Well, you gotta feel good when your community members let you know that you have been mentioned in a video from someone of this caliber. Mr . Essential Craftsman, what an honour. Thank you for your words.... and great video, sincerely, Buckin’ , Be Kind .
I feel like I am the only one in the heart of Tacoma still burning wood. I get free delivery from arborist in the area, and always have a group of older folks watching and talking when I am out there splitting on a nice sunny morning. buckin billy ray is a master of his craft and his love for what he does in life is absolutely amazing.
I’m up near issaquah and building a house has giving me plenty of cords of wood for years to come. As you know, firewood heats you up three times, when you cut it down, when you split it, and when you burn it.
I LOVE splitting wood. It's so much fun. There's just something primal and manly and energizing about it. I grunt like Tim the Tool Man Taylor every time 😂
Tip: if you live in an area with actual winter wait until the temperature is below freezing. The wood will often almost split itself. Great technique Scott!
I like the subtle shout out to Buckin’, shows the respect these men have for one another. He’s the man if you’re trying to learn about trees and splittin.
One of my favorite memories is splitting wood for my mom. She had (strategically) put a sign by the wood pile that read “He who splits his own wood, warms himself twice” I always think of that to this day while working a woodpile.
From the hills of Tennessee. When I was a kid, my granddad sharecropped a 375 acre cattle farm. 100 acres of those was on a ridgeside. The grade was so steep the only way up was to go three miles down the valley and three miles back up to the back gate and the only vehicle that would pull that road was a tractor. We were up there one day. He was cutting I was splitting and loading, or trying to. He had cut an old growth oak and because of the grade it was a tall stump. We sat down to lunch and after he ate, he picked me up and sat me on that stump. I sat there eating my bologna and cheese, looking down at the scenery. Mr Wadsworth, I love your channel because you remind me so much of my papaw. He, too, was never one to sit still. So many things I learned from him just through his actions. He never was one to say much. My homelife was pure hell on Earth and the only place I felt safe, was when he and I were out having our adventures. We always worked but it never seemed like work to me, because I knew I was with the one man in my life, that truly loved me. I'm not much on such work these days. Not much of that goes on around here now But oh how I'd love to have one more time with just he and myself, up there on that ridgeside, making littleuns out of bigguns and knocking time off the clock dial.
@@essentialcraftsman No sir Thank you!!! Your content is top notch and so helpful in far more ways than you realize for myself and so many others. On their behalf, I say thank YOU sir. Godspeed and God bless!!!
You are the grandpa I never had. I’ve learned so much from you, and I in turn, I am teaching my two boys. We have the sharpest knives in the city, and are getting very handy. Thanks so much for the time you have spent to to show us your hard earned experience. We built primitive shelters in the forest yesterday and used many skills that I learned right here on your channel.
Oh, man, this took me back!! Some of my most favorite times as a teenager were those spent splitting up the winter's firewood in the late summer. Maine, August, a strong, healthy 16 year old with the sun on his back, a grin on his face and the world at his feet. Gosh, those were wonderful years. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I'm 63 too and I've been splitting firewood since I'm 12. Love it. Great way to relax after a tough, long day at work. Or, a cold weekend morning with a mug of hot coffee and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. (It's a long island thing.)
Just watched this again such a great video .. firewood has salvaged so many wondering men out there just wanting to accomplish something. It’s where it all started for this busted up ol’ faller. Thx again Scott
Scott, you are a machine. Even in my youth I could not split wood like you do. Now, being 13 years your senior I wouldn’t even try & thus I buy cord wood already split. You’re amazing.
I admire this man . I helped my Dad split wood for several years . He taught me to use an axe , a three pound axe . It isn't how hard you swing , you add a little twist just before contact . If it doesn't split , your axe won't stick .
Is there *ANYTHING* you don't know how to do well? 😁 You certainly are the valedictorian of School of Hard Knocks... Scratch that, you are the Dean!! Mad respect!
Some good hand splitting footage. I prefer an axe all day as well over a maul. You can hit many angles with an axe that are far more challenging to accomplish with a maul. One of many reasons I prefer an axe. Thanks for sharing!
I'm an 8 lb man, myself. Also prefer to go straight through knots. That said, I grew up in Polk County, OR. Timber and firewood was a constant occurrence, in my life from the late '70's-late '80's. In the early 2010's, I ran a firewood company for 3 years. Rediscovering my enjoyment of slinging a chainsaw (ran an early '70's Homelite and a Stiel 360, both with 24 in bars), and how good it felt to swing a splitting maul. I was blessed to gather my material in Detroit Ranger District, which ment Douglas Fir. Honestly some of the most beautiful wood to split. In 3 years time, my company grossed over $100k, heating over 200 homes. I miss the work, sometimes. Thank you, Mr Wadsworth, for this video.
When I think back about all the wood that I've split over the years and all the little tricks and nuances that I've learned, it's so pleasing to hear someone describe a few of those as you just did. Work smarter and then work harder....good honest work for sure. We always said wood warms you at least twice! Lol
Scott, thanks for the tips and the efforts. I also am 63 and love the manly excitement of logging. Cutting wood, splitting, and stacking. I now cut wood for my neighbors also. Just to do it. Love your show.
