# Ash wood is almost impossible to split



## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

Had a tree service cut down 5 trees recently, 2 were decent size ash, trunk was 15 inches diameter, limbs around 7 to 9.....trees died two.years ago due to EAB. I read somewhere that dead standing trees and trees left standing once infected become very hardened, like concrete, and these seem to fit the bill, my uncle's was the same way 3 years ago, he gave me all his ash because he couldn't split it....

Can anyone tell me what's going on here ? I was told ash was easy to split, well, my maul bounced right off the rounds, my sledgehammer and 7 pound wedges don't work, I can't even get the wedge into this wood, even when I set the wedge right into existing check cracks etc, 

Bought a 10 ton log splitter, and after 3 attempts, I have up and this was with a smaller, 9 inches round...


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

I worked the handles to the point where the 80 frame started moving and I thought the handles were about to bend.....this ash just laughed at me, my birch and cherry rounds split with no effort, I got this on sale for $89, a 2 hour rental of a gas 20 to will cost me $75 and I'm 30 mins from the rental place.....I need some ideas please....


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

Weber_Steaks said:


> I worked the handles to the point where the 80 frame started moving and I thought the handles were about to bend.....this ash just laughed at me, my birch and cherry rounds split with no effort, I got this on sale for $89, a 2 hour rental of a gas 20 to will cost me $75 and I'm 30 mins from the rental place.....I need some ideas please....


80 pound frame


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## Canadian farm boy (Sep 27, 2015)

I cut a lot of dead standing ash for fire wood. Your right, dead standing ash does seem to get rock hard. My 20ton gas splitter seems to work ok for splitting it. Just make sure your standing to the side when the splitter loads up because once you get enough force on the block it tends to "explode" into 2 pieces. If the piece of wood hits you it's really gonna hurt....ask me how I know. Sometimes after the tree has been cut into rounds and left for a winter to freeze its easier to split. I think the frost gets into the grain of the wood and helps to "loosen" things up a bit. 
Basically what I'm saying is either try splitting it again in the spring or get a bigger splitter. You may still need the bigger splitter in the spring though


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## mn woodcutter (Sep 27, 2015)

I'm not sure where you are located but here in MN I will leave those hard to split rounds for the middle of January when it's well below zero. Then it's a whole new ball game and I have something to do when it's bitter cold instead of being inside. I do that usually with elm.


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

I guess what I read is true, trees that are grown in front yards, with little to no competition between other trees....( like forest harvested ash ) , these trees grown.in the open develop very , very , very tight grain and close grain and are much harder to split that forest trees.....

I have two choices, sell the wood, or rent a log splitter, gas powered but my rental place only has a 20 or 22 ton and at $75 for two hours, and being 30 mins away, I'm not sure if I could even split all this rock hard ash.....depends on the cycle time and if they have a vertical unit but if 10 tons barely scratched thru the bark. 20 tons may not even be enough ??


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## Ironworker (Sep 27, 2015)

Have you tried noodling.


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## tla100 (Sep 27, 2015)

wedge design is horrible. I have a little electric splitter that has similar design. 

It needs to be a lot less angle and actually make it sharp. That will help tremendously.


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## HuskStihl (Sep 27, 2015)

I can almost guarantee that live oak is worse


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## Gugi47 (Sep 27, 2015)

Yepp. I have a 22 tons Husky. splits the ash very easy but I can see sometimes in the oak have some jerking....


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## tla100 (Sep 27, 2015)

If you have access to a welder, cut a piece of metal 1/2" thick, 1" wide and a as tall as the wedge. Taper it with an angle grinder until it is sharp weld on to front of wedge.


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## Canadian farm boy (Sep 27, 2015)

Live oak can be a real B to split. I think the toughest wood I've had to split yet is elm. Real stringy and seems to grow with a twist to it. Never splits clean, have to F around with every piece. Oh and it stinks.


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

Ironworker said:


> Have you tried noodling.


Yes, I just did a while ago and it helped out tremendously.....also, seems 1 round out of every 3 or 4 wants to give trouble with this ash, I was able to split up several larger rounds without a whole lot of trouble as compared to the first one I tried......

