Splitting Rounds
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Elder User
Joined: Feb 2005
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From: Cool, CA
Splitting Rounds
I figure some of the posters here have some experience with this. I had a tree (Black Oak) dropped a month ago and it is now laying in my back yard in 16" rounds. I'd like to break these rounds into firewood, and I'd like to do it by hand as opposed to renting a splitter. The smaller peices were not really a problem but the bigger rounds... each is between 2 and 3 feet in diameter. I've spent a lot of time trying to split these with no luck. I'm usng an 8lb maul and I weigh about 295, so there's no problem with power, I'm sure it's tecnique. Anyone have any ideas how I can make these suckers split?
Junior User
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: South Carolina
You need some splitting wedges. Probably get them at your local hardware store. Don't even try the "wood grenade." I broke one in no time. You need at least two, strike them with the flat side of the maul. Wear safety glasses!
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Elder User
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From: Cool, CA
Should have mentioned that - I have 2 wedges as well. Problem with the wedges is I can't get them started deep enough into the round to stay there when I hit the wedge. What the heck is a wood grenade?
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
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Black oak is very hard. Some sharper or "thinner at the edge" wedges may be an option to make them start easier. Start them with a 3# hand sledge. Don't try to split the whole round. Start at the edges and take off slabs.
Junior User
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: South Carolina
The wood grenade is like a wedge, but it had four sides. It tapers down to a small point. Mine broke off. Might need a small sledge hammer to get the wedges started. Start them near the edge of the log. When a split starts, put the other wedge on the other side. Drive them both in, if the log still hasn't split, lay it on its side and work on the bottom with the maul. I'm working on some pecan right now. Stuff just won't split well. I did some black cherry last year. It split if you looked at it funny.
Tuned
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Palmyra
I grew up with a wood stove as the sole source of heat. I've chopped a lot of wood. About 25 years ago or so my dad got this weird splitting axe with two cams or levers in the head that push apart when the head strikes the wood. It has always worked really good for us, and we stopped using wedges and mauls. After all these years (and alot of usage) it still works fine and has never broken a lever. I did a quick google and found out that for several years the inventor stopped selling these, but you can once again buy them directly from him through his website:
http://www.chopperaxe.com/
http://www.chopperaxe.com/
Hotshot
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From: NW burbs of chicago
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Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Murphysboro, IL
Instead of trying to split it right across the center try spllitting pieces off of the edges and work your way around it. You can work a piece down quick andit is muchles tireseom doing it this way than whacking away at teh center and using wedges. I have never had to use wedges at all, most of what I split is oak, hickory, pecan locust or and maybe the occasional beech, elm or whatever else falls down or needs removed and cut up.
I use a 5 lb maul and aI have a 16 lb maul for backup if I get the 5 lb maul stuck. By going piece by piece I have used a 2 bit axe many times just as good as a maul in oak.
I use a 5 lb maul and aI have a 16 lb maul for backup if I get the 5 lb maul stuck. By going piece by piece I have used a 2 bit axe many times just as good as a maul in oak.
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Joined: Jul 2002
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From: Long Island USA
I've done a lot of splitting in my youth, wood stove and all that 
Big pieces, like Birdhunter1 said, I usually take pieces off the outside... sometimes with really hard oak (like black oak), it was almost impossible to get the core to split... I'd usually whittle down to the core from the outside with the maul...
The wedges were for when I got tired and got the maul stuck
Oh, one other thing - is this green wood? Sounds like it - you might want to let it "season" a few months. Cracks will appear in the "round" and you can more easily break it up. Should be seasoned for a year before you burn it anyway...
Big pieces, like Birdhunter1 said, I usually take pieces off the outside... sometimes with really hard oak (like black oak), it was almost impossible to get the core to split... I'd usually whittle down to the core from the outside with the maul...
The wedges were for when I got tired and got the maul stuck
Oh, one other thing - is this green wood? Sounds like it - you might want to let it "season" a few months. Cracks will appear in the "round" and you can more easily break it up. Should be seasoned for a year before you burn it anyway...
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Elder User
Joined: Feb 2005
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From: Cool, CA
Yeah, it's green. Tree was dropped a month ago and the rounds have all been rained on since then. There are likely 2 cords here, and I have stacking space to season 1 cord at a time which I can mostly get from the smaller peices. The rounds are quite heavy and to move them I would need to roll them up a steep hill, so my thinking was break them up where they are now, then store them to season next summer.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Atlanta GA
Get a gas chain saw, roll the round onto its side, and lay the chain saw going with the grain length wise and split the round in 1/2. Keep splitting until it is down to firewood size.
If you are doing it correctly, you should end up with a bunch of curls being thrown back. Have the saw about an inch from the block if using a smaller gas saw so the curls can exit and not jam the saw.
I set one round up on another, sit in a chair off to the side of the round with my arms resting on my legs holding the saw, split the round, put the two halves flat side down if needed, split them (now four pieces), and split them again if needed. Push them off in a pile, slide another round on. Repeat.
If you are doing it correctly, you should end up with a bunch of curls being thrown back. Have the saw about an inch from the block if using a smaller gas saw so the curls can exit and not jam the saw.
I set one round up on another, sit in a chair off to the side of the round with my arms resting on my legs holding the saw, split the round, put the two halves flat side down if needed, split them (now four pieces), and split them again if needed. Push them off in a pile, slide another round on. Repeat.
Posting Guru
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Northern Massachusetts
make sure the wedge are sharp so they go in instead of bouncing back out, as already stated start towards the edge and not the middle, also look for cracks already in the wood and exploit them. man i love splitting wood by hand!
FTE Leadership Emeritus
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From: Long Island USA
Originally Posted by MRKnight
Yeah, it's green. Tree was dropped a month ago and the rounds have all been rained on since then. There are likely 2 cords here, and I have stacking space to season 1 cord at a time which I can mostly get from the smaller peices. The rounds are quite heavy and to move them I would need to roll them up a steep hill, so my thinking was break them up where they are now, then store them to season next summer.
I went to a lumberjack festival in PA once a few years back. My daughter at the ripe age of 4, got a "cookie" at the end of one contest - the disc they cut off the end of a log... musta been 2 feet in diameter.
Within a month, the thing was cracked right through ... granted it was pine or ash or something really light, but within 2 months, those oak rounds should be good to go, somewhat...
When I first read the title to this thread I thought it was about splitting the heads of bullets
