Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Splitting Firewood

Pictured wood is all Western Larch/Tamarack and our splitting implements. If one mistakenly drops a live tree, rounds will just spew a little water and sit there. Let it season outside for a year though, and two hits with a maul will have even the largest halved. One can beat on similar Ponderosa Pine for 5 minutes and work up nothing but a sweat. If we ever go that route, a hydraulic splitter will come home with us.



About 3.6 cords in the shed (5 layers deep), and we consume about 2.5 cords or 3.5 layers over a typical winter. Winter of 22/23 though we consumed a little over 3 cords. I do like a tight stack.

A different year with smaller material. We use Ponderosa Pine for the chopping blocks on the right with those holding up across 10 seasons or more. Hard to wear them out. I don't like to bend over to retrieve chunks, so bunk in the shorter main block to keep everything within reach.


We're allowed 5 cords per year from our national forest at no charge. Exceed that, and one must purchase a commercial permit at $5/cord. I sometimes wish we had hardwoods for more heat yield, but it's a 4-hour drive one way to just get near an oak.