I went to a boarding school while in high school. We had to do various chores, but i always liked spliting wood more. I got good at it and was always given this task. To date, i still remeber the peace and calm it gave me.
They're are thousands of young men that can't hold a candle to your strength and more importantly your work ethic. I'll be 63 in 4 months and I can't hold a candle you sir. Blessings and keep up the great work.
Love it :) My dad was bound & determined to use ONLY a mechanical log splitter when I was a kid (read: wanted me to split the logs while the exhaust blew in my face haha). I eventually found some peace and, quite frankly, some exercise value in splitting by hand. I'd spend hours just busting piles of firewood! Mom & dad had firewood and I had an excuse to get out of the house & get sweaty haha!
I used to hate splitting logs as a child. But, having done it now as a 29 year old man for my parent's fireplace, I found I really actually love it. This video was great
Have to agree about Buckin' Billy Ray...that guy is perhaps the best 'feller' I've ever seen. Nice to see him get a compliment for his wood-splitting as well. Says good things about a person who is willing to compliment others for no reason but to acknowledge their skill. Good stuff.
I remember I was just getting good at splitting wood around 14yrs old living outside Spokane. Just like in this video I'd line up a bunch of rounds and obliterate them at one blow. Incredibly satisfying. Recently had to split and stack some wood for a relative and learned the hard way that it makes a HUGE difference to have nice dry wood.
Lots of memories with my grandpa and some wood splitting, he could pick the tree that would split better, tell you where it would fall and be able to cut it into the most usable pieces. I did manage to retain some of his lessons, and you my friend brought back some fond memories. Great job and good to see a 63 year old bustin wood!
I just split a cord of poplar that dropped in the ice storm last month- it was so strait and green, I split some of the rounds with my hatchet and the rest with a 4lb flat head! Cheers from Turner, OR
God, this did my heart good. I see so many folks on TH-cam- in a lot of cases, folks who are trying to educate other people- taking the most difficult paths, possible to split firewood. Hell, there was one guy I saw a couple weeks ago who spent a solid 5 minutes on a single piece just kind of fooling around with wedges. I'm 43 and grew up splitting the same way you do. I hated it when I was younger, but I absolutely love doing it when I get the chance now.
I hated splitting wood as a kid, but now I sort of love it. You are right that things that bring us back to childhood are definitely things we seek out.
Right on time. I was given a tractor trailer of eucalyptus logs and branches last week. I've cut all of the branches and some of the logs with the chainsaw. I have to finish that and then the splitting should begin. However, eucalyptus is a bit harder to split compared to ash, so when I cut them with the chainsaw they are about half or so as long as your logs seem to be. Also, they're not going to a chimney or so, they have to get into the fireplace and that also dictates its maximum possible length. By the way, I don't tend to try and split them in half unless their diameter is small enough, I'd rather go kind of around the border, as if I were peeling the log all around, not just taking the bark away but some of the wood with every hit of the axe (yep, that's what I have, that's what I use). Not my case this time, but I remember having to splitt logs that were nearly 1 meter (3 feet) wide, and trying to split them through the middle is quite hard, and if it's already dry, even harder. Thank you!
I bought a house with an acre of trees and a creek last year. It was always my dream. No better feeling than a hard days work on my property. My 5 year old loves it as well.
This is an awesome channel! Dude taught me to use a scary chain saw safely, I took apart the trees down in my driveway. If I can split them for firewood I don’t have to pay to have them hauled away. I’m a 64 yr old lady and it’s very satisfying to chain saw an oak tree apart! 😉
I'm 64 and remember a time when my boys gave me an excuse to beat the snot out of a pile ash rounds. They've grown up but I occasionally still enjoy the exercise.
Its so nice when one of my favorite channels shouts out one of my other favorite channels, i love it.....now excuse me as I have about a cord and a half of various wood that needs splittin
When I was a young warthog, my brother and I used to split 40 face cords a year to heat my grandparents' farmhouse. It was mostly sugar maple, with a little oak, elm and ash mixed in. One thing that really helps is cold! We would cut in February (dad on the saw, grandpa supervising) and split and pile right away so it would season over the summer. -20 C really helps them split! And, as Henry Ford said, wood heats you twice. When you split it and when you burn it.
People just don't understand how enjoyable a truckload of Ash rounds is to split. When the picture panned back and showed Scott standing in front of all those Ash rounds, a smile crossed my face.
Splitting wood is one of my favorite activities. You get a good workout and see the tangible results when you are done. It's one of the good memories of my childhood and early adulthood. I still cut and split wood...and I don't even have a wood stove! I get a chord or two each year for others.
My family burned wood as a primary source of heat in the winter and my dad thought it was a great skill and character building experience for us 5 boys to split the winters wood, I never forgot after first learning from experience how to get the wood to split from the checks in the grain then the he brought home some logs that were Cedar telephone poles, wow we thought we were Superman! We could split them so easy it was so fun! We ended up splitting up that wood into kindling and dad also taught us how to use a fro to make wood shingles. Thanks for bringing back the memories!!
