Live Oak

My 34T splitter will cut through just about anything. If wood starts getting problematic like that, pieces get thrown to the side. I'll either noodle them, or burn them in the fire pit. If I know it's elm or gum, I won't even try splitting. Ain't nobody got time fo that...

 

Replying to my own post. I need to have a couple trunks of live oak cut down from the front yard because they're hanging over a neighbor's house. I hate to let good wood go to waste, but this stuff isn't worth splitting by hand. Should I rent a firewood splitter from Home Depot? Or even buy one just for this job? Would love some recommendations.

EDIT: Any chance I could process it all with either of these?

1. 10 Ton Hydraulic Log Splitter
2. 5 ton 12 Amp Electric Log Splitter

 

Calling T.Jeff Veal and Chud They have worked with live oaks.

Any pics kentyman?

 

Rather than struggle with an axe/maul, or spend money renting a splitter, why not noodle them in half with your saw? Either that or slice it into short cookies.

 

Sorry, yes. It's the 2 rightmost trunks here that you see extending over to my neighbor's roof. At the very widest they are under 2 feet.

 

Yikes, ill say that has to go. Looks like a lot of straight grained wood there. Most varieties of red oak (including live oak) are easy to split from what ive learned.

 

I forgot that "live oak" is such an overloaded name!

I'm in Austin, Texas, so this is likely a Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) species and perhaps specifically Texas Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis), both of which are white oaks. Even on straight trunks, the grain is notoriously gnarly and twisted. My old post in this thread really shows this off if you're curious what I'm talking about.

 

Oops! Forgot about that. Some gnarly stuff. Noodling is an option as Eric mentioned. How common are hydro splitters there? When Austin, Texas is mentioned, firewood doesnt come to mind.

 

My earlier pic of the Angel Oak is a dud, so here:

 

Hah, yes, that's fair! It became a bit of a pandemic hobby we were caught in a 3-day winter storm power outage in early 2021 and ran out of seasoned wood to keep us warm in the fireplace. That, and I enjoy processing firewood by hand with ax/maul/wedge as a catharsis.

 

Amazing. Looks like something out of The Lord of the Rings.

 

Is it insane to try to process this with the cheap 5-ton electric splitter linked above in #2? I'm sure it wouldn't make quick work of any of it, but would it eventually manage? Given that I'm in Texas and have no real use for all this wood, it's hard to justify anything fancier than that.

 

Is that one you've noodled Jason?

 

My 30T splitter will stall out on the crotches of the live oak I cut. Live Oak makes you earn every btu! I have a lot of it so I'll continue to deal with it. Our Live Oaks aren't as majestic as that picture, that's an amazing tree.

 

I have seen those trees before, but never the inside of one. Holy smoke

 

I don't think the electric splitter will handle it.

 

We visited the Angel Oak last year. It is HUGE.

 

It's one of those things that pictures can't do justice too. Pretty awesome.

 

Thanks for the response. How many tons would you think are needed for splitting the most easy-going of live oak (ignoring knots and crotches)?

 

I ended up getting the Harbor Freight 10 Ton Hydraulic manual splitter since it was cheap. It failed spectacularly on a many-year-old, oversized live oak round I had lying around, but that wasn't particularly surprising to me. I can just imagine how that gnarly grain compresses and locks into place over the years, especially since these were out in rain and shine the entire time. Still, I'll keep it for splitting other stuff I have.

Dok440, T.Jeff Veal, Chud, does live oak split better when fresh or slightly fresh? What age rounds would you say split the easiest?