Splitting and Seasoning Oak

[Dan Maynard]

Many sparks off sweet chestnut and poplar bit odd too. Think they didn't know a few so made it up in the gaps.

[gdh]

It's easier to split fresh wood on paper but sometimes harder ones like oak crack as they dry so you can see the weak points to hit then they pop apart so I can see an argument both ways.

[Peter 1955]

7 hours ago, sime42 said:

Its easier to split when freshly cut, when it's still "relatively" soft and flexible. I think this is the case for most woods, though I stand to be corrected, I know there are a few exceptions.

Oak will take longer than a year to fully season, unless split into really small bits. Maybe 2 or even 3 years I reckon.

 

I reckon that's why the log splitter handbook tells you to split green wood. It can hang a bit more, but I reckon it's definitely easier. Dry wood can sometimes " explode" when splitting on the machine. The bonus is that the more inner wood you expose to the air, the faster it dries. Oak is very slow to season, as stated, ideally more than one year.

[peatff]

It seasons quicker if you split it down while it's still green as well. 🥲

[sime42]

3 hours ago, Steven P said:

Rule of thumb I work by is to split everything I can as soon as I can - no good leaving it whole, split it in a years time and then having to wait another 2 years for it to dry. I only do enough for my house generally (and the neighbour, the local Scout group and a couple of friends too) - not a lot, not worth the cost of mechanisation so hand split it all - very few logs escape.

 

What I can't split when fresh goes to the back of the pile for another go in a few weeks, but most split when fresh.

 

As for how long, they dry quicker if split, and it depends on the drying area. I have 1 south facing wall - it is great - along the drive so the wind blows down it too. The garage wall gets evening sun, not quite so quick but the north facing drive wall is not so good at all. I reckon most hard woods are good to go after a winter and summer, some need the second winter (but then I leave them outside till September by then anyway)

What about particularly knotty, seemingly impregnable crap, Sitka Spruce for example? What's your technique for something like that? I find sometimes that it's more efficient to resort to chainsawing it into log sized bits rather than expending loads of time and energy manually wrestling it. (Not having a mechanical splitter).

[Steven P]

27 minutes ago, sime42 said:

What about particularly knotty, seemingly impregnable crap, Sitka Spruce for example? What's your technique for something like that? I find sometimes that it's more efficient to resort to chainsawing it into log sized bits rather than expending loads of time and energy manually wrestling it. (Not having a mechanical splitter).

 

The outlaw sorts that and then teaches The Boys new words..... (He was a farmer, visited once, thought he's have a go and gave up)

 

Often for that if you look you can see where the most side branches come out - the knots - select the line of attack from that. Have a go at both ends then lay it on its side and work along it - usually sorts it OK, failing that, bung a stick in where it starts splitting as a wedge to hold the split open, axe hits the split every time then. If I think I will need to go at it sideways I'll take off about 1" to 2" width from the bark so it lays better -and this kind of reduces the pressure ion the log, sometimes that is all it needs... but all depends on the log

 

 

 

However the last couple of years I have had some luxury of not needing to collect anything too bad - some I do for the challenge and work out

Edited May 9, 2023 by Steven P

[Stere]

Alot easier just to set the akwards  aside then noodle them  with a chainsaw.

[Peter 1955]

45 minutes ago, sime42 said:

What about particularly knotty, seemingly impregnable crap, Sitka Spruce for example? What's your technique for something like that? I find sometimes that it's more efficient to resort to chainsawing it into log sized bits rather than expending loads of time and energy manually wrestling it. (Not having a mechanical splitter).

Years ago we had a supplier of timber who often sent us elm. Twisted grain, horrible stuff. We found the only way to deal with it was to cut it into 9" rings, split about 3" off the outer, and then put the rest across the sawbench. ( We had a cast iron bench,  driven by a Perkins combine engine. about 12" of blade above the bench. Not much that couldn't cope with). 

[Gav73]

Definitely split green. I once split some huge beech rounds that had been down for long time. They were bone dry and one exploded on my splitter - it went firing about 5 metres in the air and landed 15m away 

[Vedhoggar]

Felled oak 55 cm dia winter 2022/2023 then cut it into 25cm log lengths/split at 5-10cm dia and seasoned in slatted sheds, moisture content is now 19-22%. It burns okay but would be better if seasoned for 12 months or more rather than just 10 months or at least for a full drying season. Oak splits relatively easiest if using an axe when green but is not that difficult either when seasoned if it is straight grained and not twisted/knotty, if using a log splitter machine it doesn't make any difference if green or not.

Edited May 11, 2023 by Vedhoggar