Ever think about doing the impossible?

[FLHX Storm]

Have y'all ever tried something even though the potential for failure was 99%?

Here's my story:
I have felled 7 fair sized trees in the last couple of weeks and instead of bucking them completely to firewood length I've been cutting some into 4 foot lengths that I figure on saving for spring. Then bucking to size and splitting.

With the last tree I felled, an oak with the trunk being 23'" across, I did the same thing. I had them standing in the splitting area trying to figure if I should add them to the pile of other 4 foot logs. There were 3 of them. After splitting everything I had bucked, I decided to do something totally crazy and I knew the chance of failure was great. So I needed a plan. I thought on it overnight and the following day I went out, cut 16 inches off one of the oak logs and placed it along side the 32 inch piece forming a step. after I place it the best distance for splitting away from one of the 4 foot logs.

This is where the total crazyness begins. Since I have been having so much fun with the Fiskars X27 splitting wood I thought, lets see what it can really do! That's why I needed a plan. With the 16 inch and 32 inch side by side, that would bring me up to the same height as if I were splitting a 16 inch round on the ground giving me the most bang in a manor of speaking. Now mind you, I am not one to give up easily so I climbed the makeshift stairs.

After 10 strikes with everything I had, on the 11th strike, the 4 foot log, 23 inches wide, split right down the middle. I tried about 6 more strikes to break the fibers all the way, but that was a no go. I thought about prying it apart with my hands, but I figured one hand or the other would slip and my fingers on one hand would get crushed in the process. It's bad enough I broke the majority of my fingernails! So I pushed the log over and pulled it apart from there. I'm thinking, OMG, I did it! So I'm kind of laughing to myself. Then I figured I had to at least quarter the log so I stood up one half of the thing at a time and gave it everything I had again only this time trying to split the halves. The third strike on each of the halves split them leaving me with of course the 4 quarters laying there. VICTORY!

By then my abdomen was hurting something fierce, but instead of quitting, I took each of the quarters and stood them up next to the pile of split wood for my neighbors to see. (whether they did or not doesn't matter) For me it was bragging rights. Then I went ahead and cut the 32 incher in half and split the 3 rounds. and added them to my ever growing pile of firewood that needs to be stacked. In the end I was happier than a pig in a poke!

I guess you could say You never know what you can do until you try! N the only failure is not even trying.

Considering I had major dual back surgery 2 and 1/2 years ago due to a bad motorcycle wreck, I think I'm doing well.

Since a thread is no good without pictures, here are some. I also did take a video, but I won't show that to anyone because I look absolutely HORRID!!!!!!!

View attachment 264795

View attachment 264796

View attachment 264797

View attachment 264798

And my back: There is the 2 lag bolts with washers to hold in the 2 new disks and 6 pedicle screws with 2 vertical rods and one horizontal stabilizing bar.
View attachment 264794
I guess I do all right for a girl!

 

[FLHX Storm]

This is kind of the view my neighbors would have seen driving by. I have since bucked those quarters to size and split them.

View attachment 264800

To show I'm not an amazon, here is a picture taken from one of my security cameras of me dragging the very first ever deer I shot over to where I gutted and skinned it. I know the picture isn't that clear, but for now it's one of the few pictures I have of myself.

View attachment 264801

 

[derwoodii]

well done there wee lassy brains will more often find solutions to tasks that brawn may not over come.
strewth that back bolt works a full meccano set, take care not to over reach the physical limits thou even the smart can hurt one self yer may loosin some rivets.

I see your trick getting above the logs so more swing but it may find you with a deflect miss toppling off hard can i recommend if the earth suits to digging a pit puttin logs in to swing from level ground down n buyin in some plastic wedges for log splitting help.

what sort saws you usin

 

[derwoodii]

This is kind of the view my neighbors would have seen driving by. I have since bucked those quarters to size and split them.

View attachment 264800

To show I'm not an amazon, here is a picture taken from one of my security cameras of me dragging the very first ever deer I shot over to where I gutted and skinned it. I know the picture isn't that clear, but for now it's one of the few pictures I have of myself.

