This is some hard stuff.

[ohlongarm]

My mulch grinding friend asked if I wanted some hard maple,logs about 24 inches in diameter.He has tons of wood that he grinds into mulch but he saves some good stuff for me if I want it,no shortage here though. So he only lives three miles from here so he brings about 12 logs about 10 to 12 feet each.They have no bark on them and are light gray very weathered,anyway I took a bite out of one the wood is absolutely beautiful reddish pink,tan,I figured the stuff was ready to burn maybe this year. Anyway I barely made it through 5 logs on a new chain and dullsville,I believe this stuff is as hard as locust and hickory the saw blade was smoking.The stuff is incredibly hard. I'm going to take pictures and post them of these rounds .I'll split them in the spring and burn some maybe next year.

 

[Soundchasm]

Can you post some pics? I'm having a tough time reconciling reddish pink,tan, with sugar maple (hard maple). Hard (rock) maple is so darn light in color... If it's sugar maple and you knock two pieces together it ought to be a resounding CRACK! Very musical at the least.

I know there's way more than one kind of maple, and several that might be called "hard maple". Curious.

 

[mstoelton]

How does it split? With no bark and no leaves etc. You might not be dealing with Maple. Elm?

 

[ohlongarm]

Can you post some pics? I'm having a tough time reconciling reddish pink,tan, with sugar maple (hard maple). Hard (rock) maple is so darn light in color... If it's sugar maple and you knock two pieces together it ought to be a resounding CRACK! Very musical at the least.

I know there's way more than one kind of maple, and several that might be called "hard maple". Curious.

Gentlemen 100%hard sugar maple,the trees were taken down in the city of Cleveland Ohio,with a certified arborist who documented the species removed and their size. I've got the pictures on my phone.I've yet to split any yet but have pics of before in logs and cut in rounds.

 

[Soundchasm]

You're going to love sugar maple, if you don't already. They call it rock maple for a reason, methinks.

I keep an eye out for it at all times and I seem to score everything but. I guess those logs were on their way towards petrification! Other than the dull chain, I'm jealous.

 

[ohlongarm]

You're going to love sugar maple, if you don't already. They call it rock maple for a reason, methinks.

I keep an eye out for it at all times and I seem to score everything but. I guess those logs were on their way towards petrification! Other than the dull chain, I'm jealous.

I've a ton of sugar maple on my place,some 80 feet tall.problem is they never fall or die. I only cut dead or fallen here.Actually the stuff looks like petrified wood. Will split a piece tomorrow and tell more.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Cut down a big sugar maple behind my house. Too much shade on my property/house/lawn. It was pretty easy to cut up...nice and fresh. That was 7 months ago and the stump is still bleeding.

 

[Soundchasm]

I've a ton of sugar maple on my place,some 80 feet tall.problem is they never fall or die. I only cut dead or fallen here.Actually the stuff looks like petrified wood. Will split a piece tomorrow and tell more.

I've got a special place in my heart for sugar maple. Something with tornado-like qualities knocked down a VERY large black cherry on our very steep hillside. Luckily, a sugar stood between it and the house. Miraculously a main bough of the cherry straddled the sugar, which took the hit and stayed up. The cherry covered the deck and side yard and only kissed the house.

That noble tree was split down the middle and skinned on both sides. It's my favorite species from here on out.

 

[ohlongarm]

I've got a special place in my heart for sugar maple. Something with tornado-like qualities knocked down a VERY large black cherry on our very steep hillside. Luckily, a sugar stood between it and the house. Miraculously a main bough of the cherry straddled the sugar, which took the hit and stayed up. The cherry covered the deck and side yard and only kissed the house.

That noble tree was split down the middle and skinned on both sides. It's my favorite species from here on out.

View attachment 183190

You were lucky 2 months ago a sycamore almost 4 feet in diameter and a measured 65 feet tall hit the back of our house causing considerable damage about 45$thousand. To date the insurance has refused to pay,will probably have to take it to arbitration.We will prevail,they want us to accept 17thousand which isn't even close. I have never seen a healthy tree such as this topple over,some on the property are 6 feet wide at the base,

 

[Soundchasm]

You were lucky 2 months ago a sycamore almost 4 feet in diameter and a measured 65 feet tall hit the back of our house causing considerable damage about 45$thousand. To date the insurance has refused to pay,will probably have to take it to arbitration.We will prevail,they want us to accept 17thousand which isn't even close. I have never seen a healthy tree such as this topple over,some on the property are 6 feet wide at the base,

OMG!! In our case the storm caused plenty of damage with hail bigger than golf balls, but I can't comprehend what would have happened if that tree had contacted the house. That would be awful. It took us almost a year to get sorted out, and I don't envy the journey you've got in front of you.

I wish I had some good advice to give you. It's tough sledding and I wish you success.

 

[maple1]

Sugar maple can get very hard. Cuts pretty easy when green, usually. I found a few old windfalls last year, big old things that had been down for a few years. I thought they would be half rotten, but they seemed to be half petrified when I started cutting them up. Really hard going, even with a freshly filed chain. Seems some go that way, while others don't.

 

[cptoneleg]

Gentlemen 100%hard sugar maple,the trees were taken down in the city of Cleveland Ohio,with a certified arborist who documented the species removed and their size. I've got the pictures on my phone.I've yet to split any yet but have pics of before in logs and cut in rounds.

Oh yea lets see one

 

[ohlongarm]

Oh yea lets see one

Okay here ya go.

 

[ohlongarm]

This is a mixed pile of oak,cherry,hard maple ash,and osage orange not visible,check out those hard maple rounds,hard as granite.

 

[jaoneill]

I spent the day Monday splitting the remaining 7 or 8 rounds from a 40" diameter sugar maple we took down two years ago. Noodled them each into three pieces so I could move them onto the foot of the splitter but from there it was easy going. I don't think the splitter wedge went more than an inch into the wood before the blocks would "explode", shooting the pieces two feet in either direction. Made for very short cycle times

 

[ohlongarm]

I spent the day Monday splitting the remaining 7 or 8 rounds from a 40" diameter sugar maple we took down two years ago. Noodled them each into three pieces so I could move them onto the foot of the splitter but from there it was easy going. I don't think the splitter wedge went more than an inch into the wood before the blocks would "explode", shooting the pieces two feet in either direction. Made for very short cycle times

I hear you,that's why I wear catchers chaps when splitting saves the legs. that stuff is unbelievably hard,next year may burn some.Shin guards.

 

[jaoneill]

I hear you,that's why I wear catchers chaps when splitting saves the legs. that stuff is unbelievably hard,next year may burn some.

I'm always in front of, never to the side of the splitter......

 

[ohlongarm]

I'm always in front of, never to the side of the splitter......

I've had many blast out the front,don't make me post pics of my legs,shin guards always now on.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I'm not sure what you guys are talking about standing in front of the splitter. The only place you can stand is the side(s) or the back and still operate the lever.

 

[mwhitnee]

I'm not sure what you guys are talking about standing in front of the splitter. The only place you can stand is the side(s) or the back and still operate the lever.

Operating vertical I stand in front of mine...

 

[heavy hammer]

I split some old growth maple a couple years back when a nursery near me had one fall over. It was over four feet in diameter, when splitting the wedges would start rounding and mushrooming the worse my father has seen in a long time. Very hard wood, burned great once seasoned. I'm definitely a fan of maple.