While out cutting in the woods

[mountain man 2]

My question here is.....does anyone use a a maul to split larger size cuts...such as 15" or larger red oak that's wet) to make it easier (lighter) to load on whatever?
I have purchased a fiskars x27 for this purpose cause I always use my splitter for final split before stacking....if anybody does this ...please give your thoughts and/or suggestion....keep burnin.
Thanks

 

[Prof]

When I was younger I would lift rounds of all sizes into the truck. My grandfather would shake his head and say "You know splitting the wood makes it a lot lighter." Sure I'd save some repetition in loading a bunch of small splits, but there was wisdom in what the old man had to say. I'm in my mid 40s now, might even be able to lift the big ones, but I know better now. I usually carry a sledge and a couple wedges to make huge ones manageable. I love the fiskars (X 27), but I usually start from the outside of the round and work my way to the center. In the interest of time, I'd just want to knock the big ones down to something that weighs 30-40 lbs, so I find the sledge and wedges fit the bill. If you go this route, make sure you have at least 2, preferably 3 wedges in the event you run into an especially tough piece.

 

[mountain man 2]

When I was younger I would lift rounds of all sizes into the truck. My grandfather would shake his head and say "You know splitting the wood makes it a lot lighter." Sure I'd save some repetition in loading a bunch of small splits, but there was wisdom in what the old man had to say. I'm in my mid 40s now, might even be able to lift the big ones, but I know better now. I usually carry a sledge and a couple wedges to make huge ones manageable. I love the fiskars (X 27), but I usually start from the outside of the round and work my way to the center. In the interest of time, I'd just want to knock the big ones down to something that weighs 30-40 lbs, so I find the sledge and wedges fit the bill. If you go this route, make sure you have at least 2, preferably 3 wedges in the event you run into an especially tough piece.

Thanks....my main reason for doing this is of course to make things easier....I'm 55 n still bullying this stuff around. In the process I now have a double hernia to get fixed. Not sure if the wood processing caused it or somethin else. I know its not light pickin up 16" long peices of 20" rounds of red oak that's standing dead but not dry.....

 

[Rangerbait]

I usually just noodle the big dogs.

 

[Marshy]

Heck yeah I do! I scrounged up some 30-36" diameter black locust this past summer. No way I was lifting those into the back of my truck. I brought my X27 to knock them into manageable sizes but ended up swinging the Friskers Isocore maul for the large stuff over 24". I want to be able to keep doing this stuff when Im in my 50s. Without a hernia lol.

 

[mountain man 2]

I usually just noodle the big dogs.

Thought about that...figured if you could wack it once in half that woupd b quicker n easier.

 

[saewoody]

Thanks....my main reason for doing this is of course to make things easier....I'm 55 n still bullying this stuff around. In the process I now have a double hernia to get fixed. Not sure if the wood processing caused it or somethin else. I know its not light pickin up 16" long peices of 20" rounds of red oak that's standing dead but not dry.....

To that exact point: I was 34 when I started burning five years ago. My first two years burning I lifted any round that was in front me, it didn’t matter how big. I figured if I could could lift it, my body could handle it; plus it was saving time right? Well it turns out my back could handle it, but my front couldn’t. I ended up having to go in for double hernia surgery. I will attribute it directly to trying to man handle every round. Now I’ll bust up a bigger round before it goes into the trailer. The plus side of this is that I can usually fit a bit more wood in the trailer when some of it is already split. Good luck with the hernia surgery; and start breaking up some of those bigger rounds.


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[mountain man 2]

To that exact point: I was 34 when I started burning five years ago. My first two years burning I lifted any round that was in front me, it didn’t matter how big. I figured if I could could lift it, my body could handle it; plus it was saving time right? Well it turns out my back could handle it, but my front couldn’t. I ended up having to go in for double hernia surgery. I will attribute it directly to trying to man handle every round. Now I’ll bust up a bigger round before it goes into the trailer. The plus side of this is that I can usually fit a bit more wood in the trailer when some of it is already split. Good luck with the hernia surgery; and start breaking up some of those bigger rounds.

Thanks much.....sounds like me...strong back..weak mind...lol
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[mountain man 2]

This will be my first using any type of maul ...period.....so I'm eager to find out how good the x27's perform....

 

[Rangerbait]

Thought about that...figured if you could wack it once in half that woupd b quicker n easier.

I adopt a hybrid approach a lot of times...noodle part way through, and then POP!

 

[peakbagger]

I split my wood by hand usually in the woods to leave the mess out there. Unfortunately the new wood lot has lot of beech and will be buying a gas splitter as beech is not has hand splitter friendly as maple and birch.