View attachment 264801

hey up, so now we gotta ask what huntin rifle yer usin

 

[FLHX Storm]

There is no way I will split any more 4 foot logs like that, but it was fun to see if I could do it. Every time I think about what I did, I burst out laughing.

So no worries about a hard deflect causing me to fall off what I'm standing on and potentially breaking or ripping the hardware out of my back.

The chainsaws I'm running are a PoulanPro 42cc with an 18" bar, a PoulanPro 46cc with a 20" bar, and a 10" that I have yet to look at the brand and haven't used in over a year. Other than my axes and a couple of wedges that's the only equipment I have.

 

[FLHX Storm]

hey up, so now we gotta ask what huntin rifle yer usin

With that particular deer, I used a Mossberg 500a 12 gauge shotgun at about 40 yards. No rear sights and just that bead on the end of the barrel. It's bare bones. I do have an old SKS rifle but it wasn't loaded at the time.

 

[AIM]

You go girl! Good to see women gettin done what needs done.

 

[russhd1997]

Before we had a hydraulic log splitter my father and I used to split all of our wood 4' with a maul and wedges. Red oak and white ash were the easiest while twisted up red maple was the worst. We didn't even attempt to split elm. That's the way that the old timers used to do it around here too.

 

[Marc]

Yeah, we used to do all our firewood that way. It's a lot easier to split four footers with a heavier maul though.

We'd stack 'em and dry 'em like that and buck them down to length on a belt driven cordwood saw.

Maple, ash and oak I could usually do without wedges, if not too many knots, most anything else and the wedges came out.

 

[Marc]

Before we had a hydraulic log splitter my father and I used to split all of our wood 4' with a maul and wedges. Red oak and white ash were the easiest while twisted up red maple was the worst. We didn't even attempt to split elm. That's the way that the old timers used to do it around here too.

Sounds like we had similar upbringings

 

[flashhole]

Good job and thanks for sharing. I split a lot of 32" lengths just because I can get more wood in a stack with less handling when I let them season. Straight grain stuff is pretty easy at 32" but 4' might be a challenge. I then cut them to length before they go in the burn racks after a year or more of seasoning. Recently I've just been cutting them to burn length. I have a bunch to do this weekend.

 

[Somesawguy]

Some wood will split better when it's frozen. Nice job there though. :msp_biggrin:

 

[FLHX Storm]

I can't even imagine my splitting wood on a regular basis in 4 foot lengths let alone 32 inchers. I prefer the 16 inch rounds.

Doing the 4 footer was just to see if I could do it. I really thought there was no way on gods green earth that I could but I had to at least try. Believe me, that will be the only one I'll ever do. It was fun extending my limits though :msp_biggrin:

 

[FLHX Storm]

Some wood will split better when it's frozen.

Sure, now you tell me!

 

[Jules083]

I've split 8' sections of locust for fence posts, it's not fun but possible for sure.

We always laid the log down and started driving wedges from one end to start the split. Once it starts move down the log a bit and start getting it opened up. At that point you have 2 choices. Either make a wedge out of another piece of locust and drive it lengthwise through the log, or stick a bumper jack in the split and start forcing it apart.

Once you get the first split done it gets easier. Normally though after 6 or 8 posts you were done for the day.

 

[FLHX Storm]

I've split 8' sections of locust for fence posts, it's not fun but possible for sure.

We always laid the log down and started driving wedges from one end to start the split. Once it starts move down the log a bit and start getting it opened up. At that point you have 2 choices. Either make a wedge out of another piece of locust and drive it lengthwise through the log, or stick a bumper jack in the split and start forcing it apart.

Once you get the first split done it gets easier. Normally though after 6 or 8 posts you were done for the day.

Even if I did one locust the way y'all do it, I think I would have keeled over and died! Well, okay, maybe two. But then I'm not 29 any more. I turned 61 in September.

 

[Marc]

I've split 8' sections of locust for fence posts, it's not fun but possible for sure.

We always laid the log down and started driving wedges from one end to start the split. Once it starts move down the log a bit and start getting it opened up. At that point you have 2 choices. Either make a wedge out of another piece of locust and drive it lengthwise through the log, or stick a bumper jack in the split and start forcing it apart.