One plus is that once the round is quartered , it's much easier to split it up into additional pieces since its laying flat on the beam, verses trying to balance the pieces on a splitting block and swung the maul precisely where I want it to split, and I don't have to pick every.piece off the ground each time so this thing has it's advantages and disadvantages, and I'm gonna keep it...........thanks for all.the replies and tips.


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

tla100 said:


> wedge design is horrible. I have a little electric splitter that has similar design.
> 
> It needs to be a lot less angle and actually make it sharp. That will help tremendously.


Yep, this design wedge is not sharp and it needs to be a good 3 inches taller imo, so you can split the larger rounds in one go, I split 15 pieces from that one round and the smaller the round gets, the faster it splits, and the less effort it takes


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

HuskStihl said:


> I can almost guarantee that live oak is worse


Or elm.....


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

Weber_Steaks said:


> Yes, I just did a while ago and it helped out tremendously.....also, seems 1 round out of every 3 or 4 wants to give trouble with this ash, I was able to split up several larger rounds without a whole lot of trouble as compared to the first one I tried......
> 
> One plus is that once the round is quartered , it's much easier to split it up into additional pieces since its laying flat on the beam, verses trying to balance the pieces on a splitting block and swung the maul precisely where I want it to split, and I don't have to pick every.piece off the ground each time so this thing has it's advantages and disadvantages, and I'm gonna keep it...........thanks for all.the replies and tips.


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## Need2Saw (Sep 27, 2015)

I have found that Ash from fence rows, woodline edges or open spaces are much harder to split than straight growth, middle of the woods Ash trees. Ash from the middle of the woods can be split easily with a maul but it takes forceful blows on the others and some pieces i just give up on. 

Sounds like you found a successful way to split your rounds. Good luck


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

Need2Saw said:


> I have found that Ash from fence rows, woodline edges or open spaces are much harder to split than straight growth, middle of the woods Ash trees. Ash from the middle of the woods can be split easily with a maul but it takes forceful blows on the others and some pieces i just give up on.
> 
> Sounds like you found a successful way to split your rounds. Good luck


Thanks, and yes, these two ash trees were about 30.feet apart in the middle of my front yard, no competition, or I should say very little competition from other trees, so there is some truth to forest verses suburban trees, I saw the growth rings and grain pattern, it's super tight......I heard sweet gum is a bear to split as well


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## Babaganoosh (Sep 27, 2015)

Sweet gum is terrible. I split about 2/3 a cord with my 27 ton dht. 

I won't take sweet gum again even if it's free and dropped off in my driveway already bucked to length.


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## Weber_Steaks (Sep 27, 2015)

Babaganoosh said:


> Sweet gum is terrible. I split about 2/3 a cord with my 27 ton dht.
> 
> I won't take sweet gum again even if it's free and dropped off in my driveway already bucked to length.


I have a large sweet gum , good thing it's alive and doing good, this wood is so flexible, even a small branch the size of a dime is impossible to break in half by hand, it just bends and it's a bear to saw off branches, I had a bow saw and tried to cut some lower limbs to make it easier to mow around, saw kept getting stuck, finally got.out the 18 inch chainsaw and finished the job


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## tla100 (Sep 27, 2015)

That is some stringy ash....wow


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## Jimbo209 (Sep 28, 2015)

Weber_Steaks said:


>


Those half split rounds look like most of my normal load, I'll post some that's stacked tomorrow

Also if/when the sweet gum comes down get it split asap and it shouldn't be too hard 
I do find worth RH tough stuff take a small piece of the edge to release tension of the growth rings, rinse and repeat and I end up with a lot of thin pieces 15-40mm thick and width depends on size of the round


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## Jimbo209 (Sep 28, 2015)

Babaganoosh said:


> Sweet gum is terrible. I split about 2/3 a cord with my 27 ton dht.
> 
> I won't take sweet gum again even if it's free and dropped off in my driveway already bucked to length.


If you can split it same day as cut down or 2-3days at max its not to bad, and with it if delivered free blocked up,

But I mostly deal with mine a lot later than that, too :busy:


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## cre73 (Sep 28, 2015)

Where are you located Weber?


