Got a bunch of big oaks, 36”-41” dia, given to me last year. I was wondering if all that work manhandling those monsters was worth it. Had to noodle them into quarters to get the weight to around 200 pounds per quarter for this old guy to handle. Started splitting them today. I got 26 pieces of splits for 2 quarters. Works out to 52 splits per round and I didn’t get to the really big ones yet. Lots of great firewood in a couple years.
Did the math, 15 rounds x 52 splits per round = 780 splits of oak. Not counting all the wood from limbs as big as many trees I cut up.
Amen. I’m looking at those noodled rounds and would be peachy keen on blocking those up real nice and square on the splitter. Nicely done. Those other piles too look quite good as well.
Locust= heating power. If the chance came up I’d actually trade dry oak for BL but that would depend on my supply of which.
I recently got some huge ash rounds. I really liked splitting them up. Made nice 6 inch by 2 inch slabs, perfect for a certain way I build a fire in my stove.
I’ve made a lot of 2x6 while working my way up to a three year supply. Fast drying. Now that I’m splitting for three + years out I’m trying to make bigger splits. Not always easy breaking old habits
I agree 110% big rounds make a lot of splits. If i can split on site and not have to move them onto the truck its a homerun for me. I dont mind them, but my back hates them. Ive been liking the smaller diameter wood ive been scoring lately.
For sure those are huge! Mostly today I'd rather let the younger guys tackle them but, it would be difficult to pass up still..
It’s super nice doing that size. I’m blocking up some of the oak I just picked up and some are 3x8 some are 8x4, and so on. I can’t be super consistent but Im doing more work on my cribbed ends. Think I’m understanding it a bit better now. Here’s what I did so far... yesterday was such a nice day after work, I did not want to waste it. Blocking it up to works wonders. More big rounds today. I’m hoping to count the rings, they cut at the base and I believe it was a 4 inch thick cookie, perfect reference.
If I’m splitting next to where I’m stacking I separate the best crib pieces right off the splitter and toss them near the ends of the pallets. And the best pieces for cribbing come from the big straight grained rounds. Makes life much easier
Yeah they are a bit of work to get situated on the splitter, but I love the big square and rectangular splits you can get from the big stuff. They make great corner/ cribbing pieces.
About 6 years ago I got some oak that size from a tree service. I didn't own a tractor or splitter then so it all got worked by hand. Took me the better part of a year to get it split and stacked. That's great work!
