Splitting green wood?

If you are wanting to split oak ( seasoned or unseasoned ) I think you should steer clear of electric spliters. I have found it easier to split most wood when it is green, besides it seasons much faster. I just split 5 ricks of pignut hickory with a 28 ton swisher (almost no effort) it was all as green as could be.

Oak? Yes you can split oak green, dry, or any other time. Probably one of the easier hardwoods to split...under the right conditions, a 6 penny finish nail will split oak!

The gas/electric splitter debate has been going on for some time. Lots of info posted. Some of the bigger electric splitters are claimed to be on par with gas splitters...just make sure you have a heavy gauge extension cord and are within close range of a plug.

I can give you my 2cents on the Huskee 22. I bought one from a somewhat local TSC. I had to drive about 50 miles to get it, but I did ask the salesman if he could do anything on the price. He said he had a coupon for 10% off. It worked for me so I bought it and have been able to split everything I have put thru it.

Shipper

Cut and split a Red Oak in a few days - within a week after it fell. Hand split some red oak that was cut into rounds 2 years ago. No real difference except with the huge pieces. The seasoned very large rounds were easier to split than when fresh.

Tim M said:

I'm new to splitting so this may seem like a really stupid question but, can you split green oak the same day you cut the live tree down?

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You can indeed...BUT...the bigger around the stuff is it does become a bit difficult (wedges bounce out, etc.). But once you get them split in half oak is a piece o' cake to split. When I used to split by hand i'd stack the bigger rounds so the sun could get on them for a day and then split from that side. It's much easier that way.

As for splitter, depending on how much you need to split, save your money for a gas splitter and in the mean time rent one.

I have both a taskforce 5 ton electric and a 22 ton husky. The taskforce split everything I tried on it; oak,maple,hickory,seasoned elm(not green) and cherry all up to and even over 20" the little electric did it. It only balked at knotty pieces. I would say that for most splitting, green is fine, but I do notice that stringy wood like hickory and elm splits better when seasoned. Both types of splitters have +'s and -'s. The electric is quiet, only runs when splitting. no gas or oil to mess with and is very light and portable within the range of extension cord.I made a table for it with a piece of plywood and a couple saw horses to raise it up to a comfortable level. also a can of pam helps the wedge go thru stubborn rounds.With the little electric, its all about careful placement of rounds and finding the weak point in the round. It Wont split really knotty, gnarly pieces, or big 25"+. The gas husky 22 ton will split anything and you don't need to be surgeon like to find where the round is weak you just slap a round on and crunch right through the knots. But the husky 22 ton has a small gas tank that needs to be filled every 45 minutes or so. It runs the whole time and is loud and has exhaust fumes to breath. its big and hard to maneuver around. I did over 6 cords with the electric splitter this summer and only had 6-8 rounds 20"+ that it refused to do. I think for most people that the electric is plenty for their needs.I know alot of guys will say "Oh you need the big gas splitter,the electric's are just toys". I think this is mainly a guy thing and big toy syndrome. The thing is, the electric will be cheaper to run and maintain but the gas will split anything you can roll,drag,maneuver under it. I have some big wood that I get and need to split, and for that, the gas splitter is the only game in town. or one of the big ramsplitter electric's.But, for almost anything under 20-25" (95% of wood most people get), the little 5 ton electric will work just fine and at a fraction of the price. If I was doing it over I would do just what I did and get a small electric and spit away, saving up the few rounds that it wont split. and once I got a 3 or 4 dozen knotty rounds then rent/buy a gas splitter and do em up.that way you find out if you really need to buy a big gas/ electric or not.You can use the electric afterwards for kindling duty and indoors! unlike the gas one.If you've got plenty of money( that is not me) just get a husky or ramsplitter and be done with it.

Split wood green if possible. Wood gets harder when it dries- so those stringy bits etc become more of an issue, IMO. Red oak is straight grained and splits easily except for knotty pieces/crotches etc. White oak is harder to split.

i would go with the 22 ton. you wont be let down from poor performance.

One thing a splitter needs is to be able to splitt both Horizontal/Vertical. A big piece of wood needs to
be splitt with the splitter in vertical postion.

I've actually had a harder time splitting semi dried oak vs. splitting it green with a maul. If I don't get it that day, I try to at least put the small side down on the ground, and flip before I try to split them. Green is usually pretty easy (unless you get something that you can't lift as a round). From there, I split in pieces working around until I can lift them. Another guy on here can vouch for some of the rounds we tried to split by hand and they aren't easy when they are big.
Most will split when green and even better green and frozen.
Chad

I’m also will be buying a splitter in the near future. I would like an electric one becasue of the size and the cost, but am afraid they will not have the power to split green wood if that is even possible.

If electric is out because it is undersized, then I am leaning towards a Huskee 22 ton from Tractor Supply.

]http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_34400_______14455|14461|34400?listingPage=true&Special=false]

Any thoughts on this?

Thank you all in advance.

Tim

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Tim,

A premium electric splitter is better or equal to a gas splitter in power (the ones in hardware stores are garbage though). However, you mention cost as an important factor for chosen one. The problem is a premium electric will cost more upfront than a gas one of equal tonnage, but the maintenance cost over a 5 year projection will show the gas one to cost more in total if you include upfront and maintenance cost where as the electric does not require fuel, filters, and oil and its costs will just be electrical energy used plus upfront cost.

In all honesty though, you are better off with a gas one since portability is definitely a plus and you do not need to wire up a dedicated 240 volt circuit. I would say gas for the win.

Here are some good electric and gas ones:

http://www.ramsplitter.com/Electric Splitters.htm

or

http://www2.northerntool.com/logging/log-splitters/item-1107.htm