Attempt two at splitting wood on the farm by maul, and not a hydraulic machine.

I started with about an hour on Friday morning, and I did get a number of rounds split, so I felt that was a success. I said I was going to start, and I made a pile large enough to be seen from the lane. Then my bicep began to ache and I had climbing 24 hours later so I stopped.

Today I managed a full 90 minutes of splitting, and my bicep is once again singing in pain for my troubles. But less so. I thought after climbing last night without it hurting I was going to be able to get through today’s chunk of splitting without any problems. Not so! But I gave it a rest before I aggravated it too much, so let us hope that when I go back tomorrow (weather/work permitting) I can keep my arm from wanting to fall off.

I think I tore some of my bicep a few summers ago when I pruned the top 8 feet off of the back hedge row. I did two inch plus main trunks with a cheap pair of loppers meant to do inch, inch and a half limbs. My god did my one arm hurt for weeks after that. Now with vigorous exercise that bicep gives me a wee bit of trouble. I just didn’t want to have to hold two different cutters, and a hand saw, and my hedge trimmers while balancing on a 2ft by 2ft platform. Now my arm aches after I use my bicep muscle too hard. Gotta love aging!

I do not believe that I will get through all of the wood, but it gives me something to aim towards, and I’m getting exercise, and the dog is having the time of his life chasing whatever he can find. Plus this stuff will get burned at the cottage for maple syruping, so it’s a win for everybody. I have encountered a handful of rounds that I just couldn’t split by hand. So those I am setting aside in case a hydraulic splitter ever makes an appearance at the farm. There aren’t many, but after 8-10 whacks with no split, or dents or nothing I am not too proud to just set it aside. They win this round! But I’ll best you yet believe you me. Ha! Fuckers.

The next step will be retrieving bins to load all of this into so that it can be transported north to the woodshed for further drying. Once I move to the next pile over in front of the barn I’ll need to be more strategic because stuff needs to be able to come & go from the ground floor of the barn without being impeded by myself or the split wood. I might just work partially out on the grass to make way for vehicles and the like. I have a few days before I need to worry about that anyway. I’ll give it some thought closer to then. For now I’m shaded under a gigantic walnut tree, and out on open grass. With room to park and work without restriction. It’s quite lovely really. Doing it for free means I can come & go as I please and move at my own pace. Love it!