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## Coldfront (Sep 28, 2015)

White Ash splits easy, Black Ash is very stringy and hard splitting, but burns ok. Black Ash is almost impossible to split with a maul if it is green, even with a hydraulic splitter you still need to try and muscle the splits apart.


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## flashhole (Sep 28, 2015)

It doesn't look like Ash to me. That's some heavy gnarly bark and it's pretty twisted and stringy.


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## Dalmatian90 (Sep 28, 2015)

Weber_Steaks said:


> I guess what I read is true, trees that are grown in front yards, with little to no competition between other trees....( like forest harvested ash ) , these trees grown.in the open develop very , very , very tight grain and close grain and are much harder to split that forest trees.....



Soil and water equal, the grain will be tightest in trees that grow in a thick stand...trees in a yard or pasture (or along a fencerow) will have more sunlight and put on more diameter.

The reason they are harder to split is all that sunlight encourages lots of side branches to form and grow and make big knots and cause twists in the grain. When they're growing in competition in the woods, they tend to shoot up straighter trying to reach sunlight.

I don't have experience with dead ash.

Some trees I know get easier after seasoning to split -- swamp maple I either want to split below 10 degrees or after it's been cut up for and seasoned all summer...otherwise it's a PITA. Others I hear get harder but I haven't experienced that


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## Nickolas (Oct 1, 2015)

I'm in Northern Virginia and have a lot of standing dead ash in my yard and surrounding woods. I been cutting a lot the last month and I use a 22 ton splitter because after 3 back surgeries I can't do the maul or axe anymore. Anyway this wood splits very easy. Only a few pieces were a bit stringy and a little harder to split. Usually it just splits right open and I turn it and keep on splitting . Thanks to the EAB there are probably 30 or more ash trees to come down. I'd rather have my shade trees but on the other hand it is good wood to burn.


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## lefturnfreek (Oct 1, 2015)

I broke my splitter on some dry Ash.








This is the end of the ram mount and I broke the main frame....grrrr


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## haveawoody (Oct 1, 2015)

Try splitting on the round.
When I'm forced to use an electric splitter splitting on the round can even handle nasty elm rounds.

Splitting on the round is just splitting a piece of the side instead of trying to split the entire piece.
Position the round so your splitting of the side bark to bark, because its an odd position for the round it will need someone to hold it and someone to split.

Even on a very powerful gas hydro splitting on the round works wonders for crotch or very twisted pieces.


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## jlromine76 (Oct 2, 2015)

I had an Ash tree dropped off just like that from a tree service 2 years ago. It was stringy and the grain of the wood was really wavy and wouldn't produce a nice straight split for nothing. I had always heard Ash is the king of firewood just cut it split it and burn it. Not true with that tree I had. I have a Gravely 34 ton splitter and the only piece of wood that thing has ever hung up on was a piece of Ash. I have done everything from Hedge to Pine but that Ash was the toughest so far. Typically if it doesn't split it gets ripped into pieces then tossed in the boiler.


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## WoodTick007 (Oct 2, 2015)

Have you thought about soaking your vagina in a nice bubble bath with a glass of whine and then giving splitting another try? Good God Man. . . just suck it up and split the chit.


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## johnnylabguy (Oct 2, 2015)

Lol that's not very nice woodtick 007 my good man! I did get a good chuckle though! In all seriousness though, I've handsplit at least 5 cords of ash in the last year and have seen a lot of variation in even the woods trees. Freezing weather definitely helped. I tried to fiskar split some 3 month rounds after the wet spring and finally had to break down and get out the 22 ton splitter. Mauls got stuck in the sponginess. Some has had knots and others a bit stringy grain. But most...a big whack or two with the fiskars on a 20" long 16" round and pop. No vijayjay bath needed!  Whatever gets it in the firebox in the end!


