Splitting knotty wood?

[sandspider]

Hi all

 

Probably no easy answer to this, but I'm just wondering if I'm missing a trick. Getting to the end of my wood supply and preparing more for next year, and I'm mainly left with knotty / gnarly big pieces of wood. (Where the trunk branched into 3 or 4 main branches for example). I've got a chainsaw and an X27, but it's not easy to split due to the knots and branch bases - there aren't many flat faces to get an axe into in any case. Besides haggling them into smaller pieces with the chainsaw, is there an easy(er) way to deal with the big old reject wood pieces? (I don't have a hydraulic splitter, and can't justify one really either). When haggling these bits with a chainsaw, how would you stop them moving / rotating? They won't fit into my sawhorse nor anything else I've got for holding wood.

 

The wood is mainly plum, with some conifer, plus a few other odds and sods.

 

Thank you for any suggestions.

[openspaceman]

When haggling these bits with a chainsaw, how would you stop them moving / rotating? They won't fit into my sawhorse nor anything else I've got for holding wood.

 

The wood is mainly plum, with some conifer, plus a few other odds and sods.

 

If you cannot justify a hydraulic splitter you probably cannot justify a screw splitter also. Screw splitters can often prise apart ragged sections between knots where a hydraulic one will fail but they produce a poor looking log. If they fail to split a bit they just bore a conical hole but even if the piece splits it will often not fall apart, needing further work with an axe.

 

It's probably best to wedge the ring vertical between two flat ones and rip down with the saw, rotate it through 90 decrees and repeat. This will produce "woodwool" rather than normal chainsaw flakes which you will need to clear frequently, make sure the saw clutch can get rid of these stringy bits without binding.

[Jake Andrews]

Split them as you come too them, don't throw them aside for another time. I know it's a pain but it's more of a pain when it's all your left with. Also it means a customer gets a heap of 'crap wood' (I know it's not but they prefer perfect logs) where as you can split it amongst the season.

J:thumbup1:

[sandspider]

Cheers gents.

 

This is wood for my personal use, not for sale, so I'm not too bothered how it looks.

 

Guess I'll carry on with the chainsaw if there's no simpler way. And I take your point about not leaving them till the end Jake, but its easier to just throw them to one side and take something splittable! Suppose I could save them all up and hire a log splitter for a day...

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

Have you tried wedges or a grenade? I must admit I haven't had a lot of problems splitting conifers and plum (with the exception of yew). Have you got anything beefier than your x27?

[nepia]

Sandspider, I used to be like you; I'd bust myself spltting the unsplittable. I had a maul, wedges and grenades.

But I've got over all that silliness now: if it's an awkward lump just chuck it aside for the saw - life's too short to break yourself by other means!

[eggsarascal]

Sandspider, I used to be like you; I'd bust myself spltting the unsplittable. I had a maul, wedges and grenades.

But I've got over all that silliness now: if it's an awkward lump just chuck it aside for the saw - life's too short to break yourself by other means!

 

Been there myself. In the end I used to chuck them to one side, then give them to a mate that used to help me with the logs. Both happy, he'd had a days money and a bag of free wood, and I hadn't got to look at the bloody things again.

[sandspider]

 

I've got a heavier toolstation maul, but no wedges or grenades. It's not so much that the X27 won't split the faces, it's more that there's so many branch junctions there's no way for a split to run for any length, so it ends up with me doing lots of hacking or / and giving up.

 

If there's no cunning way to do it, I think I'll just gather the gnarly bits until I've got a decent pile then get the saw out.

 

Cheers all.

[DCS6800i]

 

I've got a heavier toolstation maul, but no wedges or grenades. It's not so much that the X27 won't split the faces, it's more that there's so many branch junctions there's no way for a split to run for any length, so it ends up with me doing lots of hacking or / and giving up.

 

If there's no cunning way to do it, I think I'll just gather the gnarly bits until I've got a decent pile then get the saw out.

Cheers all.

 

 

Without spending £££ itl be the easiest option. I usually have the saw with me if im at firewood, so i split away and toss the hard to split stuff to the side. End of session i just dice them up with saw. Used to throw to side and leave - but then that pile gets bigger and its a job in itself, sortof puts you off doing it abit.

 

Im currently chewing my way through a huge chunk of oak which was rejected from a sawmill for being too seasoned Got it all ringed up a while back, i cant even half the rings with the wedges!! Whole lot is getting diced up with the saw burns great in the stove mind......

[predator]

yip saw,em up with your chainsaw end of