Wood Splitting Purists.....

[Shmudda]

Wanted to send this out there with the fall and winter coming upon us and ask the question of you wood chucks.....

In todays fuel hungry, automated world how many people actually still use the old splitting maul to split their wood? When you answer the question, note how much you burn and split/stack per year too.

Me....I burn about 3+ cords every heating season, which heats my house quite well and keeps my gas bill nice and low. I also split all my wood with a 10 lb maul. About the only thing automated with my whole operation is my Stihl 036 Pro, and MS 460 that just hawg thru the logs. Of course, I use a good old trusty 1993 Honda TRX300FWD ATV to skid the logs to their final processing area before they are bucked into smaller pieces for splitting.

Needless to say this activity is quite a passtime with me as I have at least 12-14 cords stacked, dried, and ready at all times.

Lets hear what others do...........

Craig

 

[schmism]

if i had to pick a favorite from of excersize it would be splitting oak.

I Only own a splitting mall, sledge, couple of wedges.

I only burn between a .5 and 1 chord a year in my garage stove. I supplement the tree wood with a lot of old busted up pallets i pick up. I burn pallets and wood shop scraps about 1:1 for my tree wood i use.

 

[Mighty Dodge]

I burn around 3 cords a year. Used to split it all the old fashioned way until 3 years ago when I finally bought a splitter. I still like doing it manually, but the older I get less so.

M.D.

 

[randy41]

not sure how much wood i burn per year but whatever i burn i split by hand. maybe a couple of cords.

 

[IXLR8]

I go through about 1.5 cord a year to help heat my home. I have a 15lb rock splitting maul that I put an edge on to split the wood that I have been using for the last 35 years. If I can swing it... I can split it! Last month my neighbor brought over his log splitter to help me out. It is a home made job, 8" I beam, 12ft long, 5"dia cylinder, 36" stroke, adjustable stop can split logs up to 48" long, has old Mack truck wheels on it... a monster... nothing stops it. It sure is making me think about getting my own splitter as I get older and that 15lb maul gets heavier and heavier.

 

[Deerlope]

I think it should be required that everyone replying state their age(66). I use to split 40 cords with a double bit axe(with I still have) per year. When I got to 47 years old and the family was needing more of my time I built my first splitter. When I built my new house and super insulated it I gave the spiltter away. Six years ago I felt guilty about not burning wood because I had so much of it just going to waste. I put in an outdoor boiler and and built another splitter.

 

[billbill1]

I am 56, I split everything I burned by hand for about 20 years. I bought a splitter and have never looked back. I'm not in nearly as good of shape now either, splitting with a maul is very good exercise.

 

[Reg]

I have a hydraulic splitter, I quit burning wood soon after I got it, SIL has it right now.

The best routine for me was to fill up the saw and cut until it ran out of gas.
Walk around with the maul, kick 'em upright and split right there.
Load up the garden way cart and haul them off for stacking.
By the time I had stacked the saw was cool enough that I didn't have to worry about gas on a hot exhaust muffler, so I would re-fill the saw and start over. This got me through stacking everything that was split and splitting everything that was cut, typically quitting after 3, maybe 4 cycles of this.
I found it gave me a good work-out without getting saw buzz hands, lower back pain, or any other concentrated stress type problems. Splitting with a maul got me to straighten up, stretch my back from the stooping of sawing, probably all GOOD for me.

OTOH, that hydraulic splitter was serious WORK !!!
Everything had to be hauled TO it and again FROM it.
It was "stooping work" and my lower back suffered.
To have enough wood to feed it for a while took a LOT of continuous cutting (saw buzz hands) and I would often quit for the day with some split, some cut, some stacked, etc.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I am 59. I did hand splitting 3-4cord/yr for a while before I built my splitter/combination DC generator welder. Hand splitting can be very satisfying, but it forces you to be pretty picky about the wood, or else tolerate a lot of frustration. With the splitter, the whole tree, of any variety you choose, just gets split onto the pallet and transported to the woodpile. I typically just carry the tree to the splitter in one piece if space allows, and then cut it to feed the splitter. Crotches and knots sometimes get masticated so I save them for the top of the stacked pile.
larry

 

[Reg]

Spyderlk,
I found that too.
I learned to be selective about what I would hit with the maul.
Crotch pieces got "trimmed" to get small slabs off, sometimes I would arrange my cuts around where the crotch piece was, sometimes I would set them aside for outdoor evening chat fires if they were too big for the stove. Other times I would just cut them to thin enough slices.
They give you something to think about and problem solve while also doing the mere physical stuff (-:
Oh yeah, I forgot the age thing; I have a few on Ya (-:

 

[curly]

I'm 53. I was splitting about 2 cords a year by hand. I have some spine issues though, had 4 in my neck hooked together (the middle 2 blew out) and now I have several bulging discs in my back. I used to think that hand splitting would keep me feeling young, but the last couple times I was feeling pretty old, the impact just wadn't doing my spine any justice. So, I got a splitter. I just got it a short while ago but I've split a pile with it.

I have to say though, it ain't near as satisfying to see a stack of wood that was split with a splitter than it is to look at the stack you hand split with a maul and wedges.

There are still plenty things to do around here to keep me imoving though, but splitting with that maul ain't gonna be one of them now I reckon...and I'm ok with that But for those who have the time and back, I say go for it, it is very satisfying indeed.

