First of all, I just want to say that I very much appreciate all of the combined years of experience and wisdom/knowledge that all the rest of you lumberjacks bring to the forum.
Here is my situation-
I am 34 and still have good arms and a decent back.
I have access to a lot of wood in my area from a few different sources.
I big log splitter have I none, but I do have a 6 & 12lb mauls, along with one of those little 8ton foot pump splitters that I picked up at a hardware store.
This weekend I plan on borrowing my neighbor's splitter to help me finally finish getting next winter's wood processed and stacked so that I can somewhat relax this summer.
My plan after this is to resume cutting in the fall [about 5-6 cords] when the leaves start falling. I originally planned on then just bringing home the rounds and letting them sit neatly stacked on pallets to sit that way through the fall and winter and then split/stack them next spring. My original thought was to either rent or borrow a log splitter at that time to just do it all at once over the course of 1 weekend.
The dilemma that I am facing is that #1, if I borrow my brother-in-law's splitter it is electric [25ton run on 220V] but I don't necessarily want to have to run the extension cord out of my stove outlet out into the back yard. #2, I really would rather not rent a splitter for the day at $80 and #3, I am still uneasy about borrowing my neighbor's just in light of the fact that if I break it, I don't have the $$$ to replace it. [I have also considered looking for a used on on Craig'sList but we'll see about that later].
ULTIMATELY, since I am still a young buck and sit behind a desk or driving all day for my job I need some exercise so I would rather just hand split all of it....but I want to be smart about it.
I have read on here that some woods are better manually split right after they are cut and others should season a bit first...... so my question is this- what about splitting it by hand in the winter when it is butt cold? Will it split easier with the moisture frozen?
Those of you who split by hand as your primary means- what cycle do you have for processing your wood?
ALSO- if you are doing it manually, what tools are you using? Sledge/wedge, mauls, splitting axes, etc? Do you use skinny or fat tools?
Here is my situation-
I am 34 and still have good arms and a decent back.
I have access to a lot of wood in my area from a few different sources.
I big log splitter have I none, but I do have a 6 & 12lb mauls, along with one of those little 8ton foot pump splitters that I picked up at a hardware store.
This weekend I plan on borrowing my neighbor's splitter to help me finally finish getting next winter's wood processed and stacked so that I can somewhat relax this summer.
My plan after this is to resume cutting in the fall [about 5-6 cords] when the leaves start falling. I originally planned on then just bringing home the rounds and letting them sit neatly stacked on pallets to sit that way through the fall and winter and then split/stack them next spring. My original thought was to either rent or borrow a log splitter at that time to just do it all at once over the course of 1 weekend.
The dilemma that I am facing is that #1, if I borrow my brother-in-law's splitter it is electric [25ton run on 220V] but I don't necessarily want to have to run the extension cord out of my stove outlet out into the back yard. #2, I really would rather not rent a splitter for the day at $80 and #3, I am still uneasy about borrowing my neighbor's just in light of the fact that if I break it, I don't have the $$$ to replace it. [I have also considered looking for a used on on Craig'sList but we'll see about that later].
ULTIMATELY, since I am still a young buck and sit behind a desk or driving all day for my job I need some exercise so I would rather just hand split all of it....but I want to be smart about it.
I have read on here that some woods are better manually split right after they are cut and others should season a bit first...... so my question is this- what about splitting it by hand in the winter when it is butt cold? Will it split easier with the moisture frozen?
Those of you who split by hand as your primary means- what cycle do you have for processing your wood?
ALSO- if you are doing it manually, what tools are you using? Sledge/wedge, mauls, splitting axes, etc? Do you use skinny or fat tools?