Splitting Elm Made Easy

[tla100]

I must be in the minority, well I rarely even go balls deep when splitting. I mean, nasty stuff, maybe 3-4 times going all the way extended. in a couple hours splitting. But mine is homemade and it is within 1/2" clearance. Split some elm too.

Looks good tho!!!

 

[Erik B]

Without it the best I can do is get the wedge 2-2 1/2 inches from the foot plate. The splitter has not been modified other than a different stand on the tongue.
At least I don't have to use a hatchet.

 

[GVS]

I had the same type of problem with my Speeco. Mine took a little longer but I solved it too, now it's no problem.

I lay a stick against the foot crossways then drop the chunk on the beam,pull the handle and that stringy piece elm or whatever is fully split.In effect you've moved the foot closer to the wedge.Course that stick you layed crossways looks pretty ragged in short order!

 

[Woody912]

too heavy to mount on my 8# maul

 

[rarefish383]

I lay a stick against the foot crossways then drop the chunk on the beam,pull the handle and that stringy piece elm or whatever is fully split.In effect you've moved the foot closer to the wedge.Course that stick you layed crossways looks pretty ragged in short order!

I have a bunch of 2X6 scrap that I save for when I get some stringy Hickory. Drop one in front of the foot. When it gets all squished up, stick in another one, Joe.

 

[GVS]

Without it the best I can do is get the wedge 2-2 1/2 inches from the foot plate. The splitter has not been modified other than a different stand on the tongue.
At least I don't have to use a hatchet.

The one advantage a beam mounted wedge splitter has over a ram mounted wedge splitter is that you can load the next piece of wood before the last piece is fully split.This can speed things up a bit.

 

[Erik B]

The one advantage a beam mounted wedge splitter has over a ram mounted wedge splitter is that you can load the next piece of wood before the last piece is fully split.This can speed things up a bit.

A splitter with the wedge mounted on the beam wasn't an option when I went to buy my splitter back in 1999 IIRC. I knew practically nothing about splitters back then so I just bought what Farm & Fleet had. I can certainly see how a beam mounted wedge would speed things along. At my age, I can barely keep up with the splitter I have

 

[Wood Doctor]

Looks like a very good solution to a problem that... well... frankly... should not exist.
What is the reasoning for not having the wedge extend all the way out to, say, ¼" (or a bit less) of the foot to begin with??
My pushpad nearly kisses the wedge on full ram extension...
I believe I'd make that a permanent modification.

I have to agree with Spidey. Let the elm dry a couple of months in the round. If the wedge gets close to the stop, it will be usually be close enough to split the log all the way. I never try to split green elm. It's a rather useless exercise. Wait until (1) the round starts to check up and (2) the bark starts falling off the round.

 

[JeffGu]

I use the 2x6 trick, myself... I just cut a stack of footlong pieces and keep them in a big plastic toolbox bolted to the trailer I haul the splitter on. On removals, I cut and split the wood on site so when I get to the shop I only have to take it out of the trailers and stack it. So, it all gets split green. Branches under 1.5" go in the chipper, everything else is kindling and firewood. Pic is from current job, half the trees coming out are Siberian Elm. Stinky bastards, but it all burns.

 

[superwd6]

I use Husqvarna 288XP [emoji846] one man , one tool gets it done without moving 30" diameter blocks. Used to limb down to 1" to not waste wood. Use 353 for limbing now though cause I'm naturally lazy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[3fordasho]

I did this a few years back, bucked up a bunch of red, siberian and american elm and left it in rounds for 4-6 months before splitting... the bark was falling off. This was all live elms, not standing dead. I found it to be extremely difficult to split, much worse than fresh cut elm. (live) Standing dead is a bit different depending upon how long its been dead, the longer the easier it splits. I now split all elm as soon as I cut it- there will be a occasional american elm that just turns to mush in the splitter no matter what.

I have to agree with Spidey. Let the elm dry a couple of months in the round. If the wedge gets close to the stop, it will be usually be close enough to split the log all the way. I never try to split green elm. It's a rather useless exercise. Wait until (1) the round starts to check up and (2) the bark starts falling off the round.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I did this a few years back, bucked up a bunch of red, siberian and american elm and left it in rounds for 4-6 months before splitting... the bark was falling off. This was all live elms, not standing dead. I found it to be extremely difficult to split, much worse than fresh cut elm. (live) Standing dead is a bit different depending upon how long its been dead, the longer the easier it splits. I now split all elm as soon as I cut it- there will be a occasional american elm that just turns to mush in the splitter no matter what.

To each his own. I just split a bunch of elm rounds that were starting to lose their bark. They split cleanly and the bark fell off as I went along. I tried the same batch three months ago and it was stringy as all get out, so I stopped . Three months of drying was all that it took.