What Chainsaw do you run?

Next time I head to my shed

 

This is fine , and I agree --that is if all your wood is ideal for splitting. Most of this stuff - a 4foot at trunk Red Elm , and a 4 foot at trunk Shingle Oak, There is no way your method would work.

EDIT -- the Red elm is not yet in the pic -- it is there now.

 

Those were/are good old saws. MY now deceased FIL had one of these years ago -it was the first chainsaw I ever used. Are you sure about the age --that saw may go back to the late 60's. That was when Homelite still made a good saw!

 

Pretty sure you would need a heavier axe for such wood like this.? Green and dense that oak is. We have a lot of ash that probably just fine for a chopping axe

 

Never split oak or elm so can't comment on that. Biggest rounds I have split using this method were gnarly old pine which can be pretty easy to spilt I'll agree but it also gets some mean knots in it. Those were probably 4' + across, it was 25 years ago but I remember parking my dirt bike on the stump. Talk about a cardio workout - just did the math and you would walk 250' by the time you circled each round enough times to spilt it to the center I learned to give the axe a little twist as it bit and I could fire chunks of wood 8' off the side of those rounds.
These days I'm not burning wood for heat so I'm maybe only splitting half a cord for the whole year and just whatever needs to come off the trees around the house - mostly maple and all less than 18" across. Split some walnut the other day but those were just baby branches my neighbour tossed over the fence.
Lastly, I know different people have different opinions about different wood being easier to split either green or seasoned. I have found the maple splits a lot easier after it's sit for a year - I buck it into 4' lengths when it comes down then after a year or so I'll further reduce it to 16" and split it to burn in a couple of months.

 

We’ll find out what to split and not too soon. Most likely grab what’s been seasoned and give a go

 

I have had some Red/black oak chunks that the sap/moisture had frozen inside (you could tell by the ice crystals). This stuff was so easy to split that it would almost split by dropping an ax or splitting maul on it. With strictly that kind of wood a person with a maul/ax could out split a single person with a hydraulic motor driven splitter. Unfortunately, as we all (should) know this is rarely the case!

 

Different varieties of wood age/cure differently. Even within the "oak" variety their is a big "gotcha". White oak --that stuff can lay on the ground for 2 years and it is still fine , even if you don't block it up. Red/black oak ---no way it will rot from the insides out if you don't work it down and get it off of the ground. In the pile -again reds/blacks will self rot way faster than the white oaks. Hickory would last very well -except for the worms eating it into dust. Osage Orange "hedge" will last forever . This is why it does not rot if stuck in the ground as fence posts. BTW is the highest BTU/Ton wood that grows in North America. Seechart below
I season my wood at least a year before burning. I know I burn more wood this way, but way less worry about creosote build up! I had some split up (by me in small pieces) white pine I got delivered for free by a tree service bringing some huge chunks of "pin-oak" . The pine log (8ft) just "happened to be on the trailer with the pin oak (I did not ask for it). I let the pine dry for a year+ -it still built up extra creosote in my flue. It was good kindling. The plus side was you could lite it with a single match to get the fire going with the very small sticks of the stuff.
Microsoft Word - Firewood Chart A.doc (ncsu.edu)

 

I like your comments mark... full of informative information! I think I’ll be splitting wood tomorrow with a splitter only because we have so much to split and Saturday is silver maple cut and haul day

 

If you have access to a splitter it is the only way to go. Now if you are young, strong, and want to ("TRY TO") show off your physical prowess in wood splitting by hand, then go for it! Trouble is that if you have the wrong variety of wood to show-off with, then the only thing you be able to show off is your expertise in BS and making mistakes!
I have never split any significant amount of Silver Maple to remember doing it. I think it is pretty soft wood. Hard maple is another story -they call it hard for a reason. both of these maples are respectable in the BTU chart.
Enjoy your exercise and drink a few cold ones when you are done

 

G’morning fellas. Off to do some silver maple this morning. We had lots of help last weekend, this weekend not so much. That’s ok, should be a lot smaller pieces to work with this time around. Hope brother joe and I don’t have to make 2 runs to deliver wood the 4 hours of splitting yesterday kinda wore me out. Regardless we’ll get it done . Enjoy your day fellas!

 

Spent a good chunk of yesterday taking down a cedar tree at my parents' place. It got a bit exciting when the second trunk tried falling the wrong direction, which would have dropped it on a power line. We had to throw a chain around it and pull it over the right way.

First trunk down and almost cleaned up.


Dad and brother starting to burn the initial pile.


Nephew on grass fire patrol.

 

Makita battery-powered. Takes two 18V batteries. Very handy to have in the truck north of Algonquin Park because you can drive in and a tree can fall on the road behind you afterward. If you don't have a chainsaw you'll have a bad day.

 

Our tree project went well​

 

Nice work
Good to see the kids helping out

 

4 hours of spitting yesterday with the kids and joe did some splitting when we got unloaded at his place today... Iv had enough wood chores for 1 weekend ;-)

 

I know how you feel cut trees all day at work then once fall hits I gotta do it weekends to get firewood ready

 

That's some beautiful wood. The growth lines are amazing. Cut that into 3" thick slices and make some table tops.

 

Would love to!! But life gets in the way of a lot of things that I would love to do!

 

I fall timber and run a log processor at work. I get to find the good firewood and have my skidders bring it in. We start in spring and cut firewood all logging season. I have preset buttons for firwood in the processor makes it easy! No weekend firewood unless its stacking or burning it at hone.