Wedges in addition to fiskars

[STOVE]

Looking at adding a wedge and sledge to the arsenal. I currently like many others use the x27 and isocore.

Looking at the east wing E-5 wedge and it got me thinking. Can the isocore be used as a wedge? Is that the point of the flat back?

Obviously HF as cheap wedges that I assume with mushroom like crazy. The east wing seems to have a more effective shape.

 

[Mad Professor]

Get a good 8-lb traditional splitting maul. I prefer a double bit handle. Serves as a light sledge and a wedge. I always carry two mauls with wedges.

Unlike a Fiskars/axe, if a maul gets stuck you can beat it just like a wedge.

Big stuff (30-40") a 20-Lb sledge and multiple wedges.

 

[Philbert]

Somewhere, Fiskars will say that the flat back of that tool is intended for light wedge pounding, but not to be driven as a wedge.

I’ve picked up a variety of wedges at garage / estate sales, over the years, after seeing them jump in price. I like to have 3, in case 1 or 2 get stuck.


Grind off any mushroomed edges.

I drive them with an 8# sledge hammer.

HD, Menards, Walmart, etc., usually have them.

Philbert

 

[STOVE]

Somewhere, Fiskars will say that the flat back of that tool is intended for light wedge pounding, but not to be driven as a wedge.

I’ve picked up a variety of wedges at garage / estate sales, over the years, after seeing them jump in price. I like to have 3, in case 1 or 2 get stuck.
View attachment 1242767

Drive them with an 8# sledge hammer.

HD, Menards, Walmart, etc., usually have them.

Philbert

Do you see any advantage to the more flared eastwing style vs the cheaper standard shapes?

 

[Philbert]

Do you see any advantage to the more flared eastwing style vs the cheaper standard shapes?

No. Basic design works fine. Just need to taper the leading edge on some.

I have some of the cone shaped ‘Wood Grenades’ too!

Lots of options, but I prefer the basic ones, especially, when driving a bunch into an ornery stump, or wood with twisted grain.

Philbert

 

[Mad Professor]

Do you see any advantage to the more flared eastwing style vs the cheaper standard shapes?

No

 

[Mad Professor]

Somewhere, Fiskars will say that the flat back of that tool is intended for light wedge pounding, but not to be driven as a wedge.

I’ve picked up a variety of wedges at garage / estate sales, over the years, after seeing them jump in price. I like to have 3, in case 1 or 2 get stuck.
View attachment 1242767

Grind off any mushroomed edges.

I drive them with an 8# sledge hammer.

HD, Menards, Walmart, etc., usually have them.

Philbert

I'll add have some small wedges . Sometimes the big stubborn knotty round won't let you get a larger wedge started.

Start the small one, then use the bigger one in the crack that the small one starts/opens in the round.

On really big rounds it helps to have a larger sledge if you can swing it well, 15-20 -LB. My mauls are 8-LB.

I never had a wood splitter, I've been the wood splitter.....

P.S. Philbert all them wedges are virgins!!!!

 

[Philbert]

Philbert all them wedges are virgins!!!!

Actually, well loved.

Bought at garage sales; cut and / or ground off mushroomed edges (up to 3/8” on some!); spray painted to reduce risk of rust in the garage.

Have a few more that don’t look as pretty.

Used to buy them $3 each, or so. When I saw one at a hardware store for $18 (!) I guess I went into ‘panic buying’ mode.

Would still have trouble passing up a reasonably priced one at a garage or estate sale.

Philbert

 

[John Bruner]

Looking at adding a wedge and sledge to the arsenal. I currently like many others use the x27 and isocore.

Looking at the east wing E-5 wedge and it got me thinking. Can the isocore be used as a wedge? Is that the point of the flat back?

Obviously HF as cheap wedges that I assume with mushroom like crazy. The east wing seems to have a more effective shape.

Iirc; Fiskars mauls, (Isocore), should NOT be used as a wedge. The hardened striking surface can chip when struck with a similarly hardened tool. Wedges, even the good ones; will be softer than the poll of a maul.

 

[STOVE]

No. Basic design works fine. Just need to taper the leading edge on some.

I have some of the cone shaped ‘Wood Grenades’ too!

Lots of options, but I prefer the basic ones, especially, when driving a bunch into an ornery stump, or wood with twisted grain.

Philbert

Assuming this means they show up with a fairly thick leading edge bevel and you take a good bit off of them?

 

[Philbert]

Assuming this means they show up with a fairly thick leading edge bevel and you take a good bit off of them?

