Splitting wood by hand

[PhysAssist]

I may have to buy the wife one of those Fiskars and show her the budgie trick......we do have an anniversary coming up! She likes presents and this would definitely increase her productivity!!:thumbsup:

My boss has serious back issues, so I bought her a Fiskars hatchet, and she splits cedar for kindling..

It helps her feel she is doing her part and she truly is.

Thomas

 

[PhysAssist]

Do not get the Fiskars X27 splitting axe if you want a workout!
It takes all the work out of splitting firewood, the Fiskars X27 splitting AX is awesome.
Harvesting firewood just got a little better.
Thanks for everyone's help in selecting the right splitting AX.
sherpa

Congrats on the new tool!

I am very glad that you like it!
T

 

[PhysAssist]

I haven't split wood in decades, was one of my choirs when I was a youth. I always did it on days that were well below freezing so the wood would be frozen. Now that I burn wood again and have a hydraulic splitter the only splitting I do is to make kindling to make starting a fire a breeze. I would like to get something better than the cheap axe that I use now. It has to be light enough for one handed operation and short enough to split while kneeling. Since I can pick and choose which pieces of wood I'll split into kindling I usually pick the straight grain, no limbs wood. But that's not always the best wood to start a fire with. Lots of times yellow birch will not split cleanly. The small fibers often start quickly but it's hard to split into kindling. Any ideas which Fiskar would work well? They have so many different lengths and both splitting and chopping models. I assume chopping is for felling trees.

The hatchet or smaller camp axe, that is what my wife uses for kindling.
T

 

[Fidler4]

I just got a Fiskars X27 and love it. This is my first experience with splitting wood so I was surprised at how easy the logs split with one of theses. I do have a question. There is an old pile a logs that were on my property when I bought it. Some of the logs are rotted and others are partially rotted. A couple of pieces I split had ants living inside of them. Is it ok to use this wood for an outside firepit? Can I add it with my other newer unrotted logs? I don't have an inside fireplace to everything I burn will be outside. Thanks.

Jeff

 

[oosik]

When we first moved down from Alaska in '82 we had a wood stove and harvested our own firewood. It only took one day of trying to split our Ponderosa Pine for me to purchase the largest hydraulic splitter I could find. You can beat on a P pine round until you have a heart attack and not get anywhere. It is too fibrous and knotty. Most of the trees harvested here are from 30" to 38" on the butt. My property still has virgin pine and was selectively logged eight years ago.

 

[dmccarty]

I just got a Fiskars X27 and love it. This is my first experience with splitting wood so I was surprised at how easy the logs split with one of theses. I do have a question. There is an old pile a logs that were on my property when I bought it. Some of the logs are rotted and others are partially rotted. A couple of pieces I split had ants living inside of them. Is it ok to use this wood for an outside firepit? Can I add it with my other newer unrotted logs? I don't have an inside fireplace to everything I burn will be outside. Thanks.

Jeff

Let the wood dry and it will burn. It might not burn as long as a non rotted log but it will burn.

Later,
Dan

 

[turnkey4099]

... like this:

Yep. Took more effort and time than one swing with a good ax (Fiskar's) would have.

Harry K

 

[PhysAssist]

I just got a Fiskars X27 and love it. This is my first experience with splitting wood so I was surprised at how easy the logs split with one of theses. I do have a question. There is an old pile a logs that were on my property when I bought it. Some of the logs are rotted and others are partially rotted. A couple of pieces I split had ants living inside of them. Is it ok to use this wood for an outside firepit? Can I add it with my other newer unrotted logs? I don't have an inside fireplace to everything I burn will be outside. Thanks.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

The only thing I try to stay away from burning outside is pressure treated, because of the toxic smoke. Burning rotten logs and ant-infested ones is a good way to get rid of both, and may be less green house gas producing than letting it rot completely away naturally.

Take care,
Thomas

 

[Fidler4]

Hi Jeff,

The only thing I try to stay away from burning outside is pressure treated, because of the toxic smoke. Burning rotten logs and ant-infested ones is a good way to get rid of both, and may be less green house gas producing than letting it rot completely away naturally.

Take care,
Thomas

Thanks for the reply Thomas. I add them all to the stack.

 

[bacrow]

I'm late to this forum. I was looking for better ways to cut and stack wood. When I first started reading it I was just going to contribute my 2 cents. I have a old maul that my dad gave to me that never comes out of the shed. I used his old double bit axe with a wood handle when I was a kid, and I still use it today. I bought a single bit with a fiberglass handle to teach my son how to do it. I thought that was safer.

After busting my back and shoulders this weekend on white oak with those axes and the old wedges with an 8 pound sledge I think I may have to try the Fiskars.

Does the length of the handle make a difference? I'm only 5'8" and was considering the X25 instead of the X27. I think I will have to get one of them this weekend!