Was able to get a bit more split yesterday and stacked today, almost a third of a cord. Had my 8 year old son helping out a bit. Still have a long way to go. Started noodling some of the big rounds and blew threw some metal at some point, found a few splits with the nails still in tact.
looking good MikeyB Yup i see some of that classic purplish streaking in oak when metal is near in one of the rounds. Split a pc of red maple yesterday and was surprised to find a nail. Stuff i cut myself. How is it splitting after sitting for a couple months?
So far the splitting has been pretty goo with my 7ton Boss electric. A lot of checking happening in the rounds, so I line them up on the splitter rand it blows right through. Having that log table helps out a great deal. For the rounds with crotches and knots I give them a try but don’t waste too much time, I throw them on the side and will noodle them down on the sawbuck at some point.
Back at it this morning. Cut a kerf in the top of about 5 rounds and split them down with the wedges and maul. Did some hand splitting as well. My hat goes off to all that split by hand. It’s a lot of work and I’m slowly getting the hang of it. Finding a lot of 8d/10d nails inside these rounds. I won’t noodle them all the way through cause I’m bound to blow through another chain. Im hoping to set up my splitter later on and get this quarters split up. Beautiful day to on Long Island. Enjoy the day everyone
Finally got around to splitting and stacking the last 3-30” + rounds today, they were starting to rot out a bit and had to get at it. I am leaving the very large base in the pic for a table top and have another 36” round In the garage that will be a Mobile table top on wheels. Rounds were easy enough to quarter up with the maul after a bit of sledging/wedging.. I am clearing this area for my future 8X10 wood shed. The large stump will have to be pulled up a bit more to make room for the shed.
That was quite the tree. Ill bet you thought you'd never see the end of it once you started processing it, huh? Big difference when seeing it standing than the amount of rounds! Nicely done!
I enjoyed working with 3 felled oaks, of that size. So much wood in the thick trunk rounds. It'll keep you nice and toasty...... in a few years.
I can smell it from here! Fresh cut red oak smells alright, but after it sits for awhile, it seems to ferment, and the vinegary sourness is something else. Good job getting them split in the winter, maybe by spring they will have toned down a bit. Edit, reading back through your thread, the cutters said this was a black oak? Did it smell like red, or not?
MikeyB just saw this thread don't know how I missed it, way to go. Great job finishing up those big rounds. They are a workout for sure. The wedges really split oak well and what a workout wrestling with them. Now I understand why you didn't need wood.
