How do you split your firewood?

[Pablo]

Wondering what a good splitting wedge you folks would recommend. Thank You.

The key for larger rounds, is at least 3 wedges. I have 3 different no namers (low cost) and 5 or 6 plastics. Plastics are good for nasty wet wood and the chainsaw is on standby if you follow. I never hit a steel wedge with a saw, but imagine it would be an event.

 

[53' Stude]

The 10$ standard HF one is ok for a basic wedge.. if you want a more aggressive one ESTWING.
Tractor supply sells a good one too.

Are there better? yeah do you want to spend $60 on a wedge?(no)

Brother wants one. Some nearly knotted chestnut oak that I think a basic wedge will power thru. Thank You Rand

 

[Dinoburner]

First year in 55 not burning wood and finding it quite cold feeling even with the t`stat at 67 deg. We have more dead trees than we can burn but having hit 80 with bad joints can no longer do it. Have a Didier 3 point hitch mounted splitter on the l5030 that will knife thru an oak knot that helped a lot for the last 25 years. Enjoyed splitting straight grained wood with a maul .

 

[Skippy722]

Wondering what a good splitting wedge you folks would recommend. Thank You.

I generally ended up just using a 10lb maul that was also half sledgehammer. It had more oomph than the actual splitting axe we had on account of being heavier and having a longer handle.

 

[53' Stude]

I generally ended up just using a 10lb maul that was also half sledgehammer. It had more oomph than the actual splitting axe we had on account of being heavier and having a longer handle.

For the stuff brother has we need a splitting wedge.

 

[dlundblad]

I use a gas splitter I bought from Orscheln Farms (now TSC). Does fine even on red elm.

It came with a cheaper 190 cc Honda. I put my spare HF predator on it just because. Jury is still out on which one starts the easiest when cold.

These really need a clutch between the engine and pump so they can be started with no load. I’ve already done the BITOG special. Switched out the ISO 68 for Valvoline Maxlife and am also running M1 0w40 in the engine. I wonder how an oil filter heater would work.

 

[andrew_j]

I dont split, we just pay nearly exhortation now for a cord of wood delivered. It spiked from $100 initially to about $425/cord which we burn .

My wife spent her youth alongside dad and 4 sisters splitting gathering and processing limbs and trees to keep their home warm with tiny wood stove in their fireplace heating 1400 SF. She feels like a “win” paying for spilt wood delivered.

 

[henni]

 

[bbhero]

Wood stove heat is something else - for me, it's not about heating but about the experience. Also... Splitting logs is a very good cardio workout.

Also… you can cook on them if need be…. My mom made homemade biscuits and beef stew on our Kodiak woodstove when I was a kid… Power was out and we used the woodstove. It was amazingly good food too.

 

[spasm3]

That looks like a wild cherry log, which is easy to split.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

The odd thing is that 72 degrees from the wood boiler is much more comfortable than 72 from the heat pump. It does blow hot air.

Air is a very poor heat transfer media, plus you are talking convection which is inefficient anyways.

A nice hot cast iron stove, especially lined with fire bricks, is a huge thermal mass that gives off radiant and convective heat. How a temp “feels” is largely dependent on the temperature of items in the room, so a radiant 72* that heats your walls and furniture is going to feel a whole lot more comfortable than blowing 72* air around things that are colder, and for a shorter time. It’s why the most comfortable you’ll ever feel is with in-floor hydronic heat, since the floor is heated to the setpoint, and all that glorious warmth drifts upwards.

 

[IndyIan]

That looks like a wild cherry log, which is easy to split.

Yeah, any axe would split that stuff... I think the advantage of those lever axes is that they don't stick as easily. I have split with a felling axe and you just give a little twist at the end so it flops to the side as it goes in, so it doesn't stick in, and hopefully pops the wood apart.

 

[IndyIan]

These guys were in the 40-48" range and fortunately were Green Ash, so they got split with the 6lb maul right where the tree fell. No wedges, just pop the sides off until its all split! Pretty much one piece of firewood per swing. About 6 rounds(~700lbs each) made a cord. I tried a relief cut on a few to split it in half but found it was just faster to nibble from the outside. I used my 36" bar with full skip chain to cut most of the way through for each round, then put on the 20" to finish the cut from the other side. The full skip makes nice long chips!

