Splitting wood with a jack hammer

[Badger]

  I recently had to pass on some large straight elm trees that the city took out because I wasn't able to process them on short notice. My back just aint good enough to split big elm trunks. Has anyone ever heard of using a jack hammer to split wood before??

[TimBo]

I believe DVSHunter posted something about splitting elm with a skid loader or similar non-primitive device...

[Buckeye Guy]

I know what you mean Steve
I tell folks you have not made a elm bow till you have split it yourself !
I don't think that is true of other woods but Elm is tough stuff
I have my doubts about the jack hammer but give it a try
The backhoe may work better!
Have fun
Guy

[osage outlaw]

If you start a bow building class have some of your students split up the elm.  It will be important for them to know where a bow stave comes from.

[TRACY]

What oo said

I would think that it would be tough to control the split. Something hydraulic any slow?

[Bogaman]

Your to funny!
I always make sure I've got a sharp hatchet or ax handy when I split elm. It'll give any one good experience on splitting. After elm everything else is a piece of cake.
Might try one of those reciprocating saws to slice thru all those connecting pieces.

[Bogaman]

Another option is to have someone at a sawmill quarter it up for you.

[bubby]

run a saw kerf the length of it then a jackhammer with a wide bit would prolly do it

[DarkSoul]

I can imagine the jack hammer chisel will get stuck when you're working on the first split. So you would need several chisels to make one split. I've never tried it, but I don't think the jack hammer would be powerful enough to split big logs.

[bubby]

i'm sure he has wedges, just have to drop them in as you go

[Badger]

  Thew logs I had to pass on were about 18" to 24" chinese elm. About 10 years ago I tried to split one and after about an hour of beating all I had were stuck wedges.

[bubby]

run a saw kerf the length of it then a jackhammer with a wide bit would prolly do it

i'm sure he has wedges, just have to drop them in as you go



I meant as a compliment to the jackhammer

[adb]

  Thew logs I had to pass on were about 18" to 24" chinese elm. About 10 years ago I tried to split one and after about an hour of beating all I had were stuck wedges.

Elm is a bee-otch to split. I've only had the 'pleasure' once, and I didn't like it much.

[PatM]

The trick is to score it with a circular saw and let it freeze. Splits like Ash if you do that. You need some severe cold though.

[Ink]

I would for see the chisel bit from the jackhammer being permanently imbedded in the log. Now if it was shaped like a splitting wedge......that might get yah a good start on it. I split a 16" elm log once............never again. i ended up chainsawing the two halves i got into the quarters. I believe if i ever get my hands on some elm that big again i'm gonna take it to a mill.