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## Greny (Oct 3, 2015)

If you have a tractor, try to borrow a cork screw splitter for it. Those things beat all other splitters on speed and power (if the tractor has 50 hp or more). I had the traditional hydraulique one for behind the tractor, there good but slow. http://www.hycrack.co.uk/log-splitter-video.htm


Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Tapatalk


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## esshup (Oct 4, 2015)

Splitting on the round as posted above works well with lower tonnage splitters. I have a 5 or 7 ton electric and that's what I do with stubborn pieces. If that fails, I throw them for the 27t gasser to split. If it's crappy out I'll throw small rounds in the shed to split vs. splitting outside in the rain. If the little electric won't split them they get tossed back outside. 

You can also rip part way thru the round then try splitting it where the saw cut is. Those stringy pieces don't look like normal ash that is around here.


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## Coldfront (Oct 13, 2015)

Like I said common white ash splits easy it is the black ash that is a pita.


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## chipper1 (Oct 13, 2015)

haveawoody said:


> View attachment 450879
> 
> Try splitting on the round.
> When I'm forced to use an electric splitter splitting on the round can even handle nasty elm rounds.
> ...


Thats funny, I thought every piece I ever split I was splitting on the round.
Now come to find out some have been on the round and some normal (some might say thats the only normal thing I do).


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## chipper1 (Oct 13, 2015)

lefturnfreek said:


> I broke my splitter on some dry Ash.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Doesn't look like the ash broke it, just finished of the damage/ weld(chicken scratch) that was already there.


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## ropensaddle (Oct 13, 2015)

it all splits easy to me..


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## chipper1 (Oct 13, 2015)

cre73 said:


> Where are you located Weber?


I think this is a great question. Looking at the pictures I would guess he's in the same area we are, great lakes region. Up in these parts everybody and there brother has a splitter and I'm sure there is an AS member here that would be happy to drive over and give a hand.
The other option is to look on Craigslist and find someone renting them for $50 a day. I usually buy one split up a few cords and put it right back on Craigslist for what I payed or more. This way I don't have to worry about fuel going stale, oil changes, or wether the rental place will have it when I want it. This tip may suit others needs more than this individuals.
You could probably get them to come split it for you for that much easy. If I lived by you it would already be done.
Also judging by the way some are splitting it looks like your splitting them top down, which does not always work. Try flipping them around. In the first picture with the log on the splitter that end should be on the splitter head in the checking(big crack on the end).
You can noodle into some of them at the edge (following the cracks) just enough to get a wedge started. Use the wedge on the outside edge not in the middle.
Post your area and someone will be along to give hands on help if you can't get it.
Hope this is helpful.


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## stihly dan (Oct 13, 2015)

I have had 2 large roadside ash trees that would not split. By hand or 25 ton hydro splitter. Had to use the chainsaw as a splitter. Can it be called noodling if you get chips instead of noodles.


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## lefturnfreek (Oct 14, 2015)

chipper1 said:


> Doesn't look like the ash broke it, just finished of the damage/ weld(chicken scratch) that was already there.


I never said I built this splitter....

Considering it was bowing the main beam before splitting the piece, firing it off the knife 20ft or more some times, I would say they were a lil tough....


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## TMFARM 2009 (Oct 14, 2015)

i also leave big rounds go until sub zero.
they tend to split easier for me then.
then if they still are a p.i.t.a. i just chunk them with a saw.
i never rent splitters. i use a fiskars or the original log blaster. but my age prefers the fiskars.


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## 06switchback (Oct 14, 2015)

Another thanks to the eab I have been burning a lot of ash the last few years unsure what variety but it's mostly woods trees and the tend to split very easy with a maul but I can't ever get a maul through the last block or 2 on the bottom of the tree the stumps just won't split by hand so I throw them aside for the hydraulic to take care of

Maybe I give up to easy but if it doesn't break after 5 or 6 hits I toss it for later

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk


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## svk (Oct 14, 2015)

06switchback said:


> Another thanks to the eab I have been burning a lot of ash the last few years unsure what variety but it's mostly woods trees and the tend to split very easy with a maul but I can't ever get a maul through the last block or 2 on the bottom of the tree the stumps just won't split by hand so I throw them aside for the hydraulic to take care of
> 
> Maybe I give up to easy but if it doesn't break after 5 or 6 hits I toss it for later
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk


The stump piece on most any species is usually extra tough. Wavy grain and it starts to flare outward in anticipation of going to the roots.


