Hickory is brutal!!!

[jpcjguy]

So I took down some hickory on 9/21 and cut it into 18" lengths for my wood burning insert. Just went out and started splitting it - holy heck This stuff is string and tough! Using my 27 ton splitter and it almost stalled it several times. Is this normal? Should I wait a while before splitting? Makes the oak I just did seem like a joke....
Pics of the pile and the result of a couple splits. The pic "wood4" is an absolute mess....

 

[johneh]

To me, it is no worse than ELM with the splitter I have which is a 22-ton Surge Master
Makes its own kindling

 

[MRD1985]

It can certainly be tough. I couldn’t split 16” rounds with my x27 with less than 6 hits. Had to use the maul and still took a couple. Once rounds were split it was more manageable with the axe. Still tough wood though

 

[jpcjguy]

So it does not matter if I split now, few months or even 6 months? Same PITA? 😂

 

[MRD1985]

The faster you get it split and stacked the faster it will dry. I cut mine in early May and it’s down to 24% as of a few weeks ago. Mine was straighter grain than what you have pictured

Edit. Maybe bigger than I remember

 

[MongoMongoson]

With hickory, it often works best to split slabs off the outside of the round, working towards the center. The same goes for elm, especially red elm.

If your wedges start to fly out of the log, I have found that using a 16 lb sledge rather than an 8 lb sledge really does the trick to keep them from popping out. It also really does a number on the wedges.... but I split a bunch of hickory this year with the 16 pounder.

Multiple wedges in a line really help as well.

A narrow bladed very sharp axe is extremely helpful. Sometimes you just have to get in there with the narrow blade and chop some of the connecting strings to make progress.

I have a 25 ton splitter, but try to do all that I can by hand because I need the exercise anyway.

 

[jpcjguy]

This is ridiculous….

 

[bigealta]

Yeah at this point i'd cut the rounds in half or even smaller. It's not ideal to stack "shorties" but better than dealing with that mess on the splitter.

you can even cut 3,4 or 5" discs

Better to clear this one out and Move on to the next tree.

 

[jpcjguy]

Wondering if this could be an elm? That is what y’all are saying is the worst. I do know that they were four trees all within 20 feet of each other with a bunch of the hickory nuts all around the ground. Could that be? Here is a picture of the bark, it is more rugged than the others

 

[jpcjguy]

Here is the bark of a round that is splitting much easier. Not as easy as oak, but much better than that mess

 

[bigealta]

Oak is one of the easiest trees there is to split. You are spoiled with that other oak.
But that said oak is just about all i want, and easy splitting is a major reason.

 

[MRD1985]

It could be elm ? 🤷🏻‍♂️. Any leaf photos? I don’t see much hickory heartwood there. That’s way more stringy than the hickory I’ve dealt with. I stay far away from elm. Not worth my time. JMO

 

[johneh]

That looks a lot like American Elm we burn a lot of standing dead from our tree lines
Yes it is more work but we waste not want, not when it comes to keeping this land productive
And it heats this old house maybe not as well as Oak but free BTUs are better than non

 

[Woody Stover]

The first pic in post #1 looks like Sweetgum, with that distinctive small, dark center. I just split some today, but it wasn't that bad! A few of the rounds, water squished out as the splitter wedge went in. Sweetgum has a "sweet" fragrance.
The bark and wood in post #8 looks like Hickory to me, although it lacks the dark center that you sometimes see.

 

[all night moe]

Hickory can be tough to split, but worth every bit of effort. Worth its wait in gold for BTUs.
My favorite tree for multiple reasons. I practically shed tears when a 10'' diam log fed the chipper. I wasn't near to stop the wastefulness.

 

[ScottLewis]

Two reasons I don't burn hickory:

1. Bugs
2. Hard to split

 

[Wisco Shepherd]

That looks rough, I worked on elm this year and will try and avoid it in the future. Going to stick with a mix of softer maples for low heat needs and oak for the bad days. The more ahead I get the pickier ill be.

