So, here's how it went... A smaller round split with my small wedge. I went down the middle and not the side because there were knots on both sides. Anyway, it split easily. I just had to add a bigger wedge to get it apart completely. With this big trunk butt, I couldn't get a wedge started on the edge of the round. So, I had to cut a kerf with the saw anyway. It eventually came apart with several wedges. Forget to take a pic with the wedges in. So, in conclusion, it was a easier to split smaller rounds when frozen, but those big chunks don't want to come apart in any weather. And I got nowhere with my splitting axe, above or below freezing.
Your splitting axe might work better now that the chunks are smaller. And no. No, there is no dis-honor to chain sawing a kerf first.
Might have to wait until it gets cold for a bit first, Midwinter. Wait for that week or two in January or February when it stays around 0 with night time negatives for a few days. That fresh sap takes a while to get solid in my experience, especially fresh off the stump.
Midwinter - do you have an outside fire pit/ring? That pine will smell good burning there, if you do.
Midwinter, there is going to be about 12 "tons" of pine up on my land and another 20 tons come spring. There is that big Ba$T@rd we cut down in the fall, "go get it"! All yours! Some of that was 28" in diameter, bring some wedges and maul. You know the one...
Ummm, on this site, it's a regular occurrence. Go to the smokehouse section. You'll see a lot of butt comments that involve sir mix a lot.
About the same as pine just a lot less sap. Given a choice between the two I would take the hemlock. I usually put the two in the same stack.
I like hemlock, as Bill said, a lot less sap. 15.3 on the BTU chart. It splits easily into nice regular splits.
I cut spruce and balsam off our land after it falls on our trails, starts to shade our gardens, or is in the way when making trails. We burn it all too, after at least a year of splitting and staking it. No problems for daytime heating, shoulder season wood, or campfires, along with our ample stacks of poplar for same.
Midwinter drain that pool and have the neighborhoods biggest fire pit. You wouldn't have to split them quit so small then.
Not all Pine should be burned in wood stoves. We have Bull Pine in my region which not only is pitchy but as it burns creates a creosote which can plug up the flue & actually build-up enough to burnout the pipe itself. Ponderosa Pine can contain pitch streaks which can burn excessively HOT. What burns well are the limbs of Sugar & Ponderosa Pine...
