white oak splitting is a pain
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firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
Cedar is the best smelling wood.. When splitting and burning..
I would add in cherry and apple wood as well . . . those three wood types always make my wood production times suffer as I am constantly stopping to pick up and sniff the split . . . I cannot help myself . . . I'm a wood addict.
clemsonfor
Minister of Fire
I like cedar, but clearly i dont have the right sense receptors or the ones you have, i think cherry is one of the stinken-ist woods there is. I cant stand the smell!
I'm into my second cord of white oak for the past week and some of it splits easy and some just squishes apart. Some of it is straight grained and some has the look of what my son called cow hair. It's tiny curls about nickel size that are woven together kinda like the hair on a herefords forehead.. It is tough stuff, even for the hydraulics. Never seen wood grain like it before. Tree was over 8 feet through but was rotten inside. Was guessed at over 200 years old and had limbs that were 3 feet through. I hated to see it come down but we are making good use of it. Had straight line winds of 70 mph that caused it to fall. If it had of been solid, not sure if anything could have dropped it. I bet the squirrels are going to miss it as it could sure drop the acorns.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Cedar is the best smelling wood.. When splitting and burning..
Agreed, and lights REALLY easily.
CK-1
Feeling the Heat
- Feb 10, 2006
- 259
When first split, she was pretty green and HEAVY. This was the first cord I split. Now, due to the drought causing heat we have been having the cord is pretty much dry. Has that nice light gray color and is much lighter. Had some in my smoker last weekend.. She ready!.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
It was around 100*, windy and 30% humidity here for a couple months but I don't expect my White (a live blow-down) to be at a moisture content that I want to burn (like 16% or so.) Maybe I will be surprised but I doubt it. If I lived in the desert southwest, maybe it would be dry enough for me in one Summer...
Was that wood sizzling when you burned it in the smoker?
And yes, it was kinda stringy when I split it. I ended up using the power splitter.
There's actually no point in wearing yourself out on that stringy wood.
Just put it in a trailer, and I'll get rid of that nusance for you. Tell me how much you're bringing, I'll have an equal amount of Aspen waiting for you.
I promise, you won't have much trouble splitting the Aspen. I bet even a Fiskars could do it if you put your mind to it
Just put it in a trailer, and I'll get rid of that nusance for you. Tell me how much you're bringing, I'll have an equal amount of Aspen waiting for you.
I promise, you won't have much trouble splitting the Aspen. I bet even a Fiskars could do it if you put your mind to it
But then black birch smells even better ,and burn better than both of those . ;-)
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Nixon, I hope someday to get some black birch as it sounds really nice. None around here though.
Dennis , I got it quite by accident . The guy I normally get poles from said he hada triable load that he'd lrt me have for $500.
So I looked it up because I was thinking it would be like aspen ! As luck would have it ,I cant locate any more .....:-(
So I looked it up because I was thinking it would be like aspen ! As luck would have it ,I cant locate any more .....:-(
Agreed. I had 4 white oaks taken down in April. I have some of the larger rounds still left to split. I was out this weekend hacking away and my 8lb maul was bouncing off them. When they were freshly cut, I was popping right through them - large or small, even when they were sitting on the ground.
I have been splitting some Ash that was killed by Emerald Ash Borers... this wood is very stringy and hard to split, much like white oak. Luckily my splitter can handle it. even though it creeks and graoans and sometimes sounds like fingernails on a chalk board when trying to split the stringy portions
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CK-1
Feeling the Heat
- Feb 10, 2006
- 259
I took a few split pieces of the seasoned oak and made some kindles with my Huskee. Placed some of the kindles in the smoker for some ribs... No sissle just alot of heat. Had to open all my vents to bring the temps down a bit.
Hmmm . . . split hard to, this Ash, like to see, I would . . .I have been splitting some Ash that was killed by Emerald Ash Borers... this wood is very stringy and hard to split, much like white oak. Luckily my splitter can handle it. even though it creeks and graoans and sometimes sounds like fingernails on a chalk board when trying to split the stringy portions
firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
I agree . . . most of the ash I've split has split like butter with very few strings. Granted, it has been all live-cut ash though.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
I have been splitting some Ash that was killed by Emerald Ash Borers... this wood is very stringy and hard to split, much like white oak. Luckily my splitter can handle it. even though it creeks and graoans and sometimes sounds like fingernails on a chalk board when trying to split the stringy portions
Wow! I've split many, many cord of ash and only very occasionally will I get one log that is stringy. Most of the time the wedge gets into the ash log about an inch or two and it is done! Splitting with axe or maul, one swing usually gets the job done.
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