Split the same wood two times?

[woodjack]

I messed up. I'm finishing my first year of the wood burning process and still making mistakes.
Last fall I had several trees cut down that were hanging over my new house. It was about ten cords of wood, mostly oak, hickory and ash. The tree crew left all the trees laying across my yard. i was overwhelmed.

Little by little, I stacked all the rounds and split about four cords of wood. At the beginning of the summer I took the tarps off all the wood. Now, I realize that a lot of my prized oak rounds are not so good anymore. It's getting soft from being moist, and difficult to split. My axe just buries in the wood.

Initially, I split my wood thin enough to dry and burn easily. However, I recently discovered that I now have about seven cords of stacked rounds going bad from moisture.

My solution to trying to salvage my wood is to get the remaining rounds split and re-stacked asap. To accomplish this I'll need to split into big, thick quarters that are too big to easily catch fire or fit in my stove - but at least the wood can begin to season.

Then, after I'm all finished splitting the wood, split it all again into smaller, usable pieces. Does this make sense? Does anyone else split wood in two steps like this?
Will the moist oak be good to burn when it dries out?

 

[the_dude]

Oak won't rot in 1 year-at least not any oak I have seen. It sounds like you have enough wood to burn this year. If I were you, here is what I would do:

1. Rent a splitter! You have 6 cord of wood to do yet, and you are using a axe/maul? Rent a splitter, and you should be able to knock most of it out in a few days.

2. Or, wait until winter when it freezes. The wood will likely split easier when it is frozen solid.

I would say that once you get it split and seasoned, the wood will be fine. Again, I have not seen oak rot that quickly. Good luck.

 

[caber]

If they were on the ground and you've had a lot of rain like we have, the could just be really wet. Get them off the ground, burn whats ready and like dude said, split the rest in the dead of winter when they are frozen. Good winter workout.

 

[mranum]

Yup, rent or get a buddy with a splitter and or hit them in the dead of winter on a nice day. Oak will generally "pop" with just one split from a 6lb maul if its frozen good.

 

[pinewoodburner]

Oak won't rot in 1 year-at least not any oak I have seen. It sounds like you have enough wood to burn this year. If I were you, here is what I would do:

1. Rent a splitter! You have 6 cord of wood to do yet, and you are using a axe/maul? Rent a splitter, and you should be able to knock most of it out in a few days.

2. Or, wait until winter when it freezes. The wood will likely split easier when it is frozen solid.

I would say that once you get it split and seasoned, the wood will be fine. Again, I have not seen oak rot that quickly. Good luck.

What type of oak? I find red oak splits much easier after it is cut and gets harder to split after a few months. I also recommend #1, rent a splitter and split everything. If have enough wood for this year, cover just the top of the wood that you will be using in a couple of years.

 

[Jags]

I would really re-evaluate the split, then re-split method. You are handling the wood MUCH more than if you just went ahead and split it to your usable size. Unless that oak is being stored in a swamp land, you should be OK. That also assumes that it was solid to begin with.

Also, if you are trying to "save" the wood from excess moisture, the smaller the split, the quicker it will start to dry. Just my opinion.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Ya, plus I recall Jags telling us that het cut his wood twice and it's still too short.

 

[savageactor7]

I think what the Dude thinks....plus once split wood has to be kept off the ground where it will continue to wick up moisture. Keep it on pallets, blacktop, gravel...well drained sand slightly elevated sand as long as it's not on the topsoil.

 

[smokinj]

Good full sunlight

 

[d.n.f.]

Oak won't rot in 1 year-at least not any oak I have seen. It sounds like you have enough wood to burn this year. If I were you, here is what I would do:

1. Rent a splitter! You have 6 cord of wood to do yet, and you are using a axe/maul? Rent a splitter, and you should be able to knock most of it out in a few days.

2. Or, wait until winter when it freezes. The wood will likely split easier when it is frozen solid.

I would say that once you get it split and seasoned, the wood will be fine. Again, I have not seen oak rot that quickly. Good luck.