 

[Woody Stover]

The first pic in post #1 looks like Sweetgum, with that distinctive small, dark center. I just split some today, but it wasn't that bad! A few of the rounds, water squished out as the splitter wedge went in. Sweetgum has a "sweet" fragrance.
The bark and wood in post #8 looks like Hickory to me, although it lacks the dark center that you sometimes see.

EDIT: I meant the bark and splits in post#10 looks like Hickory.
I'm sticking with Sweetgum for that stringy stuff...bark and splits look just like the Sweetgum I split the other day (although it wasn't quite as stringy.) Have you ever seen the spiny Sweetgum balls in the area?

 

[CincyBurner]

The first pic in post #1 looks like Sweetgum

+ 1 for sweetgum (Liquidambar stryraciflua).
Agree with Woody Stover: the pics from OP's (#1) look like sweetgum. Bark kind of resembles ash and tulip-poplar but splitting it is a nightmare. Leaves and bruised twigs will have a turpentine like smell ('sweet' as Woody referenced).
Pics from post #5 show characteristic sapwood/ dark heartwood, and bark for hickory (Carya).

 

[Mustard Tiger]

This is ridiculous….

I recently split 50+ rounds that were 24"-36" in diameter from a 100+ ft pine tree I had taken down. Was using a vertical splitter and because the wood was pretty wet I had quite a few rounds that were stringy and difficult to split as well. Many times the splitter acted more like a juicer, with liquid shooting out of the rounds in s stream up in the air. Through in knots and it makes for a real fun time! Was a bit of a PITA, but now it's all split and stacked and already drying. Leaving those huge rounds out to dry would have taken forever. And those big pieces that simply wouldn't split well and were all knots and stringy were put in a separate pile and given to my neighbor who has a wood boiler. He had no problem taking them.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

So I took down some hickory on 9/21 and cut it into 18" lengths for my wood burning insert. Just went out and started splitting it - holy heck This stuff is string and tough! Using my 27 ton splitter and it almost stalled it several times. Is this normal? Should I wait a while before splitting? Makes the oak I just did seem like a joke....
Pics of the pile and the result of a couple splits. The pic "wood4" is an absolute mess....

Doesn't look like hickory to me.I'm somewhat familiar with hickory having spent the entire summer 3 years ago processing these monsters,they split easily with my Brave 34 ton 9hp Honda just fine.Bugs are not an issue if kept dry and in direct sun,my experience. Hard to beat for smell,long bunrs and tremendous heat output.After seasoning put under cover and it will stay indefinitely.It will however work a chainsaw hard.

 

[all night moe]

Doesn't look like hickory to me.

Oh?

 

[Woody Stover]

Doesn't look like hickory to me.

Oh?

It might look slightly like Hickory, but I'd put a substantial amount of cash down, saying it's not. 😏

 

[all night moe]

Some of the OP's pics look like it could be trunk wood of ash, which can be stringy.
Other pics show more hickory characteristics. Darker centers and the bark say hickory. There's a few different hickories in my area. Shagbark, and pig nut the most common.

 

[Woody Stover]

Some of the OP's pics look like it could be trunk wood of ash, which can be stringy.
Other pics show more hickory characteristics. Darker centers and the bark say hickory. There's a few different hickories in my area. Shagbark, and pig nut the most common.

I've seen some slightly stringy White Ash on occasion, but almost never. It's one of the few species that I split by hand anymore, being the old goat that I am. 😆
Same thing here in Indiana, as far as the Hickory goes. Shagbark and Pignut are what I see most often. But I think I have occasionally seen another type that I haven't IDed yet. The only Hickory bark I've seen that the OP posted was in post #10, and he said that it split much easier than the stringy mess that I think is his Sweetgum.
Yes, the rounds in the OP's first pic have a dark center, but if you look closely, there is a lighter spot in the center of the dark. That is exactly what I was seeing the other day in the Sweetgum I split here. I took that stuff to my SIL's stacks; I'll go over there and try to get some good pics when I get a chance..