Splitting vs. Noodling

[okotoks guy]

I have a question;when even the Mighty Fiskars ss wont get through the tough
stuff;like Elm.Would it make sense to just use the saw and noodle the rounds
into split sizes?
I have a score in the works for 12 Elm trees,but I'm not sure sizes or if any
others have spoken for any of it.I told the guy I would pick up as much as was
available.

 

[CTYank]

I have a question;when even the Mighty Fiskars ss wont get through the tough
stuff;like Elm.Would it make sense to just use the saw and noodle the rounds
into split sizes?
I have a score in the works for 12 Elm trees,but I'm not sure sizes or if any
others have spoken for any of it.I told the guy I would pick up as much as was
available.

Couple of options for you:
(1) noodle part way & finish off w/maul and/or wedges, in smaller batches. Cutting through risks cutting dirt. Some saws don't "like" noodling- clutch cover clogs.
(2) rent a powered splitter after assembling larger batches

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I have a question;when even the Mighty Fiskars ss wont get through the tough
stuff;like Elm.Would it make sense to just use the saw and noodle the rounds
into split sizes?
I have a score in the works for 12 Elm trees,but I'm not sure sizes or if any
others have spoken for any of it.I told the guy I would pick up as much as was
available.

Couple of options for you:
(1) noodle part way & finish off w/maul and/or wedges, in smaller batches. Cutting through risks cutting dirt. Some saws don't "like" noodling- clutch cover clogs.
(2) rent a powered splitter after assembling larger batches

These are both good choices

What I do with b@$t@rd pieces is drop them off at my dad's house. He is retired and has no qualms about spending an entire morning hacking away at a handful of odd pieces.

So that'd be a good 3rd option: find a retired wood burner to donate the nasty stuff to.

 

[Tony H]

With big elm I will noodle a slot across the top an then use wedges to split it but only to make it small enough to get it on the trailer . Then I use the gas splitter. I would borrow or rent a gas splitter with 12 elm tree's to do .

 

[savageactor7]

You do whatever it takes...as you describe the situation yeah I would noodle.

 

[firefighterjake]

All I will say is that if there were plenty of good sized elm and it was free I would break down and rent or borrow a splitter for the day when you're ready . . . while I have had easy to split elm (usually standing dead for several years) . . . most of the elm I split is very, very stringy and sometimes it even gives my 27-ton splitter issues.

 

[northernontario]

I had a pile of logs I was processing this summer... some big yellow birch in there (attack from both sides with the 18" bar to get through). No way was I lifting rounds onto the hydraulic splitter, and no way the Fiskars SS was splitting them. Noodled them into quarters... cut most of the way through with the saw, then finish with a smack from the fiskars. That made them managable... able to get them onto the splitter, or knock them down further with the Fiskars SS.

I've got a stack of quartered rounds ready to be split when I get time. That yellow birch is stringy when it's still wet... makes quite a mess when using the spliter. Lots of splitter trash that I need to clean up.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I despise noodling! A terrible way to split wood.


Elm is best done by waiting for the tree to die and the bark to fall off. Once the bark has fallen, cut it then. Now the stuff will split decently, or at least most of it will. You may still get a few nasty pieces but most will split rather easy. Not only that, but it burns much better. I believe the reason for it burning better is that because it splits easier you are not tearing apart the wood so it is actually a bit denser. I know if you split it green, it will dry fast but burn even faster.

 

[smokinj]

When in dought noodle it!

 

[elijah]

I had a pile of logs I was processing this summer... some big yellow birch in there (attack from both sides with the 18" bar to get through). No way was I lifting rounds onto the hydraulic splitter, and no way the Fiskars SS was splitting them. Noodled them into quarters... cut most of the way through with the saw, then finish with a smack from the fiskars. That made them managable... able to get them onto the splitter, or knock them down further with the Fiskars SS.

I've got a stack of quartered rounds ready to be split when I get time. That yellow birch is stringy when it's still wet... makes quite a mess when using the spliter. Lots of splitter trash that I need to clean up.

x2.

 

[Jamess67]

wait for it to freeze. Then score pie shape slices 8-10 inches deep. Next drill a 1 1/2" hole in the center atleast 1/2 the diameter. Add 4 tablespoons of black powder, a fuse, and cork it. Light and RUN.. lol Im just teasing.. But maybe the freezing part may help.

