Replies

1. 
   KeithNewton | Jul 12, 2008 11:07pm | #1

   To anyone watching the video of blasting the trunk apart, should ask themselves why they didn't just use the chain-saw to rip as far as they could down from the top, then roll it over, and rip in from the other side. They wasted a lot of really good wood by the ragged nature of the tree splitting along its grain.

   My chain-saw isn't quite as large as the one used to saw the hole for the powder. However with it, I can rip a 12' long oak log with it in 15 minutes, to a depth of the bar which is 28".

   Even if the saw isn't large enough to saw half way through, I would still do a rip from the top down as far as the length of the blade, then roll it 90º and cut out a 1/4 or as much as the bar length will allow an intersect. Then just keep nibbling at it.

   While the gun powder might be fun, I just can't see how that saved them anything. They could have done a better cleaner job without it.

1. 
   [email protected] | Jul 13, 2008 07:14am | #2

   I'd cut as deep as the chain saw would go, and then split it the rest of the way with wedges.  Wouldn't take long

1. 
   KeithNewton | Jul 13, 2008 04:44pm | #3

   Are you saying that you would cut from both sides with a saw too small to get to the middle, then splitting the rest of the way? If so, that may not be as easy as you might think. When I use my chain-saw to rip with, I will mark a plumb line through the pith on both ends of the log, then cut a straight line between those references. Of course, it is easier to cut a straight line at the surface than it is down at the end of the bar tip, especially if the chain starts to dull. Even if everything was done perfectly, at both ends, and all of the way down both sides, if there was much wood left down the middle, but the pith from when the tree was a little sapling grew in a crooked path, which is not unusual, this can make for some very tough splitting.Imagine that if you made two perfect cuts from both sides that stay aligned, but the heart veered out of the path several inches, yet sent several branches across the un-sawn path between the cut. While the wedging relies on cleavage down the path of least resistance. That path may be between the ends of the kerf at points, or from the end of the kerf to the pith and back at other points. Between those points, it gets ugly. Don't ask how I know these things.Actually I have had the splitting problem where the bar was long enough to meet in the middle, but the bottom of the kerfs miss lining up by a few inches in the middle. Of course the wedges will do the trick but I have heard of another method that I have not tried, but probably will in the future. After sawing from both sides, then plunge the blade into the log across the kerf about 4" from the end. Then cut out enough height to insert a hydraulic jack, and start pumping.