Great video. I used to split firewood when I was a youngster and I honestly enjoyed it. My Daddy told me some of the things you pointed out about how to go about it and seeing and hearing you say those things brought back fond memories, so I thank you for that.
I haven't seen any of your videos for a while, not sure why to be honest. But watching this reminded me of how calming I find your approach to life. Splitting wood can be so good, though I reckon one in twenty of the logs I end up with splits as easily as those!
I was impressed how you are able to hit the same spot on every swing. That is experience ! We often had wood that didn’t split well so we used a wedge more often than not. Not fun when you have to use a wedge and sledge hammer. Thanks for another great video !!
I'm 53 and am just learning this year. I have been using a wedge, because my lovely neighbor cut the stumps with a lot of angles. I'm getting it done, but it's taking a bit longer than this guy. 😄
My father used to say..."...wood warms you twice!!" That was a good workout! Fun to watch. I used to put each log up on a bigger log, then pick up the next and the next...wish I had done your set up...but man I was warm!! Also, lately (and I'm sure this is sacrilege...) i love my hydraulic log splitter! 67 now so i pick my battles! And my shoulders thank me for it!
Alaskan logger here. Great tips. We split about 20-60 full cords/year of mostly green wood for seasoning. Here's some more recommendations: 1. Kinetic log splitter if you can afford it 2. Splitting AXE on straight grain wood w/o knots (the concept is the same as using a Stiletto hammer) 3. Fiskars Isocore maul for the rest
Red oak makes you look fantastic , white oak , not so much ! Most of my red oak is dieing not sure why , no apparent reason . Biggest one I've seen still alive is 18 diameter .
@@mikesr3407 Not sure what part of the country you are in but it could be a water mold. The amount of rain we've had in the south this year is insane. Consider myself lucky to have hundreds of 24" to 30" red oaks on my property. Lost a 38" a few months back in a storm and have loads of firewood now.
Right up until I got my Eagle Scout I would always just go off right outside the camp and split all the firewood we would need over the weekend/week. My favorite memories from my childhood were spend, that maul and I just doing our thing. Great video!
We heat our house with wood and I've been able to split all the wood we burned this winter. It's great work! Nothing quite as satisfying as a piece of maple blowing apart like you dynamited it!
Yup...Spent many a day splitting wood with my best friend while left to ourselves. Good times. Good skills. No one watched us back then.... and we just wanted to discover what we could do. Sometimes we had some stories to tell....sometimes we kept our mouths shut about what happened. No one got hurt (though very close at times), and that's all mom needs to know. Dad always knew there was more to the story and he would just tell us how to make sure we were safe without asking too many questions. We learned a lot....and are better for it.
“I’m 63.” We’ll I’m 25, and you make splitting wood look easy. I use a 4.5lb splitting axe, it is the best combo of speed and power for me… love the video, thanks! Sam
It's amazing you were made to do this as a kid and now enjoy it. Most of the time it's the opposite. I have a friend that stayed on a mower and swore off any grass cutting as an adult. He is almost 60 and has paid for grass cutting since leaving home.
Thanks for the video. I have not long ago found the joy of splitting logs . In fact found that I would ask my neighbor if I could help him. Not for profit but for the shear joy. Thanks again for the video.
I loved splitting wood as a kid and still do. It is enjoyable. Good job for kids, it teaches you to think about a task before starting. And hard work can be fun if you make it that way rather than just a chore
That was great.... after 60 years in Minnesota, I'm living in Las Vegas and my yard has trees that are of a size too large to just throw away... and so I have a couple 'walls' of firewood between the Palm (yuck!) trees for my Fire Ring. You can take the boy out of MN but you can't take the MN out of the boy!! I think my maul is a 5# and I've used it and loved it. Mom & Dad burned wood so there were years of splitting, there too. Splitting wood is THERAPEUTIC, at least for ME!!!! Thank You!!
I enjoy your videos the have so much meaning for the craftsman . You reach out and touch people in their heart the people that has had a great country life, working with metal, wood, leather your not afraid to keep learning. Thank you sir for being the person you are. People learn from you everyday.
I worked at the Minnesota Challenge Incarceration program (prison boot camp) as a Corrections officer. Manual labor was part of the program, I would supervise. Most of these men never used a 2 man saw, split wood, removed stumps or gardened. I taught many how to do these things because of my upbringing on the farm.
Lots in common here! Making firewood from rounds with a mail or axe. Have to appreciate Essential Craftsman, his channel and Buckin Billy Ray as well. Happy Easter!
