holy split

[toonces]

i'm getting to splitting that oak i picked up the last couple weeks and almost every single piece is knotted and stringy. i'm sure the stringyness is part a result of me having to take multiple wacks to even get through the stuff. turns out the cracking doesn't mean it's easy to split. i'm beginning to think this stuff wasn't such a good find since i might have to cut a lot of the pieces down to stove size and the difficulty splitting. i spent half an hour just on two rounds!

using an 8lbs maul and x27 and neither fully split either round unless it was slivers around the edge. i have a bunch of shingles at least!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Was that perhaps pin oak? With so many knots that is why I suggest it. It will make excellent firewood but hydraulics are nice for splitting it.

 

[NH_Wood]

Exercise, think exercise........ :cheese: Cheers!

 

[toonces]

would pin oak look reddish inside? i DID get a workout, especially since i did the same thing for a couple hours in the morning too. got my ass kicked in the end, though!

 

[Woody Stover]

i'm getting to splitting that oak i picked up the last couple weeks and almost every single piece is knotted and stringy.

Yeah, that White Oak is stringy stuff. I think that was a yard bird, correct? That's gonna be knotty. I'm working on some White now, too. Mostly doing it with a power splitter, but I wedged and sledged the big rounds at the score site. It was down since Spring and all I got was a couple cords worth of the big stuff from the bottoms of the trunks. They were 6-8' sections so maybe they dried a bit. I bucked them a couple months ago and they are a little drier I think, because they are a lot less stringy than fresh White Oak. If you can let them sit bucked for several months, it will help...but it's still going to be tough doing knotty White by hand. You might need to get your hands on a splitter...

 

[clemsonfor]

If you know its oak, i bet its white oak or post oak. They are true white oak and have more flaky grey bark. IT is stringy and both can be knotty, ep post oak, which can have many limbs and knots and twist. IT can be red to brownish on the inside heart wood.

 

[lukem]

would pin oak look reddish inside? i DID get a workout, especially since i did the same thing for a couple hours in the morning too. got my ass kicked in the end, though!

Pin oak is a variety of red. I think that may be what you have.

 

[Normande]

Sounds like Pin oak , keep working, if hand splitting I use a wedge called a " wood grenade" it's star shaped, and an 8lb sledge hammer. But power is way easier.

 

[Woody Stover]

This is the stuff you're talking about, correct? White Oak. Don't give up on it. It is the wood of kings! :coolsmile:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/90447/

 

[Woody Stover]

Oh yeah, and get a splitter...rent if you have to. You might be able to knock it out with a half-day rental if you can get some help.

 

[Woody Stover]

Oops. Reading the other thread, I see you have tons of it. It's gonna be more than a half day.

You can split a lot of the straight stuff by hand if you let it sit over the Summer. I was getting a lot of edges to pop off 27" rounds with the X-27, then once I got what I could with that, hitting it with the wood grenade and a regular wedge.

 

[toonces]

yeah, that's the evil stuff in those pics. i had a wall of them in the backyard and have slowly chipped away at it for a couple days. it seems some of the pieces even have 'rotten cores'. meaning, dark brownish looking matter embedded in them. maybe where the tree grew over it's own limb? very interesting to split and examine but pain in the butt to split around the knots. i had to just give up on a couple of whittled-down rounds (still big enough to be split a few times over) b/c they were so tough.

 

[toonces]

so about that wood grenade: in the interest of not spending more money here, can i just use the flat end of my maul to hammer one of those in as opposed to buying another tool on top of that (the sledge)? thanks for the suggestion!

 

[brownie2]

My first post.
Saw your round in half. Those 8 to 12 inch rounds split easier! If anyone ask, just tell them there for the wood cook stove!

 

[Woody Stover]

it seems some of the pieces even have 'rotten cores'. meaning, dark brownish looking matter embedded in them. maybe where the tree grew over it's own limb?

Yeah I saw a little bit of that brown-core rot yesterday but not much, just in a couple of small branches. Not sure what that is...

so about that wood grenade: in the interest of not spending more money here, can i just use the flat end of my maul to hammer one of those in as opposed to buying another tool on top of that (the sledge)? thanks for the suggestion!

Sure, that should work. I used the grenade in combination with one or two regular wedges when needed. The more you can whittle it down with the Fiskars, the easier the remainder will be. As I mentioned, if you let the rounds sit and dry out a bit, they won't be as stringy. No hurry, you have to let the Oak season a couple years anyway. The knots will still be there, though. :shut:

My first post.
Saw your round in half. Those 8 to 12 inch rounds split easier! If anyone ask, just tell them there for the wood cook stove!

Welcome, brownie2!
Yeah, if all else fails, cut them in half and you can load the splits north/south in your stove.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

yeah, that's the evil stuff in those pics. i had a wall of them in the backyard and have slowly chipped away at it for a couple days. it seems some of the pieces even have 'rotten cores'. meaning, dark brownish looking matter embedded in them. maybe where the tree grew over it's own limb? very interesting to split and examine but pain in the butt to split around the knots. i had to just give up on a couple of whittled-down rounds (still big enough to be split a few times over) b/c they were so tough.

Then Woody is correct. It is definitely not pin oak. Here is a picture of some pin oak:

 

[brownie2]

I may be wrong but I think Pin Oaks hold there dead leaves until the new ones push them off.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sorry Brownie. Pins lose the leaf rather quickly.

 

[brownie2]

Backwoods savage, I had to look it up but I believe I'm at least partially correct. In fact many Oaks hold there dead leaves through winter. The condition is called marcescence. Some, even of the same species, may keep them and some may not. This is very common with the Beech.
I knew my Horticulture degree would eventually be good for something! Here in GA, we have at least 18 native species of Oak.

 

[billb3]

I may be wrong but I think Pin Oaks hold there dead leaves until the new ones push them off.

Younger ones often do.
But then I have a white and a pin oak that are 10 to 12 feet tall that both held onto their leaves this fall/ winter and neither did last year.
We also had a pretty good wind storm last Fall just before the leaves started turning that broke but didn't drop quite a few branches. The leaves on all those broken branches are still on them. These are regular ol' northern red oaks or the typical hybrids of red oaks we typically have here.

 

[clemsonfor]

so about that wood grenade: in the interest of not spending more money here, can i just use the flat end of my maul to hammer one of those in as opposed to buying another tool on top of that (the sledge)? thanks for the suggestion!

Yes you can, i do that very same thing. Thats why they put a flat end on the back to use it as a sledge. I have also used another maul before as a wedge, one with a busted hangle.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Good to know brownie. Around these parts it is the white oak that hold their leaves along with the beech. 18 species of oak does not surprise me. It is amazing how many different ones there are.