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## haveawoody (Oct 15, 2015)

chipper1,
Who wants to be normal lol
What is normal these days, living life on a cellphone, eating takeout 7 days a week and having 10s K owing on a credit card because things you didn't need you got anyway.
Work and math are a mystery now.

I'm ok with being not normal.


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## chipper1 (Oct 15, 2015)

haveawoody said:


> chipper1,
> Who wants to be normal lol
> What is normal these days, living life on a cellphone, eating takeout 7 days a week and having 10s K owing on a credit card because things you didn't need you got anyway.
> Work and math are a mystery now.
> ...


I agree. We are getting ready to start a school of common sense (not common core). You know one where 2+2=4, not 2+2=5 nice job jonny. You know they say common sense ain't so common these days.
Lefttutnfreak I don't think I said you welded it or built it, just that that was an underlying cause. Also if the main beam is arching that would probably be a good time to let off the handle and move to another piece .


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## WoodTick007 (Oct 15, 2015)

lefturnfreek said:


> I broke my splitter on some dry Ash.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


P
Next time you weld your splitter increase the power while your welding heavy steel. . . if you look at the point it broke (your root weld) was cold and there was no fusion. It appears you piled on all kinds of weld material thinking it would increase the strength of the weld. This might be true to a certian point if they were all quality welds(which they are not). So I have serious doubts that splitting Ash broke your splitter. . . what broke your splitter was poor design and lack of fusion during the welding process.


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## chipper1 (Oct 15, 2015)

WoodTick007 said:


> P
> Next time you weld your splitter increase the power while your welding heavy steel. . . if you look at the point it broke (your root weld) was cold and there was no fusion. It appears you piled on all kinds of weld material thinking it would increase the strength of the weld. This might be true to a certian point if they were all quality welds(which they are not). So I have serious doubts that splitting Ash broke your splitter. . . what broke your splitter was poor design and lack of fusion during the welding process.


Be cautious, he was already offended when I said it was the weld and he said he did not build it. 
A term more familiar than fusion in welding is penetration (at least to the common guy although it is only really talking about the depth of fusion). You need more heat on the beam so the weld will penetrate(fuse deeper) into both the beam and the knife or wedge.
It doesn't help when the beam is flexing(wrong metal maybe) as that would only exasperate the problem.

I want to be clear that I'm not saying that the wood is not tough, but that it just brought out an underlying problem.


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## flashhole (Oct 15, 2015)

My wife is Irish. That makes me Irish by penetration.


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## chipper1 (Oct 15, 2015)

flashhole said:


> My wife is Irish. That makes me Irish by penetration.


I'm not gonna touch that with a 10ft pole saw lol.


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## ropensaddle (Oct 15, 2015)

chipper1 said:


> I'm not gonna touch that with a 10ft pole saw lol.


Ahhh just chop it with the fiskers


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## chipper1 (Oct 15, 2015)

ropensaddle said:


> Ahhh just chop it with the fiskers


That's funny, I was just finishing up an email to them saying thanks for getting it back to me so quickly when I received the alert to you response. 
Go figure. Guess I could use that on the Irish deal and on the ash lol.


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## Wood Doctor (Oct 15, 2015)

Funny that nobody mentioned spiral-grain ash. It occurs when the ash tree is leaning really hard for many years or most of its life. The tree tries to straighten itself up but fails and eventually dies, sometimes after 50 to 70 years. Even the tree trimmers hate taking it down.

Rounds cut from a tree like this are almost impossible to split because the grain is anything but straight. If you try to split from the outside in, chunks flake off. If you try to work dead center, the log splitter stalls out. My solution is to commit these rounds to a bonfire of the vanities.

On the other hand, most of the time I have found ash rather easy to split and it's a top-notch firewood that seasons fast.