That's so cool, unlike what you see on TV with the guy (very inefficiently) picking up one piece of wood at a time and swinging at it, now I've learned the REAL smart way to do it is set up a field of logs so you can get in a rhythm, walk around swinging, and get exponentially more work done, all without the constant bending/swinging alternate which would destroy a man's back. (Bonus points if you have a young guy like Nate to do the setups in between!)
thank you, i have said it before, and folks tend to look at me without understanding i guess, but one of the things dearest to my heart, something i truly love doing is popping wood on a cold winter day with still air. that is one of the finest moments a fella can have imho. another one, though it does not reach anywhere near those heights of satisfaction, is pruning on a long row of grapes. i really miss splitting wood these days. (i'm an old guy) last winter my wife told me of a friend whose daughter in law had run out of wood. it was wonderful, i just happened to have a good pile of well seasoned mostly cherry and some oak and blk walnut. all straight grain, i like to split a few every now and then as i go for a cooking fire these days. i was primed and ready and popped off a load and took it up. it was so satisfying, i hadn't really forgot how much i liked splitting wood, but i had forgot how absolutely satisfying i felt afterwards.
I have a lot of fond memories of cutting wood with my family when I was young. Though we had chainsaws and log splitters we always did some of it by hand to figure out which of us three sons could split wood the fastest.
I grew up with my grandpa...parents were always there just was better off with my gramps...used to spend all summer and fall cutting and splitting wood and obviously in the blowing snow 10 15 degrees...before school every morning. I loved it...it gave me the work ethic I have now. I used to get so excited when he backed in the dump truck ready to be split or when we went and got a few truck loads every weekend ready to be split. Never bothered me to spend my days after school splitting wood. Don't do it no more caise we have electric heat. Wish my son could know the same joy I did growing up.
I fell in love with an axe last year when everything went downhill with covid. I had some things happen that really got at me, so one day during quarantine I decided to sharpen my grandpa's ax and start cutting down the dead trees in our woods. I cut down about 10, good sized, ash trees. It really was a good way to deal with my frustrations
Buckin Billy Ray told us to check out your fine channel. He is right. Nice job. I am 70 and also enjoy splitting firewood with my single bit. A great feeling of accomplishment busting that wood. Now to put a new handle in my mail. Thanks for what you do.
The first thing I think about when splitting wood is - keeping my feet intact. And, yes. I really enjoy it. And thanks for the tips on strategy! On really big pieces I use a wood granade. Maybe I won't have to now.
Brings back memories. My pop died suddenly when I was just 13. There was a stack of twisted oak rounds at the homestead in northern CA. Must of spent 1000 hours just splitting and resplitting. Taking it out on that wood. The next years in high school kids wondered why I was so strong. Only a few new.
I agree, hitting on the edge is the key to success. Don't forget a wood splitter is fun also. My favorite though is to cut and stack rounds in the summer and then in the winter when it is cold split the wood by hand a day's worth at a time. It's good cardio exercise and also helps mentally in the short cold days of winter.
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Well, you gotta feel good when your community members let you know that you have been mentioned in a video from someone of this caliber. Mr . Essential Craftsman, what an honour. Thank you for your words.... and great video, sincerely, Buckin’ , Be Kind .
Salt of the earth hard working genuine folk here, Buckin'. Ya fit right in, brother!
Dear Scott and Nate, please do a podcast with Buckin! What a collaboration that would make 🤞🏻
Love it when quality channels "crossover"*
TH-cam algorithm took me from essential crafstman to buckin billy! Love both of your channels!
Two of the best channels on TH-cam! Thank you for your content, gentlemen.
I feel like I am the only one in the heart of Tacoma still burning wood. I get free delivery from arborist in the area, and always have a group of older folks watching and talking when I am out there splitting on a nice sunny morning. buckin billy ray is a master of his craft and his love for what he does in life is absolutely amazing.
I’m up near issaquah and building a house has giving me plenty of cords of wood for years to come. As you know, firewood heats you up three times, when you cut it down, when you split it, and when you burn it.
@@steven_farmer89 Love that quote, I think I heard Buckin' Billy Ray Smith say it before.
Hey I’m out in here Tacoma as well! I, too, am on an arborist’s call list for free wood. I’m out in the Midland area. Right on!
I LOVE splitting wood. It's so much fun. There's just something primal and manly and energizing about it. I grunt like Tim the Tool Man Taylor every time 😂
Tip: if you live in an area with actual winter wait until the temperature is below freezing. The wood will often almost split itself. Great technique Scott!
And there's a lot fewer skeeters to hone in on their stationary victim
I like the subtle shout out to Buckin’, shows the respect these men have for one another. He’s the man if you’re trying to learn about trees and splittin.
One of my favorite memories is splitting wood for my mom. She had (strategically) put a sign by the wood pile that read “He who splits his own wood, warms himself twice” I always think of that to this day while working a woodpile.
You can also warm yourself up by hauling that wood to the house!
I love this
@Mikfinity depending on the wood, if you care about soot anyway
From the hills of Tennessee.
When I was a kid, my granddad sharecropped a 375 acre cattle farm.
100 acres of those was on a ridgeside.
The grade was so steep the only way up was to go three miles down the valley and three miles back up to the back gate and the only vehicle that would pull that road was a tractor.
We were up there one day.
He was cutting
I was splitting and loading, or trying to.
He had cut an old growth oak and because of the grade it was a tall stump.
