Splitting firewood

[MNlad]

Love the pics. Brings back fond (and not so fond) memories of splitting 6-8 cords of wood every fall & winter, all with a splitting maul or, when the going got tough, a 16-lb. sledge and wedges. Right now it's -10 f. here, and I remember the colder it got, the easier the wood (mostly oak) split. That was back in my p.k. (pre-kilt) days.

Since the wind chill is currently -30 f., I'll leave the outdoor kilted activities for another day. But that box-pleated tweed kilt does look grand.

[mookien]

Thank you, Robert. He's still onery but slowing down a little.
;-)

Actually, it's John, but I knew who you meant. And, I'm slowing down a bit, too, so I know how your Dad feels.

John

[TheOfficialBren]

Actually, it's John, but I knew who you meant. And, I'm slowing down a bit, too, so I know how your Dad feels.

John

Omg! I apologise! I should have been aying attention. My apologies, sir.

[Jake_S]

I was not fortunate enough to have any mechanical splitting tools at my disposal when I was younger. We didn't use wood for heat (I grew up in Northeast Georgia), but my Pop did use wood to heat his shop and when we went camping. My brothers and I did enjoy splitting wood and we made a competition of it. We would see who could split the most pieces with a single blow. My Pop did build a hydraulic splitter after I left for boot camp.
Now I get by with a few different axes, a wedge and my trusty sledge. Great exercise and now I'm showing my boys how to properly split wood.

Jake

[TheOfficialBren]

I was not fortunate enough to have any mechanical splitting tools at my disposal when I was younger. We didn't use wood for heat (I grew up in Northeast Georgia), but my Pop did use wood to heat his shop and when we went camping. My brothers and I did enjoy splitting wood and we made a competition of it. We would see who could split the most pieces with a single blow. My Pop did build a hydraulic splitter after I left for boot camp.
Now I get by with a few different axes, a wedge and my trusty sledge. Great exercise and now I'm showing my boys how to properly split wood.

Jake

There is something more satisfying about splitting wood with an axe or a sledge'n'wedge than with a machine. It harkens back to the pastoral romance of yore.

[cormacmacguardhe]

my father repeated an old saying,"a man who chops his own wood is twice warmed."

[llyd]

Oddly, I don't care for splitting wood with a maul or ax...but I will gladly spend hours cutting hay with an austrian pattern scythe...go figure. I think it is a more meditative thing. Making a denim kilt now with some weight to the pleats to get a good swing...air conditioning doncha know?

[TheOfficialBren]

my father repeated an old saying,"a man who chops his own wood is twice warmed."

Wise words, indeed.

[mookien]

... I grew up in Northeast Georgia ... My brothers and I did enjoy splitting wood and we made a competition of it. We would see who could split the most pieces with a single blow. ...

Jake

Jake: What part of NE Georgia? I have a sister in law and a brother in law who live in the Tiger/Clayton area. My Pop was from the Blue Ridge and Ellijay area in north central GA.

"split the most pieces with a single blow"?! I can split one piece with six blows, if only four of them miss.

John

[piperdbh]

My great uncle Amos said you get warm 7 times dealing with firewood:
1) cutting the tree down
2) cutting it into blocks
3) splitting it
4) loading it into the truck
5) unloading it
6) carrying it into the house
7) burning it

He thought about lots of stuff, my great uncle Amos.