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## ropensaddle (Oct 15, 2015)

Wood Doctor said:


> Funny that nobody mentioned spiral-grain ash. It occurs when the ash tree is leaning really hard for many years or most of its life. The tree tries to straighten itself up but fails and eventually dies, sometimes after 50 to 70 years. Even the tree trimmers hate taking it down.
> 
> Rounds cut from a tree like this are almost impossible to split because the grain is anything but straight. If you try to split from the outside in, chunks flake off. If you try to work dead center, the log splitter stalls out. My solution is to commit these rounds to a bonfire of the vanities.
> 
> On the other hand, most of the time I have found ash rather easy to split and it's a top-notch firewood that seasons fast.


knarly


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## haveawoody (Oct 15, 2015)

chipper1,

Just sad isn't it.
lord knows what happens if the power goes out for a week. lol

Oh well maybe we are over rating basic skills and people really don't need them anymore.
Should be an interesting world if it happens.

2+2 =3 less the work, wood and food


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## chipper1 (Oct 15, 2015)

haveawoody said:


> chipper1,
> 
> Just sad isn't it.
> lord knows what happens if the power goes out for a week. lol
> ...


I know all my wood would be in the basement by then, at least the stuf thats split. 
I don't think it's an "if it happens" scenario, my wife is a teacher and we home school for a reason, it is happening. 
Go back to the top of this post, it's one example of it, at least he is using his resources, that being this forum. Unfortunately in the chance we have a large scale power outage noone would be able to click to get the answers. Then we would what basic survival skills do and don't do for a persons sanity. 
You can watch any number of movies to find out it won't be pretty. Thats whe you see just how civilized people are.


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## haveawoody (Oct 16, 2015)

chipper1,

Guess just a matter of time and nature will thin the herd to those that can endure.
Winter here would be a beast for survival but I at least have the basic survival knowledge to last.

One big solar flare and earth goes back to bow and arrows for 2 years or more if you know how to make a bow and arrows .
I agree it would be an ugly scene around the world.


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## flashhole (Oct 16, 2015)

Wouldn't surprise me to see most of the guys on this forum also participate in gun forums. Don't have to go back to bows and arrows if you handload and cast your own bullets. It's good to be self-reliant and capable of providing what is needed.


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## WoodTick007 (Oct 16, 2015)

Huh? You think the rod he used was too small to get good penetration? Maybe he just drags a 70xx rod and he need to increase the motion. . .or prehaps he has a very short duty cycle and right when he thinks things are getting going he has to stop because he is reaching the limits of his equipment.
Hell, I don't know lol I thought welding was about fusing metals when in reality its about penetration and penetrating metal. 

Either way a weld should hold up while the forces of the ram are stressing the beam. . .


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## WoodTick007 (Oct 17, 2015)

lefturnfreek said:


> I never said I built this splitter....
> 
> Considering it was bowing the main beam before splitting the piece, firing it off the knife 20ft or more some times, I would say they were a lil tough....



Bowing of the main beam has nothing to do with the toughness of the wood. What is does means is that you selected a beam too small for size ram and pressures created by the pump/engine.
"Firing" the wood 20ft or more during the splitting process also has nothing to do with the toughness of the wood and everything to do with the fact your wedge and push plate are also improperly designed. 
If your splitter is indeed actually "firing" split wood more than 20ft during the splitting process. It would be my suggestion that you discontinue use until your design flaws can be fixed before someone is seriously injured or God forbid killed.


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## gunny100 (Apr 14, 2019)

Weber_Steaks said:


> Had a tree service cut down 5 trees recently, 2 were decent size ash, trunk was 15 inches diameter, limbs around 7 to 9.....trees died two.years ago due to EAB. I read somewhere that dead standing trees and trees left standing once infected become very hardened, like concrete, and these seem to fit the bill, my uncle's was the same way 3 years ago, he gave me all his ash because he couldn't split it....
> 
> Can anyone tell me what's going on here ? I was told ash was easy to split, well, my maul bounced right off the rounds, my sledgehammer and 7 pound wedges don't work, I can't even get the wedge into this wood, even when I set the wedge right into existing check cracks etc,
> 
> Bought a 10 ton log splitter, and after 3 attempts, I have up and this was with a smaller, 9 inches round...


i hard hard wood to split i cut in the wood a couple inches than i insert the wege and hit it with a large slege hammer and the wood should split


