My one cutting partner knocked down a hefty ornamental cedar the other day, and kept the bigger rounds (12" +) for me. This stuff makes fantastic kindling, and dries out really fast when you split it into 1" thick slabs. I make slabs out of the rounds, dry them as slabs and when I go to use them I split them into slivers with a small hatchet. I'll load it into my barn loft where temps soar into the 110°+ region regularly this time of year, this stuff will be ready by winter but won't need it til next year. Some of you remember that I did a white cedar late last winter and that stuff will be used first. It's ready to go already!
Forgot to mention that I only use the sections from the rounds that are free from big knots......I pitch the knotty sections into the campfire pile......
Scotty, that one sliver you have your hand on is about like we split with the hydraulics. Then we'll put 4 or 5 of them together and split the other way into about 1" pieces. We use soft maple for this and it is really fast and easy, especially with the hydraulics.
Yep, I've done a bunch of the Maple that way this year Dennis. Usually from the shorter rounds and the "butt cut" of the tree or from branches.
We have a fair amount of cedar up this way, not much bigger than 10" dia for the most part. It's not something you see much of in the firewood circle, except for processed cedar, scraps mostly.
Like I said before, arborvitae shrubs get pretty big, and the trunks of those are about the same as a cedar........if you see big rounds of them at the tree dump, grab 'em for kindling and fire starters. I'll have to try and make a video of how quickly this stuff lights up, even when it's fairly fresh-split!!
I just grabbed my cedar that I cut about a month ago. Going to try to split it in the next day or two... Love the smell of fresh cedar....
