Big Hickory

[Firefighter938]

I got a call from a tree service wondering if I wanted any Hickory. They said it was laying in a back yard and I could take all I wanted. What ever was left Monday was going to their burn pile. It was bigger than I was expecting.


It was ~24". I cut it into 16" rounds and rolled them onto my trailer. That's where they sit until Tuesday.
Not sure how I am going to split them yet. I have a friend with a splitter I may borrow, but it is horizontal and I can't lift the rounds on it.
Use wedges and quarter it?
Noodle it? My little 450 wouldn't like that too much and my 268 needs repair.

 

[TedyOH]

Dream come true there, firewood and wood for the reverse flow BBQ pit - wedge it, it shouldn't be so bad being green.

 

[Applesister]

Dont noodle it. Splits easier when green, it will just pop now, if you wait till spring it gets really stringy.
It petrifies.
I bet those rounds were really heavy.
Borrow a vertical splitter.

 

[Wood Duck]

I'd try splitting with a maul, the way I always split. Once you split a big round in half, the rest is easy so I usually try to split in half first. However, if that doesn't work I take a piece off the side and work from there.

 

[claydogg84]

Big rounds I always do the same procedure. Noodle only bar deep and then use a wedge. Always pops even the biggest rounds in half. From there you should be able to lift the rounds with one other person.

Trying to use a maul to whack this sized round apart is a tremendous amount of work compared to the method I mentioned.

 

[drz1050]

That's big, but not too bad. I've been splitting beech & hickory lately around that size. Start with a maul, try to halve it, but don't just strike in the middle... work a line across the round. If that doesn't get it done in 4-6 strikes, break out the wedges. You can noodle a little bit to get a good hold for the wedges to start on.

 

[Firefighter938]

I took an 8lb maul to one split before I rolled it on trailer and it just laughed at me. It did have a branch on one side. I will try again Tuesday.

 

[TedyOH]

Sometimes if you flip it over and try the other side it will split easier for no apparent reason, if one round splits easier in this direction normally the whole trunk will.

 

[heavy hammer]

Awesome bring out the wedges and the big hammers. I love splitting stuff like that. I split four foot diameter red oak this summer. Works better when it is still wet. Does take a lot of effort but you will get it. Two or three wedges maul and sledge, have fun in two years you will appreciate it

 

[Dantheman300z]

Beautiful stuff!

 

[kennyp2339]

For you - when it rains it pours wood, you've got some good hook ups in the past couple of weeks.

 

[Babaganoosh]

I'd break out a few wedges and half them all. Then work from there. I have a vertical and horizontal splitter and I usually bust the big rounds up by hand. Not that I have to, but because I enjoy it.

 

[johneh]

If you find it to hard to split you can
always deliver it to me

 

[Firefighter938]

For you - when it rains it pours wood, you've got some good hook ups in the past couple of weeks.

Lol, yes I suppose so. I spread the wealth though. You never know when the chance at good wood will dry up, so maybe the people I help will help me if I need it.
Plus, there is a lot of wood around here and only a few choose to burn it.

 

[Bret Chase]

Those logs right there, I would find a way to get them into a truck whole... and find a furniture maker.... you may up with a few grand in your pocket!

 

[TheBigIron]

I got a call from a tree service wondering if I wanted any Hickory. They said it was laying in a back yard and I could take all I wanted. What ever was left Monday was going to their burn pile. It was bigger than I was expecting.
View attachment 173060
View attachment 173061
It was ~24". I cut it into 16" rounds and rolled them onto my trailer. That's where they sit until Tuesday.
Not sure how I am going to split them yet. I have a friend with a splitter I may borrow, but it is horizontal and I can't lift the rounds on it.
Use wedges and quarter it?
Noodle it? My little 450 wouldn't like that too much and my 268 needs repair.

Did you get finished cleaning that fence row yet?

 

[Firefighter938]

Did you get finished cleaning that fence row yet?