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## Ted Jenkins (Apr 15, 2019)

I have a few splitters with the largest being one with a 6'' ram. I bought a few loads of logs awhile back from a tree company. Some of the rounds were 6' of Eucalyptus and very heavy. I had to use my Bobcat to hoist them onto the splitter with some splitting easy and some not. I wore out about 20 wedges before the winter was over. When the grain was right the splitter did not have any problem. Other times the wedge would penetrate about an inch with some bowing. I tried a star wedge for some larger pine rounds with the bowing very severe because of the side ways twisting. The design must be correct for the proper application. At the moment I am starting to build a stout splitter aimed at safety and ease for one person using a log lift. Ash can be very tough just like Oak that has severe twisted grains. Some times the amount of work for the desired amount of available product does not balance out. Thanks


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## Wood Doctor (Apr 15, 2019)

Ted Jenkins said:


> I have a few splitters with the largest being one with a 6'' ram. I bought a few loads of logs awhile back from a tree company. Some of the rounds were 6' of Eucalyptus and very heavy. I had to use my Bobcat to hoist them onto the splitter with some splitting easy and some not. I wore out about 20 wedges before the winter was over. When the grain was right the splitter did not have any problem. Other times the wedge would penetrate about an inch with some bowing. I tried a star wedge for some larger pine rounds with the bowing very severe because of the side ways twisting. The design must be correct for the proper application. At the moment I am starting to build a stout splitter aimed at safety and ease for one person using a log lift. Ash can be very tough just like Oak that has severe twisted grains. Some times the amount of work for the desired amount of available product does not balance out. Thanks


Twisted grain ash is almost impossible to split. Any twisted grain wood is really tough, especially elm. I usually throw it into a bonfire pile. The twisted grain often forms when the tree or branch is really bent sideways. The tree tries to straighten it, but it cannot. Some ash branches can grow sideways nearly 9o feet before they fall off the tree, usually from wind, ice, or wet snow.

My neighbor has one growing that way in his back yard. He told me he wants to see how long the branch will get before it falls. Why do people do this?


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## Marley5 (Apr 15, 2019)

I have to use a wedge for ash in the field.....splitter at home. 

From the looks of the Elms and Ash, I'll be burning a lot of it.


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## 300zx_tt (Apr 15, 2019)

I’ve always had awesome luck splitting ash, knots are a ***** with the fiskars but I toss them in a pile for the splitter. 

It’s usually faster to split straight rounds by hand than with the hydro splitter.


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## James Miller (Apr 16, 2019)

I tried splitting this ash by hand. It wasn't bothered by the axe or my isocore maul. Seemed pretty straight grain to me. I did a whole apple tree the other day by hand that I was told would be a nightmare to split and it was easy compared to this.


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## lefturnfreek (Apr 17, 2019)

So to answer a very old statement ... yes ... I know my splitter isn't very well built but I think I paid $100 or 200 for it 10 years ago, I never built it... no I wasn't offended ... yes I broke it, %100 my fault. The pieces were dead dry and rock hard, I should have taken the chain saw and cut in 1-2 inchs as I did to later pieces ... yes I fixed it ... yes I'm going to beef it more... any one who runs it, me, knows what an animal it is and how to be safe around it.

My splitter and yes that's a Brigg's motor....not a Briggs & Stratton ...





This is what broke it ....


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## Marine5068 (Apr 20, 2019)

I've never had much problem splitting any of the Green Ash I had last fall.
It was split just after felling though.
Looks like you need a better splitter, maybe a small electric hydraulic one.
They work great.


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## Oldmaple (Apr 20, 2019)

Used to drop off Ash wood to this old guy in our area. He would comment about this one was easy to split, this one was a pain. I often wondered if one was a Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and another was White Ash (Fraxinus americana). I can't tell them apart for the most part.


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## Multifaceted (Apr 26, 2019)

Oldmaple said:


> Used to drop off Ash wood to this old guy in our area. He would comment about this one was easy to split, this one was a pain. I often wondered if one was a Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and another was White Ash (Fraxinus americana). I can't tell them apart for the most part.



