First, what do you experience folk call these? Joints? Crotches? I've got these leftover from a Chesnut Oak that came down in the ice storm of a month or two ago. I split all the straight stuff by hand with a Fiskars X27. The X27 went through it all like a dream. I got so carried away that I split a cord in 2.5 hours. Well that hand splitting was a little too brutal for the herniated discs in my neck so I bought a log splitter. Now that I have the splitter I'm wondering if these are fair game. Should I cut the branch part off with a chainsaw, running the saw down the length of the trunk? Or just throw the whole joint/crotch on the splitter after cutting them down to the 18" size? Is the section in the last picture even usable?
So what do I do with these joints/crotches?
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Never used a splitter, but those suckers are one of biggest reasons to own one. Don't saw em anymore. Just toss on splitter and enjoy! Then resplit the larger pieces.
That last piece needs to be sawed in half first. Unlikely to fit in your stove even if splitter could handle it.
brant2000
Feeling the Heat
Not sure where I heard it, but I always call them "pairs of pants". I used to leave them in the woods until my FIL razzed me and told me "that's the best piece of wood on the tree. It'll burn all night.". I agree with Wisco, they're nice to sit aside and use a splitter on.
Camera angle and distance makes that last piece deceptively small. It's actually about 7-8' long and probably about 3-3.5' diameter.
These lengths are enormous. They will have to be sawed in half most likely for me to even think of sliding up a couple of 2x4's in to the bed of the pickup.
bigbarf48
Minister of Fire
I call them crotches. Id just split those as they are
A tip though...
In the future, dont cut branches off at a crotch so that it makes a "pair of pants", cut the branch off flush with the main trunk, and that way you'll have less weird shaped uglies
A tip though...
In the future, dont cut branches off at a crotch so that it makes a "pair of pants", cut the branch off flush with the main trunk, and that way you'll have less weird shaped uglies
You should be able to hand split the edged of some of those. Other than that rent a splitter or use them in a fire pit. The last picture, if it is 7' long I think it looks good right where it is. I have a few disgustingly huge pieces of wood laying around.
bigbarf48
Minister of Fire
I slice all my big uglies up for use in the fire pit. They always get saved for last when I'm cutting up a load from my tree guy
Not having a splitter - I cut them very short and call them "underwear mannequins"
Call them what you will but better cutting when trimming the trees will make things much easier for you. I would never consider cutting like that. It is much better to cut the limb off flush with the trunk. This will make things much, much easier no matter if you are splitting by hand or with hydraulics.
osagebow
Minister of Fire
Careful, sometimes part of a crotch can pop out of the splitter. They can be dicey to split. Over 1/2 my future stuff is chestnut oak, good fuel after 3 years. Welcome to the site, these guys n gals are great.
I've made it my goal to avoid using a splitter until I'm old enough or rich enough to retire, until then it's all my own effort. I take a splitting wedge to each side just as if it was a regular round, then what's left goes in on the cold cold nights. It only needs to be small enough to fit in the stove door.
TE
TE
I've learned to limb and buck in a way to minimize those crotches but sometimes they are unavoidable. Some I leave in the woods but the rest end up in a separate pile. Once I've split all the easy rounds I'll start working on the uglies. I can split 10 easy rounds in the time it takes just to crack some of the crotches. They do make some of the best fires on long cold winter days so it's worth the extra work.
I was playing hopscotch with my new stopwatch when sasquatch came near to show me his topnotch stopwatch. I started laughing because when he came close I saw a blotch on his crotch which reminded me of butterscotch. He told me the blotch was not butterscotch because Mrs. Sasquatch was on a deathwatch. She drank 3 bottles of scotch because she lost her favorite topnotch wristwatch. I’m not a fan of sasquatch and his problems. I went back to playing hopscotch with my stopwatch.
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