Hefty Y sections

mass_burner said:

What do you folks do with good size y sections? Are they worth monkeying with?

Click to expand...

I leave them in the woods to rot. Some of them are big, like 1/4 cord in a single round big, but they're just not worth the effort. Only time you'll catch me wasting my valuable time on a crotch or elbow, is if it falls in my yard, and I need to get rid of it.

I put them in the "someday when I get a big splitter" pile.

If that day doesn't come, I'll just torch the pile.

I send the crotchs, y's, hard to splits, to the mother-in-laws house. All my splitting is by hand, so if I cant crack it apart by hand, It goes with her where it meets the 20 ton splitter.

jeffesonm said:

I split by hand, and I have a big old pile of Y pieces and super knotty pieces. One of these days I will rent a hydro splitter and have at 'em.

Click to expand...

I too split by hand. My solution to these "stinkers" as I call them is to take my saw and cut them into 4 to 6 inch thick pieces. I then take the x27 to them and split them into chunks and put them in corrals for seasoning.

I am collecting free wood as much as I can (CL and other sources) which include a lot of Y-pieces. Whatever is too big for my axe, maul or 7-ton splitter is put aside at the end of our driveway. It will be there for a while and every time when I look at it I hope it has fallen apart..... Then after a year or 2-3 and the pile has been growing, I call a guy with a 27 ton to come over and split the pile for $100+. Then it goes to another pile for seasoning and I will enter the revolving door.

I noodle things, but on Y-sections I've learned that all the grit over time settles in the crotch of the Y, and will dull my chain right quick. I still noodle them sometimes, but off to the side to avoid all the grit.

CTYank said:

I've found that the wood in a fork is some of the best-burning wood of a given tree, and treat it as such.

Click to expand...

Kinda like a lot of the uglies - some are a pain but once I wrestle a couple into the stove they are awesome burning. Not the most efficient use of my time but I don't mind farting around with them if time permits. There's a certain satisfaction to using up everything in the pile.