On Jul 8, 6:18*pm, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
I've heard that logs take typically two years to "season"
and get really good.

Know what you mean about the exercise. Sounds like time to
see if any friends know someone with a gasoline powered
splitter. Wood seasons a lot faster, if it's split. Easier
to split, green? I'm not sure.

Wish I had better news.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
*www.lds.org
.

"arkland" wrote in message

...

On Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:09:46 -0700, RicodJour wrote:
Split the wood while it's green. *It's a lot easier and
the wood will
dry out much faster. *Much.

I don't know about you, but, I'm a 40 year old man with a
gut. I swung an
ax into those wet oak logs. The ax stuck. Took me fifteen
minutes to get
it out.

Then, I bought a cone-shaped wedge and a triangle wedge. The
points
barely make a dent in the log cross section, even with a 20
pound sledge
driving it home.

After, maybe a dozen or more swings, the wedge is firmly
buried in the
center of the 20-inch long foot and a half (or more for the
bottom logs)
diameter.

Then I drive the second wedge in to get the first wedge out.
After
fifteen or twenty minutes, I've split a single log in half.

Splitting the half into quarters takes half the time of the
original
split, but, the point is that these logs aren't going to get
split any
time soon.

Plus, it would seem to me that a log would split easier when
it's DRY!

Are you sure oak splits easier when wet?

Anyway, how does two months sound (all of July and all of
August in the
sun) for how long a log should dry before burning?

Double that and you're almost there. Most folks say a full year to
really dry out if it is not split.

The trick when splitting is not to try to split the wood via the
centerline of the tree, but rather to approach it more like peeling an
apple, circumferentially. I usually spend a little time looking at
the grain to see where a wedge would split the wood the easiest. I
use a 6lb splitting maul and two steel wedges.

First I use the pointy side of the maul and give the log as strong a
blow as I can where I expect to put the wedge. If I am lucky, 75% of
the time, the maul make an indentation deep enough to more or less
support the wedge and then I drive the wedge on in until the wood
splits. Having a good solid base to put the log to be split on is
important. Putting the log on the ground means that you are not
coming straight down on the wedge. If you have some sort of a
platform to raise the log about 12 -18', it makes things much easier.
I usually use the largest unsplit log I have as a base because it is
about 16" thick/tall and gets me the correct angle for the maul to hit
the wedge squarely. I am 75 and only 160 lbs so my swing isn't what
it once was, but I find that splitting wood is actually easier now
that I have learned how to do it in a more efficient manner.