We sat down to lunch and after he ate, he picked me up and sat me on that stump.
I sat there eating my bologna and cheese, looking down at the scenery.
Mr Wadsworth, I love your channel because you remind me so much of my papaw.
He, too, was never one to sit still.
So many things I learned from him just through his actions. He never was one to say much.
My homelife was pure hell on Earth and the only place I felt safe, was when he and I were out having our adventures.
We always worked but it never seemed like work to me, because I knew I was with the one man in my life, that truly loved me.
I'm not much on such work these days.
Not much of that goes on around here now
But oh how I'd love to have one more time with just he and myself, up there on that ridgeside, making littleuns out of bigguns and knocking time off the clock dial.
Thank you so much for this...
@@essentialcraftsman
No sir
Thank you!!!
Your content is top notch and so helpful in far more ways than you realize for myself and so many others.
On their behalf, I say thank YOU sir.
Godspeed and God bless!!!
He's the Chuck Norris of log splitting! Good job, old man!
How much wood could a wood Chuck chuck....
@@bradcavanagh3092 I don't know about a woodchuck but I know how much a Scott can split!!!
The older the man, the more accurate on that checking those hits will be
You are the grandpa I never had. I’ve learned so much from you, and I in turn, I am teaching my two boys. We have the sharpest knives in the city, and are getting very handy. Thanks so much for the time you have spent to to show us your hard earned experience. We built primitive shelters in the forest yesterday and used many skills that I learned right here on your channel.
Buckin billy Ray is definitely the man to watch for any tree content
Hope Buckin comes across this.
I heard something else then buckin, had to rewind
@@snettan as did I. Would've been the first time he uttered it.... me? It's hard to complete a sentence without it...
Nothing but good clean content here, ALL THE TIME EVERY TIME ! Way to go Scott and Nate 👍🏻
@@pauledwards9493 Buckin left a comment 5 hours ago!!
Oh, man, this took me back!! Some of my most favorite times as a teenager were those spent splitting up the winter's firewood in the late summer. Maine, August, a strong, healthy 16 year old with the sun on his back, a grin on his face and the world at his feet. Gosh, those were wonderful years. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I'm 63 too and I've been splitting firewood since I'm 12. Love it. Great way to relax after a tough, long day at work. Or, a cold weekend morning with a mug of hot coffee and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. (It's a long island thing.)
One of the highlights of going to visit my parents is that I almost always get to chop some firewood
So glad I’m not the only one who’s favorite past time is splitting wood
Pass time, because, you know, you’re passing the time
@@thegodemperorofmankind7yea704 that’s what I meant, thank you haha
Just watched this again such a great video .. firewood has salvaged so many wondering men out there just wanting to accomplish something. It’s where it all started for this busted up ol’ faller. Thx again Scott
One of the "chores" that never fails to satisfy...thanks for taking us along!
Scott, you are a machine. Even in my youth I could not split wood like you do. Now, being 13 years your senior I wouldn’t even try & thus I buy cord wood already split. You’re amazing.
I admire this man . I helped my Dad split wood for several years . He taught me to use an axe , a three pound axe . It isn't how hard you swing , you add a little twist just before contact . If it doesn't split , your axe won't stick .
Is there *ANYTHING* you don't know how to do well? 😁 You certainly are the valedictorian of School of Hard Knocks... Scratch that, you are the Dean!! Mad respect!
This channel contains some of the most wholesome content on TH-cam. Thanks for doing what you do !
Knot my favorite childhood memory. 😁
Haaa!!
I *saw* what you did there!
Hope you weren't too *board* by this video!!
Scott, you're a firewood splittin' beast! Brought a grin to my face. Thanks
Some good hand splitting footage. I prefer an axe all day as well over a maul. You can hit many angles with an axe that are far more challenging to accomplish with a maul. One of many reasons I prefer an axe. Thanks for sharing!
I love, love, love, splitting clean wood.
Rarely have opportunity to do it so it was nice to see you enjoy doing it.
I'm an 8 lb man, myself. Also prefer to go straight through knots.
That said, I grew up in Polk County, OR. Timber and firewood was a constant occurrence, in my life from the late '70's-late '80's. In the early 2010's, I ran a firewood company for 3 years. Rediscovering my enjoyment of slinging a chainsaw (ran an early '70's Homelite and a Stiel 360, both with 24 in bars), and how good it felt to swing a splitting maul. I was blessed to gather my material in Detroit Ranger District, which ment Douglas Fir. Honestly some of the most beautiful wood to split. In 3 years time, my company grossed over $100k, heating over 200 homes. I miss the work, sometimes.
Thank you, Mr Wadsworth, for this video.
When I think back about all the wood that I've split over the years and all the little tricks and nuances that I've learned, it's so pleasing to hear someone describe a few of those as you just did. Work smarter and then work harder....good honest work for sure. We always said wood warms you at least twice! Lol
Scott, thanks for the tips and the efforts. I also am 63 and love the manly excitement of logging. Cutting wood, splitting, and stacking. I now cut wood for my neighbors also. Just to do it. Love your show.