Nice avatar dude.

lol

 

[CK-1]

If your goal was to split all those cords of wood with a single axe, then I can't imagine why you would need a tree crew. Seems you have alot of energy and a strong back. My back is hurting due to reading this thread...


Rent and splitter... Even He-Man took the easy route sometimes..

 

[Jags]

Ya, plus I recall Jags telling us that het cut his wood twice and it's still too short.

Yeah, but I refuse to cut it again. I think I am catching on to how this stuff works. :lol:

 

[fossil]

...I'm finishing my first year of the wood burning process and still making mistakes...

I wouldn't get yer panties all in a bunch about it...I'm finishing up my 59th year of the life process and I'm still making mistakes. %-P Rick

 

[the_dude]

[/quote]

Nice avatar dude.

lol[/quote]

And you as well.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Ya, plus I recall Jags telling us that het cut his wood twice and it's still too short.

Yeah, but I refuse to cut it again. I think I am catching on to how this stuff works. :lol:

It reminds me of when I went to fix my own lawnmower engine. I got the whole thing apart and the holes fell out. Had to re-drill everything.

 

[Henz]

dont worry about it, unless you were planning on it for this years supply! Also, save yourself alot of time and labor and rent a wood splitter. that is alot of wood to split by hand and difficult stuff to split as it is.

 

[woodjack]

I'm determined to split all the wood using at axe, except some of the knotty shagbark hickory.

I check this board regularly and tried to do everything right. All my wood is stacked on pallets, I covered it with tarps all winter and took the tarps off for the summer to season the wood quicker.

Doesn't anyone else split into big chunks, stack it, then split it smaller pieces before using it?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

woodjack- you do a lot more work that way. Split some, move it and stack it. Unstack, resplit, restack...

Splitting all at once and /stacking once is enough work as it is. as long as you're ahead for the season- why not just do it all at once and get some drying now for next season? Sure- the axe won't hit the last piece until later- but you don't need it soon anyway.

 

[woodjack]

I was thinking that if I just split the wood into big quarters I can get everything split and stacked much quicker so my wood would stop deteriorating where it's currently stacked, and start seasoning in a new location. I guess I'm alone in my idea.

I guess I could just wait for a stretch of dry days and throw a tarp over my un-split stacks. Then, wait for the logs to freeze so my axe won't get buried in the wood.

 

[Girl]

I would split it all in one shot. Think in terms of productivity, as someone else stated your handling the wood too much.
The guy I usually use, wood is just about all oak & the splits are still pretty big I like to separate the bigger stuff to make them smaller. Last year the BF was kind enough to stack all of it but didn't separate- I did not complain, just not how I do things.
Personally I found it was a pain to be splitting on an as needed basis. And I had to do a lot of it last year.

Where these trees possibly diseased or got infested with some type of bugs maybe?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

take the tarp off.

 

[Funk Brother]

I agree with the others that it is best to just split to the desired final size while you have the wood there in front of you. But the main reason I'm posting is that you mentioned splitting with an axe. Perhaps you were using this as a shorthand for "maul", but if not, you should know that an old-fashioned axe (IMHO) is not the best choice for splitting. It gets stuck in the wood all the time. A maul, or "monster maul" (see http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tools/msg1112525712146.html), has a triangular shaped head as opposed to a thin, knife-like head and rarely gets stuck. Good luck. (Full disclosure: after years of splitting by hand, I recently graduated to a gas-powered hydraulic splitter. I'm not looking back.)

 

[crazy_dan]

the only time i split twice is when making kindling

 

[kjsnooks]

I have split it stacked it and resplit it later. Id say if you dont mind the xtra work and have the time go for it. It will help. more work like they said yes, but like you said it would start the drying process. and no one is saying split and resplit all of it this year. I think if your just trying to start the drying by all means do it the way you want. I cut my wood the same year i use it (its pine and dead standing) and sometimes on the monster trees i split them once and they get put in the "split on a day i have more energy pile"

It was said a Maul is better. If you are really using an ax sugget going to a maul. I have used one for a long time and it does the job with less effor IMO