Pre-split wood is readily available in stores all year round.
However, buying logs and splitting wood yourself is a great way to save money on fuel.
Knowing the easiest and best way to split wood will save you a lot of time and frustration.
Your wood splitting skills, speed, and accuracy will naturally be built over time with practice and patience.
We’ve got some pro tips and advice on the best way to split wood.
They will save you from making some classic beginner’s mistakes.
The first thing you should learn about how to split logs is how to do it safely. It involves the use of some pretty dangerous tools.
The last thing you want is to spend all the money you saved this winter by splitting your own wood on hospital bills.
After you’ve taken the proper safety precautions, as outlined below, you’ll need to make sure you have all the right tools in place.
Then, follow our top tips to find out the easiest way to split wood with an ax or chainsaw.
When it comes to how to split logs safely, you’ll need to give some consideration to the location in which you’ll be working, as well as the clothes you wear.
Choose an area where you have enough space to work and where flying debris won’t damage anything around you.
If you’re splitting wood with an ax or maul, you’ll also need to make sure you have reasonably flat ground on which to place the chopping block.
You also need to protect yourself from flying debris by wearing protective clothing.
You should wear long, thick pants and sturdy boots to protect your legs and feet.
You also need protective glasses to shield your eyes.
A pair of work gloves will also help prevent or at least prolong the formation of blisters as you work.
If you’re using a chainsaw, we recommend a pair of earplugs to protect your hearing.
Some of the tools you should have on hand include:
Once you’ve got your technique right, most logs will fly apart with one single swing.
That said, larger, damper, and heavier logs may require a bit more effort.
That is where the wedge and sledgehammer come in.
The most common way to split wood is to use a wood splitting ax or maul.
Ideally, you’ll have a maul, a specific type of ax with one sharp edge on a thick and heavy head.
The shape of a maul drives maximum weight into the head and blade, which helps split the wood apart.
Otherwise, you’ll need a good, heavy ax, or you could also make do with a good hatchet if need be.
Most rounds will need splitting once in half. Then each half will get split again into quarters.
The key to splitting wood is to ensure that you’re splitting it with the grain.
That means you’ll want to place your wood round on the chopping block.
You must stand up on one end so that the wood grain is running towards you.
Place the round towards the back end of the chopping block, further away from you.
That way, if you miss, you’ll still hit the block.
Your stance is important to ensure that maximum force is driven downwards in the swing.
Contrary to what most beginners think, this involves standing with your feet and shoulders square towards the log.
Place your dominant hand at one end of the ax, close to the head, with the other hand on the handle, near the bottom of the ax.
Your dominant hand will help you aim and swing but will slide down the ax, closer to your other hand, as you swing.
This will help direct the blade while you swing and increase the force as you move.
Remember to keep both of your arms straight as you swing the ax.
Pay close attention to your distance from the wood.
You also need to keep a close eye on the handle of the ax, ensuring it comes down horizontal to the ground.
For smaller logs, swing for the center of the round and with larger logs.
Then swing for the outer edge closest to you.
If the wood doesn’t split on the first swing, you just pull it out and try again.
Oftentimes, though, the ax will be wedged deep into the log at this point. Pulling it out isn’t also quite as easy as it sounds.
At this point, you can lift the round-up by the ax handle, turn it over and swing the ax down onto the block again.
Hopefully, the weight of the round will finish off the split.
You can also hold it upside down and pound it with a sledgehammer.
You can also try to drive the wedge into the round using the sledgehammer.
You can either finish off the split or release your ax so that you can try again.
Technically speaking, you don’t split wood with a chainsaw because you’re cutting it instead.
Your chainsaw will be around two inches longer than the wood you’re splitting.
Most wood rounds are roughly 16 inches long, so an 18-inch chainsaw will be perfect.
Although for thicker logs, it is best to use a 20- or 24-inch chainsaw.
When splitting wood with a chainsaw, a chopping block is convenient but not completely necessary.
Since a chainsaw cuts the wood, rather than split it, you don’t need to worry so much about which way the grain is going.
You’ll also be cutting the wood lengthwise, instead of from top to bottom.
As such, you’ll want to place your round laying down.
Use two further rounds or any old wood pieces to keep the round you’ll be cutting in place.
Once your round is held securely in place, dig the bucking spikes at the chainsaw base into the wood.
After that, pivot the blade downwards.
If you’re cutting on a wooden block, you can cut all the way through,.
On the contrary, if you’re cutting on the ground, you’ll need to stop just before the bottom.
If your chainsaw touches the ground, you’ll dull the blade immediately.
Thus, you shouldn’t try to cut the round all the way through.
Instead, you need to lay the chainsaw down, pick up the piece of wood, turn it over, and smash it downwards into one of the other wood pieces.
Hopefully, this will split the final attached section. If not, you’ll need to use your wedge and sledgehammer to finish it off.
The easiest way to split wood also involves knowing when is the best time to do it.
That is when it’s cold out because the wood will split more cleanly and easily.
After this, keep in mind that you need to aim the tool properly.
This is to avoid wood knots where possible. You must also make sure you line up the wood grain towards you, but slightly off-center.
This will ensure you have a very slight angle from the wood's grain.
If you’re looking for the best tool to split wood, you should invest in a compact wood splitter.
Wood splitting power tools use hydraulics for splitting rounds of wood.
Also, although they don’t come cheap, they are well worth the investment. That is especially if you have a lot of wood to split.
It's always best to split woods when it’s dry. That said, many people prefer to split it when it’s wet so that it dries faster.
Hardwoods will burn more slowly, giving you more heat for longer than softwoods.
Clean burning hardwoods you should look out for include oak, eucalyptus, birch, and beech.
Elm and hickory are also hardwoods, but they’re particularly knotty. Therefore, they're more difficult to split.
After you’ve split the wood, stack it as neatly as possible, ideally against a wall somewhere.
The pile should be located in a place with good drainage.
You should also stack the bottom layer on top of some 2x4’s that have been treated to avoid rot.
The wood will shrink and shift over the months.
As such, you need to pile the woods tightly enough to stay safe and allow decent airflow.
If your pile of wood is outside, you’ll need to keep it covered with a tarp to protect it from getting wet again. That is especially during the winter months.
Splitting your own wood will save you a lot of money. Plus, when you’re swinging an ax, it’s really great exercise.
You can also enjoy a sense of pride and accomplishment when you’re sitting in front of the fireplace this winter.
Knowing that your hard work, sweat, but hopefully not tears, helped make this fire possible is fun and fulfilling!
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