advice for splitting beech...

[chipmaker29]

i have always heard beech is great wood to burn although i have never cut, split or tried to burn any until yesterday. there is a large deadfall in the woods across from my house, so i threw my ms310 on my quad and ran over there. i cut about 6 pretty good size rounds out of the trunk, threw them on the racks and went back home.

he is where the fun starts...i wanted to try to burn some to see how it did, so i grabbed my maul and heaved a good hard hit right in the center of one of the rounds. OMG! this stuff is ringing my bell!! i split bout all my wood with a maul and can move pretty darn quickly thru most wood but this stuff is BRUTAL. After idk how many swings, i finally got a piece to shear off the side. then just started to whittle @ it.

this stuff is kicking my a@@! anyone have advice on best way to split it? dont have a splitter. Also does it burn well and put out good heat? i have always heard it does.

thanks!

 

[knockbill]

not beech in particular,, but its usually easier to split a big round by going around the outside,working around the wood to teh middle,, maybe thats what you called whittling...

 

[Laird]

I quit pulling Beech logs out till I got my Hydraulic splitter. The only time I could hand split Beech without killing myself if it was green and freshly bucked, and it was only a little easier then.

 

[Woodcutteranon]

I have a number of well seasoned beech rounds...probably about 12 inches in diameter. I had never split them as they fit nicely in my Hardy. I have noticed they have some huge checks forming on the ends...after reading your post I am now going to take may maul outside this weekend and see how they split. I have never spit beech before but now I'm curious. I know not to bother with elm...but never tried beech. I'll give you an "after action report" when done.

 

[dms]

LOL I split by hand also
green fresh cut beech is ok to split, dry beech is like beating on a rock ...find someone with a spliter and buy them a case of beer to bring it over to your house for an afternoon.

Beech really burns great when dry

 

[chipmaker29]

LOL..."rock" is right...i am gave up on the bigger rounds. geez! that stuff is crazy but the smaller pieces i got split up finally are burning killer!

 

[Jon E]

I've never messed with beech in my life. Got a lot of pretty gnarly beech in the woods that should come down, but until I got a splitter last year, I wouldn't have bothered. I do have a couple sawlogs that rotted on me before I could get them on the mill, I cut rounds out of them and they split nicely by hand because they were 75% punk rot. The rest of the beech I've ever burned has been limb wood.

Definitely try to split from the outside in. Beech rots fast if left in the round or left on the ground. But if split and kept dry, it's some of the best burning there is.

 

[woodbooga]

I've had some beech that's been as easy as red maple. And some that's rivaled elm.

A lot of the more difficult pieces had signs of beech blight. The smooth elephant skin-like bark gets as pockmarked as the complexion of a $10 hooker in HDTV.

 

[Jon E]

I've had some beech that's been as easy as a $10 hooker.

Oops. Sorry. Misquote. LOL. :biggrinbounce2:

 

[Laird]

I've had some beech that's been as easy as red maple. And some that's rivaled elm.

A lot of the more difficult pieces had signs of beech blight. The smooth elephant skin-like bark gets as pockmarked as the complexion of a $10 hooker in HDTV.

OK which is it? Last time it was a ginsoaked Hobokener........:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[woodbooga]

OK which is it? Last time it was a ginsoaked Hobokener........:hmm3grin2orange:

Sorry, can't keep track.

That said, high def won't be too kind to a Hobokener who's subjected hisself to a 10 year Beefeater marinade.

 

[freemind]

I have split and burned a small amount of beech.

My experience was, it was like splitting pine. EASY is an understatement.

I didn't like how it burned. Other guys around me said it will cook you out of your house. Dead elm is hottest, IMO. Beech burned cool IMO.

 

[Ductape]

A couple years ago i got a bunch of wind-blown Beech that came off a ridge. It was worse than Elm to split...... and i was using my splitter.

 

[amateur cutter]

I've been able to split beech with a wedge & 12# sledge, I usually start the wedge by making a saw kerf in the top of the round, & busting it in 1/2, then split it down with my maul. Not the easiest wood to split, but good burning.

 

[slofr8]

If it's like the Beech I have

it'll split REAL easy when it's cold. Don't know how cold it gets in Indiana but a couple nights of single digits is all it takes.
Dan.

 

[Booshcat]

It's a beech to split, thats for sure.....
groan

 

[Turkeyslayer]

Definitely try to split from the outside in. Beech rots fast if left in the round or left on the ground. But if split and kept dry, it's some of the best burning there is.

:agree2: The above statement is 100% correct.

 

[freemind]

If it's like the Beech I have

it'll split REAL easy when it's cold. Don't know how cold it gets in Indiana but a couple nights of single digits is all it takes.
Dan.

Actually, it wasn't cold when I split it. It was spring time. I burned it the next winter.

Just not a "hot" burning wood for me. Dead elm is, and allways will be my favorite.

I WOULD like to try some hedge, but there is none I have found around here.

 

[WoodchuckVT]

"Lifes A Beech"

If it's like the Beech I have

it'll split REAL easy when it's cold. Don't know how cold it gets in Indiana but a couple nights of single digits is all it takes.
Dan.

Have the same type here in northern Vermont. I have a lot of it on my woodlot. It is in the top 12 list of most BTU. I cut alot of it.
You are absolutely correct on how it's done. I cut it frozen and split it frozen. The Beech here, does not grow very tall and has alot of branches{knots} which does make it some what of a challenge, but frozen as you said, works. It also does not split staight as a rule. Wood Warms. VT. Woodchuck :agree2:

 

[Axe Man]

Have been burning wood as my main heat source for awhile now. Like freemind, my favourite wood is elm. Dead fence row elm with the bark falling off is an aphrodesiac ( spell check ) Beach is my second favourite. never had a problem with low btu while burning and not much ash.