to remove. i started on a 40 grit belt on the belt sander and quickly saw that it would take forever so i went to the bench grinder for a slightly hollow ground edge. on something this thick though it doesn't hurt.

you can make a wood glut or two fairly easily. you can take about a 3-4" diameter hardwood limb and cut off a section about 12" long (i used some maple). either with a hatchet or using something like a bandsaw cut it into a wedge shape. it doesn't have to be too "sharp" since the split will already be started with the iron wedge or maul.

oh and be careful and wear eye protection. watch everything carefully and try to avoid falling into a trance as you go into autopilot working. wedges can pop out of wood if they are not tightly seated before a firm strike, flying anywhere, and chips of metal can break off of mushroomed hammers and wedges. work gloves would probably be a good idea.
 
siguy said:
bmilla, i know what you mean about splitting by hand...my uncle has some 3 foot diameter oak logs in his yard waiting to be split. i keep asking him to let me come and split them up with my wedges but he wants to wait until he can buck them and borrow a hydrolic splitter for me to use...it would be done by now if he would have let me at them...

but anyways, your question: do you have a bench grinder with stone wheels on it? this is what i used on my wedges after seeing how much metal i would need to remove. i started on a 40 grit belt on the belt sander and quickly saw that it would take forever so i went to the bench grinder for a slightly hollow ground edge. on something this thick though it doesn't hurt.

you can make a wood glut or two fairly easily. you can take about a 3-4" diameter hardwood limb and cut off a section about 12" long (i used some maple). either with a hatchet or using something like a bandsaw cut it into a wedge shape. it doesn't have to be too "sharp" since the split will already be started with the iron wedge or maul.

oh and be careful and wear eye protection. watch everything carefully and try to avoid falling into a trance as you go into autopilot working. wedges can pop out of wood if they are not tightly seated before a firm strike, flying anywhere, and chips of metal can break off of mushroomed hammers and wedges. work gloves would probably be a good idea.
Click to expand...

All good information :thumbup:

My grandfather always put an emphasis on safety. We always had to wear jeans and long sleeves when working with him, that includes safety glasses, gloves and hearing protection.

Anyways, about the benchgrinder. My pap just so happened to be a precision tool grinder :D. We have "something" on the workbench at the farm, although I have no idea what it is. All i know is it has a stone wheel on one side and a wire brush circle on the other side. Does that help lol?
 
that "something" should work fine for a maul. actually, the wire brush wheel could do a good job of reducing the burr and finishing the edge somewhat, but i've never tried it.

keep it cool and take a peek after each pass on the stone to make sure you aren't going too far.
 
Alright, i'll take a picture of everything i'm talking about on Saturday probably. It's some pretty old stuff.

I might end up buying those black wedges soon though...like tonight lol
 
Hey bmilla35,

You got some great advice here. But, I still thought I would post on how I would approach it.

It is really hard to what the "best" thing to do is, without being there, and actually hitting the wood myself. But, here are generally the steps, in order, that I would do.

First....maybe it is just me, but I hate the monster maul :D

I would start with a normal maul, trying to get just edge slabs to come off. Once you get a piece or two to come off, it gets easier for the rest. However, for some really tough woods, this just doesn't help.

Next, I go to the next step, involving the chainsaw. Others mentioned quartering up the log, but I don't go that far. I sink one cut, the width of the blade into the wood. Like Bushman5 mentioned, you get the long, stringy "noodles". Be careful to watch that it doesn't clog the saw and all that. Next, I hit the edge perpendicular to the cut and it will usually get a piece to pop out. Once you get a piece to pop out, you can generally get more.

If step number two doesn't work, in my experience, it is some tough wood, and a single wedge won't work. It will just bury itself to the point where it can't be hit anymore, and has not split the wood completely. In which case, you will need mulitple wedges. Open a crack with one as much as you can, and continue to widen it with the next, and so on, until you get it done.

