Nobody ever said chopping firewood is easy. If anything, that’s what makes it so satisfying. It takes skill, precision, and endurance to build up enough firewood to last all winter, and being able to accomplish that is rewarding to say the least. Still, it’s a task that should never be more difficult than it needs to be. Any tip or trick you can find is fair game.
One of the simplest things you can do is to find a way to keep the log together as you chop it. Otherwise, every successful chop you make will mean having to bend down to pick up the pieces and adjust the log. It will also help you steady those uneven logs that simply refuse to remain standing on their own.
Probably the most popular way to do this, involves nothing more than one or two car tires.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbrYYc0MizA]
Alternatively, a chain and a rubber bungee cord can also help you keep the log together.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vThcK-idm0]
In that guy’s case, it probably also helped that he had a really high quality wood splitting axe. Nonetheless, both of these methods are pretty useful for making your firewood chopping session a little shorter, and a lot less tedious.
excellent idea the tyre one 🙂 thanks I will use that this winter:-)
That’s just a ducky way to do it if you have nice, straight-grained wood. However, wood with cross-grains, or lots of branch intersections will just get hung up in the tire as they won’t split cleanly.
To make it even “easier”, downright enjoyable, get yourself the best splitting maul in the world. The hand-made Gransfors Bruks Splitting Maul, made in Sweden. Nothing like it on the planet.
Cut the biggest logs you can and then use a wedge and a sledge hammer, makes it way easier and faster.
I don’t cut my own wood any more and bought a 32 ton wood splitter to spit the wood down further. Some good ideas here.
FYI, for the guy with the bungy cord. Aim for the near side of the log. Continuously hitting the log with your handle will eventually break it.