A word about splitting large firewood rounds by hand

[Incomplete]

Gotta get one of these!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhmKBDIAXd0&sns=em

 

[bcorradi]

I agree.

I have a Fiskars X27, and while it's a great tool for the right wood, it ain't the holy grail of splitting tools that some make it out to be. Yeah, I can swing the X27 about twice as long as I can swing the 8# maul... but if I have to swing the X27 two, three, or four times to split the same piece that the maul would handle with one swing... where am I saving time, or energy?

Seriously though, I do the vast majority of my splitting with hydraulics. When I decide it's a splittin' day... well then, that means all day. I'll start at sun-up and work until mid-afternoon or so... and swinging anything, even a relatively light Fiskars, for 8-10 hours just ain't gonna' happen. Yeah, fresh out of the gate hand splittin' is faster, but coming down the stretch hydraulics will pass you while your leaning on the handle... tongue hanging out.

About the only time I hand split is when I'm cleaning up after a storm or some such... when there's just a small pile to be split, not worth dragging out the splitter. Red Oak, soft maple, pine or fir and I'll grab the Fiskars... White or Burr Oak, hard maple, elm or Hackberry I'll grab the 8# every time... And with ash, cherry and walnut I'll carry them both to the pile, sometimes, depending on the tree, even those need the extra oooomph that only the 8-pounder can deliver. I don't get stuck in a rut thinkin' I have to modify my technique so the Fiskars can get the job done, like walkin' around the log "slabbing" pieces off, I know right after the first couple swings when it ain't the right tool for the job... I toss it to the side and grab the correct tool.

I personally disagree. I purchased my x27 and x25 late last fall and split a 13 cord load of birch then and I'm about finishing up a big load of red oak. It will not go through everything easily, but for example out of the big load of red oak i just got, there was only about 40 pieces I wasn't able to get busted within a few swings so I tossed them into the cull pile. I split everything close to where it was bucked so I don't hoist anything onto a splitter or on top of a large block of cottonwood etc. So i think the energy consumed between the two is negligible. It is all personal preference, but I highly respect what an x27 can do.

 

[Chris-PA]

Spend some more! A few bucks. The factory teflon coating is REAL nice and greatly improves the splittability, BUT it wears off. You can really tell, too, then it is not so nice (I am at a little over 16 cords done with my original supersplitter). IF I had it to do over again I would get a can of spray on teflon lube and lube that bad boy up right over the factory coating before the first swing. And use it every session.

I am going to drop serious hints for the upcoming binge buying season and hopefully garden goddess will get me an x27 (or I will gift myself) and I plan on doing the teflon spray.

I tried the spray on let it sit for a day graphite treatment, and although it worked, it wears off fast (about two sessions for me and back to sticking in the wood worse) so heck with it, cheaper teflon spray, spray and swing. I think if you did it immediately over the factory coating and kept it up, it would work out real well.

Why not have Fiskars replace it? I have to say that any tool which relies on coatings sounds a like a disposable axe to me, but since they claim they'll replace it then why not? I seriously doubt a spray on Teflon is going to last or work anything like what the original coating did, and of course you could put that on any axe.

 

[Officer's Match]

Why not have Fiskars replace it? I have to say that any tool which relies on coatings sounds a like a disposable axe to me, but since they claim they'll replace it then why not? I seriously doubt a spray on Teflon is going to last or work anything like what the original coating did, and of course you could put that on any axe.

I don't see where a "coating" has anything to do with the X27's performance. Now the edge is another story. They need to be kept very sharp, and has long as it's not totally boogered up, Fiskars' little roller-thingy works just fine to hone the edge.

 

[Chris-PA]

I don't see where a "coating" has anything to do with the X27's performance. Now the edge is another story. They need to be kept very sharp, and has long as it's not totally boogered up, Fiskars' little roller-thingy works just fine to hone the edge.

The Teflon coating is a very low friction surface, and I'm sure the angles they chose for the head are optimized to work with that low friction coating. They may not be optimal without the coating.

I had a Teflon coated 6lb maul from Sears which worked pretty well (until the head cracked). It was quite nice in that once it got into the wood it would slide on through noticeably easier than other mauls.

I dunno, I've spent some time swinging an X27, and I just didn't feel the magic. It worked very well, but not really any different than my favorite 4-1/2lb splitting axe. But then I usually split with an axe - a very very sharp axe, usually 4-1/2lb. My favorite is an old axe head that has been sharpened a few too many times, so it has a steeper nose angle than a felling axe. The X27 is a very sharp 4lb splitting axe, and it was no surprise that it felt about the same.

