Cherry bark causing problems for splitting

[DrakeWoodSplitter]

I cut up a fallen cherry into rounds to split for firewood. The wood is very green, but I have been having difficulties splitting it because of the bark.
The wood is very easy to split, but the bark holds it together, and doubles the amount of time needed to split each piece. I have been using a 6 pound maul, and still the bark is tough enough to resist the shock.

Does anyone have any experience splitting green cherry?

 

[Marine5068]

Yes I've cut lots of it. It is a challenge with the bark sometimes. I find that after a long day of handling Cherry that my gloves, hands and arm have lots of nicks and cuts all over. The bark is very sharp along its edges.
I have the issue you're talking about with White and Yellow Birch. Most of the time I have to peel it off the splits. But dry Birch bark makes great fire-starter.
Below is a Cherry log a buddy dropped off for me. The bark is almost like shingles on this one.

 

[Marine5068]

 

[DrakeWoodSplitter]

Thank you for the reply. The wild cherry we have around here in Western Washington (I think it is the Oregon Cherry) has bark similar to birch, it is thin, tough, and it peels off the tree. It would make sense that birch would sometimes pose the same problems.

I have never tried using cherry bark as a fire starter though.


How long do black cherries live? Our cherries are lucky to live 40 years.





Here is a picture of our local cherry variety, it is very similar to ones grown for fruit:

 

[Marine5068]

Black Cherry trees lifespan can be as short as 20 years, but on average most live about 100 years and they can live up to 250 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_serotina

 

[Guswhit]

I know that everyone has there own processing system, but for the cherry I cut I will give my brief system. I cut a lot of it, as it grows really fast in farm fence rows and becomes a nuisance as it leans over quickly into the path of the cultivation equipment. I generally harvest my logs, drag them to a staging area and either cut them to blocks or haul them home as logs. I generally let them sit for 4-6 weeks in this form before splitting. This seems to get the outer bark dried enough to split through in 1 strike. I only cut in the winter though, not when the trees are leaved out. Hope this approach will help you.