White Oak

[wmk1956]

My neighbor is having a white oak taken down. He offered me to take as much as I want. I tried to spit a few rounds and my maul just bounces off of them. Is this common? Any suggestions? I guess I can rent a splitter for a day.

 

[shawneyboy]

If it is white oak, post a pic for id, get all that you can. You will love it on those cold Jan nights.

Shawn

 

[basswidow]

How big are the rounds you are swinging at? And what's your target? If they are big rounds and you're swinging at the middle, maybe. Oak usually cracks nice and easy. But if the rounds are big, Pie them with a sledge and wedge and then split OR work around the outsides.

Nice score. There's no shame in a splitter rental. I'll be doing my annual two day rental this coming weekend!

 

[aansorge]

Things to try:

-a different maul...what are you using now? How many pounds? The white oak I got this year was easier to split with my 6 lbs maul than my 12 lbs wedge style maul (these typically stink).
-try sharpening your maul, I find it helps.
-wait until it dries. Most stuff seems to split better with time.

If all of the above fail, rent a splitter.
Remember that oak needs time to dry, so this is probably wood for 2 years down the road.

 

[fahmahbob]

White oak is a stringy mess to split. Great firewood, though.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

White is more difficult than red, but still reasonably easy.

Go get yourself a Monster Maul.

Unless yer short or light. Under 6' and/or under 180#, better rent a splitter :lol: :lol:

 

[Fifelaker]

red no problem white let it freez or hydro.

 

[stejus]

If you want to do this quickly, go rent an electric splitter like the ones at HD or Lowes. Cheap rental cost and it gets the job done.

 

[billb3]

I tried to spit a few rounds and my maul just bounces off of them. Is this common? Any suggestions? I guess I can rent a splitter for a day.

Sounds like the white oak around here.
I save it for middle of Winter when it is frozen.
Seems less stubborn and puts up less of a fight then.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

I split a bunch of white oak this summer w/a 6lb maul and tackled some rounds up to 14-16". When I struck at the center of the round the maul would tend to bounce off. I had better success on the edges, and once there was a crack the round split up pretty easily. Partially seasoned, drier oak does get stringy and becomes more difficult to split. The bigger 18-24" stuff I used a splitter.

 

[Wood Duck]

Typically White Oak is splittable with hand tools, even the big rounds. Keep working at it. Wite Oak is great firewood.

 

[Coach B]

I've been working on white and red oak almost exclusively the last couple of months. White is for sure harder than red for me to split with my monster maul. With the bigger chunks of white I often end up splitting off the edges first vs with the red I can usually split just about any of it right down the middle. A big pile of split white oak is the best smelling of all woods though, reminds me of Tennessee's finest.

 

[bogydave]

If you got the whole tree with some of the rounds with knots or has a twist in the wood grain. Rent a splitter. Noodle it 1/2 way. Wedges.
Don't give up, primo wood.
There was a reason ship builders selected certain white oaks for ship beams, one of the toughest woods by weight in North America.
Still one of the choice woods for rocking chair rockers. Tough stuff!
We like pictures

 

[Thistle]

I've been working on white and red oak almost exclusively the last couple of months. White is for sure harder than red for me to split with my monster maul. With the bigger chunks of white I often end up splitting off the edges first vs with the red I can usually split just about any of it right down the middle. A big pile of split white oak is the best smelling of all woods though, reminds me of Tennessee's finest.

You know it. Roughly 60-65% of what I split is dead Red/Black Oak,20-25% is dead White or Bur Oak.Even if the rounds have sat a month or more,almost all the Red/Black can be split in 1 or 2 blows with the X25 or double bit axe.Ones over 14" or so & pretty much all the White/Bur needs the monster maul.Only time its remotely easy is after a hard freeze.White Oak is much more stringy,worse than most Shagbark Hickory I've found.

You're right about the smell too. White/Bur Oak smells wonderful either green or dry,with vanilla like scent.One of the reasons its so highly prized for whisky,sherry,cognac,wine (and in former days),beer barrels.Plus its pores contain tyloses which make the wood waterproof.Red/Black Oak,especially when green in mid-summer smells sour,rank & reminds me of a cross between sweaty socks & mouldy Provolone :sick: :lol:

 

[Thistle]

White is more difficult than red, but still reasonably easy.

Go get yourself a Monster Maul.

Unless yer short or light. Under 6' and/or under 180#, better rent a splitter :lol: :lol:

Until I got the X25 in late May,I used my Sotz Monster Maul (weighs 20 lbs with newly reinforced 1/4" thick wall pipe welded handle) exclusively for 30 yrs.I'm 5'7 & around 170 pounds.Had no trouble using it,just getting older now.Its never gotten stuck,not even once.Cant say that about my X25 unfortunately.

 

[jatoxico]

Wmk, how used is the maul your using? I felt like I significantly improved my old 8 lb maul by touching up the edge w/ a file. It had become excessively dull and a little bit of an edge took out the bounce.

 

[tfdchief]

White is more difficult than red, but still reasonably easy.

Go get yourself a Monster Maul.

Unless yer short or light. Under 6' and/or under 180#, better rent a splitter :lol: :lol:

Now wait just a darn minute. Up until a few years ago, a broken back, and a little more sense, I split wood for 35 years with a monster maul and I am not even close to 6' or 180#. :coolsmirk:

 

[ohio woodburner]

i just had some white oak that i thought i could pop open just like the red oak i split, no luck just bounced off like you said. I had to use my hydraulic splitter and it was stringy as hell. and i've never sharpened a maul, the old man always told me not too

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

White is more difficult than red, but still reasonably easy.

Go get yourself a Monster Maul.

Unless yer short or light. Under 6' and/or under 180#, better rent a splitter :lol: :lol:

Now wait just a darn minute. Up until a few years ago, a broken back, and a little more sense, I split wood for 35 years with a monster maul and I am not even close to 6' or 180#. :coolsmirk:

Took a while to get someone going . . . :coolsmirk:

 

[tfdchief]

White is more difficult than red, but still reasonably easy.

Go get yourself a Monster Maul.

Unless yer short or light. Under 6' and/or under 180#, better rent a splitter :lol: :lol:

Now wait just a darn minute. Up until a few years ago, a broken back, and a little more sense, I split wood for 35 years with a monster maul and I am not even close to 6' or 180#. :coolsmirk:

Took a while to get someone going . . . :coolsmirk:

No problem, good for the blood flow, promotes healing As for the white oak, it can be a little tough sometimes, but well worth it. It ranks right up there in my top 4 or 5

 

[jatoxico]

i just had some white oak that i thought i could pop open just like the red oak i split, no luck just bounced off like you said. I had to use my hydraulic splitter and it was stringy as hell. and i've never sharpened a maul, the old man always told me not too

My old man told me not to do a lot things too ;-) . Try it, a little bit of edge penetrates and splits the grain better. Fiskars splitters are super sharp and I can't split a log with a sledge.

 

[scotvl]

how does it compare to sugar maple or honeylocust?

 

[tfdchief]

how does it compare to sugar maple or honeylocust?

Close, depending on the source, both HL and SM are slightly below WO in btus