Hello all, just joined today and I have a few questions. I started using a fire pit outback last fall, my lady, neighbors, friends and I enjoyed it a lot, had about 1-2 fires week in spring/fall. That said I need to bulk up on some wood this year as i kept running out last time. I'm picking up some free wood from a co-worker who cut down a tree last winter. I am splitting it myself, question is can I see termites in the wood when i split it? The only place I have to stack is behind my shed, so I wouldn't be comfortable keeping termite infested wood around. 2nd any tips/tricks to splitting? When hitting a round is it better to hit center first and then side or just start with the sides? I just purchased a fiskars x-27 which should be an upgrade over the regular axe I used to split White Oak last year. I'm going to use a few cinder blocks and treated wood as a base to stack it, I also have a little 4 foot rack but it's fairly close to the ground which from what i real can also cause termites. Thanks in advance for any info! Nice site!
Welcome aboard! Let me get this straight (I'm a little slow), you are just burning your wood outside? Your gonna love the Fiskars. .
Fiskars are great. You should be able to see termites when splitting. I try to "read" the round. See if it is checking/cracking any and use that as a guide. If it won't split easy try to slab off the outsides of the round first. Welcome aboard and enjoy your time round here.
Yes, for now only burning in an outside pit for recreation. It's nice to sit around the fire after a week of work and have a few beers haha. I'd love to put a fireplace or similar one of these years to help heat the house but as of now I do not have it. Thanks for the advice, splitting with my axe last year was a ton of work I hoping the Fiskars is a lot better.
Welcome Cavy, I think you will enjoy this forum a lot. Lots of cool people with similar interests and lots of other stuff. You got yourself a nice tool to split wood with, a lot of folks here swear by them, the ones that hand split that is. I think as long as your burning in a fire pit outdoors I wouldn't worry too much about the wood with bugs in it. Keep is safely away from wood structures and other firewood just in case. Stack your wood in the sun and let it get plenty of air flow all around. Some top cover the stacks, some do not. I top cover with clear plastic and move my wood in the fall for burning in my stove. In your case as long as you keep it fairly dry you should do ok in the pit.
Welcome to the forum 97cavy22. I'm betting before it is too long, you will be burning wood in the house and saving lots and lots of dollars! But before you buy a stove, please do yourself a favor and go to this link: http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/for.../primer-on-woodburning-by-backwoods-savage.6/ Once there, there are 2 links. One links you to the information and the other will download the pages for you. We do not claim it is everything you need to know about firewood but it goes a long ways toward that goal and has helped dozens of people on this forum and others. On the termite problem, they need dirt and moisture. Stack the wood off the ground onto something like landscape timbers or stack some blocks then use 2 x 6 or 4 x 4 or something similar to string across the blocks. Some even use old pallets and stack on top of them but the most important thing is to keep the wood off the ground. This will also help the wood dry much better. On the splitting, many do like the Fiskar's but personally I do not. A simple single or double bit axe will do as well and a splitting maul will do even better. Or for the ultimate, hydraulics works wonderfully. Don't want to own one? Rent one once a year to get those tough logs split. When splitting by hand, some will split best through the center and others will split better slicing from the edge. Keep in mind which is which and if you learn yourself it will stay in your mind better. You won't forget. Or for the tough ones, a sledge hammer and 2 or 3 steel wedges works wonders. Good luck to you.
Welcome to the club, Cav! You've found the right place in regards to learning your soon-to-be favorite hobby of hoarding wood! In regards to the termites, they need ground contact to survive. Put a rubber barrier on the ground, raise the wood off of the ground to allow air flow and stack it up away from structures. Stick with us and you'll be a professional before you know it!
As stated, look for the natural cracks in the wood and aim for them (log on the right). If there are no cracks, take your best guess and avoid splitting down through any knots when possible. Also: Watch your toes, a misplaced swing can ricochet off the edge of the log in a hurry.
Hey Cavy. Outdoor pits are a nice way to enjoy a fire, for sure. The dry wood talked about a lot on this forum, for woodstoves, also goes a long way to making your firepit time a lot better too. Dry wood will burn with a lot less smoke. Our neighbor had a small "bonfire" last year and invited a bunch of us over. He'd just cut the wood about a week before. All it did was smoke, smoke, smoke... with very little fire. Wind was wrong too to make the experience very special... Welcome to FHC.
All the advice is right on. Keep it way up off the ground, preferably in the sun and top covered only. As Stinny said, it will smoke a lot if not dry and you might need to keep your recently cut wood for the next season two for it to dry completely. I really prefer slightly softer woods for an outside fire pit. They dry more quickly and burn with much more flames. Starts easier too. Welcome to the site!
Hello and welcome aboard! Enjoy the your stay with us… Yes you can see termites and their trails when you split and often before you split the wood. The best thing for axe splitting is to look at the round for a crack in the grain and aim for it. Best to let the wood be your guide. termites will not go into wood stacked off the ground normally as they prefer a direct contact path. Lay cinder blocks on the ground and find a pallet to set on top then load it up and you should be fine.
Welcome. This is a dangerous place. In no time you'll be asking about bar lengths and seasoning times and maybe a new stove complete with chimney..
If you split white oak for last year, almost any other wood will split more easily. Elm being an exception. Do watch that x27 for ricochets though. It can darn near jump right out of your hands. In fact it has done that to me. Great axe though. One splitting tip I can offer is to find a real big round to use as a splitting table. Bringing the log up by 24 inches or so makes for a more squared impact which just feels better to me. Seems to provide more power and control. It also provides a base for your nice new axe to make contact with after passing through the log. Much better than a dirt landing.
I'm sitting in the backyard having a fire right now. Key is to get that wood dry and split smaller if possible. The more air flow, the less smoke. I think a stove may be an option for you in the future, but for now...just hang out and enjoy. We all have one mutual interest.
Absolutely. Keep that blade out of the dirt. You want your axe to only contact wood. Also, I have a circular sharpening stone that I use regularly. A good sharp blade slices through paper.
Use seniors went thru the hand splitting phase years ago. Now , we mostly split with hydraulics, vertically
As for termites, you will find them mostly of the side of a round that was laying in contact with the ground, under the bark - they are foraging termites and not(typically) a colony. So after you've transported and split the wood they will return to the ground and in most cases are unable to re-establish a colony. If you're concerned with the stack infesting structures treat the ground under the timbers/blocks before you stack. Bayer Advanced Carpenter ant and Termite killer is available in concentrate or ready mix at most home centers and works great for keeping them out of your wood. They will build mud tunnels over the top of treated lumber - if you see any thing like this in your stacks treat the ground with a sprayer. And welcome aboard!
You guys are terrific! What great info. The x27 arrived yesterday I had 1 round I used last year as my base for splitting, I tried the x27 out on it, I was impressed. Maybe 3 hits to break the oak open, thank you guys for the heads up about ricochets, I will wear my steel toe's next time i split. I couldn't agree more about dry wood, last year I ran out right before winter when most places were sold out. Ended up buying a truck bed off this tree place claiming it was seasoned....yea ok, that wood smoked and smoked and smoked, we couldn't do a fire unless it was dead wind. Will not make that mistake again. I did setup new rack yesterday, I used Cinder blocks spaced 6-8 inches apart, then ran 7 ft of treated lumber over top to stack wood on. I like the setup alot! Thanks again, and yea I can see how this can become a hobby pretty quickly.
If you are diligent, you may be able to have a stove and pipe for under $2500. I know that's a lot, but the pipe isn't cheap. Depending on budget, aim for an Englander NC-30. High bang for the buck and strong heater.
