Humbled by pine

[Vg3200p]

I split all my wood by hand. Always have. Would like to think I'm pretty good at it. But I'm getting my butt kicked by some dinky pine rounds lol. Picture is a full swing with my fiskars. Is this normal for pine? Or maybe I'm just a wimp tonight. I've never really split it

 

[begreen]

Splitting across a knot can be very hard. Split parallel to it.

 

[SpaceBus]

Conifers are full of knots, so they are generally harder to split than hardwoods, which is a bit counter intuitive. If you get a clean section free of knots it will near split itself, but a knot will stop you dead. My hydraulic splitter tends to tear them out rather than break through. I tried to do it by hand, but we don't have much besides conifers on our land, and I quickly gave up.

 

[EbS-P]

That’s a big knot. And it looks green. Only ones that size I’ve ever been able to split have been dead.

 

[Vg3200p]

Ended up splitting my 20" oak splitting stump trying to split this stuff lol

 

[EbS-P]

I have a pile I “split” with my chainsaw once it gets big enough and I have time.

 

[highanddryinco]

Those pesky pine knots are tough. Granted I'm way ahead so my rounds dry for a year or so before I whack them and they do go much easier. I've been hand splitting about three cords each year forever...but with the forest 10,000 feet above sea level, there's no air, and I'm creeping up on 60. I finally broke down and bought a Brave dual split this year. What a lovely year this was...Fiskars for sale. (Just kidding but it now just hangs on the wall) 😊
Best of luck!

 

[SpaceBus]

I haven't found dryness to help with knotty conifer rounds, in fact it seems to make it harder to split. The best conditions for hand splitting conifers is green and frozen.

Those pesky pine knots are tough. Granted I'm way ahead so my rounds dry for a year or so before I whack them and they do go much easier. I've been hand splitting about three cords each year forever...but with the forest 10,000 feet above sea level, there's no air, and I'm creeping up on 60. I finally broke down and bought a Brave dual split this year. What a lovely year this was...Fiskars for sale. (Just kidding but it now just hangs on the wall) 😊
Best of luck!

I have the same 20t Brave Dual Split and we love it.

 

[Bad LP]

My little bit of splitting both hemlock and spruce is tougher than any maple, birch or ash I’ve put up on the splitter table.

 

[BigJ273]

The knot

 

[weatherguy]

Would rather split oak any day over pine by hand.

 

[ABMax24]

Those knots are generally the strongest wood in the tree, and your trying to split through it.

Leave those big chunks, if they fit in the stove then great, if not take the chainsaw to them. I don't try to put those on a splitter, they have a desire to come flying off and towards me.

Pine and spruce really aren't that bad to split, but eventually you develop an eye for what trees to avoid. There some that are a fight stump to tip with large limbs throughout, those can stay right where they are.

 

[SpaceBus]

Those knots are generally the strongest wood in the tree, and your trying to split through it.

Leave those big chunks, if they fit in the stove then great, if not take the chainsaw to them. I don't try to put those on a splitter, they have a desire to come flying off and towards me.

Pine and spruce really aren't that bad to split, but eventually you develop an eye for what trees to avoid. There some that are a fight stump to tip with large limbs throughout, those can stay right where they are.

Those are the best pieces for firewood! My new favorite method for handling the softwoods is to mill them into lumber and burn the slabs in the stoves. The smaller stuff that doesn't go on the mill usually doesn't have too much in the way of knots/limbs to get in the way and make nice quarters and halves.

 

[MMH]

Agree with everyone here, my splitter usually rips it out vs going through it; if you have the time let it dry a bit, or wait for the cold weather and try again when it freezes.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Twisted or knotty wood is the hardest wood to split. White pine is real easy if it's straight.

I love splitting black cherry, and my neighbor had a bunch of rounds after she had an 80 foot tree taken down. Most of the branches and some of the trunk were twisted, and it was a long day with a maul and wedge. I've had a much easier time with oak and hickory.

 

[Prof]

I picked up a "free" load of pine from someone down the road. By the time I got done splitting it, I felt like I paid for it 3X over!

 

[ABMax24]

Those are the best pieces for firewood! My new favorite method for handling the softwoods is to mill them into lumber and burn the slabs in the stoves. The smaller stuff that doesn't go on the mill usually doesn't have too much in the way of knots/limbs to get in the way and make nice quarters and halves.

I think I phrased that wrong, once a tree is cut down I take the whole thing, but I quit splitting on those ugly knots once small enough to fit in the stove, they don't get split up nicely like everything else.

That being said I don't go out to cut knotty pine, we have lots of standing dead pine around, and most will just end up rotting and going to waste, so I'm a little selective about what I take. I try to maximize my BTU/hr worked, being the reason I take pine in the first place. I like birch much better, and even trembling Aspen, but it's a lot of work more to cut and pack while it's green, and then needs at least a year to dry, when most of the pine I cut is ready to go in the stove that day it is cut.

 

[SpaceBus]

I think I phrased that wrong, once a tree is cut down I take the whole thing, but I quit splitting on those ugly knots once small enough to fit in the stove, they don't get split up nicely like everything else.

That being said I don't go out to cut knotty pine, we have lots of standing dead pine around, and most will just end up rotting and going to waste, so I'm a little selective about what I take. I try to maximize my BTU/hr worked, being the reason I take pine in the first place. I like birch much better, and even trembling Aspen, but it's a lot of work more to cut and pack while it's green, and then needs at least a year to dry, when most of the pine I cut is ready to go in the stove that day it is cut.

Absolutely, I prefer birch, maple, and tamarack on my property, but all three are in small numbers here. Most of our trees that need to come down, most of which are dead, are spruce and fir. All of my hardwood firewood is from a few small dead trees and cutting old dead limbs off of a large living one.