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There's a surprising amount of technique and knowledge that goes into splitting firewood. It isn't rocket science, but I know a 75 year old who can chop wood fa

There's a surprising amount of technique and knowledge that goes into splitting firewood. It isn't rocket science, but I know a 75 year old who can chop wood faster than any young guy who works out at the gym.

Theodores 4mo ago
In former times you had to serve a twelve year apprenticeship before you could be trusted to split wood for barrels, you can do a PhD in rocket science in less time.
cpncrunch 4mo ago
It's a combination of technique and the type of wood. Even with perfect technique, some wood is simply too hard to split. I've got the bottom 5 or 6 rounds of a bigleaf maple sitting in my yard that I simply can't make a dent in. You're welcome to take it if you can split it :)
- helterskelter 4mo ago
  If it came from the base of the tree the wood grain will probably be squirrelly and practically unsplittable. Get a chainsaw or hydraulic woodsplitter, or throw them in a bonfire. Alternatively, use them in a woodworking project or innoculate them with your favorite mushroom spores.
  - grantmuller 4mo ago
    These are also good for those "Swedish logs" where you drill a hole in the top and the side, and then cut grooves with a hand saw in the top and make a fire right on top.
  - cpncrunch 4mo ago
    Well they're about 4ft diameter and not really even possible to move. My electric chainsaw would just burn up trying to cut them, and the cost of a hydraulic woodsplitter wouldn't be cost-effective. Current plan is just to leave them there until either they start drying/rotting enough to split, or I find someone who wants to take them off my hands.
  - bregma 4mo ago
    I got some burly maple ends that even my 22-ton hydraulic splitter can't handle. Toss 'em into the woods, let nature take care of 'em.
- Merad 4mo ago
  Are you trying to split it with an axe? You need a sledgehammer and a few splitting wedges. The sledge lets you apply a lot more force than an axe and striking the wedge focuses that force onto a small area. The first wedge will open a crack, then you use additional wedges to expand that crack until she splits. Source: grew up in a wood burning family, helped split many stubborn hardwood trees (all by hand).
  - butlike 4mo ago
    The dude in the comments above suggested a maul, which seems nice (kinda like an axe and a sledge built into one tool)
    - HeyLaughingBoy 4mo ago
      A wedge is still useful with a maul. Sometimes to split a large-diameter log, you'll want to start a split and insert the wedge to open it, then you continue the split with the maul. It's helpful if you have timber that doesn't have a straight grain and doesn't want to split open.
- jimnotgym 4mo ago
  If it didn't require flights, I'd bring my maul and wedges and take on your challenge. Big rounds are the most fun.
tclancy 4mo ago
Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC872sqjMNC8kHU0GU0ShZFw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC872sqjMNC8kHU0GU0ShZFw while cautioning that she seems to be genetically engineered to split wood. Her technique is like watching an Olympic athlete. No wasted motion at all, all energy delivered to the maul straight down. She’s a muse.
- tomcam 4mo ago
  Wow! Great link. I’m better than average but… yeah, I’d upgrade her to goddess. She’ll just carve a new axe handle when she feels like it. Truly humbling.
- dotancohen 4mo ago
  She's got a video where she explains in detail how to chop. She goes through everything from stance - including protecting the shins - to axe technique. Absolutely terrific - I feel a strained shoulder just watching the videos.
  - altairprime 4mo ago
    https://youtu.be/CQmom_0R1Wk https://youtu.be/CQmom_0R1Wk
- klondike_klive 4mo ago
  I just knew who this was going to be before I even opened the link. One of the few accounts I miss from having deleted Instagram from my phone!
smackeyacky 4mo ago
My grandfather was like this, and not with soft wood. We try to burn Australian hardwoods and that takes quite a bit of force to split. He could pound through it like a knife through butter. There’s a definite art to hardwood, looking where the slightest fault might be. You can’t just smash it in the middle, your block splitter (preferred) or axe just bounces off it.
- NuclearPM 4mo ago
  Try to burn hardwoods? What does that mean?
  - smackeyacky 4mo ago
    It’s wood. You put it in your fireplace and set fire to it for heat
    - bregma 4mo ago
      Ah, sweet summer child. When the days you have to break the ice on the dog's water bowl in the morning come, you will quickly learn what kinds of wood there are and what you want to burn for heat. For example, if you choose a lot of paper birch (it splits easily, lights easily, and smells nice while burning) you will quickly get to know all the local firefighters after all your chimney fires.
  - _carbyau_ 4mo ago
    As a fellow australian but now former wood chopper: "Try" should be "prefer". IE when you get a load of firewood for the winter, you want it to be hardwood. The person you buy the wood from may mix in softwood depending on their trustworthiness... Why prefer hardwood? Hardwood density means it will burn for ages. So you have to mess with the fire less and it'll still have at least hot coals in the morning if you put a log on before bed.
    - defrost 4mo ago
      Jarrah, one of the hardest of the hard woods burns hot and long and (well ventilated) leaves almost no ash behind. If you want hot coals in the morning, throw in a log or two of river gum / softer ashy woods before bedtime and the Jarrah coals will not burn out and disappear while the house sleeps but get buried in ash and stay hot but smothered. Stir and throw in light kindling at dawn and it'll be roaring by the time you get back to the house for breakfast.
gknapp 4mo ago
I had to take down two absolutely enormous Douglas Fir trees on my property (> 36" base), and asked them to leave the wood rounds for me. I knew it was going to be a lot of wood, but even then, I was not prepared. I spent about a fair bit of my free time over the next 1-2 months just out there slowly working my way through the pile, and you're absolutely right - you get substantially better at it. For me, it looked something like this: Stage 1: At first, I could chop essentially nothing, probably 60+ minutes per round as I mostly puzzled about how to make progress and got lucky from time to time with a round that split easily (fortunately, I had a nice splitting axe) Stage 2: Then I bought some splitting wedges, and I used a handheld sledgehammer to drive them in to what I thought were the weak spots, and then ultimately pried open the log, to pieces that I could split more readily. Stage 3: I bought a massive demolition sledge hammer (essentially a two-handed battle hammer) and used that to drive the wedges in after getting them started, and made a bit more progress on actually splitting the rounds. Stage 4: After doing this countless times, you just a knack for reading the wood, and where it will / won't split. I reverted back to using just the splitting axe, since if you hit the wood in the right spots, it really just splits on its own. Here's where I ended up, if it helps any of you: - Start by establishing the fracture line that will be used to split the round in half. I would eyeball any existing line on the round towards the center, and use the axe head to mark a line, away from any knots , from the center to the edge. These two center-to-edge didn't necessarily need to be inline. They could be slightly offset, like hands on a clock. - With moderate force, just repeatedly strike that line, working from the center outwards. You'd be shocked out how quickly repeated strikes widen the line, and eventually the wood's own weight almost causes it to fall apart. - Recursively do this with the two halves: Draw the line from (what was the center), radially out to the edge. Repeatedly strike until these pieces have been halved. - Continue this process until you have proper pizza wedges. At this point, it's pretty trivial to just chop the pizza wedge, from the wedge to the base, into 4 or 5 smaller firewood-sized logs. I know y'all probably didn't care to read this, but this was quite honestly weeks of my life in learning this, and I couldn't find a great guide on YouTube or anything, especially for rounds this big.
- helterskelter 4mo ago
  You can also score the ends of the rounds with your saw about an inch deep, laid out radially like you're cutting a pizza, then work your wedges in.
larodi 4mo ago
It takes understanding rotation and momentum to do right. Also different to bet chops in different ways.

