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:^) |
Sounds like you are splitting green wood. Let it dry out, then it will split easily. | |||
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| Team Apathy |
Yes, it is green. For those that say an axe isn’t the tool, I get that. I was simply using the axe to try and open up a slot to put the splitting wedge in there so I could whack it with the 12lb sledge. The wedge jumped right out of the lit notch I opened up. I don’t burn enough to justify a hydrolic splitter but I could buy a maul. I’ll give it another try tomorrow. Might cut into it deeper with the chainsaw and try the sledge again | |||
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| Non-Miscreant |
Well, my normal advice when you discover you can't do something is to hire it out. It may sound unmanly, but it works. I've got 6 or 7 rounds of cherry out front that pretty much defy splitting. They've been out front for a while now, at least a year. Even the bugs are eating them, but I'm not burning them..yet. I've tried my splitting maul, and a sledge hammer with a wedge. Then I gave up. I've got a really cheap Harbor Freight splitter. Its not better than nothing. It grunts and stops. All this from a wood that's not known for being tough to split. These are individuals, and a real pain. So I'm doing the honorable thing. I'm leaving them sit a while longer till I discover a better solution. One solution I'd suggest is keep your eyes open. If you see somebody with a splitter stop and ask them if you can bring some rounds and see if they'll split them for you. If they say yes, go straight home and get them. Or set the one's you've got out for the trash, admit defeat, and buy yourself some wood to burn. I see it all the time outside convenience stores and some grocery stores. All neatly wrapped in clear shrink wrap. Hint, take the wrap off it before you take it home or your friends can see it. They'll think you're a wimp. Unhappy ammo seeker | |||
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| Team Apathy |
Worst case I’ll judt use the chain saw, I think. | |||
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| Blinded by the Sun  |
With a 12 lb sledge, set the wedge with one hand on the wedge the other hitting it a few times with the sledge. Just get it to stand on its own. Then smack it hard. If the wedge doesn't firmly set then it's either too wet or the grain is such that splitting will be tough no matter how dry. ------------------------------ Smart is not something you are but something you get. Chi Chi, get the yayo | |||
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Member |
To answer your original question: Yes.  “Leave the Artillerymen alone, they are an obstinate lot. . .” – Napoleon Bonaparte http://poundsstudio.com/ | |||
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| Conveniently located directly above the center of the Earth  |
There's also the 'address the weakest spot' in the round, which helps considerably. Some woods are just tough, others damn tough, green or not. Is there any sign of radial cracks, however small, going from the 'X ring' out towards the bark? Just what is the approximate diameter of the chunk? **************~~~~~~~~~~ "I've been on this rock too long to bother with these liars any more." ~SIGforum advisor~ "When the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change, then change will come."~~sigmonkey | |||
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Happily Retired |
Log splitter. .....never marry a woman who is mean to your waitress. | |||
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| Team Apathy |
That’s what I’ve tried several times. No dice. Wedge bounces out. Guess I’ll let it wait a few months. It’ll be over 100 with no humidity soon enough.
No cracking. It’s still fairly wet. Only been down a month or so and it spent that entire time in the bed of my truck, covered
Dang. I always suspected. | |||
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Wait, what? |
I have been splitting wood since my mid 20’s, and just last year (52) laid down my huge triangular shaped 18 pound splitting maul in favor of a hydraulic splitter. I still hand split stuff under 15” diameter, but before the splitter arrived, have watched truly massive rounds rot away that would not budge. You are not a girly man. “Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown | |||
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Member |
Plenty posts cover the bases. 1st off I imagine it could be a type not common in the Midwest. It could easily be a tight grained, twisty chunk. If one doesn’t have access to a splitter, there are some blocks/types almost best left on the side of the road. I can get through most any block with a maul & wedges. If need be, a ‘tactical cut’ grainwise with the chainsaw is helpful. If one wants to spend the time, you can just about chainsaw the block into burnable sizes. I think I cut the largest tree of my life yesterday, used my buddies 36” barred Stihl. I treated myself to a 26 ton Iron & Oak splitter a few years ago. If just causally burning, no sense adding the expense of a splitter. | |||
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Go Vols! |
I'd save it for the fire pit and toss it on whole when you had a solid bed of coals. | |||
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| FBHO |
Splitting green wood by hand is an exercise in futility, let it season. | |||
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| Team Apathy |
So I just realized that 2 of 3 rounds I grabbed had large limbs growing out of them so they both will have large knots in them. Figuring that was the problem I grabbed the one round that didn’t have a limb on it. I did my best Heman swing and....... Bounce. No joy. This is some hard wood! At this point they are going to get chainsawed into smaller pieces and be used as large “sustaining fire” chunks next winter. | |||
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Optimistic Cynic |
over a cliff. | |||
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| Lawyers, Guns and Money  |
+1 6 months at least. Yes it's easier in the winter too. "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown "The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor | |||
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