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Anybody still hand split wood ?

T

thesmoothedeere

Member
Scored 5 dead elms today . Had three saws going but no help splitin when i get it home. I split here and there , seems to keep the muscles up . Just wondered if i was the only dumb guy .lol
 
I'll still split oak, poplar, locust and maple by hand if I have to. Elm, gum, tupelo I might even question putting in a splitter. They really don't splt, splitter sorta tears them apart. If you are tackling dry elm by hand, you got my respect.
 
well I just bought a wood splitter 2 weeks ago,split by hand my whole life,but I'm getting old now (51)and my shoulders are getting bad,cant wait to try it out.
 
I still hand split some if it's pretty straight and not too many knots. If I hit it a few times and the maul just bounces I put it aside for the splitter
 
I agree, if it's elm report back how it went with an axe, wedges or maul. I kinda like doing elm with the hydraulic splitter, has to shear its way through.
 
I usually have a little set aside for hand splittin, only because I enjoy being out there in the cold and a little bit is good exercise.
 
We burn 22 standard cords a year and do not have a splitter. I use a 12# maul and a 16# sledge with wedges. I don't split anything I don't need to, and I cut wood down to 2" or so to burn, so a lot of it can just burn round.
Zach
 
It depends on what kind of wood. The stuff that splits easy I do by hand and the stuff that splits hard that is what a wood splitter is for.
 
The easy stuff where it is faster than putting it through the splitter. Otherwise, I use the splitter. Elm is about the worst stuff I have ever split. You're a good man to split that by hand.
 
After 2 shoulder surgeries and splitting a few thousand locust posts, I have no shame using a homemade splitter. For about 3 dollars worth of gas, I can split a lot of wood.
Richard in NW SC
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If your body can take it splitting by hand is good for you. It keeps the heart pumping and quite a few muscles in the upper body are kept in shape. I used to split by hand in my younger days and I probably could do a few now but I'd run out of gas in a hurry. It's kind of annoying too when the scar tissue in the shoulder crunches with every swing. Doesn't hurt but it bugs me nonetheless. Jim
 
I did for years, though I needed a hydraulic splitter, given the amount of wood available to me, I mostly bucked the logs and stacked those to dry, and it seasons fine, then I would split by hand in the cooler weather for my immediate needs.

Personally, I never minded the hard work, it was good exercise, manual labor for the most part never used to hurt anyone, I too have shoulder issues and the motion/impact of it, absolutely had to hang it up, just no dealing with it, not sure if they can repair the problem, so I bought a used Huskee 28 ton splitter, got the 4 way wedge, and the tray for it. I then got a gardenway cart, and have 3 old school jackson wheel barrows, the cart I can draw from the pile thats bucked, load it up, then use the wheel barrows to haul the split wood to the shed or stack. The gripper, is a great tool, I can lift and ride a 24"+ diameter log up my leg even if its heavy, not having to bend over, just crouch to grab it. Then unless when starting a new stack, you just don't have to work off the ground or strain your back, I can do this work a lot longer without any problems with my back or getting fatigued, might not be as fast as a processor, but you can work through quite a bit in a reasonable time and feel fine the next day.
Lockhart Firewood gripper
 
As others said the small diameter logs say 5,6 inch round, or so, I wack once by hand. It's faster that the splitter, wood like ash, red maple, red oak ect. The large pieces and knotty stuff goes threw the splitter. Yes it's good excercise.
 
Richard g
Your truck is AAAAWESOME 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
 
I heat with wood and I split about 99% of my wood with a 15 pound Monster maul. There are always a few stubborn ones I throw on the wood splitter. Do almost all the wood cutting and splitting in cool weather- late fall and winter till there soo much snow, and some years a little in early spring. I try to have wood cut 2 years or more before I plan to burn it.
 
I did it for a few years. About the only good burning wood in my area is eucalyptus. Very hard to split. Some has a twisted grain. Most of the time one wedge doesn't do the job. It was brought in to build rail road ties years ago. I think it's comon to Australia.It burns good though. Stan
 
The wood I burn this winter will be the first I've not split by hand. I'll turn 72 next week; decided it was time to get a splitter. Main reason was I have so many dead red oaks (drought) on my place a splitter is the only way I can keep up.
 
monster maul & sledge & wedge. arthuritus in the shoulders bad but I think the swinging keeps me limber.
 