It varies between individual wedges. A slightly less blunt angle is less likely to bounce off some wood. But not something so sharp that it needs to be maintained like a cutting edge.

Philbert

 

[Hermio]

Looking at adding a wedge and sledge to the arsenal. I currently like many others use the x27 and isocore.

Looking at the east wing E-5 wedge and it got me thinking. Can the isocore be used as a wedge? Is that the point of the flat back?

Obviously HF as cheap wedges that I assume with mushroom like crazy. The east wing seems to have a more effective shape.

You should not beat the back of any splitting maul with a sledge. When two hardened surfaces strike each other, metal shards can fly off, leading to injury. Wedges are intentionally made of softer metal, which tends to mushroom out with use. My favorite wedges have a sharp leading edge and a twist in the body. Example in picture

 

[WoodmanSr]

Do you see any advantage to the more flared eastwing style vs the cheaper standard shapes?

I pick-up my Est-wing first. Enjoy it, has seen a bit of banging.
Yes, overdue for mushroom grinding.

Remember paying $13.99 or $15.99. They've gone crazy in price. Won't pay extra but remains my favorite. Have 3-4 other wedges, saving back since Est-Wing gets the main service.

Probably doesn't add alot but does spread split halves so Sledge head can keep hammering. Or, blunt tapered side of Sledge can apply more work. Often finish split just hitting blunt tapered side.

 

[WoodmanSr]

Assuming this means they show up with a fairly thick leading edge bevel and you take a good bit off of them?

Stove, you had another post that I don't see now (Woodsplitter advise). My response fits better with this thread anyway. Prehaps you decented to go Sledge & Wedge. My vote here.

I also do not own a wood splitter but am not harvesting wood to heat. Only cut for enjoyment, exercise, & cleaning up dead/down trees, then sell after drying. Typically 12 to 15 face cord (4 to 5 cords).

There is a technique that really helps ease that 1st half round split work. Use your saw to make an end "slit" about depth of saw bar, 2" to 2 1/2". Even 1 1/2" usually fine. Place "slit" kerf cut across whole diameter 'end grain' of chunk to split, then insert Steel Wedge to center of round & bang with 6# or 8# Sledge. Usually pops into 2 halves within 3-4 swift blows. Then, axe work much easier on remaining broken halves. Can repeat quartering saw slits if desireable work reduction.

I use this technique in the woods to reduce 24" - 30" Oak to sizes I can lift & load. Then later use Maul or Axe to make cord wood for drying. I'll often cut 6-8 blocks, turn on ends, put "slit" into those, then continue blocking cuts. Later come back with Sledge & Wedge where can bust up all the blocked round in 20-30 minutes. The technique yields 2 efficiencies; 1) saves back from heavy lifting, 2) fewer pieces to handle in woods, only reduce blocks to a say 40# transport weight. Yes, still considerable work effort but zero cost or maintenance of a wood splitter. I'm age 62 & don't mind the exercise, but never a speed contest.

Tip: if wood has an exposed end grain Crack, place saw "slits" to extend those cracks across block diameter. As chunks already exhibit stress that want to release there (cracks).

My limited knowledge... there is an inherent problem using a fixed flow Auxiliary Hydraulic source. Follows many dislikes of tractor hydraulic mounted Splitters. The splitter cylinder has only one working speed; same extension & retraction cylinder speed (fixed flow rate). Often proves to be slow working speed, lower productivity. A longer cylinder retraction wait to reload splits/blocks. Self-powered splitters address this by incorporating Two-stage pumps, say 8/16 gpm. Yields 2x speed cylinder movement until a splitting resistance. So nearly twice the cycle rate. Something like 60-70% productivity improvement.

Also, I view borrowing an Auxiliary Power Unit has other issues. Seems inefficient on another scale.

My estimate, you'd want a 4" or 5" x 24" cylinder. Depends on max pressure of hydraulic source. My impression 4" is most common for a high capability splitter. Again, assumes the borrowed hydraulic source has volume capacity to supply a 4" cylinder (302 cu. in, 1.3 gallons per stroke)

 

[Philbert]

Old information for some, but sharing in case it’s new for anyone.

Two reasons to remove the mushroomed edges:

1. They are sharp, and can easily cut hands, unless heavy gloves are worn;

2. *** More Important *** is that little pieces of metal can break off when struck, and be sent like a bullet towards users or others. Not common, but not unheard of.