I went to a boarding school while in high school. We had to do various chores, but i always liked spliting wood more. I got good at it and was always given this task. To date, i still remeber the peace and calm it gave me.
Buckin is the most positive, loving man on TH-cam. Great video here sir.
They're are thousands of young men that can't hold a candle to your strength and more importantly your work ethic. I'll be 63 in 4 months and I can't hold a candle you sir. Blessings and keep up the great work.
Love it :)
My dad was bound & determined to use ONLY a mechanical log splitter when I was a kid (read: wanted me to split the logs while the exhaust blew in my face haha). I eventually found some peace and, quite frankly, some exercise value in splitting by hand. I'd spend hours just busting piles of firewood! Mom & dad had firewood and I had an excuse to get out of the house & get sweaty haha!
I used to hate splitting logs as a child. But, having done it now as a 29 year old man for my parent's fireplace, I found I really actually love it. This video was great
Have to agree about Buckin' Billy Ray...that guy is perhaps the best 'feller' I've ever seen. Nice to see him get a compliment for his wood-splitting as well. Says good things about a person who is willing to compliment others for no reason but to acknowledge their skill. Good stuff.
I remember I was just getting good at splitting wood around 14yrs old living outside Spokane. Just like in this video I'd line up a bunch of rounds and obliterate them at one blow. Incredibly satisfying. Recently had to split and stack some wood for a relative and learned the hard way that it makes a HUGE difference to have nice dry wood.
Buckin Billy ray can chop and drop! Great video Scott!
Knocking em down like a boss! Nothing better than a stack of fresh splits. Keep up the good work!
Lots of memories with my grandpa and some wood splitting, he could pick the tree that would split better, tell you where it would fall and be able to cut it into the most usable pieces. I did manage to retain some of his lessons, and you my friend brought back some fond memories. Great job and good to see a 63 year old bustin wood!
I love hand splitting fire wood. This video put a smile on my face and now I can't wait till the weekend because I've got some work of my own to do
I just split a cord of poplar that dropped in the ice storm last month- it was so strait and green, I split some of the rounds with my hatchet and the rest with a 4lb flat head! Cheers from Turner, OR
Brings tears to my eyes.
Felling, hauling, splitting, stacking, shuttling, and burning firewood defined my childhood.
God, this did my heart good.
I see so many folks on TH-cam- in a lot of cases, folks who are trying to educate other people- taking the most difficult paths, possible to split firewood.
Hell, there was one guy I saw a couple weeks ago who spent a solid 5 minutes on a single piece just kind of fooling around with wedges.
I'm 43 and grew up splitting the same way you do. I hated it when I was younger, but I absolutely love doing it when I get the chance now.
Cool of you to shout out Buckin Billy Ray! Guy is a tank with an axe
I hated splitting wood as a kid, but now I sort of love it. You are right that things that bring us back to childhood are definitely things we seek out.
A man like you makes people want to be productive.
Right on time. I was given a tractor trailer of eucalyptus logs and branches last week. I've cut all of the branches and some of the logs with the chainsaw. I have to finish that and then the splitting should begin. However, eucalyptus is a bit harder to split compared to ash, so when I cut them with the chainsaw they are about half or so as long as your logs seem to be. Also, they're not going to a chimney or so, they have to get into the fireplace and that also dictates its maximum possible length.
By the way, I don't tend to try and split them in half unless their diameter is small enough, I'd rather go kind of around the border, as if I were peeling the log all around, not just taking the bark away but some of the wood with every hit of the axe (yep, that's what I have, that's what I use). Not my case this time, but I remember having to splitt logs that were nearly 1 meter (3 feet) wide, and trying to split them through the middle is quite hard, and if it's already dry, even harder.
Thank you!
You got that right Buckin is by far the master of old axes and vintage power saws
I bought a house with an acre of trees and a creek last year. It was always my dream. No better feeling than a hard days work on my property. My 5 year old loves it as well.
This is an awesome channel! Dude taught me to use a scary chain saw safely, I took apart the trees down in my driveway. If I can split them for firewood I don’t have to pay to have them hauled away. I’m a 64 yr old lady and it’s very satisfying to chain saw an oak tree apart! 😉
I'm 64 and remember a time when my boys gave me an excuse to beat the snot out of a pile ash rounds. They've grown up but I occasionally still enjoy the exercise.
Its so nice when one of my favorite channels shouts out one of my other favorite channels, i love it.....now excuse me as I have about a cord and a half of various wood that needs splittin
When I was a young warthog, my brother and I used to split 40 face cords a year to heat my grandparents' farmhouse. It was mostly sugar maple, with a little oak, elm and ash mixed in. One thing that really helps is cold! We would cut in February (dad on the saw, grandpa supervising) and split and pile right away so it would season over the summer. -20 C really helps them split! And, as Henry Ford said, wood heats you twice. When you split it and when you burn it.
People just don't understand how enjoyable a truckload of Ash rounds is to split.
