My First Ever Scrounge!! Does Size Matter?

[Backwoods Savage]

Ok, I know this might sound stupid, but hear me out. Lets say I have a big round, which has been cut to length. I have swung my axe at this thing to no avail. Should I just take the chain saw and cut it up like a pizza pie, into 4 "slices" ??

First, if you're really swinging an axe at big rounds, that's excessively dangerous, IMO. An axe is a cutting tool with an acute edge, made of hardened steel. Experienced woodsmen have had accidents where the bit blew through the wood, proceeding to the shin and breaking same.

A maul is a tool that evolved with one goal in mind: splitting wood. The shape near the edge is much "chubbier" than that of an axe, and much better at splitting the round. They come in various head weights; some of us find that the combination of weight and velocity makes the 6 lb variety more productive than the heavier ones. And more controllable.

One approach to splitting difficult rounds is to set one up on end on a large round, then hit the round at various points along the intended split- far side, near side, middle. The sound will tell you when it's about to split.

Sometimes noodling a groove a couple inches deep makes a split easy with wedges set at either end, for example. Noodling all the way through wastes a lot of wood and makes a major mess of the area.

Most oaks split pretty simply. Until that happens the wood will NOT dry. Speaking of which, you might want to get up to speed on MMs (moisture meters)- very useful for wood-workers/burners. Water is a lousy fuel. A MM will tell you if wood is [burn now] or [next year]. Folks here will respond.

John, I split wood with an axe for many, many moons. It wasn't until around 1980 when someone bought me a splitting maul that I partially quit using the axe. Then an injury made me graduate to hydraulics. I never considered splitting with an axe as dangerous at all but maybe that is because I grew up doing it that way. Around our area that is how everyone split except for the tough stuff and then the sledge and wedge got into use. Today the Fiskars seems to be a rage. I've not used one so really can not say but what I've seen has not impressed me.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Thanks for your safety concerns. I will look into a maul. I thought I could "Split" off sections of a bigger round with my fiskars but the axe seems to just stop dead in its tracks. ROunds 10"-12" in diameter seem to split fairly easy with the fiskars, but its those bigger rounds toward the bottom of the tree trunks that I have problems with. Maybe a 6lb maul would be better for those bigger peices.

Six pounder is about right for a splitting maul. Heavier will just wear you out. Having some small rounds can be good especially when you want to hold the fire a long time. Just beware that it takes extra time for that wood to dry. Much longer than if it were split. So if you usually allow a year to dry the wood, allow 2 for the rounds, etc. If you want to really join the club of burning great firewood, get yourself 2-3 years of wood split and stacked then stay that far ahead. You will never regret it and it is better than money in the bank.

 

[Boom Stick]

Thanks for your safety concerns. I will look into a maul. I thought I could "Split" off sections of a bigger round with my fiskars but the axe seems to just stop dead in its tracks. ROunds 10"-12" in diameter seem to split fairly easy with the fiskars, but its those bigger rounds toward the bottom of the tree trunks that I have problems with. Maybe a 6lb maul would be better for those bigger peices.

Big rounds near the base of any tree tend to be hard to split.

I have a very large piece of Locust that was the closest piece I cut towards the bottom. It flares out on one side. Every couple of days I take 10 or 15 swings with my Fiskars and it just bounces off like rubber. That being said, once it gets a small crack in it I know it will bust up nice. The rest of the tree gave me no problem. Congrats on your scrounge. I really enjoy getting free wood. Good workout and sweat equity.

 

[firefighterjake]

Anything you can pick up by palming the end can go right in the stove as is, anything you can't palm get split.

That's pretty much how I "measure" them out . . . palmed wood stays in the round . . . usually works out so that anything over 5 or 6 inches gets split.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Surprised nobody has mentioned this- often a good start on a big round is a sledge hammer and wedges. Or in a pinch, the back end of your wood splitting maul is like a sledge. It's good to have at least 2 regular steel wedges and also one of the 'torpedo' type wedges (shaped like a skinny cone).

Starting near the outside of the round, maybe 2 inches in, set your torpedo and then whale away. A crack starts forming. Then grab one of your regular wedges and set it along that crack, several inches further into the round. Whale on that for a bit. Go back and forth between the two. If your round does not have knots, at some point it is going to split in half. Then you can attack the halves with your maul. You may need 3 wedges but not very often.

You will have to learn your wood's characteristics. Some split easy, some are almost impossible without a gasoline hydraulic splitter.

Regarding splitting small stuff, I split most anything over 3 inches or so. With your regular axe, you can 'set' the blade into the wood by holding the edge in contact and then then whacking the two together into a round on end or similar. Once it is started, with the blade wedged in and held by the wood, pick up the axe/round combination and start smashing the butt end of the round against your splitting base (big round on end). At some point it should pop into two pieces.

 

[gzecc]

Ok, I know this might sound stupid, but hear me out. Lets say I have a big round, which has been cut to length. I have swung my axe at this thing to no avail. Should I just take the chain saw and cut it up like a pizza pie, into 4 "slices" ??

Looks like you may need some better tools. You need at least a 6-8lb maul to split large round. An axe is not going to cut it, unless you have many years of axe skills.
I personally have a 6lb maul and a fiskars splitting axe. The fiskars won't do everything. The bigger maul needs to do the big rounds and knots. The fiskars does 80% of the rest of the work.
The objective for me is the least expensive tool that does the most efficient work with the best result.