Saw a guy at the local tree care meetup split a trunk with just wedges and a sledge, not a single chainsaw cut

I went to that monthly arborist meetup down at the community center in Beaverton last Thursday, expecting the usual gear talk. But this one old timer, must've been 70, showed us how he dropped a 30-foot oak in a tight spot using nothing but plastic wedges and a 4-pound sledgehammer. He tapped them in a line along the grain and the whole thing just split clean down the middle. I've been climbing and cutting for 8 years and never thought to try that. It saved him from making 5 or 6 extra cuts and left a perfect hinge. I'm gonna practice on some smaller stuff this weekend before I trust it on a real job. Has anyone else used this technique or am I just late to the party?

3 comments

3 Comments

iris_barnes8715d ago

Hang on, 70 years old and he split a 30-foot oak with just wedges and a sledge? That is insane to me. I've seen guys try that on a smaller maple and ended up with wedges stuck so bad they had to chainsaw the whole mess out. But a whole 30-foot oak? The guy must have arms like tree trunks himself. Did he even break a sweat or was it like magic?

abby_fisher15d agoMost Upvoted

Nope, no magic. Technique and patience. I've split enough wood to know that oak can be a nightmare if you fight the grain. You gotta read it first. Walk around the log. Look for a hairline crack or a knot that dictates the split. That old timer probably spent a good ten minutes just studying the log before he swung once. Wedge placement is everything too. Don't just hammer them in willy-nilly. Set the first wedge shallow. Tap it until you see a hairline start. Then drive a second wedge at the same depth further down the split. Work them in stages. If you try to drive one wedge deep and hard, oak will just grab it. I've had wedges stuck so bad I had to cut them out with a Sawzall. Also a big wedge with a sharp taper helps. Dull wedges just bounce. Bet his were filed sharp.

the_john15d ago

That 30-foot oak split clean down the middle" is the part that caught my eye. I wonder if the old timer knew something about the tree's history that we don't. Maybe that oak had some internal rot or a crack he spotted before he started, and the wedges just followed that path of least resistance. I've seen guys try these splitting techniques on green wood with strong grain and end up with a mess of wedges stuck sideways. Your mileage may vary big time depending on the species and the moisture content. I'd be real careful trying that on a dense hardwood like beech or maple without some serious experience reading the grain first.