When a wedge, or other struck tool (chisel, drift, etc.), gets as far worn as that in the (assuming stock image that @WoodmanSr pulled off the Internet, just to illustrate) photo, I find it easiest to:

- first, cut off the excess metal, at a beveled angle, with a 4 to 5 inch, hand held, angle grinder, with a cut off disk;

- then round over remaining, rough edges with a bench grinder.

Small tools, or small edges, get the bench grinder only.

Philbert

 

[gggGary]

Turning 70 in a month 30 years of wood heat, I mostly hand split, have a gas splitter that comes out when I have large Elm or branchy open area trees.
90% of my splitting is with an 8 pound i keep it sharp with an angle grinder. Youse guys are so convincing that I bought a Fiskars 36, it's better for my wife than the 6 pounder.
I've truely gotten spoiled by all the ash we've been cutting
If a big round won't start to crack through the middle after a couple strikes I start taking slabs off the sides.
My wedge is made by Stihl and usually starts first pull.
I've got two wedges but it might take me a while to find em. One was my father in laws. I have enough time in my life to keep mushrooms ground down on all my striking tools.
When I'm bucking I cut knotty sections and crotches shorter.
Wood heat keeps me warm

But the dog enjoys it.

 

[fields_mj]

I grew up heating with firewood. After graduation, my dad replaced their old fuel oil furnace with a new NG unit and got rid of the add-on wood burner. After getting married and buying my own place, I put in an old add-on wood furnace (2007) and have been heating with it ever since (about 17 years now). Most of my life, I didn't have a hydraulic splitter. I did a lot of splitting with a 6lb and 8lb maul. Unfortunately, I bought an 8 lb maul that has a sledgehammer eye instead of the bigger axle handle style. Without any overstrikes, I was getting about 2 seasons from a handle before the handle would finally snap at the head. About 5 years ago, I finally got an X27, and now it does a LOT of my splitting. After an evening of splitting with the maul a few years ago, I had some SERIOUS shoulder pain. I bought a used 27T hydraulic splitter the following summer and wouldn't be without it. I still split a lot with the X27, and will sometimes take a few swings with a maul, but my general rule is that if it isn't close to splitting after 3 swings with the Fiskars, its either going on the splitter or getting noodled. If its too heavy to lift onto the splitter, it's getting noodled. I have an 064 and G660 that I bought to use on a couple of large trees that I needed to remove, but they mostly get used with a 28" bar for noodling. I consider them to be highly portable log splitters. When I bought the 064, most of what I was cutting was located in the bottom of a really deep ravine. I'd drag a lot of the tree out with my truck (7.3idi at the time) and several chains. The rest would noodled and split and then I'd take it out on the back of an ATV. Very rarely do I ever use a wedge for splitting. Its just more work than its worth. I keep a few of them on hand, but its rare that I use them. I can noodle a 30" round in less than 30 seconds. It takes me longer than that to split it with a wedge, and I can run that saw all day long and still lift both arms above my head at the end of the day.

FWIW, if the engine ever quits on my splitter, I'll probably convert the splitter to a 3pt unit, add a 2 stage hyd PTO pump to it, and use my tractor. The portability of having it on the hitch appeals to me.

 

[sean donato]

I grew up heating with firewood. After graduation, my dad replaced their old fuel oil furnace with a new NG unit and got rid of the add-on wood burner. After getting married and buying my own place, I put in an old add-on wood furnace (2007) and have been heating with it ever since (about 17 years now). Most of my life, I didn't have a hydraulic splitter. I did a lot of splitting with a 6lb and 8lb maul. Unfortunately, I bought an 8 lb maul that has a sledgehammer eye instead of the bigger axle handle style. Without any overstrikes, I was getting about 2 seasons from a handle before the handle would finally snap at the head. About 5 years ago, I finally got an X27, and now it does a LOT of my splitting. After an evening of splitting with the maul a few years ago, I had some SERIOUS shoulder pain. I bought a used 27T hydraulic splitter the following summer and wouldn't be without it. I still split a lot with the X27, and will sometimes take a few swings with a maul, but my general rule is that if it isn't close to splitting after 3 swings with the Fiskars, its either going on the splitter or getting noodled. If its too heavy to lift onto the splitter, it's getting noodled. I have an 064 and G660 that I bought to use on a couple of large trees that I needed to remove, but they mostly get used with a 28" bar for noodling. I consider them to be highly portable log splitters. When I bought the 064, most of what I was cutting was located in the bottom of a really deep ravine. I'd drag a lot of the tree out with my truck (7.3idi at the time) and several chains. The rest would noodled and split and then I'd take it out on the back of an ATV. Very rarely do I ever use a wedge for splitting. Its just more work than its worth. I keep a few of them on hand, but its rare that I use them. I can noodle a 30" round in less than 30 seconds. It takes me longer than that to split it with a wedge, and I can run that saw all day long and still lift both arms above my head at the end of the day.

