That's why Scotty doesn't use gum anymore...I give it to a buddy with an OWB....lol He makes it small enough to shove in the stove door......and that's it....
Been there! After totally sinking 3 splitting wedges into a big elm, and it still won't pop open, well now what?? OK I gotta free those wedges, right? So out comes the saw (very carefully) to save my pride. Watch out-don't touch the chain on a wedge! Got 'em out though. Heheh.
Prior to acquiring hydraulics, I've had to burn wedges out of a round or two. One small advantage to having an owb. If it fits through the door, it'll burn eventually.
Just lay them down cut them up noodle Style into stackable blocks, that's what I do with gnarly stuff, no sense in trying to split it, ya just end up with a bunch of Uglies, blocked up Elm like that before too
Always have extra wedges. When one get stuck, put another one in just part way then another one right next to it so that you will be driving 2 wedges into one spot to split it wider. This is the way to retrieve a stuck wedge and sometimes getting it split wider is all it takes to finish the task.
That fiskars will just sink in... Frustrating wood, but it's wood. U need a splitter..10 ton at least
I split all my wood by hand and I happen to have a fair bit of Sweetgum. Elm is a bit worse I think, but really they both suck. Since I split by hand, I have a few tricks that will make it easier. The first is to cut it short. Most stoves are rectangular; cut it to fit the short rather than long axis. The second is to stack it in rounds for a while before trying to split it. It seems to dry fairly well even unspilt and it splits easier dry, at least in my experience. If you are going to split by hand, of course do the usual "from the outside" rather than "up the middle". Also, 2 steel wedges and a sledge is mandatory but not sufficient. You'll need a few wooden wedges to get the steel wedges out once they both get stuck.
Here are my wedges. I split by hand, and don't have the upper body strength to swing a maul, so I use these on everything. But I'm waiting to get my new saw before I tackle this oak again!
I'll have to get a picture of my wedges. I also have an old maul head, of which the handle broke. As it has a wider taper than a regular wedge, it's handy to use to open up the split, to free up any stuck wedge that has bottomed out. I've had to use two wedges pressed together, but prefer the single wider maul head. You can probably get one from a yard sale some wheres, for cheap $'s of the handle is broken.
bert the turtle you can also put 2 wedges together and drive them in to either help with the splitting or free a stuck wedge.
