- Nov 27, 2012
- 0
Question:
OK, I've bought a woodstove and, in addition to purchased wood, I want to clear a bit of land and split the wood.
What advice and what tools are available to split wood? How long should the logs be? How dry or how green? Etc.
Answer:
Splitting wood is a science (and art) in itself. Always depends on the amount of wood you need to split and the diameter. For smaller width (6" to 14"), I'm partial to a "splitting maul", which is simply an axe with a heavier head and steeper slope on the cutting edge. A good swing with an 8 lb maul will split most any wood. Also, some companies sell "monster mauls", which are 10 and 12 pound units with triangular heads. One secret of mauls and axes...use a good heavy chopping block that raises the wood to the level of your knees (bottom of wood). This assures that the axe will enter the wood at the correct part of the swing. For larger pieces, get a few splitting wedges and drive them in with a sledgehammer or the flat side of the maul. Wear EYE PROTECTION !
Of course, if you get a fancy hydraulic log splitter you won't need to worry about the above.
Some wood splits better when green..others when dry. Frozen wood is also sometimes easy to split. No hard and fast rule on this one...depends on species. Of course, split wood will season and stack better, so if you can split soon after felling you're ahead of the game.
The length depends on your stove...cut the wood 2 inches to 4 inches shorter than the maximum your stove can handle.
OK, I've bought a woodstove and, in addition to purchased wood, I want to clear a bit of land and split the wood.
What advice and what tools are available to split wood? How long should the logs be? How dry or how green? Etc.
Answer:
Splitting wood is a science (and art) in itself. Always depends on the amount of wood you need to split and the diameter. For smaller width (6" to 14"), I'm partial to a "splitting maul", which is simply an axe with a heavier head and steeper slope on the cutting edge. A good swing with an 8 lb maul will split most any wood. Also, some companies sell "monster mauls", which are 10 and 12 pound units with triangular heads. One secret of mauls and axes...use a good heavy chopping block that raises the wood to the level of your knees (bottom of wood). This assures that the axe will enter the wood at the correct part of the swing. For larger pieces, get a few splitting wedges and drive them in with a sledgehammer or the flat side of the maul. Wear EYE PROTECTION !
Of course, if you get a fancy hydraulic log splitter you won't need to worry about the above.
Some wood splits better when green..others when dry. Frozen wood is also sometimes easy to split. No hard and fast rule on this one...depends on species. Of course, split wood will season and stack better, so if you can split soon after felling you're ahead of the game.
The length depends on your stove...cut the wood 2 inches to 4 inches shorter than the maximum your stove can handle.