Theodores 4mo ago

In former times you had to serve a twelve year apprenticeship before you could be trusted to split wood for barrels, you can do a PhD in rocket science in less time.

cpncrunch 4mo ago

It's a combination of technique and the type of wood. Even with perfect technique, some wood is simply too hard to split. I've got the bottom 5 or 6 rounds of a bigleaf maple sitting in my yard that I simply can't make a dent in. You're welcome to take it if you can split it :)

helterskelter 4mo ago
If it came from the base of the tree the wood grain will probably be squirrelly and practically unsplittable. Get a chainsaw or hydraulic woodsplitter, or throw them in a bonfire. Alternatively, use them in a woodworking project or innoculate them with your favorite mushroom spores.
- grantmuller 4mo ago
  These are also good for those "Swedish logs" where you drill a hole in the top and the side, and then cut grooves with a hand saw in the top and make a fire right on top.
- cpncrunch 4mo ago
  Well they're about 4ft diameter and not really even possible to move. My electric chainsaw would just burn up trying to cut them, and the cost of a hydraulic woodsplitter wouldn't be cost-effective. Current plan is just to leave them there until either they start drying/rotting enough to split, or I find someone who wants to take them off my hands.
- bregma 4mo ago
  I got some burly maple ends that even my 22-ton hydraulic splitter can't handle. Toss 'em into the woods, let nature take care of 'em.
Merad 4mo ago
Are you trying to split it with an axe? You need a sledgehammer and a few splitting wedges. The sledge lets you apply a lot more force than an axe and striking the wedge focuses that force onto a small area. The first wedge will open a crack, then you use additional wedges to expand that crack until she splits. Source: grew up in a wood burning family, helped split many stubborn hardwood trees (all by hand).
- butlike 4mo ago
  The dude in the comments above suggested a maul, which seems nice (kinda like an axe and a sledge built into one tool)
  - HeyLaughingBoy 4mo ago
    A wedge is still useful with a maul. Sometimes to split a large-diameter log, you'll want to start a split and insert the wedge to open it, then you continue the split with the maul. It's helpful if you have timber that doesn't have a straight grain and doesn't want to split open.
jimnotgym 4mo ago
If it didn't require flights, I'd bring my maul and wedges and take on your challenge. Big rounds are the most fun.

