Some nice rounds. to M2theB for his helping! Great job guys. Now its time for Should be some easy splitting stuff!
I'm expecting it to be fairly easy to split. Similar stuff in the past was easy. First thing in the morning, I'll be rolling them rounds around and using my leafblower, get the wood chips to the tree line and off the lawn.
Those are some sweet rounds! Prime stuff for M2theB's saw to feast on. The sign has seen many gtg's, but today's is the best we can do.
Great documentation! My eyes were feasting on M2theB 's saws feasting on those logs. The carnage shot looks like you had a storm with hail the size of logs !!!
I hit the rounds this morning......over and over. A friend of mine came over and we done what we could. I just wanted to bust up the rounds to a small enough size to move and stack them. That stack is 3 big splits/rounds deep This stack is one split deep. . I just pushed together what was left I have 3 empty 8' racks, that need some attention (leaf removal and leveling). My plan is stack this red oak on them for a 3yr nap. It'll also give me a good idea of just how much there is. I'll be plenty busy as I practice my social distancing
Looks like you just increased your property value MikeInMa . I'm going to guess a cord and 1/2 to 2 full cords depending on how tight you stack haha.
Spent a bit of time today, pounding on wood. I split some of the whole rounds not to a size to move, but to stove size splits. It's taking some bit of work just to slab off pieces, working around the egdes. I don't think I've seen and red oak with such a deep red as this stuff. Too bad it fades when exposed to the air. Rain changing to rain, later this afternoon. Rain most of tomorrow. This is a good thing. I need a day off.
It is ashamed it changes. I always have been amazed at how fast it changes on end cuts and splits after a very short amount of time. Remember being a kid watching my dad cut red oak. Half hour old cuts were changing already.
With your hoarding you have motivation enough for several members. My shoulders are sore, though. I've been wooding 4 out of the last 6 days. Time for a snow/rain break. It just started snowing lightly here.
One thing I've discovered, if you're not noodling larger pieces in half, is to use a sledge and a steel wedge to split those large pieces right down the middle. There is almost always a check or crack that opens up soon after bucking them, and that's your line to use. Once they split in half, it is much easier to split them into regular splits by hand. I'm not sure why it's so effective, might take some of the stress out of the round, I dunno. The technique doesn't work very well on soft species like poplar or pine, where you can bury a steel wedge without cracking the round.
I've also had good success noodling a shallow trench, with the grain of the bark. The round is laying horizontal. The trench allows room for steel wedges to get a hold. 2 or 3 wedges usually cracks it open. It seems the wood cracks right where it wants to. Once in smaller pieces, my splitting axe takes care of the rest.
One rack full. Another about a third full. 8 foot racks. 3 racks to a cord. I'm seeing where I easily have a cord+ from the tree service drop.
Ok.... A friend of mine came back and we split what time allowed. Hating these hidden knots Several cart loads later... All three racks are full. A cord And, there's still more. Guessing 2/3 cord. I'm lousy at guessing volumes, heights...etc I'll probably just halve or quarter what I have left and stack them for future splitting. I need to perform some creative rack MGMT, to see if I can come up with more space. A good problem to have, as I see it.
I still have the wood I got from the first half of this thread to deal with. It has a shorter shelf life than the red oak. I'm glad for the soggy weather, the next few days. I'm looking forward to a break.
