Large dead oak trees = brush piles, firewood, and tractor time !! Pictures

MotorSeven · Jan 21, 2013

If you split with a splitting maul try a Fiskars X27.....you will hardly ever pick up a maul again. The dang thing actually makes splitting fun:drink:

pharmvet · Jan 21, 2013

MotorSeven. I actually purchased one of those this fall and it truly has lived up to its reputation. Not sure If these chunks will split best now or after they have dried a bit. Thought about catching them during sub freezing weather as I have heard frozen wood splits well.

cqaigy2 · Jan 21, 2013

+2 on the fiskars

Pete Judd · Jan 21, 2013

Sorry to see the trunks going for firewood.. Some nice wide boards could come out of those trunks.

cqaigy2 · Jan 21, 2013

Pete Judd said:
Sorry to see the trunks going for firewood.. Some nice wide boards could come out of those trunks.

Is that you Pete? you gave me heck for cutting up some oak awhile back. I still wish i'd know about your sawmill before cutting up all that oak! :thumbsup:

kco · Jan 22, 2013

+3 on the X27. I have an electric splitter but do 90% of the splitting with the X27.

pharmvet · Jan 22, 2013

Pete Judd said:
Sorry to see the trunks going for firewood.. Some nice wide boards could come out of those trunks.

I agree, but these trees were dead and the higher up the trunk we cut, the tree began to get pithy.

MotorSeven · Jan 22, 2013

Yeah I like to split 'em as soon as they are bucked up. I have not tried the frozen split yet either. I was just surveying my stack and there is no way I have enough wood to make it until spring So I might get a chance to try it out...it's 19 here this morning.

Gary Fowler · Jan 22, 2013

If I recall from my youth, that being the only firewood cutting I ever did, for the easiest splitting you need to split them within a day of so of cuttting them or wait till they dry completely like about a year later. Green they split good, dry they split good, but wait a week or two and they wont split easily at all at least not with a maul as it just bounces out. If you have a hydraulic splitter I suppose you could do it whenever you wanted but it would work the splitter harder.

The same goes for burning when clearing forest. You can burn green trees if you let them set for only 3-4 days till the leaves start to dry out and they will burn completely. If you let them set for a week or two, they will only smolder and only the small stuff with burn. When the wood starts smelling soured it wont burn very well. You have to burn within a few days or let them set for about a year to dry out completely.