Once you get the first split done it gets easier. Normally though after 6 or 8 posts you were done for the day.

I've watched the joiner at Plimouth Plantation rive oak logs similarly. After shaving off the bark by hand with a drawknife. Then he'd plane the rives with a hand jointer. That guy is a master, I'll tell you what. Pretty awesome seeing someone able to make furniture from a log with no power tools. Well, no electric, fuel or air powered tools, anyway. Lot's of human power.

 

[cheeves]

Have y'all ever tried something even though the potential for failure was 99%?

Here's my story:
I have felled 7 fair sized trees in the last couple of weeks and instead of bucking them completely to firewood length I've been cutting some into 4 foot lengths that I figure on saving for spring. Then bucking to size and splitting.

With the last tree I felled, an oak with the trunk being 23'" across, I did the same thing. I had them standing in the splitting area trying to figure if I should add them to the pile of other 4 foot logs. There were 3 of them. After splitting everything I had bucked, I decided to do something totally crazy and I knew the chance of failure was great. So I needed a plan. I thought on it overnight and the following day I went out, cut 16 inches off one of the oak logs and placed it along side the 32 inch piece forming a step. after I place it the best distance for splitting away from one of the 4 foot logs.

This is where the total crazyness begins. Since I have been having so much fun with the Fiskars X27 splitting wood I thought, lets see what it can really do! That's why I needed a plan. With the 16 inch and 32 inch side by side, that would bring me up to the same height as if I were splitting a 16 inch round on the ground giving me the most bang in a manor of speaking. Now mind you, I am not one to give up easily so I climbed the makeshift stairs.

After 10 strikes with everything I had, on the 11th strike, the 4 foot log, 23 inches wide, split right down the middle. I tried about 6 more strikes to break the fibers all the way, but that was a no go. I thought about prying it apart with my hands, but I figured one hand or the other would slip and my fingers on one hand would get crushed in the process. It's bad enough I broke the majority of my fingernails! So I pushed the log over and pulled it apart from there. I'm thinking, OMG, I did it! So I'm kind of laughing to myself. Then I figured I had to at least quarter the log so I stood up one half of the thing at a time and gave it everything I had again only this time trying to split the halves. The third strike on each of the halves split them leaving me with of course the 4 quarters laying there. VICTORY!

By then my abdomen was hurting something fierce, but instead of quitting, I took each of the quarters and stood them up next to the pile of split wood for my neighbors to see. (whether they did or not doesn't matter) For me it was bragging rights. Then I went ahead and cut the 32 incher in half and split the 3 rounds. and added them to my ever growing pile of firewood that needs to be stacked. In the end I was happier than a pig in a poke!

I guess you could say You never know what you can do until you try! N the only failure is not even trying.

Considering I had major dual back surgery 2 and 1/2 years ago due to a bad motorcycle wreck, I think I'm doing well.

Since a thread is no good without pictures, here are some. I also did take a video, but I won't show that to anyone because I look absolutely HORRID!!!!!!!

View attachment 264795

View attachment 264796

View attachment 264797

View attachment 264798

And my back: There is the 2 lag bolts with washers to hold in the 2 new disks and 6 pedicle screws with 2 vertical rods and one horizontal stabilizing bar.
View attachment 264794
I guess I do all right for a girl!

Amazing!!! You're a Champ!! For someone with a gruesome back that still cuts wood! And a lot. My hats off!!

 

[zogger]

Pretty cool! Got me beat, never even tried a 3 or 4 footer before.

You got the surgery the docs wanted me to get, but I passed on it, twelve ruptured discs.

 

[cheeves]

Before we had a hydraulic log splitter my father and I used to split all of our wood 4' with a maul and wedges. Red oak and white ash were the easiest while twisted up red maple was the worst. We didn't even attempt to split elm. That's the way that the old timers used to do it around here too.

Yup, down here too Russ! Split by hand right up to about 5 years ago! Still do a good bit for the exercise. Main reason I'm still alive and most of my friends are dead!