tclancy 4mo ago

Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC872sqjMNC8kHU0GU0ShZFw https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC872sqjMNC8kHU0GU0ShZFw while cautioning that she seems to be genetically engineered to split wood. Her technique is like watching an Olympic athlete. No wasted motion at all, all energy delivered to the maul straight down. She’s a muse.

tomcam 4mo ago
Wow! Great link. I’m better than average but… yeah, I’d upgrade her to goddess. She’ll just carve a new axe handle when she feels like it. Truly humbling.
dotancohen 4mo ago
She's got a video where she explains in detail how to chop. She goes through everything from stance - including protecting the shins - to axe technique. Absolutely terrific - I feel a strained shoulder just watching the videos.
- altairprime 4mo ago
  https://youtu.be/CQmom_0R1Wk https://youtu.be/CQmom_0R1Wk
klondike_klive 4mo ago
I just knew who this was going to be before I even opened the link. One of the few accounts I miss from having deleted Instagram from my phone!

smackeyacky 4mo ago

My grandfather was like this, and not with soft wood. We try to burn Australian hardwoods and that takes quite a bit of force to split. He could pound through it like a knife through butter. There’s a definite art to hardwood, looking where the slightest fault might be. You can’t just smash it in the middle, your block splitter (preferred) or axe just bounces off it.

NuclearPM 4mo ago
Try to burn hardwoods? What does that mean?
- smackeyacky 4mo ago
  It’s wood. You put it in your fireplace and set fire to it for heat
  - bregma 4mo ago
    Ah, sweet summer child. When the days you have to break the ice on the dog's water bowl in the morning come, you will quickly learn what kinds of wood there are and what you want to burn for heat. For example, if you choose a lot of paper birch (it splits easily, lights easily, and smells nice while burning) you will quickly get to know all the local firefighters after all your chimney fires.
- _carbyau_ 4mo ago
  As a fellow australian but now former wood chopper: "Try" should be "prefer". IE when you get a load of firewood for the winter, you want it to be hardwood. The person you buy the wood from may mix in softwood depending on their trustworthiness... Why prefer hardwood? Hardwood density means it will burn for ages. So you have to mess with the fire less and it'll still have at least hot coals in the morning if you put a log on before bed.
  - defrost 4mo ago
    Jarrah, one of the hardest of the hard woods burns hot and long and (well ventilated) leaves almost no ash behind. If you want hot coals in the morning, throw in a log or two of river gum / softer ashy woods before bedtime and the Jarrah coals will not burn out and disappear while the house sleeps but get buried in ash and stay hot but smothered. Stir and throw in light kindling at dawn and it'll be roaring by the time you get back to the house for breakfast.

gknapp 4mo ago

I had to take down two absolutely enormous Douglas Fir trees on my property (> 36" base), and asked them to leave the wood rounds for me. I knew it was going to be a lot of wood, but even then, I was not prepared. I spent about a fair bit of my free time over the next 1-2 months just out there slowly working my way through the pile, and you're absolutely right - you get substantially better at it. For me, it looked something like this: Stage 1: At first, I could chop essentially nothing, probably 60+ minutes per round as I mostly puzzled about how to make progress and got lucky from time to time with a round that split easily (fortunately, I had a nice splitting axe) Stage 2: Then I bought some splitting wedges, and I used a handheld sledgehammer to drive them in to what I thought were the weak spots, and then ultimately pried open the log, to pieces that I could split more readily. Stage 3: I bought a massive demolition sledge hammer (essentially a two-handed battle hammer) and used that to drive the wedges in after getting them started, and made a bit more progress on actually splitting the rounds. Stage 4: After doing this countless times, you just a knack for reading the wood, and where it will / won't split. I reverted back to using just the splitting axe, since if you hit the wood in the right spots, it really just splits on its own. Here's where I ended up, if it helps any of you: - Start by establishing the fracture line that will be used to split the round in half. I would eyeball any existing line on the round towards the center, and use the axe head to mark a line, away from any knots , from the center to the edge. These two center-to-edge didn't necessarily need to be inline. They could be slightly offset, like hands on a clock. - With moderate force, just repeatedly strike that line, working from the center outwards. You'd be shocked out how quickly repeated strikes widen the line, and eventually the wood's own weight almost causes it to fall apart. - Recursively do this with the two halves: Draw the line from (what was the center), radially out to the edge. Repeatedly strike until these pieces have been halved. - Continue this process until you have proper pizza wedges. At this point, it's pretty trivial to just chop the pizza wedge, from the wedge to the base, into 4 or 5 smaller firewood-sized logs. I know y'all probably didn't care to read this, but this was quite honestly weeks of my life in learning this, and I couldn't find a great guide on YouTube or anything, especially for rounds this big.

helterskelter 4mo ago
You can also score the ends of the rounds with your saw about an inch deep, laid out radially like you're cutting a pizza, then work your wedges in.

larodi 4mo ago

It takes understanding rotation and momentum to do right. Also different to bet chops in different ways.