 

[Tar12]

This will be my first using any type of maul ...period.....so I'm eager to find out how good the x27's perform....

Get a ISO core fiskars maul to go along with your X27 axe and you will be set...

 

[maple1]

I bring my gas powered splitter to the woods with me. Right to right beside the tree I just cut into rounds.

 

[Tar12]

I adopt a hybrid approach a lot of times...noodle part way through, and then POP!

Thats is what I do as well...if I can't get close enough to put a log chain on it and drag it out to work it up...then I bring the ATV and trailer and haul it out...i use my 660 a lot to knock out those big suckers!

 

[byQ]

Sometimes, I do the same as maple1. I have a small easily movable splitter that I just roll around to the rounds. Also, I stuck a small winch on my trailer to pull rounds aboard - but I haven't used it yet (needs to be wired up).

 

[Allagash350]

Never used to!
Well now I know better. Just the other day I went out in the woods after a couple mild days and some rain to get a red oak that came down in October.

They were around 18 inch long rounds, about 10-16 inches across, but green and wet as hell.

Lifted one up from the middle of the tree and it was about 50 pounds, so I figured the bigger ones by the base would be around 75. Looked back at the path I would have to take and was like naaah.

Grabbed the fiskars and cut up some spruce that were down.
Split it all out in the woods into halves or quarters and stacked it on the spruce so I can deal with it this spring.
Honestly the first piece I split I was in disbelief at how easy it went through. I would guess I’ve split probably 8 cord with my fiskars (and I have a 27 tin splitter) and the thing still impressed me.
Oak does split pretty easy when it’s green, but the biggest pieces took 3 hits.

You’ll love it

 

[venator260]

No. But I'm not manhandling big splits either, for a few reasons:

If the tree is that large, I'd try and get a saleable log from it. Good logs can pay a pretty penny (it's how my dad and I bought the saw in my sig), and we are able to cut enough firewood to keep us supplied even with the logs taken out.

We own a New Holland 2120. Most of my firewood gets drug into a staging area. Once there, the tractor has a front end loader, and dad build a lift that mounts onto the side of his home built spitter, so I need only roll the round onto the lift. If a round is that large and far from the splitter, the splitter has a hitch.

 

[WiscWoody]

Sometimes a hookeroon will help too. Instead of having to bend over for the rounds you can jab them in the end and lift the round without using your back so much. For the really big ones I try to have someone help me lift them into the ATV trailer and then I let them sit for a year and dry in the sun before I lift them to the splitter.

 

[macattack_ga]

I use a trailer and roll the big stuff up the ramps... then prop the ramp up so it's level and roll the rounds right on to the splitter.

Rapid fire splitter

• macattack_ga
• Jan 19, 2018

Rapid fire splitter

• macattack_ga
• Jan 19, 2018

 

[ZZ Tom]

If I can't roll it up my 2x12 ramps into my truck then I'll noodle it into pieces I can manage

 

[mountain man 2]

There's a lot of interesting replies n I thank you for your suggestions n how you go about it. Where I get most of my wood...there's one very narrow trail to get my wood out. I have an old 1250 cud cadet w/chains n a cheap but good cart I bought from tsc.
My best choice is to cut the tree into my size rounds n if too big....split them before loading.
What's kinda funny....the terrain is so uneven, tight for manuvering n rocky....if I pulled 30 carts out...it might as well been 60 cause I almost upset the d@mn thing at least once on the way.....u just gotta laugh n move on..

 

[xman23]

I hook up the spliter to my ATV and take it out in the woods. Woods split and it moves a lot easier,

 

[maple1]

I hook up the spliter to my ATV and take it out in the woods. Woods split and it moves a lot easier,

Yup me too. And a walking beam trailer is cats hiney for rough terrain.

 

[billb3]

Most of the big ones here are red oak and I quarter them into manageable pieces with wedges and a sledge hammer. They actually pop pretty easy. I've split red oak that way in the past too.
I have a bad back and can't do things like swing a splitting maul any more and have hyd splitters.

 

[saewoody]

I don’t have a wood lot. If I did I would probably just split in the woods as some of you do. Being a suburban wood hoarder, a fair amount of my wood comes from power line trimming on public roads and such, so I scoop up what I can when I can. Or it comes out of a generous person’s yard, but because I don’t really know them I want to get in and out as quickly as possible and with as little mess as possible. In these situations you don’t want to leave any easily manageable wood because someone else may take it. When it is wood on someone’s property that I know and they have promised it to me (and it’s not too far from home) then I will pull the splitter over there and split on site. Then I can go back with the trailer later.


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