I split by hand, unless I can borrow someone's splitter. One is on my list. I like to split with an axe, but it has to be the small/medium stuff. I burn oak, dead elm, ash, maple and walnut. Walnut splits nice with an axe.

Larry
 
I quarter my wood with a splitter, but when it comes time to burn I split it again with a maul. As for splitting elm with a maul, that's an exercise in futility! Good luck with that!
 
Love to split by hand. Hate using a splitter.

But I also don't heat the house with wood, I'd opt for the splitter if I did.

I've found (the hard way) over the years that it's all about form.

If you do it right, using your whole body, use your knees, time it right - it's practically effortless, you can go all day with no pain.
 
When I was young I split all my wood by hand. It was a nasty job but I was too cheap to buy a log splitter. Now that I'm getting old I bought a log splitter and wish I had got one to begin with.
 
Not less I have to and I would not even try splitting elm by hand. Much rather use this for splitting and do not even use it much except for big stuff (storm damage trees).


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Thanks, The 17 still earns it's keep after 96 years.
Don't think I will be able to say that about myself at 96.
Richard in NW SC
 
Yes I do. But only for the fire place. I heat with geothermal. If i heated with wood, the whole process would be automated.
At 57 I still can split a log with a single blow if I carefully pick the correct spot. Kind of tickles me when a stocky young fellow can"t do it. But then I have 50 years of splitting experience on him
 
A lot of splitters in the stors but where they find the wood to use them on is beyond me, not that much timber for firewood that I can see around me. Sawmills tho and when I need some for the shop stove (haven't needed any for several years) that is where I get my wood. Used to split by hand years ago and the hard to split chuncks were cut on buzz saw to be used like chunk coal. A tree that will make a saw log is worth more doing that but too many cut the best saw logs up for firewood. And those are only where a splitter would work.
 
I can split the easy stuff as fast by hand.Splitting firewood in winter was always one of my favourite tasks.However at 49 my right arm can"t take the impacts from an axe or hammer anymore so now I cut everything into small enough pieces to lift into the splitter.
 
I split 8-9 full cords by hand every winter.
I buck the trees in stove lenghts and stack a full winters suply in my attached heated garage( still plenty room for the car)
I split dayly as needed,.takes only 5 min/day to do so and i can do it in my shirtsleeves :wink:
I used to cut down standing dead cured on the stem aspen but the last 15 years i used old power poles and beetle killed jackpine so there is no need to buck and split and season a year in advance.
 
I still split by hand but I don't know for how much longer. It hurts more the older I get. Now I have trouble with asthma from the cold, so I can't get my breath when I'm splitting whenever it's colder than about 10 degrees. We don't have elm here, only poplar, birch, spruce, tamarac and some ash. When I was a kid in Kitchener my dad had me split lots of elm because the dutch elm disease had just gone through and there were dead elm everywhere. Many times I buried both axes and both wedges in one block and had to get help to get them back. I knew some people who split it with a chainsaw.
 
The straight stuff is easier to split with an axe than with a splitter.
Elm on the other hand, wouldn't even try it with an axe.
 
(quoted from post at 12:05:10 07/28/13) Richard G.
Now that looks like your having fun while splitting the wood.
Click to expand...

I enjoy using the splitter and the Model T. That splitter will handle 99% of what goes on it.
Richard
 
Yes, but not much, mainly use wood scraps. Don't cook or heat the house with wood, even though I have a "New" 1908 Moore's Merit kitchen range complete with warming cabinet - (never had the heart to build a fire in it as it's worth more as a "New" stove than as a "used" one). Only wood burning I do is for my homemade wood burning hot water heater in my shop - (for the shower).

Doc
 
I grew up with a maul and wedges, I gave that foolishness up as soon as I lucked onto a hydraulic splitter at half price. I think I was about 45 when I got it. So that's at least 35 years of "keeping fit". On easy stuff like maple, ash, the birches, cherry, popple, an axe or light maul is fine. On Elm, no thanks, I'll go hydraulic. We split a LOT of Elm here.
 
I do have a scabbed up splitter I bought off CL a couple years back. It doesn't get much use. It's only got a 24 inch stroke.

My OWB takes a piece up to 30 inches long and 20 inches across. If I can lift it, it goes in. If I can't... well, It's not like I could get it on the table of a splitter, right? I've hand split some pretty big, gnarly stuff. You can't split gnarly stuff with a maul without sticking it alot. I much prefer wedges and sledgehammer.

Now, If the budget allows, I'm getting one of those inverted splitters for the front of my skid steer this winter.
 
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