City boy loves wood but it's too warm and there's no room.

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wowser

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Nov 12, 2011
51
southern california
[Hearth.com] City boy loves wood but it's too warm and there's no room. [Hearth.com] City boy loves wood but it's too warm and there's no room. I'm in the wrong place. It's 84° outside today and I'm splitting and stacking firewood in every inch of my postage-stamp backyard like an idiot. I have enough wood for endless Southern California winters. I love to scrounge, love to split and love to stack. I get a better workout than at the gym. I'd love to move to a colder climate on a few wooded acres in the pacific north-west but the wife won't have it.

On another note, I've been using this cheap Harbor Freight splitter and can split 24" rounds by peeling the edges and working in. I couldn't split this silver maple by hand. Still a workout lifting those suckas.

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Funny! I just returned from my brothers in Los Alamitos. It was 85 degrees one day. Rediculous for January. Your yard looks just like his with the pool and orange tree.
 
Why are you using a splitter? That Fiskar's will take care of those maple rounds.

You need to work out a deal with some shop by the beach. You supply bundles of firewood for bonfires and they supply a place to display and sell them. You might be able to make some money scrounging, and clear up some space for more firewood.
 
You'd think that fiskers would go through it but it didn't for me. It would just stick 3" in the silver maple, even on the edges. I may be wrong, but city trees seem to grow this way and that and you never get straight grain. I even tried using a wedge but it stuck too (even at the edge). Maybe a more experienced lumber jack would make fast work of it by hand, but I couldn't. My plan was to use the electric splitter to get it split in half and then use the fiskers. That didn't happen of course. Used the splitter the whole way by peeling the edges and then to the middle. Paid $160 for it and that's what a cord of wood would cost here, so it paid for itself with the first free scrounge.

Naw, not looking to sell firewood. Too much trouble. I do it for fun. People do use their fireplaces/stoves around here. First night that gets below 60° every gets their fires going!
 
I know I'm largely alone in this opinion, but I prefer 6 and 8 lb mauls to the Fiskars. Splits the small stuff just as well, and splits the big stuff better. Learn how to swing it fast. I have a sledge and wedges too, but haven't used those since I learned how to swing the 8 lb better/ faster. Use your legs.
 
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drz1050 said:
I know I'm largely alone in this opinion, but I prefer 6 and 8 lb mauls to the Fiskars. Splits the small stuff just as well, and splits the big stuff better. Learn how to swing it fast. I have a sledge and wedges too, but haven't used those since I learned how to swing the 8 lb better/ faster. Use your legs.
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You are not alone. I prefer a maul and I'm not really sure why someone would buy a plastic axe. I prefer vintage though. Most of my mauls are salvaged or bought at flea markets.
 
[Hearth.com] City boy loves wood but it's too warm and there's no room. You need one of these poolside..... Nowadays they make them much more prettier.......
 
Firefighter938 said:
You are not alone. I prefer a maul and I'm not really sure why someone would buy a plastic axe. I prefer vintage though. Most of my mauls are salvaged or bought at flea markets.
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Likewise :) I've been looking for a good old Council or Collins axe eye maul for a while, no luck yet.. I have two old axe eye Weco mauls that get most of the use, then a couple sledge eye no-names.

Plastic handles are good sometimes- I have a mattock for digging up shrubs and whatnot, has a plastic/ fiberglass/ rubber handle, and I'm rough as hell on that thing. Its treated me well. Axes/ mauls don't have anywhere close to as rough of a life, so for those I definitely prefer wood- a big plus being that I can re-handle them too.
 
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I worked a 29 YO silver maple this summer and it kicked my behind. My 5 ton electric splitter couldn't make a dent either. Way more than I'm going to admit had to have a rip cut before the splitter could bust it. But it's burning quite nicely right now!!;)
 
One of coworkers used to make the comment that when he retired he was going to strap on his skis to his roof and drive south until someone asked what was strapped on his roof.. I figured someone could do that with a splitting maul but you proved me wrong ;)
 
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