Massive logs delivered, now what?

[MagdalenaP]

We usually get split wood delivered, but decided to ask a local tree removal service if they have logs...and boy did they deliver! Some 2.5-3ft round logs. We have an 5 ton electric wood splitter, but even just loading such large wood is going to be a task. So, what's the easiest way to split these rounds?


Start with a splitting wedge, and hammer...at the edge, and just tap?

 

[gthomas785]

For those big pieces I would give them a few whacks with an 8lb maul.. depending on the species it may split easier than you think.
Then if that doesn't work get out the wedges. Another option is to noodle them in half with a chainsaw before attempting to split.

 

[spuldup]

Options I see are:
- Hand split w/ wedge/maul (trip to chiropractor)
- Make cookie thin rounds your splitter can digest (akward firebox loading in the future)
- noodle cut a standard length round (wastes wood, hard on saw, slow)
- Get a gas splitter ($$$)
- Drop them off at my house ) )

 

[EbS-P]

What kind of wood? Is it straight?

I really like my fiskars maul. It going to be work. Take the chainsaw and 1/4 the rounds 1/3-1/2 way through (or all the way). Then split with wedges or a maul. Alternatively you can just start splitting off the sides if you like swinging an ax.

Do you have wood you can load n/s? Now is the time to get it if you don’t. Shorter split’s easier.

 

[stoveliker]

I had big fir delivered recently. I want to split near my shed, but these are too big to put in the wheelbarrow (all done by hand). So I quartered them first, whacked my maul in, used a sledgehammer next.
Then it's easy to handle them, and your splitter would be able to work with them as well.

(And yes, the first log I cut I noticed someone who borrowed my saw had messed up the chain, so I sharpened it - hence the dust on the floor.)

 

[ericm979]

You can quarter the rounds with a chainsaw. Tip the round on their side like a wheel and cut from the top down. That cuts along the grain. It's often called "noodling" because the shavings come out like long noodles. It's the fastest cutting orientation. Sometimes you need to rev the saw out of the cut to get the shavings to clear. If they bunch up you may need to remove the clutch cover to get them out. Cutting with the nose of the bar down a bit will shorten the length of the noodles.

Stop before you get to the ground and finish with a splitting maul. It won't take much of a hit as most wood species split easily in this direction.

That will get the rounds down to a manageable size for the splitter.

 

[gzecc]

Unfortunately when you get into delivered logs, it gets serious. You'll need some equipment that can make your life easier. You'll also get stuff you don't want, like poison ivy vines, rotten wood, carpenter ants etc....
Be careful with the big stuff and equipment, it can ruin your day.

 

[Simonkenton]

What kind of wood is it?

 

[Woody Stover]

You can put a small groove in the top of a round with the lower quadrant of the bar nose, that gives you a place to get a wedge started.

 

[jabram]

I guess this would be top down noodling, I stand a round on its end, cut down about 4" deep across the top, insert a steel wedge in the cut and bust it with a 12 lb sledge hammer. I have 2 steel wedges incase an extra is needed. I find wedges and a sledge easier than a maul because of my poor ability to hit the same spot twice.

 

[spuldup]

You can quarter the rounds with a chainsaw. Tip the round on their side like a wheel and cut from the top down. That cuts along the grain. It's often called "noodling" because the shavings come out like long noodles. It's the fastest cutting orientation. Sometimes you need to rev the saw out of the cut to get the shavings to clear. If they bunch up you may need to remove the clutch cover to get them out. Cutting with the nose of the bar down a bit will shorten the length of the noodles.

Stop before you get to the ground and finish with a splitting maul. It won't take much of a hit as most wood species split easily in this direction.

That will get the rounds down to a manageable size for the splitter.

This is a good tutorial on the process. I'll just add than if you do this to several large rounds you are left with a pile of excellent tinder.

 

[Ashful]

There were a few years where most of the wood I was processing was over 3 feet in diameter. I found the fastest process was to noodle then into 6" or 8" slabs with the chainsaw, and then hoist those slabs onto the splitter to split off them.

