Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

do any of yall use a wedge to split the larger rounds (2'x2')? I have some that are a straight bear to get through but have never tried to use a wedge-n-sledge technique. I know a bunch of yall use a splitter, but Im not that lucky haha. there seems to be a few different designs for wedges and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the different ones or if one was sooooo much better than the other. cheap wedges. I don't want a $100+ wedge to break up 10 large rounds.

 

I do. I'll whack a line across the log with the maul, insert a wedge about 6 inches in from either side, and go to town with the sledge, one hit per wedge until it splits. I picked mine up at a yard sale, a bucket full of them for $10. You want the wider splitting wedges so that you can really force the log apart.

 

Whatever wedge you decide on, get two. I've often pounded one wedge a little too deep into some twisty rounds and gotten them stuck. Need a second wedge to continue to split and free the first.

 

sweet. thanks guys. ever had any problems breaking them? ive read a couple of reviews of them breaking.

 

Must have been cheap wedges, then. Wedges are supposed to be made out of a softer steel so they'll bend rather than breaking. If people are having problems with them breaking, they probably had crappy Chinese steel units.

If you're worried about it, find some old ones like I did. Then you're guaranteed that they won't break.

 

sounds good! thanks bud.

 

What can happen over time is the top of the wedge will mushroom out and have a lip. If struck incorrectly, this lip can shear off at incredibly high speeds and cause safety issues. Simple solution: occasionally grind the top of the wedge before the "mushrooming" becomes too pronounced.

 

And obviously wear safety glasses.

 

While not a splitting wedge, I worked with a guy who was using a railroad spike hammer that had a bit of a mushroomed end. He took a swing and understruck, hitting the top of the rail which sheared off a piece of the hammer and it flew into his neck like a bullet. It narrowly missed his esophagus and carotid artery, but he was out for nearly a month recovering.

 

Spiral wedges FTW

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=41142&cat=1,41131

 

"Almost makes wood splitting fun." Lol.

 

I had forgotten all about lee valley! I love that place. I used to spend hours just looking at all the stuff I wouldn't have any idea how to use haha

 

haha I don't split enough wood to have it become a chore yet. I actually do it because its relaxing and helps me unwind. and also I love fire and wood stoves. sadly we no longer have one.

 

They do work awesome , I have a couple

 

Nothing as impressive as yalls set ups, but its not bad for living in the hot hell hole called the winterless fucking south. also, picture.

 

My grandmother's yard is full of beetle kill and dieing allepo pines. A heavy wind last week blew the top out of one, so I felled the rest of it and bucked it up. The big rounds are still green, could barely load them myself.

 

I know what I'm doing when I find my wedge...

 

Another storm heading in tomorrow, filling the basement.

 

I've used a couple different types of wedges for splitting a variety of wood from birch to maple. I usually use an axe to split wood rather than a maul. I can swing it faster, and more times in a day without wearing out so fast and it bites into a round deeper than a maul. Some of the pine I was splitting was knotty stuff, so I would start it with the axe, then go after it with a maul to break it open more. Now on to the wedges: I don't pull out the wedges until the axe and maul collectively aren't getting anywhere.

1. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ludell-4-lbs-Wood-Log-Splitting-Dyno-Wedge-11614/204199803
This drives in easily at first and is supposed to split the wood in 4 ways but I have yet to see that happen. If you are a little weak of arm to use a 6# sledge like a smaller hammer, you can get away with starting one of these with something like a 3#. I have broken the tip on one of these, which makes starting the split impossible. That one I save for when I have a really knotted up piece that requires 3 wedges (a very rare occurrence). I did get a new one of these, and this is my first wedge I typically pull out when needed.

2. http://www.homedepot.com/p/ROCKFORGE-5-lb-Splitting-Wedge-GXB-551/202520559
This one doesn't start very easily unless it already has a bit of a split to hold it in place. If things just really aren't going, this is the 2nd wedge I pull out, and I will either try to drive it into a split, or if I don't have that much, then after using wedge #1, I will put this one in the hole started and drive it at an angle until it can catch and start doing its job.

3. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-5-lb-Splitting-Wedge-34216/204168176
I don't actually have one of these, but I did use one like this at a friend's house on green maple (cut down earlier that day). The round was too heavy for me to pick up and throw in my trailer, and I didn't have any of my axes, mauls, wedges, or sledges with me. This one is similar to #2, but is longer, narrower, and has a sharper edge, making it bite into the round easier, and split faster. If I had seen this when I got the #2 wedge, and know what I know now, I would have gotten one of these instead.

 

I fire up a motor to split almost all of my wood. When I do manual splitting I use a Chopper 2 mostly, but I do resort to sledge + wedge for huge stuff -- wet red oak and other similar nastiness. Normal wedges, nothing tricksy. I do have 3 wedges though; an old old one from my dad, a new one for the aforementioned huge rounds of red oak where one wedge + maul was simply not enough, and a third one I must have gotten at some point in the past and forgot about.