I do find that having a very sharp edge is important for splitting too - even my Chopper1 has a good edge on it, and I dressed the Collins maul as well.

 

[zogger]

Why not have Fiskars replace it? I have to say that any tool which relies on coatings sounds a like a disposable axe to me, but since they claim they'll replace it then why not? I seriously doubt a spray on Teflon is going to last or work anything like what the original coating did, and of course you could put that on any axe.

Well, never really thought about having it replaced as it isn't broken, just well used now. I emailed their customer service and asked about having it factory recoated but they don't do that.

I don't want to get rid off that anyway, it's the axe I split the wooden match lengthwise with.

I've done a lot of various "target shooting", but that match I was really happy dancing around, ha!

This was my first coated blade axe and yes, I like how it works coated. I haven't used all the graphite up yet, but when I do I'll switch to spray on teflon, the slippery coating improves performance by a noticeable factor. You can still split well without it, but for five cents (whatever, cheap) a spritz, why not?

 

[bcorradi]

I think they perform exceptionally well. I just finished splitting up this red oak exclusively with the x27 and x25. My wife and son favor the shorter X25 while I prefer the X27. View attachment 250431

 

[watsonr]

I think they perform exceptionally well. I just finished splitting up this red oak exclusively with the x27 and x25. My wife and son favor the shorter X25 while I prefer the X27. View attachment 250431

Nice stack of wood!!

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

Log splitters are cheap to rent but maybe I'm be too practical.

Some guys just like working harder than need be.

 

[cheeves]

This is all very complicated....to complicated for me.....I have a gray milk crate I sit on....within reach of my lever...pull it down to split...up to return....listen to the diesel.....I can do this all day long.....really...... even at my age...no chit....for days on end if necessary.......What's even better is I move the splitter rather than the wood...I told ya earlier...I'm a lazy sob..it's taken an entire lifetime to get to this stage of wood processing because I've always burned wood as the only heat source....if I could make it more efficient without paying someone else I would ....but besides being lazy.... I am also cheep...LOL!!!



Edit....Do NOT take offence but I have to smile when listening to southern folks talk seriously about spiltting wood..sorry guys.... my fires runs nonstop 8-9 months a yr..usually starts the end of Sept with the cookstove and ends early May....wood is not for fun for me...it's just part of the lifestyle living here.....I have... different requirements....and have done it all by hand even without a chainsaw..just a bucksaw....yrs ago....that sucked..even then...carry on.... as I said no offence intended...your requirements may differ.....

I hear Yah CD!

 

[bcorradi]

Log splitters are cheap to rent but maybe I'm be too practical.

Some guys just like working harder than need be.

All this wood was cut from a 12 cord log load I had delivered.

My method for processing is the following:
1) Pull 4 to 5 logs down with the pickeroon onto the log skids.
2) Buck 4 to 5 logs up.
3) Then my son, wife, or even daughter (except the youngest can stand them up on the spot)
4) My oldest son, wife & I split the rounds while the two youngest daughters toss them in a pile. We usually finish splitting before the daughters are able to throw all the splits in a pile so we help them when we are done. I then go back to step #1. I'm not saying we are all always out there at once, but when we are this is the method I do.

If I was going to rent a splitter I would want to get the splitting done in as few days as possible. So I'd have to do it the following way.
1) Buck up all 12 cords up at once while tossing rounds in a windrow on each side of the pile.
2) Rent a splitter and process all the rounds and toss them into a split pile in between the two windrows.

At minimum I would need two days rent on the splitter and I'd be handling all the pieces one extra time. Around here splitters cost about $75 per day to rent. I'm not saying I would mind a splitter for the 40 tough pieces I encountered that I'm going to noodle, but renting a splitter for those wouldn't be very cost effective. Another advantage of hand splitting is I never have to carry or hoist the rounds to and onto the splitter. I bring the ax to the wood right where I bucked them up.

Use whatever method works best for you, but this method is the most efficient and cost effective with the crew I'm working with .

 

[benp]

I don't see where a "coating" has anything to do with the X27's performance. Now the edge is another story. They need to be kept very sharp, and has long as it's not totally boogered up, Fiskars' little roller-thingy works just fine to hone the edge.

I agree with this. I hit the edge with the raker file every so often to touch it up. There is a difference.

Log splitters are cheap to rent but maybe I'm be too practical.

Some guys just like working harder than need be.

Some of us dont have that luxury.

Even the local for sale splitters dont go as big as my firebox will comfortably hold.