Who need a wood splitter.

I inherited my fathers 8lb Hubbard splitting maul and wedges. When he died cutting wood from a heart attack I was 19 years old. I picked up the wood cutting and splitting for the household for the next 20 years or so. I am now 66 years old and on a fixed income so i decided to return to heating with wood. I got my Sthil 028 out of mothballs and after replacing the clutch sprocket and chain it runs like new. I am now a firewood hoarder.
I find it very easy to split all the wood I cut the same old fashioned way. With a maul and steel wedges. I just take small swings and take my time but it amazing how much wood I can split in a short Amount of time. I also have saved money buy not needing one of those hydraulic gas fired new fangled splitting machines.
Do many of you split wood with a maul.


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I do not hand split. Mainly a time constraint issue. Working a full time job, having a family, trying to build a YT channel with my kids, 21 acre property, burn 7-8 full cords a year.

I prefer my SuperSplit

 

I split all by hand and hope I still can when I’m 66!

 

jewilson Yes, I’m kinda new to the wood game, but so far, I still enjoy hand splitting the wood. I just ordered a new splitting ax, the Fiskars X27. It should be delivered today.

 

Nope. Nada. Never.

 

I only cut a couple cords a year and love hand splitting with my Fiskars.

 

Welcome to FHC. You'll like it here. We have a great many people with a lot of knowledge who are willing to share. We like beer, dogs and pics. Loys of pics.

 

I'm in the never club too. Only time I hand split is when I'm cooking w/ wood. I burn an average of about 5-6 cord per year and also have been keeping my parents supplied with near the same amount. Part of the stipulation (about 11 years ago) with heating with wood was I'd not hand split so a hydraulic splitter was one of my first (and best) investments.

And Welcome to FHC!!

 

I do and I don’t , meaning some times I split by hand sometimes I use the splitter. But, either way I try to enjoy doing it both ways, if it’s fun, it’s not work.

 

I was a confirmed hand splitter for years. No hydraulic splitter for this young man! Well guess what? Not a young man any more and several years back there were huge Doug Fir trees being taken down everywhere near me. I ended up with about 7 cords of massive rounds in need of CSS. The Wiff, God bless her, said "get a splitter so you don't end up hurting yourself". Like so many things, I wondered why I hadn't done it years ago! I still do a bit of hand splitting just 'cause I can but the hydro is the cats meow for processing a lot of wood. You will also end up with lots of sudden friends you never knew you had!

 

I certainly builds
Character


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There is still a plenty of work associated with using a splitter. Lots of lifting, moving and of course the stacking. What I don't miss is that snap and jerk of using a maul or sledge and wedges. I have some arthritis in my spine that doesn't like all the reverberations in your body from a lot of splitting by hand. I have been called a character before. I suspect it wasn't necessarily a compliment!

 

I split most of my wood by hand with a maul. Fiskars x27. I found an old splitting wedge in the garage when we bought the house but stupid me thought it was a door stop. Cleaned it up by soaking in some vinegar and a wire wheel and some wd-40 and some elbow grease along with a bastard file brought it back to life.

Sorry to hear that your father passed away when you were so young. At least he went while doing something he (hopefully) loved.

I also have a 34-ton hydraulic gas fired new fangled splitting machines but use it sparingly. Typically only if I have some impossible-to-split-by-hand species (pin oak, green spruce, black birch) otherwise I have it with the maul.

It's so satisfying to split with the maul and while I love having the option to choose I much prefer not to use the splitter if I can. Less noise, less hassle, more workout, less cost, less annoyance to the neighbors......

Did somewhere near 60 cord since Oct-2019, maybe more. It's hard to keep track. 8lb maul is a big boy. I'm 6' and feel the 6lb x27 is just right for me. Taking your time is key. A lot of water breaks for me and I stack when I fill my garden cart to split up the splitting duties (get it?).

 

I still enjoy getting the exercise provided by splitting by hand and hope to be doing it for a few more ( 70 + ) years. I also have a hydraulic splitter that is used to split those Karly pieces that are impossible to do by hand.

 

Who needs a wood splitter

I can feel a connection from my father when I cut and split wood with that tool. It’s been over 46 years ago by I still miss him and think about him every day. I guess that is why I’ve always split wood by hand.


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Hand split only. Ive never even ran a splitter or considered getting one. I enjoy hand splitting unless it’s really stubborn stuff that won’t split, or if it’s elm.

 

That is me also. I've needed my shoulders rebuilt for a few years now.

 

Growing up, we only used mauls. Then my dad got smart and bought a hydraulic splitter.

I burn a lot of elm, and hickory, not fun hand splitting that stuff.

 

jewilson welcome to the club.
I second the motion for lotsa pics.

I enjoy splitting by hand, particularly on 30° mornings. I have no idea what we burn every year (w.s. went in mid january '21). But am planning 8C a year. We've brought in 12 or better cord this year alone: I can run a splitter with another person for 9 hours and get several cord processed. I cannot do that with the maul.
That and I want to keep the splitting pad area clean this time of year....so if the oddball tree job comes up, I have a place.to put it. And that, Ill split by hand all winter (been hoarding wood since summer of '19).

Maul on!!!

Sca