When the picture panned back and showed Scott standing in front of all those Ash rounds, a smile crossed my face.
Grew up hating this chore now as a young adult I find it relaxing and it’s a great workout
Splitting wood is one of my favorite activities. You get a good workout and see the tangible results when you are done. It's one of the good memories of my childhood and early adulthood. I still cut and split wood...and I don't even have a wood stove! I get a chord or two each year for others.
My family burned wood as a primary source of heat in the winter and my dad thought it was a great skill and character building experience for us 5 boys to split the winters wood, I never forgot after first learning from experience how to get the wood to split from the checks in the grain then the he brought home some logs that were Cedar telephone poles, wow we thought we were Superman! We could split them so easy it was so fun! We ended up splitting up that wood into kindling and dad also taught us how to use a fro to make wood shingles. Thanks for bringing back the memories!!
Great video. I used to split firewood when I was a youngster and I honestly enjoyed it. My Daddy told me some of the things you pointed out about how to go about it and seeing and hearing you say those things brought back fond memories, so I thank you for that.
I haven't seen any of your videos for a while, not sure why to be honest. But watching this reminded me of how calming I find your approach to life. Splitting wood can be so good, though I reckon one in twenty of the logs I end up with splits as easily as those!
I was impressed how you are able to hit the same spot on every swing. That is experience ! We often had wood that didn’t split well so we used a wedge more often than not. Not fun when you have to use a wedge and sledge hammer. Thanks for another great video !!
I'm 53 and am just learning this year. I have been using a wedge, because my lovely neighbor cut the stumps with a lot of angles. I'm getting it done, but it's taking a bit longer than this guy. 😄
This guy is an awesome teacher about most anything.
My father used to say..."...wood warms you twice!!" That was a good workout! Fun to watch. I used to put each log up on a bigger log, then pick up the next and the next...wish I had done your set up...but man I was warm!!
Also, lately (and I'm sure this is sacrilege...) i love my hydraulic log splitter! 67 now so i pick my battles!
And my shoulders thank me for it!
The Fiskars splitting axe was a life changer for me. Lighter than a maul and you can swing it at the speed of light all day long
Alaskan logger here. Great tips. We split about 20-60 full cords/year of mostly green wood for seasoning. Here's some more recommendations:
1. Kinetic log splitter if you can afford it
2. Splitting AXE on straight grain wood w/o knots (the concept is the same as using a Stiletto hammer)
3. Fiskars Isocore maul for the rest
Scott, at 63, you still have the moves! Buckin' Bill Ray would be proud!
I love the sound of a good swing and splitting wood block.
Nothing beats some good Ash or Red Oak that is split-friendly.
Red oak makes you look fantastic , white oak , not so much ! Most of my red oak is dieing not sure why , no apparent reason . Biggest one I've seen still alive is 18 diameter .
@@mikesr3407 Not sure what part of the country you are in but it could be a water mold. The amount of rain we've had in the south this year is insane. Consider myself lucky to have hundreds of 24" to 30" red oaks on my property. Lost a 38" a few months back in a storm and have loads of firewood now.
Right up until I got my Eagle Scout I would always just go off right outside the camp and split all the firewood we would need over the weekend/week. My favorite memories from my childhood were spend, that maul and I just doing our thing. Great video!
I absolutely love this. It's exactly how I do it these days. Buckin has got it too!
We heat our house with wood and I've been able to split all the wood we burned this winter. It's great work! Nothing quite as satisfying as a piece of maple blowing apart like you dynamited it!
Yup...Spent many a day splitting wood with my best friend while left to ourselves. Good times. Good skills. No one watched us back then.... and we just wanted to discover what we could do. Sometimes we had some stories to tell....sometimes we kept our mouths shut about what happened. No one got hurt (though very close at times), and that's all mom needs to know. Dad always knew there was more to the story and he would just tell us how to make sure we were safe without asking too many questions. We learned a lot....and are better for it.
“I’m 63.” We’ll I’m 25, and you make splitting wood look easy. I use a 4.5lb splitting axe, it is the best combo of speed and power for me… love the video, thanks! Sam
It's amazing you were made to do this as a kid and now enjoy it. Most of the time it's the opposite. I have a friend that stayed on a mower and swore off any grass cutting as an adult. He is almost 60 and has paid for grass cutting since leaving home.
Thanks for the video. I have not long ago found the joy of splitting logs . In fact found that I would ask my neighbor if I could help him. Not for profit but for the shear joy. Thanks again for the video.
I loved splitting wood as a kid and still do. It is enjoyable. Good job for kids, it teaches you to think about a task before starting. And hard work can be fun if you make it that way rather than just a chore
I like how this methods lets you wreak havoc, then rest your guns while you pick up and re-stand the pieces.
That was great.... after 60 years in Minnesota, I'm living in Las Vegas and my yard has trees that are of a size too large to just throw away... and so I have a couple 'walls' of firewood between the Palm (yuck!) trees for my Fire Ring. You can take the boy out of MN but you can't take the MN out of the boy!! I think my maul is a 5# and I've used it and loved it. Mom & Dad burned wood so there were years of splitting, there too. Splitting wood is THERAPEUTIC, at least for ME!!!! Thank You!!
