getting started

[Toast]

Ok... I bought a wood furnace. I made the plunge. The next thought was ... I need some wood. So I get some logs of sugar maple from my neighbor and begin. First the maple is harder that the aspen and lilac I have been cutting with my husky 141. I cut of one piece and I thought I need a bigger saw. then my wife comes out and I take my mall to split the piece and it just bounces of and my wife said " how do people normally split wood"

what a weekend .... the saw is now at the hardware store getting sharpened and the logs haven’t moved.

It is possible that the saw is not to small. But, I do have a question..

Does anyone split hardwoods without a splitter?

Do I need to go out and spend $1000 on a splitter and $500 on a saw???

 

[BrotherBart]

Keep the chain sharp and that little 141 will do fine. I have a couple of 142s and cut 40" oak with'em. Lots of people split hardwood by hand. I used to split five to six cords a year with a maul. Lots of folks will chime in with techniques but the main thing is just like karate. Think and swing all the way through it. Don't aim for the round. You are aiming for the ground underneath it.

And hopefully you are using at least an eight pound splitting maul, not an ax.

 

[Toast]

Thanks for the quick reply. That is encouraging. The guy at the chainsaw store thinks “you cant heat a house with a 141" He found a perfectly good $500 saw that he thinks would work much better.

And, before I get a splitter, I will try a heavy mall. Its only ~$26. Karate, hunh?

Thanks

 

[Chris S]

I have my own professional grinder for sharpening chains. I always sharpened them just as they stated to get dull, and I don't take away a lot of metal as sharp shops are prone to do ( so they cansell you another). I got motivated recently after watching Ax men, and asked a logger freind to show me how to sharpen by hand.
It's very simple with a round file, no fancy jig on the tailgate of the truck but a vise is better. My buddy who is 69 yrs. young & sold me the grinder always sharpens by hand. 2 passes with the file on each tooth, takes just a few minutes, and do it before you beat yourself up.
I still use the grinder but only periodically to get the angles back where they should be in case I file them slightly off.
As for George, he bought a new grinder because he has a feller buncher and the chain is huge, but he still sharpens the Jonsered on the tailgate of the truck'

The file cost $3.50

Chris

 

[BrotherBart]

Thanks for the quick reply. That is encouraging. The guy at the chainsaw store thinks “you cant heat a house with a 141"

Tell him one old fart does.

 

[computeruser]

Small saws can cut firewood, but they require better upkeep on chain sharpness than you can get away with when you've got more cc pulling your dull chain. Pictured is my little firewood saw, a Husqvarna 238se: 38cc, 13" bar, and many cords of firewood under its belt, this year alone. You can heat a home with a small saw like this, no doubt. It will be easier with two saws, though, with one being much larger and capable of quickly blocking up larger wood and ripping rounds into halves and quarters from time to time.

Splitting is best accomplished, in my experience, with heavier mauls. I know that some guys get everything done with 4-6lb mauls, but I think that 8lb is a minimum for straight-grained wood of 18"+, and better still is the Iron&Oak;15lb megamaul. That said, I gave up hand-splitting last year and picked up a Timberwolf, and now I cannot imagine why I ever fought with a maul to get through the knotty stuff by hand. But if you're not in a huge hurry, sledge+wedge+a heavy maul can accomplish a lot. The attached picture of the firewood was accomplished with an 8lb maul, and was quick and easy with that tool. Even nastier stuff, including hickory, can be handled by hand. The only stuff that is really nasty is stringy elm, which does not want to split with the splitter, sometimes.

Buy a couple different mauls, a sledge (heavy and medium-heavy), and some wedges. Learn to read the grain of the wood and to cleave off chunks of wood rather than trying to halve the round on the first pass. Also learn to plan your splitting when cutting your wood up - where you place knots, or if you just cut knots out, etc. You might be surprised how efficient you can become hand-splitting, with some experience.

 

[11 Bravo]

I cut alot of wood with my first saw, a $130 Craftsman/Poulan. I changed over to a chisel chain, and that helped, takes bigger chunks, but tends to buck a little more. Three years ago, I tried to split some apple with my Fiskers splitting at, and the apple just laughed at me. Now, two shoulder surgeries later, I have gone with a power splitter. The $300 Ryobi electric splitter will go through most stuff, ya just gotta take off bits of the log at a time if it's too tough. There is a lot written about it on this sight.

 

[BrotherBart]

I agree with computer user. There are times when the big boy is handy. Heavy but handy.

 

[Scrounger]

Hi Toast! Go to the attached post and look at my pictures of the free score of sugar maple. Look in the background for size reference. You'll notice that some of the rounds are as big around as the trailer tires. I split everything with an 8 pound maul from Lowes. I also have a few wedges I use to break down some of the larger chunks. It can be done without a splitter. You need to become one with the wood and learn to read it. Look for cracks and use them to your advantage. That crack is a weak spot. On the large rounds don't try to drive the maul right into the center. It helps if you hit more toward the outer edge. Accuracy counts, try to hit the same spot until it splits, if you wack it all over the place, you'll get tired and frustrated real quick. After a few hours of swinging a maul you'll get better. After a few days you'll get stronger. After a few cords you'll be on your way to being an expert. Any knotty pieces or crotches save until later, I always do the easy ones first, then at the end of my splitting session, I'll try to tackle a few gnarly pieces.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/10091/

 

[Toast]

Thanks... you guys are helpfull. I got my saw back from the shop and bucked up those logs. It worked like a charm. Infact, I think it was better t han when it was new. Must be the way he ground it..

As far as splitting, i need to get my chi back. I think I used it all cutting and stacking the logs.

I did buy a heavy mall

 

[savageactor7]

^If you can talk to someone local that has split by hand they can show you a lot of tricks to make your chore easier. A lot of people still split by hand...they whittle away at it each day and before you know they got cords. I wouldn't advise making it an all day Saturday project though.

 

[BrotherBart]

As far as splitting, i need to get my chi back. I think I used it all cutting and stacking the logs.

I did buy a heavy mall

"To cleave the fibrous vegetation you must become as one with the device with the handle and steel head Grasshopper."

- Master Po

or

"Use the Force Luke."

- Obi Wan

 

[myzamboni]

Splitting with a maul is great therapy after a hard day at the office.

Work the edges . . . don't try to split an 18" round in half with one swing. Look for the grain and use it to your advantage.

And always have a beer and admire your work when you are done.

 

[Carl]

Your saw should do fine, especially not that you have had it tuned up and sharpened. You should be able to easily sharpen it yourself with a file and a litte practice. If you know someone who knows how to sharpen let them show you how. That is how I picked up on it years ago and can still manage it.

A maul works well for splitting. Only drawback is it takes a little longer and you can't manually split for hours at a time. When I split by hand I would split for an hour or so in the evening so I still had some spunk left for another day. Little by little it gets done and soon you will have mountains of split wood.

 

[Vic99]

I split with an 8 lb maul. No wedges. No splitter. I look at it as my workout, 3-4 times/week.

Definitely takes a couple of weeks to get through a cord . . . elm can be worse, but if its already bucked and free, I'll take it.