I wouldn't look to anything fancy or expensive, like spirals, grenades, etc. Steel wedge should do...hardware store, home depot, sears, etc. I have found that if the spiral and grenade type of wedges are going to work, then I can already get it apart with the maul, and do it much faster. That stuff just slows me down.

I hope that helps, and let us know how it goes.

I am sure that after you go through all that, you will learn what type of wood that is, and avoid it like the plague :D

B
 
briangandrews said:
Hey bmilla35,

You got some great advice here. But, I still thought I would post on how I would approach it.

It is really hard to what the "best" thing to do is, without being there, and actually hitting the wood myself. But, here are generally the steps, in order, that I would do.

First....maybe it is just me, but I hate the monster maul :D

I would start with a normal maul, trying to get just edge slabs to come off. Once you get a piece or two to come off, it gets easier for the rest. However, for some really tough woods, this just doesn't help.

Next, I go to the next step, involving the chainsaw. Others mentioned quartering up the log, but I don't go that far. I sink one cut, the width of the blade into the wood. Like Bushman5 mentioned, you get the long, stringy "noodles". Be careful to watch that it doesn't clog the saw and all that. Next, I hit the edge perpendicular to the cut and it will usually get a piece to pop out. Once you get a piece to pop out, you can generally get more.

If step number two doesn't work, in my experience, it is some tough wood, and a single wedge won't work. It will just bury itself to the point where it can't be hit anymore, and has not split the wood completely. In which case, you will need mulitple wedges. Open a crack with one as much as you can, and continue to widen it with the next, and so on, until you get it done.

I wouldn't look to anything fancy or expensive, like spirals, grenades, etc. Steel wedge should do...hardware store, home depot, sears, etc. I have found that if the spiral and grenade type of wedges are going to work, then I can already get it apart with the maul, and do it much faster. That stuff just slows me down.

I hope that helps, and let us know how it goes.

I am sure that after you go through all that, you will learn what type of wood that is, and avoid it like the plague :D

B
Click to expand...

Thanks!

alright, so, first off I pretty much have the monster maul lol. I certainly think it would be more effective it was was rounded out a little bit, something hopefully the "something" will be able to grind out.

I already tried taking some side slabs off, but was just flat out to hard.

I'm buying two wedges as we speak. It's the black one on the link I poster earlier from forestry suppliers. And i'm getting two :thumbup:
 
Alright my friends, as promised I took the pictures. They are by no means "good", but hopefully get the job done

This picture is the "something" I was talking about
P1000518.jpg


The next 4 pictures are of the mystery wood, that we finally almost split. Hopefully someone can help me out on what kind it is, and why it's so hard.
P1000517.jpg

P1000516.jpg

P1000515.jpg

P1000514.jpg


These are my new wedges, that did pretty good if you ask me. Notice the white mud looking substance on them. That is from the mystery wood, if that helps at all (also, it didn't seem wet when we were splitting it, but who knows)
P1000512.jpg


This is the maul that we used, along with the Fiskars Super Splitting Ax
P1000511.jpg

P1000510.jpg


And finally, the end product. Despite not splitting a chord of mystery wood :D
P1000513.jpg
 
I'm no expert but it looks like an Elm. Probably American Elm.

Do you remember what the leaves look like?
 
Rupestris said:
I'm no expert but it looks like an Elm. Probably American Elm.

Do you remember what the leaves look like?
Click to expand...

No leaves my friend :thumbdn:

It was down around 2 years before we touched it. All I know is that there were A LOT of branches coming off of it(it being the main trunk)
 
It looks like seasoned locust to me. If I leave locust on the ground here more than 6 months I can't cut or split it without alot of effort and dulling.
 
Jim G. said:
It looks like seasoned locust to me. If I leave locust on the ground here more than 6 months I can't cut or split it without alot of effort and dulling.
Click to expand...

I thought that too, but doesn't Locust have thorns on the branches?
 
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