I enjoy your videos the have so much meaning for the craftsman . You reach out and touch people in their heart the people that has had a great country life, working with metal, wood, leather your not afraid to keep learning. Thank you sir for being the person you are. People learn from you everyday.
Some of the hardest things in life can be the most rewarding. I love splitting wood.
Yes. You do learn to love cutting and splitting wood because you must. It keeps you warm 2 times. God bless.
I worked at the Minnesota Challenge Incarceration program (prison boot camp) as a Corrections officer. Manual labor was part of the program, I would supervise. Most of these men never used a 2 man saw, split wood, removed stumps or gardened. I taught many how to do these things because of my upbringing on the farm.
Prison labor is state sanctioned slavery
@@introprospector The Offenders volunteered for that program. Early release, shave 1-2 years off their sentence. But they had to complete the program.
You go! 63? You are swinging that axe like if you were 43! I love your advice! Your son is very lucky to have Dad like you! Love the channel!
Lots in common here! Making firewood from rounds with a mail or axe. Have to appreciate Essential Craftsman, his channel and Buckin Billy Ray as well. Happy Easter!
I did this for the first time today and really enjoyed it. We've got a lot of wood to get through, so I'm quite excited to test these tips out
That's so cool, unlike what you see on TV with the guy (very inefficiently) picking up one piece of wood at a time and swinging at it, now I've learned the REAL smart way to do it is set up a field of logs so you can get in a rhythm, walk around swinging, and get exponentially more work done, all without the constant bending/swinging alternate which would destroy a man's back. (Bonus points if you have a young guy like Nate to do the setups in between!)
thank you, i have said it before, and folks tend to look at me without understanding i guess, but one of the things dearest to my heart, something i truly love doing is popping wood on a cold winter day with still air. that is one of the finest moments a fella can have imho. another one, though it does not reach anywhere near those heights of satisfaction, is pruning on a long row of grapes. i really miss splitting wood these days. (i'm an old guy) last winter my wife told me of a friend whose daughter in law had run out of wood. it was wonderful, i just happened to have a good pile of well seasoned mostly cherry and some oak and blk walnut. all straight grain, i like to split a few every now and then as i go for a cooking fire these days. i was primed and ready and popped off a load and took it up. it was so satisfying, i hadn't really forgot how much i liked splitting wood, but i had forgot how absolutely satisfying i felt afterwards.
Nate, did you read the "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and how Tom get Ben to paint the fence?
Holy cow! You went through those blocks like a BOSS!!
I have a lot of fond memories of cutting wood with my family when I was young. Though we had chainsaws and log splitters we always did some of it by hand to figure out which of us three sons could split wood the fastest.
I grew up with my grandpa...parents were always there just was better off with my gramps...used to spend all summer and fall cutting and splitting wood and obviously in the blowing snow 10 15 degrees...before school every morning. I loved it...it gave me the work ethic I have now. I used to get so excited when he backed in the dump truck ready to be split or when we went and got a few truck loads every weekend ready to be split. Never bothered me to spend my days after school splitting wood. Don't do it no more caise we have electric heat. Wish my son could know the same joy I did growing up.
I split wood for the first time in a very long time yesterday and had an absolute blast. Would love to have logs like yours to split!
What bring back some memories is the smell of the exhaust of a 12 valve Cummins. And yes for some reason 24 valve Cummins exhaust smells different
I fell in love with an axe last year when everything went downhill with covid. I had some things happen that really got at me, so one day during quarantine I decided to sharpen my grandpa's ax and start cutting down the dead trees in our woods. I cut down about 10, good sized, ash trees. It really was a good way to deal with my frustrations
Buckin Billy Ray told us to check out your fine channel. He is right. Nice job. I am 70 and also enjoy splitting firewood with my single bit. A great feeling of accomplishment busting that wood. Now to put a new handle in my mail. Thanks for what you do.
The first thing I think about when splitting wood is - keeping my feet intact.
And, yes. I really enjoy it.
And thanks for the tips on strategy! On really big pieces I use a wood granade. Maybe I won't have to now.
What a legend. Once he got slammin' I just couldn't stop grinning.
Brings back memories. My pop died suddenly when I was just 13. There was a stack of twisted oak rounds at the homestead in northern CA. Must of spent 1000 hours just splitting and resplitting. Taking it out on that wood. The next years in high school kids wondered why I was so strong. Only a few new.
This brings me back to my childhood! I split Doug fir and green madrone every summer for the winter.. That’s some southern Oregon living!
Man splitting and stacking wood is my jam
I agree, hitting on the edge is the key to success. Don't forget a wood splitter is fun also. My favorite though is to cut and stack rounds in the summer and then in the winter when it is cold split the wood by hand a day's worth at a time. It's good cardio exercise and also helps mentally in the short cold days of winter.
Thanks for the tips. It is indeed a pleasure when I come across wood that splits easily.
just turned 39 and I'm always learning from your videos...