Unfortunately we have another Ash tree like this getting killed by ash borer so I'll get another 3 cords or so out of it this spring.... It is the last of our big Ash trees, and I guess I'll have to keep a disc, just to show how big the Ash trees were here.

 

[oil pan 4]

I use an assortment of sledgehammers, wedges, mauls and a hydraulic log splitter.

 

[loneryder]

Air is a very poor heat transfer media, plus you are talking convection which is inefficient anyways.

A nice hot cast iron stove, especially lined with fire bricks, is a huge thermal mass that gives off radiant and convective heat. How a temp “feels” is largely dependent on the temperature of items in the room, so a radiant 72* that heats your walls and furniture is going to feel a whole lot more comfortable than blowing 72* air around things that are colder, and for a shorter time. It’s why the most comfortable you’ll ever feel is with in-floor hydronic heat, since the floor is heated to the setpoint, and all that glorious warmth drifts upwards.

I'm not going to build anymore houses but if I did, it would have the in floor hydronic heat.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I'm not going to build anymore houses but if I did, it would have the in floor hydronic heat.

My buddy’s house that he built is ~3800 sq ft including the garage, and it was done with 10” of slab throughout, with PEX buried 2” deep in the concrete. He’s got a micro boiler that is about 10” diameter by about 18” tall, and the house is split into 3 circuits. His garage has 2 12’ and one 16’ roll up doors, and I kid you not you can roll that door up for an hour in zero degree weather, and within 5-10 minutes after closing it, the garage is back to 70* inside. His walls are like R47 and the attic is like R72. His most expensive utility bill ever has been like $110, and it’s all electric. He’s got minisplits for AC.

 

[loneryder]

My buddy’s house that he built is ~3800 sq ft including the garage, and it was done with 10” of slab throughout, with PEX buried 2” deep in the concrete. He’s got a micro boiler that is about 10” diameter by about 18” tall, and the house is split into 3 circuits. His garage has 2 12’ and one 16’ roll up doors, and I kid you not you can roll that door up for an hour in zero degree weather, and within 5-10 minutes after closing it, the garage is back to 70* inside. His walls are like R47 and the attic is like R72. His most expensive utility bill ever has been like $110, and it’s all electric. He’s got minisplits for AC.

The guy who installed my boiler installed the in floor system in a Lawn and Garden shop near me. Even he thought when they opened the garage doors they would lose their heat. Doesn't happen. What is a micro boiler and what runs it?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

What is a micro boiler and what runs it?

It’s essentially a flow-through, on-demand electric water heater. When the thermostat calls for it, the pump and elements kick on, and continuously heat the water circulating in the floor loops until the air temp reaches setpoint. Because it’s not intended for “fast” heating, it’s efficient because it’s only heating the water to I believe mid-90s, and letting the concrete do all the work. The pump is only like 1/3HP and essentially silent; once you get 65 cubic yards (nearly 275,000 pounds!) of concrete to 70*, it takes a looooooong time for it to change temps. If I ever build another place to live, it will have radiant slab, but probably with a wood-fired boiler and solar/battery pump, and be off the grid in some Montana valley.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I use a hydraulic splitter. I got it brand new for $800 a few years ago before the price increases and very slightly damaged.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-40-ton-log-splitter

Here's my wood supply. Since the video was taken, I have sold and burned some, but I have also added to it, so the net result is about the same amount of wood.


We heat our home solely with wood with one of these: https://www.lamppakuuma.com/vapor-fire-100/

We are replacing ~1,100 gallons of LP with around 4 cords of wood.

My review with photos.....look at that clean chimney!
https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/kuuma-vapor-fire-100-review.27767/

 

[Pablo]

I use a hydraulic splitter. I got it brand new for $800 a few years ago before the price increases and very slightly damaged.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-40-ton-log-splitter

Here's my wood supply. Since the video was taken, I have sold and burned some, but I have also added to it, so the net result is about the same amount of wood.


We heat our home solely with wood with one of these: https://www.lamppakuuma.com/vapor-fire-100/

My review with photos.....look at that clean chimney!
https://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/kuuma-vapor-fire-100-review.27767/

Got wood?