Splitting in winter

Backwoods Savage · Feb 3, 2019

Midwinter said: ↑

I did a trial of frozen wood splitting today, at 21° after getting down to zero overnight.
First up, maple, very easy. View attachment 196803 View attachment 196804
Next, a straight piece of honey locust with no knots. It took 4 or 5 strikes to get it in half. View attachment 196805 View attachment 196806 Next, a honey locust round with a crotch sliced off. View attachment 196807
I did a little damage after multiple strikes. View attachment 196808
I couldn't break it up any further, so I noodled it. Looking at the grain, I would never have broken it by hand. View attachment 196811
Last up, a small, straight piece of elm. View attachment 196812
Five strikes and it's starting to give. View attachment 196813
Success. View attachment 196814
So, my subjective conclusion from a very small sample is, yes, it is easier to split tough wood when it is frozen. It seemed like the strings in the elm shattered a bit, and didn't hold on so tight. They honey locust knots were still impossible, though.
And the maple split like butter.
Click to expand...

Way to go girl!

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Splitting in winter

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