Tried the tire trick for 1st time

After watching that video of the guy using a tire to support the round he was splitting, I decided to give it a try.

I used a 17" rear sportbike tire and man did it work great! Not only did it do an amazing job of keeping the splits from falling over, the tire also kept my axe blade from hitting the dirt. It also provided the axe some rebound (as the axe handle would compress the side of the tire on the down stroke) reducing the amount of effort to raise the axe each time.

I would say my spitting efficiency has gone up 3 fold!

I am going to see if I can find an old tire and try it. My favorite tool isthe splitting axe and it throws the wood. If I did not have to pick it up each time, that would save lots of time and bending.

Omg when I read your header I thought you were talking about burning a tire in an OWB lol

Tried it out. Changed out four tires on my s10. Kept two worn out tires for this purpose. What a waste of effort. Didn't feel like I was giving myself any advantage. Also once you have old tires laying around. they collect water and leafs and become an eyesore. Took them to work and threw them in the dumpster. What I do as an aid is put the rounds on a solid tree stump cut flush to the ground. Makes for a solid support. The rounds have to be close to the actual diameter of the tire opening to work as desired. Otherwise you are bending over settling up the rounds again and fighting the tires also. Just my opinion.

I wonder if you would find a smaller tire more effective?
We found that car/truck tires were just too large for the reason you mentioned.
And we also drill large holes all around the sides for drainage.

Can someone please post the link to the original video? I can't seem to find it. Thanks!

They show him using the tire at the 27 second mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCJADv2shNE&NR=1

I just place my tire on the ground, works great for me.

Here, they show him splitting multiple rounds in 1 tire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDCnGl7QbKk&feature=related

A smaller tire with the steel beads cut off and turned inside out would probably work well too.

THis is my first year using a tire and it works great. I used to place the round on a BIG piece to split and after every swing would have to pick the round up and place it back on the cutting block, but with the tire the piece stays in place and I can swing to my hearts content.

That was a great idea, and yes got it from here.

I love my tires. I have two from my wifes car from when we replaced her tires. They are from 17 inch rims. I love that I can swing the maul as hard as I want and the tire absorbs what ever the log does not.

I used to put my tire on my splitting block and it fit perfectly but that splitting block got split up and I will be burning it soon enough. It was from a massive red oak. It started to get funky and I decided its time had come.

I think for most peoples' purposes, ATV tires work better than automotive tires.. they are taller and have a smaller diameter.

Does anyone know what the story is behind that axe they are using in the video?

http://www.vipukirves.fi/english/description.htm

How do you attach the tire to the wood splitter to avoid wedgies? :coolsmile:

Using an old tire from our minivan for splitting wood has been the single most helpful thing to me in splitting. For me, the bending over to re-set the log is what kills my back, not the swinging of the maul. Much more effecient for me. I just drilled some holes in the sidewalls and made them bigger with a knife for drainage. They are a bit of an eyesore, so keep them out of sight! ;-P

I love this method. I've been using an old truck tire for this since I heard about it and it works great. I actually like the bigger tire so that I can get several rounds in there or if I have a larger one I have lots of room for it.

I just tried this out for the first time this morning. AWESOME!! The old tire that the previous home owner left behind now has a new use! Im using a truck tire...i can fit bigger rounds or 3-4 slimmer rounds in there to pack it tight. Ive must of split double what I usually do in the same time span.

The only downside I see of using a large tire is that it keeps you further away from the splits so you need to reach out to lift them. Fine it you are splitting them small but many of mine are 6 inches on a given face. My back would kill me reaching like that.

I have not been able to convince hubby to help me attach a tire to a splitting trunk hunk yet, but I suppose I can figure it out myself. I really want to use a tire setup this winter. I split on large low rounds. Picking the split off the ground is always a pain, but it is especially important to keep them from falling into the snow and getting all wet and snowy before going into the pile or on the porch. Lately in WI we get a LOT of snow in the winter, so the ground is usually snow covered and sometimes quite deep. I spent a lot of time brushing snow off the wood I was splitting last winter.

Marcia, surely you should be able to persuade the man of the house. I know if my wife was splitting the wood I'd do whatever the hell she asked me to do to help her out! ;-)

Anyway, if the tire is smaller than the big round you're splitting on, just nail or screw it on there. Good luck, it really is a great help to handsplitters. Out to split in the dark now...... :ahhh:

I was just searching for something I posted recently and found this followup to what I wrote. I will have to have my hubby read it. He isn't the type to do "honey do" lists. Maybe he is trying to make me discover my own skills. He had a lot of rotator cuff injuries, so can't swing a maul. He does split wood with a single jack and wedges, so he does some of it, too. I do feel clever and powerful when I split firewood with a maul, though. And it impresses all my friends.

I am very pleased that you have learned to use an old tire. It is a good advantage compared to none. This is anyway only a half way improvement because there is a very big possibility to break the shaft (handle).You must be very careful not to leave any wood below the shaft.
When using the LEVERAXE, this risk is fully eliminated, because the axe blade always remains ON the block. The shaft almost never touches the block. For further details it is good to become acquainted with my web sites. Among the numerous videos you can see the longest chopper block of the world and the first rotating chopper block in the world. The same videos can be seen in YOU TUBE, search by LEVERAXE or VIPUKIRVES.[youtube]www.youtube.com/results?search_query=leveraxe&search;_type=&aq=f[/youtube][googlevideo]www.vipukirves.fi/english/index.htm[/googlevideo] The LEVERAXE has been on the market over four (4+) years. During this time-NO ACCIDENT.
I hope you to enjoy your stay in the sites.
Best regards from Finland.
Heikki, the inventor

Here is my tire setup, I posted this before but here it again. I think it works very well. An ides for improvement I will try, is to raise the tire up a few inches, there were a few occasions when the split jumped out of the tire. Another option would be to have 2 sizes of tires, one for smaller rounds and one for larger rounds. The tires have 4 holes drilled in the sidewall that fit over some screws that stick out of the chopping block, this keeps the tire in place. I think the important thing is to have the tire just a bit bigger than the round you are splitting.

A tire can be made to stand taller if you make flaps in the bottom portion of the tire. Use a hack saw or a jigsaw to cut 8 equal cuts through the rim bead to the tread line (use WD-40 to keep the rubber from pinching the saw blade). Bend four of the flaps you just made downward to make four equally spaced legs and secure the legs to the side of your chopping block (the chopping block needs to be about the same size as the outside diameter of the tire). If you leave a space between the bottom of the tire and the chopping block it will make it easier to sweep snow and splitting debris off from the face of the chopping block.

My tire setup is much like this last post.

I used an old ATV tire, size 25x12x10. 12" is the diameter, then I took a boxcutter and cut the bead out in one fell swoop. Now the tire diameter is close to 14". This is the top. On the bottom, cut the tire bead off as above. Then make 6 radial cuts much like cutting a pie, bring them out about 4" from the removed bead. Fold them over on your cutting block (mine is about 16" in diameter) and attach each with a single drywall screw. Back on the top, make the same 6 radial cuts from the center out toward the tread in the sidewall, again about 4" long.

You now have the ability to accept a log diameter up to or over 15", which is all I need. The ATV tire is tall, it does a good job of keeping the splits in.

The guys who tried car tires and were disappointed owe themselves another try with an ATV tire.