Is it different? I have a large limb 18" - 20" in diameter from a conifer.
I think it is a Bishop Pine but I am not sure. I buried 2 wedges in a
20" piece and had to work with a crow bar to retrieve my wedges. It still
never split. I never had this problem with trunks. Is the growth and
split ability different in limbs? It has dried for 6 months in S. Calif.

Depends. Limbs have accelerated wood growth below to support loads,
which doesn't happen much with (vertically-oriented) trunk. So there
are structural differences, which may mean something. 20" diam.? 20"
long?

Probably not a lot of research into this property of any pine, because
of its being kinda down on the list of fuelwoods. (We're fortunate here
with choice of excellent fuelwood species.)

IMHO, if it can't be split with a 6-lb maul, then a preparatory
chain-saw rip along intended split line should do it. Else, rip
deeper.

HTH,
J

Al wrote:

Is it different? I have a large limb 18" - 20" in diameter from a conifer.
I think it is a Bishop Pine but I am not sure. I buried 2 wedges in a
20" piece and had to work with a crow bar to retrieve my wedges. It still
never split. I never had this problem with trunks. Is the growth and
split ability different in limbs? It has dried for 6 months in S. Calif.

Not a lot other than there may be a whole bunch of small limbs coming
off the limb which prevent the grain from running???

A question to possibly add to his question. Is a limb coming off a
trunk "reaction wood"? That word was used to describe the wood milled
out of a tree that has grown up with a lean in an article I read
lately? (ie..wood that is likely to show alot of movement as it dries)

On 2 Nov 2005 21:11:53 -0800, "
wrote:

A question to possibly add to his question. Is a limb coming off a
trunk "reaction wood"? That word was used to describe the wood milled
out of a tree that has grown up with a lean in an article I read
lately? (ie..wood that is likely to show alot of movement as it dries)


the answer is.... sometimes.

generally limbs don't mill well into boards. you'll likely have better
luck using then substantially whole or cutting them into chunks for
turning.