 

[brenndatomu]

Try the sledge n wedge, if that doesn't work, noodle city!
And just to be clear, when you noodle you are cutting with the grain, not across it like when you cut rounds off of a log...if the tree was still standing, you'd be cutting vertically. I only metion this because when this was described to someone in the past there was some confusion and they were cutting across the log like normal and then they said it didn't work very well...it does if you do it right! Plus if you let those noodles lay in the sun/wind for a couple days it makes great firestarter!

 

[ericm979]

A good cant hook can help move the big rounds and tip them up on their side if they're not already. It's especially useful for people like me with not so strong upper bodies (I'm built like a marathon runner not a linebacker). I have a Woodchuck Dual which has two points on the moveable hook instead of one. With regular cant hooks with only one point sometimes the angle is wrong and it wont grab.

I have a cheap cant hook from Northern Tool which kinda works ok after some modifications but this is a place to spend for the good tools.

 

[blades]

do a lot of big stuff. to minimize noodles( they pile up in a hurry) cut about the depth of the bar and then split with wedge. Do to an injury I can't really swing a maul or axe much anymore. So I end up cutting most of the way through one side and then rolling it over to finish. there are times when i can't even budge the monsters so i just whittle away at them with a saw. I have bars from 60" on down and the power heads to drive them. Not much I can't reduce to human movable size now days. ( yes I have CAD )

 

[patrickk222]

The way i split the big stuff is my 8lb maul and a wedge or 2

 

[Woody Stover]

I find wedges and a sledge easier than a maul because of my poor ability to hit the same spot twice.

In your defense, in AR you're splitting a lot less wood than we are further north--We get a lot more practice! 😏

 

[Eman85]

All good suggestions, all a lot of work. Be careful hitting wedges with a hammer be sure to wear safety glasses and gloves and keep the wedge cleaned up if it mushrooms. I stay away from hitting a maul or a hammer with another hammer, they can chip.

 

[joop]

or have a beer and ask urself what the hell was i thinking lol

 

[stoveliker]

Some mauls (such as mine, above) are meant to be whacked with a (sledge) hammer. But wear safety glasses indeed. Also when it's just metal to wood; splinters of either will skewer your eye...

 

[Woody Stover]

Be careful hitting wedges with a hammer be sure to wear safety glasses and gloves and keep the wedge cleaned up if it mushrooms. I stay away from hitting a maul or a hammer with another hammer, they can chip.

And don't stand in the plane of the wedge blade; If you mishit and the wedge squirts out and nails you in the shin...well, let's just say that it is not a pleasant experience! 😖

 

[redyute]

We usually get split wood delivered, but decided to ask a local tree removal service if they have logs...and boy did they deliver! Some 2.5-3ft round logs. We have an 5 ton electric wood splitter, but even just loading such large wood is going to be a task. So, what's the easiest way to split these rounds?


Start with a splitting wedge, and hammer...at the edge, and just tap?

This thread is useless without pics just saying

 

[Ashful]

Be careful hitting wedges with a hammer be sure to wear safety glasses and gloves and keep the wedge cleaned up if it mushrooms. I stay away from hitting a maul or a hammer with another hammer, they can chip.

A guy I grew up with lost an eye this way, he wasn't keeping the mushrooms trimmed on his wedges. It only takes two minutes with an angle grinder or cutoff wheel to trim the worst of mushroomed heads, and really only a few seconds each year to keep ahead of them. No excuses!

I like to face mine off so they're slightly tapered in at the striking surface. In other words, the striking surface is 1/16" to 1/8" smaller than the max cross-section of the wedge, with the taper starting about 1/4" down from the striking surface. This slight taper seems to slow the formation of a new mushroom head.

 

[blades]

that is the correct way to redress the wedge head

 

[Woody Stover]

slight taper seems to slow the formation of a new mushroom head.

That would make sense, since there's then more support below the striking surface.