Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[LondonNeil]

I find most wood splits easily when green and some a tougher dry, but it isn't always the case. Split wood will dry get faster and stack of in less space (.....12 page argument coming now after that comment!)

 

[Brufab]

I agree with London Neil. But some wood doesnt split the greatest when green if not using a mechanical splitter.

 

[JAXJEREMY]

I find most wood splits easily when green and some a tougher dry, but it isn't always the case. Split wood will dry get faster and stack of in less space (.....12 page argument coming now after that comment!)

Hah..appreciate the input..people will argue about anything..Guess it's in our nature..The oak I've been getting has been a b**ch to split, no trouble with the maple or birch..

 

[rarefish383]

I've got some of my Dad's layout tools and hammers that I want to clean the rust off. I was going to use Evaporust since I have it. What would you use to keep the rust from coming back? WD-40? I'm afraid to use that because of transfer to the wood (woodworking).

I'd rinse it lots in cold water and then dry and put a good coat of paste wax on it.

 

[Brufab]

Red oak that was cut in march/april and split shortly after the tree was alive just not any leaves yet because it was march/April

 

[Brufab]

Yea dry maple with no knots splits easily. I hand split 2 cord of mixed hardwoods oak ash maple popple birch, wood was a couple years old oak and popple was the worst maple ash birch was super easy.

 

[JAXJEREMY]

Red oak that was cut in march/april and split shortly after the tree was alive just not any leaves yet because it was march/April

I need one of those...considered renting one..

 

[rarefish383]

Hah..appreciate the input..people will argue about anything..Guess it's in our nature..The oak I've been getting has been a b**ch to split, no trouble with the maple or birch..

It's also because there are so many types of Oak. The Southern Live Oaks I've heard are a beech to split. Partially because they can grow well near the shore and are constantly wind twisted. The past two days I split two nice size, 24", Red Oaks for my neighbors dad. Grew straight and tall in the woods, no limbs for 50 feet. His tree guy gave him a break to leave the wood. He had them all cut and setting on end, about 16" long. First thing I did was walk around all the ones too big to lift and quartered them with my Fiskers. Three four pops and they were in half, then one pop and the halves were in quarters. The stump cuts and the few with limbs I noodled so I could put them on the splitter. If I was 20 years younger I would have done it all with the ax and made less money. $20 bucks an hour friend price. As it was I had to drive 20 miles round trip to take the splitter over, come home and do it again with the trailer and JD. Then repeat coming home.

 

[rarefish383]

I need one of those...considered renting one..

This is how I did it before I sold my small trailer.

 

[svk]

Question for you firewood scroungers. I'm always on the hunt for recently cut down trees to add to my wood pile. I keep one pile for seasoning and then another covered that I've split..I live in Florida so we get a lot of rain, in the past I'd taken to keeping the rounds I was seasoning covered up, but stopped doing that a couple years ago and noticed that some of the "seasoned" logs had started to rot..I'm guessing I should start covering again..my main question is how long should you typically wait before you split a log? I don't have a splitter, so it's being done manually and some of this recently cut oak is damn near impossible to bust through..thanks.

My best advice would be to split (or noodle then split) that stuff and get it off the ground and cover the top only.

 

[Brufab]

I need one of those...considered renting one..

It was the county line one from tsc splits vertical and horizontal

 

[Brufab]

It was the county line one from tsc splits vertical and horizontal

 

[Dudders]

I always try to split as soon as possible. I've only found it gets tougher as it dries, whatever the wood, but there may be some I don't know of that split easier when dry? I can't see your oak getting any easier to split if you leave it!

 

[JAXJEREMY]

Yea dry maple with no knots splits easily. I hand split 2 cord of mixed hardwoods oak ash maple popple birch, wood was a couple years old oak and popple was the worst maple ash birch was super easy

My best advice would be to split (or noodle then split) that stuff and get it off the ground and cover the top only

My best advice would be to split (or noodle then split) that stuff and get it off the ground and cover the top only.

when you said noodling I thought you meant fishing for channel cats with your hand..never heard the term used in wood cutting before..learn something new every day.

 

[MustangMike]

It is best (to dry the wood w/o rot) to split as soon as possible, even though it is often harder to split it when wet. (Cold and dry splits easiest).

Cover only the top (not the sides) with an air gap if possible, and as FS said, keep it off the ground (it can absorb water from the ground).

Red and Silver Maple are usually easy to split, Sugar and Norway Maple can get pretty tough to split.

 

[mountainguyed67]

when you said noodling I thought you meant fishing for channel cats with your hand..never heard the term used in wood cutting before..

Yeah, it’s a secret code here on this forum. I haven’t heard it anywhere else.

 

[LondonNeil]

Tree location has more affect on splitability than type, the lone tree in an exposed position won't split like a middle of the forest tree.

I expected the stacks in less space comment to cause the argument... I'm surprised!

 

[SS396driver]

Took a couple of months but the new radiator for my Chevelle showed up today last corespondent was it may ship the 26th of February and if I wanted to I could cancel the order with a full refund . I’m sure it because the rad is now $250 more .
Dewitt HP 2 row with 1.25 inch tubes good for up to 700 horse. Dual Spal fans

 

[SS396driver]

Also used some firewood to make a router plane . Just need to tig a SS nut to put the cinch bolt in

 

[calamari]

Outdoor Wood Boiler

Congratulations for being the first to give me an answer that made me slap my forehead. Sounds like it would take big wood and burn awhile before you had to feed it.