Newbie w/ a question

[kmmuellr]

Second post (I think).

I got a Lopi 1750 installed the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I've been burning what wood I had, and what I've taken from my in-laws. Their wood needed to be split into smaller pieces, and I screwed together a few scrap OSB boards that I had lying around to split on, since the ground is still soft. OSB doesn't stand up very well to an ax!

What are you all using as a base to split wood on? I'm in a residential area w/ a nice lawn, so the ground is pretty soft and my wife wouldn't appreciate me destroying our lawn (not to mention our HSA!) I'd love to have a nice stump to work on, but I've got all newer trees standing in my yard. Any good suggestions?

Thanks!
Kevin

 

[smokinj]

large round all you need

 

[drdoct]

Large round is correct, but I'll also add this:

If you are doing any wood work on your lawn it will get destroyed. Wood is messy and dirty. If you plan on working much with it and want a clean, nice lookin area then I suggest you make a small concrete pad to split and do you work on (still using a round to split on) so then you can sweep/rake up the debris.

 

[branchburner]

... make a small concrete pad to split and do your work on (still using a round to split on) so then you can sweep/rake up the debris.

I have a spot on my blacktop driveway where I work up small batches of standing dead. It has good sun exposure, so the surface stays dry and warm - it's a great place to make a small temporary stack that will dry out the surface moisture in a hurry. Since it's dead wood, the blacktop allows quick, complete drying of the debris and sawdust, which I scoop up with a snow shovel into brown paper grocery bags and burn in the stove.

 

[Wood Duck]

I split wood on a short, large diameter round placed on the lawn. Granted, mine isn't a very fancy lawn and my standards for lawn maintenance aren't real high, but I think the lawn fares OK. I do make a good number of divots with the maul and by tossing rounds around, but every once in a while I rake up all the chips and bark, and mow the grass to sweep up what I couldn't rake, and the lawn looks OK. I move around so no one spot gets too much abuse. I like working on dirt because occasionally the maul hits the ground, and with dirt nothing gets broken. With concrete I'd have to worry about the maul being damaged, the concrete being damaged, or my hands stinging when maul hits concrete.

 

[smokinj]

Large round is correct, but I'll also add this:

If you are doing any wood work on your lawn it will get destroyed. Wood is messy and dirty. If you plan on working much with it and want a clean, nice lookin area then I suggest you make a small concrete pad to split and do you work on (still using a round to split on) so then you can sweep/rake up the debris.

it sure does I aerate the crap out of mine spring and fall I have a lot of truck coming in and out and just the crap you get as well

 

[Slow1]

I use the end of my driveway with a nice round to split on. However, I will say that when I have had a sloppy strike that goes to ground it hurts to see the axe hit the blacktop. So... lately I have taken to using a bit of grass next to the driveway to stand on and also have left the round sitting there too... was too much work to keep moving it back onto the driveway. That grass isn't really grass anymore anyway.

Did someone mention that processing wood is messy? I rake/sweep up after each session as well. Have to keep it all neat. I don't know what I would do if I had to keep my lawn pristine. I suppose find another place (i.e. someone else's lawn) to process wood or buy it already processed (hurts my wallet just to think about!).