The easiest way to tell is becoming harder and harder as they defoliate and die. 

White Ash has a lighter green shade on the underside of the leaflets; whereas on Green Ash they are almost the shame shade of green as the topside of the leaflets. White Ash typically grows larger, but as far as bark patterns and other indicators they are very similar in appearance aside from the leaves.


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## Trapper_Pete (Apr 26, 2019)

just did some ash Wednesday 
2 trees next to each other one split well and one was stringy but still split.

I actually did part of the 2nd with the splitter the first was all wedges and sledge

once I had the few biggest rounds done with the splitter I went to ax and worked them down outer 3-4 inches then worked my way around as I went in, I was just worn out from wrestling the rounds in the splitter , still stringy and harder to split than the first tree.
I so would have noodled those big rounds but these 2 trees were at the wifes work and all cut to firewood lengths , I grabbed the splitter after offloading the first load because it was right in the drive way and full of gas I should have grabbed the saw instead, I regret that now but got it down any way.

bigger regret was not bringing any water , worked from 4:45 to 7:15 and no water and this stuppid cold that just won't go away , I was spent and my 15 yo assistant was down for the count in bed at home sick so it was all me again.

I was just splitting things small enough to get them in the truck but by the end of the second load and second tree that meant making them smaller to pitch on top f the load , with side boards I was way over loaded and over the top of the cab , but 1/2 mile from the house so 10-15 mph slow roll home sitting hard on the overloads


those little harbor freight spltters leave a lot to be desired I think better money spent would have been 3 wedges and a 8 pound sledge that is how I did the first tree. you start wedges on the natural checking because the wood already wants to come apart there then ad more wedges trying to tear ash apart form one corner is harder than working back and forth between 2-3 wedges give each a hit move over hit move over back and forth. if htey were a better desing maybe but if you can split it with the HF jack splitter you could have cut a few slots with the saw and driven wedges faster.

I also seem to favor the old strait wedges with just a single bevel which are hard to find now i have 4 that a friend found in his barn that are all mushroomed over but they sure work well.
they are almost like a poly chainsaw wedge shape but half again as thick.


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## rarefish383 (Apr 27, 2019)

Just looked at this whole thread, there were some great guys that posted on it, that are not here anymore.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 28, 2019)

Lefturnfreak that is a pretty nice looking splitter from being built by some one out of stuff they had on hand. I would bet it would have split those big pieces just fine if done with the nibble method.

*Nibble method is take a couple inches off at a time rotateing The block as you go.

*
3 year old seasoned Ash is why I don't own no stinking fiskers. OH I started to drink the Fiskers water but after smacking some Ash rounds and barely making a mark I returned it.
I used a Sledge and wedge to make them small enough to lift into the trailer to transport to the power splitter.

After readding about so many people talking/writeing about the fiskers I was really disapointed that blocks of ash didn't automaticly split out of fear of being hit with a fiskers. Was also very disappointed to find the fiskers didn't come with the lazer tracker so when swung it didn't take the same track as the pryer swing.

I returned the disappointing thing and got my money back rather quickly the same day it walked out the door in my hand.

I now own a rare Huskvarna splitting axe.





Also one of these heavy weights husky mauls too.





I did have to rework it a tiny bit but splits Ash the axe won't. It was to blunt to start with.
Once they are small enough I can lift them or roll therm I bring them to the power splitter I built.
It has a 6.5 Predator engine and a I beam I had rather than buy a H beam and a sharpened leaf spring off a Semi front axel. Knots that won't split get cut.






I have been told by a fellow I know that trees that grow in fields, fence rows and other open areas are real tough to split because the winds thru the years make the trees twist while growing and makes the grain knarly. Makes sence to me.

 Al


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## Landon Buckler (Oct 7, 2022)

Babaganoosh said:


> Sweet gum is terrible. I split about 2/3 a cord with my 27 ton dht.
> 
> I won't take sweet gum again even if it's free and dropped off in my driveway already bucked to length.


Bout 10 years ago my dad cut down a dead sweetgum that had no bark and he cut one round to see how hard it’d be to split and he about knocked his freakin brains out trying to split it so he just left it


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