splitting green or dry

[Morgan in AR]

Here's my experience from hand splitting everything. Just wondering if anybody else had any thoughts. Wood I commonly cut:
red oak, the greener the better
bois d'arc (hedge), greener the better
sassafras, doesn't matter (look at it too hard and it splits.)
walnut, better after cut into rounds for a few weeks.
hackberry, better after even longer.
sycamore, better after cut and seasoned for a long time.
I've heard some say that wood splits better from top to bottom (in relation to the tree) I've never noticed any difference. -Morgan

 

[El Quachito]

tan oak: green
black oak: green
white oak: green or dry
doug fir: dry if it won't pop easily when green


Those would be my most common firewood specimens. Sometimes you just have to muscle up, for better or worse. I am working a 24" black oak now that I bucked in May and its stringy and won't separate too easy.

 

[ponyexpress976]

elm...let someone else do it or get the hydraulics

 

[3fordasho]

siberian elm - green
red elm - green or barkless standing dead
american (white) elm - dry and just starting to get a bit punky- then the stringeyness goes away.
both siberian and red elm seem go get more difficult if cut green and then left to partially dry- either split right away or wait till the bark falls off.

I tend to split everything right away with the exception of american elm - it can turn into a mushy mess if split green.

 

[Fred Wright]

I'll admit my lack of experience with many varieties of wood. It's mostly red maple, red oak and sweetgum here.

Red oak, no knots will bust green if you drop the weight of a maul on it.

Red maple will bust green... but fight you like an ex wife every step of the way.

Sweetgum will remind you to never cut another one.

 

[zogger]

I'll admit my lack of experience with many varieties of wood. It's mostly red maple, red oak and sweetgum here.

Red oak, no knots will bust green if you drop the weight of a maul on it.

Red maple will bust green... but fight you like an ex wife every step of the way.

Sweetgum will remind you to never cut another one.

I have never seen or used any, but I am wondering how strong sweetgum lumber would be. The only other species like that I have seen worse for being stuck together stringy was dutch elm.

Sweetgum does burn well though. I get a lot of the smaller saplings and just cut to size and that's it, in the stacks.

 

[benp]

I split green paper birch and black/white ash today no sweat.

The green red oak was a little more of a bugger but still went ok.

This was all with a Fiskars.

The green pine got noodled.

 

[stihl023/5]

Ironwood?:msp_biggrin:

 

[Whitespider]

All wood... any wood... FROZEN!!! Something below zero!!!

 

[mountainmandan]

All wood... any wood... FROZEN!!! Something below zero!!!

All you have to do is send us some cold wind down from the frozen northland. We are lucky to get one episode where it drops below +10, and that is just before sunrise.

Dan

 

[CTYank]

I have never seen or used any, but I am wondering how strong sweetgum lumber would be. The only other species like that I have seen worse for being stuck together stringy was dutch elm.

Sweetgum does burn well though. I get a lot of the smaller saplings and just cut to size and that's it, in the stacks.

American Forestry Association's "Knowing Your Trees" says:
"because of its interlocking grain, is strong and stiff. ... works moderately well with tools. ... heartwood has a satiny luster and varying figure. ... frequently marketed as satin walnut, Circassian walnut and hazelwood. Furniture, interior trim, railroad ties ... among its many uses. It is also mone of the most important sources of plywood."

It is tough, strong stuff, and the only tree that came close to killing me. Handle with extreme care until it's on the ground.

 

[Arbonaut]

elm...let someone else do it or get the hydraulics

Speaking of wood that splits like rubber, I 've seen guys on youtube from South America, India or wherever it grows cutting Rubber trees with their chainsaw. Haha, I'd like to know how it splits. I bet that stuff makes some smoke, too.

 

[Somesawguy]

I had some cherry last fall that was very difficult to split. Even the hydraulic splitter didn't like it much. It did burn well though. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[fffrosty72]

Locust - green.

Have never waited long enough to see if it gets easier.

That is all.

 

[Big_Al]

We burn mostly tamarack or Douglas for. They both get split right away regardless if they are green or dry. Use a 8lb mail or x27 depending on my mood.

 

[J.W Younger]

If you can bust sycamore manually green or dry, mys hats off to ya.
Yaw think sweet gums fun to split, try sum black gum!

 

[Morgan in AR]

If you can bust sycamore manually green or dry, mys hats off to ya.
Yaw think sweet gums fun to split, try sum black gum!

thanks for taking your hat off, but I meant seasoned to near punky-ness. It actually busts pretty easy then. My dad used to call it "romance wood", referring to how fast it burns.

 

[Morgan in AR]

actually, I can add a couple of others. I've found pig nut splits better after left in the round for several months. I cut down a fair sized silktree (mimosa) yesterday, and it busted very easily right off the bat. Very cool looking wood, alternating rings of very dark with light rings. Probably not good firewood, but it was in the way and needed to come down.

 

[ponyexpress976]

If it was in the way...go get it. All other Mimosa avoid...goes up like a fart in a stiff breeze and smells about as good as a fart in church, a stink you just cant get away from

 

[waldershrek]

I've noticed pretty much all the wood I got (white oak, red oak, ash, maple) splits easier by hand after sitting outside for awhile. I've tried to split it right after and it is brutal.