The recent ice storm we had really destroyed the woodland on our place and on my parent's farm. A large hickory tree at the edge of their back yard fell across the yard, barely missing the house. I salvaged what logs I could, and hauled the rest home for firewood. I used my relatively new Echo 7310 to section up the big stuff. I really like this saw, at least for the job it's intended for. It pulled a newly sharpened standard (non-skip) chain on a 28" bar through that tough stuff with no problem, even though at times the bar didn't reach the other side. There's a lot of work in those big chunks, at least up to the point they're split to woodstove size! But there's a lot of heat stored there, too.
I'm not certain, but either pignut or mockernut. We only have those two and shagbark here, and it's not shagbark.
Yep, there's a few in the background that I've noodled already, but they were smaller. Most of the time I only need to noodle a round partway then can bust it with a maul. I had to cut these about 70-80% through before I could finish them by hand. It will be interesting to see what my new-to-me hydraulic splitter will do with these. I enjoy splitting wood by hand but my shoulders are getting old and achy, so I broke down and caught a good deal on a splitter.
Those ice storms can be severe and make a mess. Too bad about the tree coming down, but you're reaping the rewards of mother natures "gift". Nice when you have a bar big enough to slice big logs in one pass and that Echo looks like it fits the bill. Will you be hand splitting that or do you have a hydro splitter?
Yes, this storm "blessed" us with plenty of firewood for the next few years. No felling needed except for the badly damaged trees that won't live now anyway. We had almost a half inch of ice here in the higher mountains, and the damage is the worst I've seen in my lifetime of living here. It really is unbelievable. I've got probably an acre of white pine that either all came down like matchsticks or had the top broke out of them, that I probably won't be able to get to the mill before they quit buying pine due to the blue stain that comes with warmer weather. I bought a used splitter a few months back, mainly because my shoulders are aging and starting to hurt, and I'd like to preserve what's left of them for other things besides swinging a maul. Haha! This hickory will be a good function test for my "new" splitter to see what it will do.
Yes, indeed, they are! I'm hoping to use the vertical feature on my splitter to halve these on the ground at the joint lines. If that doesn't work, it'll be noodling and wedges!
I recently worked one down that size. A result of a windstorm late last spring.amazing how many splits there are in a trunk that size and its a lot of work. One of the best species around here. Lasts through the night.
That's a great score. You will appreciate the hydraulic splitter. A lot of hickory, especially mockernut, is stringy and tough. Even made our Wolfe Ridge grunt.
