What's the worst to split?

[Haywire Haywood]

What wood is the absolute hardest to split? I need a chopping/splitting block that won't jump apart when the maul goes thru the target.

Ian

 

[Schultzz]

Hard to Split

Black Gum will quickly test your mettle. Most likely it will pi$$ you off before you even get close to splitting it whether on a log splitter or with a maul.
Go ahead, give it a try

 

[kam]

plywood

 

[Haywire Haywood]

plywood? Most plywood will split all by itself if you leave it outside in the rain rain a couple times. makes for a poor splitting block too.

 

[daemon2525]

Green buckeye and green aspen will not split. You can drive the maul into it like a nail and then it is REALLY STUCK!

 

[Dadatwins]

Sycamore, london plane, make good chopping blocks. Beech can be very good also, the more knots the better.

 

[Canyon Angler]

I've got a pile of -- yeah, you guessed it -- sycamore and gum.

My brother stopped by while I was trying to split some of the gum yesterday and just for grins we kept working on this 8" diameter log that refused to split. My brother and I winded each other. We had the maul in there, and the 16# sledge hammering on the maul, then we got 2 wedges and got THOSE stuck in there, it was insane. Finally after much sledge work I got the wedges out and RIPPED THE EVIL SOB.

I'm thinking of just burning the whole miserable pile in the yard (I have no log splitter).

 

[stihlatit]

Ironwood<..........as the name implies.

 

[MS-310]

Ironwood<..........as the name implies.

I have not seen any IRON wood that needed to be split,,, anyways

ELM is the worst as with willow

 

[Mike Barcaskey]

sycamore is the worse, not only is it hard to split, but all your work is for not as it is almost worthless as a firewood
Though willow is a bad firewwod, I have found willow to be easily split with my Timberwolf
Elm is a bad splitter, but quite good as a firewood

 

[JUDGE1162]

ELM

I hard a downed elm near the house big :censored: :censored: monster 36" diameter, it took me over a week (10 hours a day) to split 2 cords, I normally can split over a cord a day easy and have done 2 cords in a day with poplar

I hate :censored: Elm, and I have split Ironwood while it is hard it is not as stringy as Elm, even after you get it to split there tends to be strands that you need to still break to get the pieces apart.

just my 2 cents:greenchainsaw:

 

[ghitch75]

get a rippin' chain...alot easyer on the back and arms

 

[JUDGE1162]

There were a few chunks that had to be cut (no ripping chain ) but it worked, I hae even seen elm cause issues on a power splitter, but it burns well

 

[begleytree]

I bust up (everything by hand) sycamore all the time for campfirewood. Splits easy and burns good.
never knew elm to be hard, other than just chunking off the side.
Spruce is hard to split, as is sweetgum and osage orange.
-Ralph

 

[rb_in_va]

I cut up some old oak once. One end had been exposed to the elements for at least a year. I tried to stick my axe in the piece just so I wouldn't have to lay the ax on the ground. The ax bounced back like it was made of rubber. So then I got serious and put some effort into it and it bounced out again. I figure weathered oak would make a good splitting block.

 

[windthrown]

Sick-a-more

Agreed on sycamore. I had to cut a big one down in my yard in California.

It aways had mildew & always looked like crap. Also the bark peels off all the time which not only makes a mess but makes it hard to climb. Tough to split, and impossible to chip/shread. I had a small 8 HP chipper then and it constantly clogged the thing up with long threads of fiber. The firewood quality was pretty bad, it made mounds of ashes.

 

[trimmmed]

get a rippin' chain...alot easyer on the back and arms

A ripping chain?? for firewood?? Sorry glitch, that's some poor advice.

 

[shokidq]

got to disagree on the sycamore my customers love it
I try to switch them to oak but they want sycamore & some of the other merchants have stopped selling oak altogether doesn't help that they leave it in the round until the orders come in then wonder why their customers don't rate it.
I would have to agree on the difficulty to split I gave up on wedges and mauls put it aside until the hydraulic splitter arrived.

 

[l2edneck]

I figure weathered oak would make a good splitting block.

I use a oak stumpcut thats been very weathered,and dont even dent it when i drive thru the log.

 

[hamradio]

My chopping block is a big chunk of pretty green red oak. About 24" in diameter, about 30" tall. Split probably 2 cords so far, just has nick marks in it from the ax. When I start getting frustrated with a piece of wood, I throw it aside and move on.

Isn't "ironwood" actually like some kind of orange something?

Elm is fun to split. A lot around here, due to dutch elm disease.