 

[Flatbedford]

Being a hand splitter, I avoid Elm. I brought some home last winter by mistake and dumped it in the woods.
Noodling will work, but it is a slow process. A hydraulic splitter is probably a much better tool for the job. If you want to do 12 trees worth of Elm get it all home, in a pile and rent a hydraulic splitter for a day or weekend and do it all.

 

[cptoneleg]

That elm must be some tough stuff to split A friend of mine pointed out a tree on my place said thats a Gum tree he said good firewood ,but hard to split need to cut to lengths before get too big, its about 7 or 8 inches at bottom I will have to check it out.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

I had some this year that was really hard to split, even though it was dead for many years. I even had difficulty noodling too. I found if I did just cut a few inches noodled I could split it much easier.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I dug a bunch of big nasty walnut splits out of the back of my woodshed a couple weeks ago. I didn't want to deal with them when I stacked them in there over a year ago, but decided I better noodle them up so I could burn them this winter (there was no way I was gona split them by hand). Not only are they hard to cut up, but the pieces are so irregular they don't stack properly. It was a lot of work for what amounted to little more than a 1/4 cord. In the time I dealt with them I could have split and stacked a full cord of the lodgepole pine I normally burn. Reminded me all too well why I never get the free apple wood that's so often available in the orchards around here.
I do like the smell of walnut wood though.

 

[midwestcoast]

I say take the Fiskars with you to the site. You may find that the straight, smaller diameter trunk & limb rounds will split fairly well. You could then muddle through the rest by cursing & noodling. Not all elm is created equal. You may also find that every inch of those trees is a PITA to split. In that case I agree with the advice to pile it up & rent a splitter.

 

[okotoks guy]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The situation is that an arborist who had me on his "scrounge list" and we are on the same
Hunting/Fishing Forum contacted me and explained that sometime within the next couple of
weeks his company will be removing 12 Elm trees from a Condo Complex that didn't leaf out this year.
I assume this means that the trees have not been dead for too long and I've never dealt with Elm.I have
no idea what it burns like,only that some of you stated that this stuff is a PIA to split.So I guess I was
wondering if the scrounge will be worth it.I like the idea of waiting for it to get cold( -10 or-15) and then
rent a splitter for the weekend.BUT only if the end result is worth the effort.I don't want to go through
that much effort and the stuff burns like cottonwood.

BTW I have access to my Inlaw's acreage where I've already got about 4 cord split of various species
so there's no trouble storing it for a while.I just don't want to leave it sit in rounds for 3 years before
I can split it.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

The situation is that an arborist who had me on his "scrounge list" and we are on the same
Hunting/Fishing Forum contacted me and explained that sometime within the next couple of
weeks his company will be removing 12 Elm trees from a Condo Complex that didn't leaf out this year.
I assume this means that the trees have not been dead for too long and I've never dealt with Elm.I have
no idea what it burns like,only that some of you stated that this stuff is a PIA to split.So I guess I was
wondering if the scrounge will be worth it.I like the idea of waiting for it to get cold( -10 or-15) and then
rent a splitter for the weekend.BUT only if the end result is worth the effort.I don't want to go through
that much effort and the stuff burns like cottonwood.

BTW I have access to my Inlaw's acreage where I've already got about 4 cord split of various species
so there's no trouble storing it for a while.I just don't want to leave it sit in rounds for 3 years before
I can split it.

Elm is a good wood in terms of BTU . . . once seasoned it burns nicely and coals up nicely -- it is most definitely one of the better burning woods (although not as high in BTUs as oak, hickory, etc.) and would be worth renting a splitter if you had lots of it to split up. The only really negative aspect that I see with elm is that when hand splitting it can be stringy and tough to get through . . . as I said I sometimes have issues with fresh cut elm with my hydraulic splitter . . . but the reward of having a good burning wood is worth the occasional mangled piece of elm with the splitter . . . now if I had to split elm by hand . . . well let's just say I would probably pass on most elm . . . the exception being if it had been standing dead for two or three or more years . . . in my experience elm that has been standing dead for several years to the point where the bark is falling off can and will split easier . . . but it sounds as though this is not the case.