hand splitting hedge... or... it's gonna be a LONG summer!!!!!

[Big Donnie Brasco]

my "plan" is to CSS several cords of hedge this summer. After finding this Youtube video, I'd better eat my Wheaties

 

[USMC80]

vid not working for me

 

[blujacket]

Forget that, rent a splitter.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

I've never had a piece of hedge that difficult to split. But then I've not had one that big to split. Most of what I have been getting is in the 8" to 10" range. I guess size does matter.

 

[BobUrban]

Beg, steal or borrow(actually rent is a good option) a splitter. A day or two with the splitter will be a life saver and you will never regret the few clams shelled out when you are sitting in a warm house.

Or - eat your wheaties

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

. I guess size does matter.

That's not what my wife says!

I am going g to try and stick to the manageable sized rounds!

 

[Coal Reaper]

work the edges trying to get one piece off at a time rather than halving.

 

[midwestcoast]

Don't dispair (yet). No 2 trees are the same. A lot depends on how & where the tree grew. You can run in to an Ash that is a real pain to split or Hedge that is fairly easy. There are even some Elm out there that split well. A couple years back I did 2-3 cord of (Red) Elm with a 28" Fiskars. Not because I'm especially strong or talented, it split not too bad at all.
15 minutes in you'll know how your summer is going to go.

 

[bogydave]

Looks like a dry & crocked grained round.
I bet the fresh stuff yo get will fly apart.
Pieces that tough to split should be rare with most fresh cut wood.

Don't cry before you are hurt

 

[Big Donnie Brasco]

Looks like a dry & crocked grained round.
I bet the fresh stuff yo get will fly apart.
Pieces that tough to split should be rare with most fresh cut wood.

Don't cry before you are hurt

Thanks Dave for snapping me back to reality... I won't give up OR cry just yet

I guess I could always "NOODLE" it to get it started if it's too stubborn!

 

[Jags]

I guess I could always "NOODLE" it to get it started if it's too stubborn!

That 036 likes to eat noodles.

But - that hedge is gonna be tough going trying to noodle it. It is just darn hard stuff.

 

[Woody Stover]

I still haven't split and stacked any of it that I've scored so far (maybe half a cord.) I did split one to take a pic...wasn't easy, and it was pretty straight-grained. When I get around to processing it, I'll try some by hand, but I have a feeling it won't be long before the power splitter is rolled to the stack of rounds.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Honestly I've had sparks fly when noodling hedge and mulberry also.
Great firewood though.