 

[keving]

I burn about 2 cords per year and expect that to rise when my shop woodburner gets installed this year. I'm 42 and split everything by hand with a 10lb maul. I've been using my grapple to move the trees to where I need to split/stack. This saves handling it twice or more times. I've gone back to my "root ball" pile (about 2 years old) and cut as much useable wood off of these now that they have seasoned. I can see where splitting with a hydraulic splitter would make quick work of the "Y"s and other crotch pieces.

It is very good exercise...

 

[JDeerekid]

I burn around 20 face cord a year as wood is my primary heat and have the propane for backup if it gets real cold or if I am not home for a couple days.

It all depends on how much wood I am splitting at a time and what type of wood it is. If I am just cutting one or two trees down I will spit it by hand with a 10lb splitting maul. If I get a whole load of logs or if I am draging alot of trees out a cutting alot at one I get the hydraulic splitter out.

 

[LBrown59]

In todays fuel hungry, automated world how many people actually still use the old splitting maul to split their wood? When you answer the question, note how much you burn and split/stack per year too.


Craig

Good wqay to loose an eye like a friend of mine did several years ago.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Us hillbillies in Kentucky burn RICKS of wood (half a cord as I understand it...4' X 8' X 2')

We use 15 to 18 ricks per winter, burning it in a conventional fireplace (albiet a BIG one) in the house and a wood stove in the shop. House has natural gas forced air heat that I can keep from running at temps as cold as 30 degrees by simply keeping a good fire in the fireplace.

I burn white oak, hickory, ash, and beech. This winters supply was cut LAST summer/fall. Working on NEXT years pile over the next dew weeks.

61 years old, splitting maul is for beating on the hydraulic splitter when it won't work, which so far, has never happened. I hand split wood for many years. Bought a splitter 10 years ago. Bought a BETTER one last winter. Either buy a splitter or pay a chiropractor. I don't like pain, so I've bought TWO splitters.

Got sick and tired of cheap, "dept. store" chainsaws about 5 years ago. Bought a Stihl MS260 and MS390.

I'm that guy who has "old school" ways. Just not with my firewood.

 

[dmccarty]

With good dried wood we burn about 2.5 cords to heat the house. That would be 5 ricks for KY Hillbillies.

But last year I split about 4 cords ie 8 ricks.

For the first couple of winters in the new house I split by hand. For about an hour I can outsplit the wood splitter. But after an hour I'm done splitting. With the hydraulic splitter on the tractor I can split for 4-6 hours which gets pretty close to a cord of wood done. I bought a splitter that does not have me working bent over the torture device. I spent a summer on the Ohio River in KY splitting wood into ricks.

The good thing about splitting by hand is you are not really stuck in one position for any length of time. The bad thing is the last maul I bought was too short and I bought the long handled one I could find. It was easy to have wood come back and hit my shins. Not fun.

I got the splitter due to time constraints and my bad back. Not good having a bad back but its worse when you are in your early 40s.

Later,
Dan

 

[SPYDERLK]

For the first couple of winters in the new house I split by hand. For about an hour I can outsplit the wood splitter. But after an hour I'm done splitting. With the hydraulic splitter on the tractor I can split for 4-6 hours which gets pretty close to a cord of wood done. I bought a splitter that does not have me working bent over the torture device.
Later,
Dan

The key thing about outsplitting a splitter is youve gotta be honest. Youve got to stick with straight grained red oak, locust, and poplar, etc. Extremely satisfying. It just comes apart. Little or no wedge work. When you deal with other woods or parts of the tree that are more stubborn, the hyd splitter barely feels it, whereas the hand spitter is trapping his maul and wedges and having a lot less fun per swing than hed prefer.
larry

 

[firedog]

I'm 53. I was splitting about 2 cords a year by hand. I have some spine issues though, had 4 in my neck hooked together (the middle 2 blew out) and now I have several bulging discs in my back. I used to think that hand splitting would keep me feeling young, but the last couple times I was feeling pretty old, the impact just wadn't doing my spine any justice. So, I got a splitter. I just got it a short while ago but I've split a pile with it.

Yeah, I'm 46 and had a two level fusion (C 5-6-7) last December, and a lumbar laminectomy back in '01. I always enjoyed swinging an axe/maul, but I'd rather sleep without my arms & legs going to sleep too. Hydraulic all the way!!
Luckily, we only burn 1/2 cord a year. It just don't get cold enough here, unless ya crank the A/C on.

 

[curly]

Yeah, I'm 46 and had a two level fusion (C 5-6-7) last December, and a lumbar laminectomy back in '01. I always enjoyed swinging an axe/maul, but I'd rather sleep without my arms & legs going to sleep too. Hydraulic all the way!!
Luckily, we only burn 1/2 cord a year. It just don't get cold enough here, unless ya crank the A/C on.

Ha, yeah it's bad when your arms or legs go to sleep way before you do...or they decide to continue sleeping long after you've woke up...or they just take long naps during the day when you're wide awake But that nerve pain is the real killer , it will force you to make the necessary changes.

 

[vsteel]

I split my wood by hand. I burn about 2 cords a year to keep the house nice and warm. I burn pine in a Quadrafire millennium stove. If I stuff it full I can get 8 hours of the load so I can keep it going 24X7.

My chainsaw of choice is a Husky 372XP with a 24 inch bar will full compliment chain. (I don't like to use the anti-kickback chain, I like the aggressive stuff.) I figure if I can't cut it with the 24 inch bar, then its too big for me to do anything with.

I did cheat last year and didn't go into the forest and get it. I had a guy with a log truck come and dump a full load of logs in my back yard and I just cut and stacked it in my shed from there.