We’re in the midst of a semi-major landscaping project. As part of this project, we’ve had a number of trees taken down. They chipped and hauled away away the pines, but I asked them to cut the oak into firewood-length rounds and stack them out back so I could split them for firewood.
There are about 95-100 rounds (there are couple laying behind the pile, as well). Here’s the “before” picture.
On Sunday, I went out and picked up a wood-splitting maul and some wedges and then came home and got to work. Guess what? Splitting wood is hard work! I knew that going in, which is partly why I wanted them to leave the wood behind.
I figure that splitting wood is a good cross-training exercise, and it’s actually somewhat productive. I do not, however, want to overdo it. Thus, I started small and only split a handful of rounds. I then re-arranged the wood pile to make it a bit more stable.
Here’s the the “after” picture.
Not very different, huh? It’s going to take me awhile to work through all of these! By the end, however, I’ll be a hulking lumberjack. 
Here’s the resulting firewood that I split — probably enough for 2-3 fires in the new outdoor fireplace that we’re building.
Aside from a blood blister at the base of my ring finger on my left hand, I escaped without any major wounds. Sure, I had some the following days, but I’m definitely ready for more.
Get free updates via e-mail!