FWIW, if the engine ever quits on my splitter, I'll probably convert the splitter to a 3pt unit, add a 2 stage hyd PTO pump to it, and use my tractor. The portability of having it on the hitch appeals to me.

Rent a 3 point splitter first. My old man has one, and I find it to be a major pain and woefully slow to use. Also sucks tou need to pick the rounds up, or lower it down to roll them on, since the loader is no longer available to put the round on the splitter.

 

[John Bruner]

I grew up heating with firewood. After graduation, my dad replaced their old fuel oil furnace with a new NG unit and got rid of the add-on wood burner. After getting married and buying my own place, I put in an old add-on wood furnace (2007) and have been heating with it ever since (about 17 years now). Most of my life, I didn't have a hydraulic splitter. I did a lot of splitting with a 6lb and 8lb maul. Unfortunately, I bought an 8 lb maul that has a sledgehammer eye instead of the bigger axle handle style. Without any overstrikes, I was getting about 2 seasons from a handle before the handle would finally snap at the head. About 5 years ago, I finally got an X27, and now it does a LOT of my splitting. After an evening of splitting with the maul a few years ago, I had some SERIOUS shoulder pain. I bought a used 27T hydraulic splitter the following summer and wouldn't be without it. I still split a lot with the X27, and will sometimes take a few swings with a maul, but my general rule is that if it isn't close to splitting after 3 swings with the Fiskars, its either going on the splitter or getting noodled. If its too heavy to lift onto the splitter, it's getting noodled. I have an 064 and G660 that I bought to use on a couple of large trees that I needed to remove, but they mostly get used with a 28" bar for noodling. I consider them to be highly portable log splitters. When I bought the 064, most of what I was cutting was located in the bottom of a really deep ravine. I'd drag a lot of the tree out with my truck (7.3idi at the time) and several chains. The rest would noodled and split and then I'd take it out on the back of an ATV. Very rarely do I ever use a wedge for splitting. Its just more work than its worth. I keep a few of them on hand, but its rare that I use them. I can noodle a 30" round in less than 30 seconds. It takes me longer than that to split it with a wedge, and I can run that saw all day long and still lift both arms above my head at the end of the day.

FWIW, if the engine ever quits on my splitter, I'll probably convert the splitter to a 3pt unit, add a 2 stage hyd PTO pump to it, and use my tractor. The portability of having it on the hitch appeals to me.

I used to run the biggest Stihl chainsaws in my younger years, including an 090AV 60".
Those days, sadly; are decades past. Now I'm having fun with the newer battery operated saws, the biggest one carrying a 24" bar. I cut my rounds rather short, making them much easier to split.
After a while the 'ugly' pieces started piling up. That's when I told myself that I needed a hydraulic log splitter again. I don't have the disposable income that I used to, and I wanted to stay with electric. I found the best value was a Yardmax 9 ton for 500.00 on Amazon. For what it is; it works great. Sometimes I have to reposition the block of wood, or swap ends; but I haven't run across a piece yet that it couldn't process.
I'm just getting back into chainsaws and firewood. I've got a fireplace, but the wood burns up too quickly, so I quit using it for now.
Maybe a little later I'll be able to get an insert with fans. That will increase the burn time, and one with fans could possibly heat the whole house.
Gives me a project in my golden years.

 

[Breckinridge Elkins]

You should not beat the back of any splitting maul with a sledge. When two hardened surfaces strike each other, metal shards can fly off, leading to injury. Wedges are intentionally made of softer metal, which tends to mushroom out with use. ...

This is what I have believed for years but I guess it depends on the specific tool. The Isocore product not only suggests using it to drive wedges, it states that you can strike the poll of the maul with another tool:

Its forged premium steel head features a splitting face for forcing wood apart and a driving face, which can be used to drive wedges or struck with another tool during splitting to help force the wedge.

My POS ex-BIL and I used to use the buddy split method on some gnarly pine. One guy would swing the maul and if it stuck, the other guy would strike it with a sledge. Sure enough we would occasionally get hit with steel chips. No safety glasses, obviously.