manual woodsplitting- another use for that old tractor tire

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surviverguy

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Mar 19, 2012
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A good solution to the 'ol routine: split-bend-down-stand-it-back-up-split (repeat ad nauseum). Which I spent the afternoon doing. Need me a tractor tire.
 
You can use a rope also, Tie it good around 3-4 pieces then you can pick it all up at once and carry it off.
 
Try a bungee strap...got one and it works pretty well
 
Try a bungee strap...got one and it works pretty well

Just dont hit the bungee, I usually use a bungee with a chain, the chain goes most of the way around and a small bungee to hold it together, I saved on bungee cords doing it with the chain :)
 
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That's a neat idea! Even though it wouldn't work for me because I split the rounds where I drop the tree and for sure am not going to drag a tractor tire throughout the woods. But the main question I have for people that do this type of splitting in a tire etc; isn't it kind of hard on the handle? Seems prone to over-strikes and I am wondering how you do it without messing the handle up?
 
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If you go for the bigger is better concept and you don't have a big old tractor tire, you could cut the beads off a smaller tire and turn it inside out.
 
...isn't it kind of hard on the handle? Seems prone to over-strikes and I am wondering how you do it without messing the handle up?
I agree. With a smaller tire that holds just a single round, when hitting the near side, the handle can hit the tire but I doubt it would hurt it. Even with multiple rounds, as long as you circle the tire so that you are only hitting the near side, it should be OK.

When splitting a big round, I generally strike the far side first, expecting it to just crack and require another blow. Then I strike the final blow on the near side to be kind to the handle. If I have to, I will circle around rather than reach across.
 
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I saw a version of this method with a small length of chain (3 feet or so) and a rubber bungee strap. I'm gonna give it a try the next tree I cut down, I'll video it and we'll scrutinize here on the forum.
 
It's been many years since I split with an axe but the memory is starting to come back. ISTR that the whole "circling" thing was as much psych'ing up as it was technique... kinda like a boxer in the ring, sizing up the opponent, looking for the right opening.

The bungee and chain thing seems like a lot of fussing to setup. I'd be worried about cutting the bungee with the axe. Mind you, I never tried the tire thing but at least the tire just sits there and wouldn't complain if the blade hit it.
 
The bungee and chain thing seems like a lot of fussing to setup. I'd be worried about cutting the bungee with the axe. Mind you, I never tried the tire thing but at least the tire just sits there and wouldn't complain if the blade hit it.
It's all about the efficiency. If by using this method you split more in an hour than the old standard method, then it's worth it. If not, it's just pretty lights and coloured bubbles. But I'm going to give it a try. The only shortcoming I can see is that I like to stand my round on a stump to raise it off the ground a bit. Seems it might be a tad difficult to do that with this method. But we'll see.
 
Ja, well... I am sort of an armchair quarterback... spoiled by my splitter.

The tire thing fixed to a block: All the rounds need to lifted much higher to set them inside the tire. Big rounds I would just wiggle up onto the block.

Loose tire: you could just drop it over the round. Same thing with the bungee... just wrap it around the round where it sits.

Inside-out tire: The top and bottom flare out so it would be easy to slip over a round and/or fill from the top. It also stands taller. Since a lot of the bulk is cut away, it would be lighter to handle.

Multiple rounds: Trying to get them to all play nice and stand up for you while you try to get a bungee around it might be a PITA. At least with the tire, you just toss the rounds in one at a time and fill in the spaces.

Anyway... all academic... I just pull on the lever. :p
 
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I decided to try the bungee/chain technique and almost gave up after cutting through several bungees. I finally figured out the trick which is to split on the opposite side of the log from where you are standing so there is some wood in the way to keep the maul from traveling down far enough to cut the bungee. You either have to walk around the log as you are splitting or turn it occasionally. You quickly get a feel for how hard to swing so the wood splits but the handle does't smack down too hard against the wood.

This video shows the technique pretty well:

 
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The chain and bungee is not hard to set up at all. And once you get good at it, you'll never hit that bungee. Now the tire thing, I can see a maul bouncing back and hitting you right on the face. I'll try the bungee and chain and do a video on the next tree I cut up.
 
The maul doesn't bounce off the tires.
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Bottom tire is screwed to the round under it. I added the motorcycle tire to make the whole thing just a little taller.
 
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That's not a bad idea, screwing the bottom tire to the splitting round. I like it......the bottom line is, bending over and picking up every single last split you make (bending down once every swing of the maul) is what kills your back splitting wood. Any way you can avoid doing that, is saving your back. All of these tricks on this post are good ideas and all lean to the end goal.....not bending over to pick up your splits after every swing of the maul. Here's another way to make some splits too.......lol.....

 
That large rear tractor tire is 28". I had the tire and splitting to do yesterday, so I gave it a go. If you look at the picture- there are about 8 rounds around the perimeter. The center round wasn't split out of respect for the handle. The center round is just there to take up space. The technique is great for the smaller rounds <10". Larger rounds can be made into smaller splits before loading the tire. I left myself plenty of room around the tire and moved myself around the perimeter. When the handle did hit the tire, it never bounced. I suppose it's because the tire has no air pressure. When the handle hit the tire it made a cool sounding "thud" noise, and never felt dangerous as the force was absorbed not deflected.
There is an aluminum piece of sheet metal under the rounds which I put down before setting the tire on top. When the maul failed to make a split near the center of a log, I found it worked well to make a split near the outside edge. Aiming for the edge is a bad technique when using a chopping block, but works great when using the tractor tire. The maul never hit the ground as it often does when using the old standard chopping block with round to be split resting on top. The large tire is easily rolled around for short distance transport or moved by tractor for distant outings. After my experience yesterday, raising rounds to balance them on top of a chopping block might be a rarely used technique for me in the future. Larger rounds >10" are made smaller using a triangular wedge struck with the hammer side of the maul.
A hydraulic splitter is on my "to build" list, as I already have the parts.
I like manual splitting when it goes quickly and safely. The large tractor tire helped to accomplish that.
 
The maul doesn't bounce off the tires.
Bottom tire is screwed to the round under it. I added the motorcycle tire to make the whole thing just a little taller.
Yah, that is a clever fix. I'll have to try that one.
 
Just stay in shape, and not have to worry about your back. You don't want to know what I can deadlift.,
 
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