Not even close. The fence row isn't going anywhere though and the hickory wasn't going to make it past today. Plus, the temps have been climbing and it is getting muddy. I could drive right up to the hickory and stay on the pavement.

I will be working on that fence row into next year.

 

[TheBigIron]

Not even close. The fence row isn't going anywhere though and the hickory wasn't going to make it past today. Plus, the temps have been climbing and it is getting muddy. I could drive right up to the hickory and stay on the pavement.

I will be working on that fence row into next year.

Sounds good, I found some wood that will keep me busy for a while as well yesterday!

 

[Scrounger]

Not sure how I am going to split them yet. I have a friend with a splitter I may borrow, but it is horizontal and I can't lift the rounds on it.
Use wedges and quarter it?
Noodle it? My little 450 wouldn't like that too much and my 268 needs repair.

Pull the splitter right next to the trailer, get a 2x6 or 2x8 plank and lay it on the trailer and splitter, roll the round off the trailer across the plank and right onto the splitter. Alot less labor, lifting, cutting that way.

 

[Firefighter938]

Pull the splitter right next to the trailer, get a 2x6 or 2x8 plank and lay it on the trailer and splitter, roll the round off the trailer across the plank and right onto the splitter. Alot less labor, lifting, cutting that way.

Where were you a few hours ago? Sometimes the most obvious answers right in front of your face are the hardest to see.


Three more to go. Had to take a break for lunch.

 

[jetsam]

With big (2' and up) rounds, I kept hurting my back and putting myself out of action, so I started splitting them before loading them.

I find the most important part of splitting is looking at the round before I start.

I cut the round off the tree and look at the side all the way around and note where the branches were. I look for a line across the middle of the round with a natural crack or grainline, where the line doesn't go near a branch, especially a branch near the top of the round.

If I find a place like that, I pop that big round in half by drawing that line all the way across with my 8 lb maul. Depending on the tree and how good a job I did on the planning, usualy takes 3-15 whacks. If for some reason it just won't pop, I move on to plan B below. (I know a lot of people start with plan B, but I find it saves a lot of time and effort if I can get that big round in halves before I start.)

If no such "master split" location exists, I look for all the locations with no branches and I square off the edge of the round there, and keep whittling the round down by picking easy targets for small splits, until I'm down to knotty bastards. If I feel like some exercise I trim the knotty bastards to stove height with axe and hatchet; if I'm tired the chainsaw comes out again. If I am trying to get back to the house, the knotty bastards just go onto the trailer for later processing.

I get my big splits out of easy rounds, and my small splits out of difficult rounds. Either way, I don't pick up those big rounds anymore.

 

[jetsam]

Where were you a few hours ago? Sometimes the most obvious answers right in front of your face are the hardest to see.
View attachment 173242

Three more to go. Had to take a break for lunch.

When I look at that photo, it looks like the big 1' split on top of the pile you're cutting in the foreground is actually a gigantic 4' split sitting on top of a 2' tall woodpile in the background. I thought at first that your tarped woodpile was an 18 wheel flatbed with one massive tree improbably split in half on it.

If I go back and look at the picture again, I can still see it that way.

 

[Firefighter938]

Drove by the house they took the hickory down and it was still there so I loaded the truck up again.


This was a big tree. I think I will get a little over a cord and my friend took about half a cord. There were still a few big gnarly pieces from the top left also.

It should make really good wood in a few years.

 

[Firefighter938]

When I look at that photo, it looks like the big 1' split on top of the pile you're cutting in the foreground is actually a gigantic 4' split sitting on top of a 2' tall woodpile in the background. I thought at first that your tarped woodpile was an 18 wheel flatbed with one massive tree improbably split in half on it.

If I go back and look at the picture again, I can still see it that way.

Lol, yeah I can kind of see that.

 

[heavy hammer]

Looks like someone had a good morning. Not a bad way to spend a jan morning.