Splitting in the frost

[turnkey4099]

I did a bit of splitting when it was frozen up (been too muddy for a month). Black Locust wedge/sledge to bust bigger chunks down to size, fiskars or maul to finish. Fun time except the frozen locust tended to reject the wedge on first try, set wedge, tap with maul, hit and duck as the wedge bounces out. Once the big chunks are halved, the Fiskars makes quick work of them.

Major problem was splitting block sitting on that slope - nice for most splitting as one can rotate rounds on it so the top is reasonably flat. Not so good when frozen as the blocks tend to slide off when hit.

Looking forward to being back out there again a couple times this week. Supposed to freeze up every night and rise not much over frigid days - some snow predicted.

Cabin fever is in full swing.

Harry K

 

[ponyexpress976]

As always, nice work! Even your splitting area is spotless. After being trapped inside from 4 days of rain I had 2 options, 1) look busy working up some pine 2) go to the mall with the wife and go Christmas shopping. The pine is all stacked up!

 

[PEKS]

Jobsite looks good..
I prefer splitting in the frost too..

 

[c5rulz]

Black locust is one thing I will no longer cut if it has to be split by hand. It's a bear.

FWIW, I like splitting after it has been extremely cold, like -20, then warm up to +10 and then go at it. Some say it doesn't matter, but I feel it does.

 

[D&B Mack]

I always preferred splitting by hand when it is below freezing. Unless of course, the wood is rain soaked and a solid block of ice. :eek2:

 

[turnkey4099]

Black locust is one thing I will no longer cut if it has to be split by hand. It's a bear.

FWIW, I like splitting after it has been extremely cold, like -20, then warm up to +10 and then go at it. Some say it doesn't matter, but I feel it does.

??? B. Locust is rated "easy" or "moderate" in splittability on all charts I have seen. I split almost all of mine by hand wit only the tough ones going to the splitter or noodle pile. Those piles only get less than 10% of a load of rounds. Once in a great while I do run into one tree that doesn't like to split.

Harry K

 

[c5rulz]

Hi Harry,

Around here we don't have much black locust.

2 years ago while on a hunting trip in Iowa, the landowner son had cut up a ton of black locust. He modus operandi was to cut down a whole bunch of trees, drop them in field that would be planted in the spring and leave them.:msp_angry: I find wood splits easiest when it is split right after cutting. Anyway that locust was the worst stuff I have ever worked on. Of course the sitting around didn't help either.

 

[turnkey4099]

Got another hour out there today. Hit one round with a full swing on the Fiskars - it bounced off so hard almost hit me in the head. Per the wx report it looks like I can get ouit there almost every day. May have to sweep some light snow off the rounds. Ground white now but just enough to show white.

Harry K

 

[c5rulz]

Got another hour out there today. Hit one round with a full swing on the Fiskars - it bounced off so hard almost hit me in the head. Harry K

Well that kind of reinforces my point. I experinced the same kind of "rebound" when splitting black locust. Not exactly what I would call an "easy" wood.:redface:

 

[cafo1.618]

Good looking work area! I prefer splitting after a few good frosts

 

[morewood]

Splitting locust is generally easy. The reason it is listed as fairly splittable?(a word no less) is it is almost always straight grained. I don't prefer frozen wood because it doesn't want to get started and bounces off a bit. I am using a splitter now and it said that it doesn't care if its frozen or not, so there we go. Get the locust, it's definitely worth it.

Shea

 

[bubba3228]

Major problem was splitting block sitting on that slope - nice for most splitting as one can rotate rounds on it so the top is reasonably flat. Not so good when frozen as the blocks tend to slide off when hit.

I remembered this video when I read your post. Have you ever tried this method? We have a powered splitter so I do not swing the ax too much, however after reading how well the Fiskars work and the fact the splitter is kept at my brothers place 10 miles out of town I am thinking about setting up an area by my stacks for the occasional scrounge here in town...

Splitting Wood With A Tire - YouTube

 

[turnkey4099]

Well that kind of reinforces my point. I experinced the same kind of "rebound" when splitting black locust. Not exactly what I would call an "easy" wood.:redface:

Other than starting a wedge it splits easy. On tight grain green stuff I commonly have to put a shallow kerf in a big round to get a wedge to stick. Once it holds it splits nicely.

I had a guy show up a couple years ago when I was workign up a big locust. He was telling about how his uncles laughed at him when he tried to set a wedge. Showed him the 'kerf' trick, suggested he show his uncles how to split locust.

Note, it is a rare tree that that trick needs to be used.

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

Gave it a shot again this morning, well frosted up, about 1/2" snow, stuff splitting nice but the longer I worked the slicker the working area got until I almost busted my rear. Gave up as the last thing I need at my age is a broken bone.

Harry K

 

[cat-face timber]

Around here the hard wood to Split is Pinyon.
I can remember my dad making me get up really early to spilt the Pinyon.
It was so cold that when you spit the ice would bounce.
When we would swing our 8 pound mauls the wood would just break, not split.
Hated it then, but I would give a years salary to be able to split wood with my dad again.

 

[turnkey4099]

Looks like I am ouit of business on that pile. I'll move my splitting block to a pile that is on almost level ground. Don't like that as all I can do there is toss the splits on a pile and then haul them to where I want it stacked later. May be out of business for the winter anyhow. 3" of snow on the ground this morning with about that much more predicted tonight.

Harry K