Ash wood is almost impossible to split

[WoodTick007]

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.

 

[gunny100]

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

 

[Ted Jenkins]

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

 

[Wood Doctor]

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?

 

[Marley5]

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.

 

[300zx_tt]

I’ve always had awesome luck splitting ash, knots are a bitch 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.

 

[James Miller]

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.

 

[lefturnfreek]

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 ....

 

[Marine5068]

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.

 

[Oldmaple]

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.

 

[Multifaceted]

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.

 

[Trapper_Pete]

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.

 

[rarefish383]

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

 

[alleyyooper]

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

 

[Landon Buckler]

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