It’s really only divided into two, though…
This bunch I can load into the Jeep trailer and bring straight to Landlady’s woodbin. That’s more than enough to finish filling it, right there.
And then this bunch I can split at my leisure. If I tried to do it all in a bunch, I’d put myself in traction. But that’s okay; I really need to empty out the woodshed and make some repairs/improvements to the halfwalls before putting in any more wood anyway. I’ll stack it on a pallet for now and give it a whack from time to time.
Ghost felt like keeping me company this morning. He hates gunfire, but the chainsaw doesn’t bother him in the slightest.
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They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
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I have been known to “split” stuff like that second, nasty pile by using my chain saw.
Splitting mauls do not appeal to me in the least, particularly on nasty stuff.
Yeah, in some cases I’ll have to do that. I gave one of those chunks an experimental whack with my splitting ax, and it bounced.
The two ways have their merits. Chainsaw is quick and easy but uses gas which can be a pain to get when you have to drive miles and miles to refill the Jerry cans like I do up here north of disorder. Using an axe and maul can be physically demanding but saves fuel for when it’s really needed. So this is a damned if you do, damned if you don’t scenario. Personally I’m cheap and have all the time I want to get things done so with just about any wood I always start with the axe/maul and see how it turns out. Now having said all that I don’t have to deal with the type of wood you do. The hardest I deal with is ash.
Yesterday before I gave up on that stump, I drove my one-and-only wedge all the way down into it with a sledge. It split, of course, but not apart. The grain was just too twisty Finally managed to rescue the wedge by chipping around it, and that’s when I gave up.
A few years ago I found along a roadway a piece of juniper that I assumed had fallen off a trailer. I now know it was probably tossed off.
That juniper stump was about 2.5′ wide by 1.5′ – but it had dozens of branches coming off of it – it looked like a porcupine! I figure someone topped the tree some time before it was cut again for the piece I found – the new growth just came out in a swarm.
I let it dry for a couple years and turned a chainsaw to it – didn’t even think to try a maul. I’d go at it for a couple minutes (from the base) and cut about 3/4″ and see the blade and the stump start to heat up. Then I’d go back to cutting mesquite and acacia. Eventually I got that thing sectioned into about 8 pieces. That stump was just full of knots and petrified sap – I couldn’t even imagine trying to split that even after a couple years of drying. I do like the smell of juniper though – even with all that bar oil it soaked up!
“Finally managed to rescue the wedge by chipping around it, and that’s when I gave up.”
Explosives!
My Dad always had some wooden wedges around (he called them gluts) of hardwood, from 1 foot to 2 feet long and maybe 3 to 6 inches wide, tapered to perhaps a half inch . He always started with a metal wedge but when it became stuck or dropped in too far, he drove a glut or two in to free up the wedge. Worked well. Would probably work with softer wood also but would not last as long.