Excellent video, it has 100% convinced me to drive to Tractor Supply, walk past the splitting mauls and get that 30 ton Champion power log splitter. Thank you for shining a light and the inspiration.

I can’t even believe this. I almost stopped watching in the beginning because I thought it was bologna. I actually went outside and tried this on some real nasty wood I have. It’s literally half the effort. UNBELIEVABLE. Possibly twice the swings but half the effort. Good work, thanks for sharing.

Wow, you make it look so easy. Lesson learned, this is the best video I've seen thus far.

Dude, you've taken me to the next level of work smarter not harder.

I split almost all of my wood on the ground. That thing about the ground absorbing energy I find to be much more theoretical than actually a problem in real life. I tend to use solid ground when available, but it isn't really necessary. I find wood is easier to split at that lower level than up on a block plus no lifting, and no putting the maul down and picking it back up. I used to use splitting blocks, but gradually just quit for efficiency's sake. So much less work involved. Also, you can split anywhere, no moving the wood to the block or vice versa, just wade in and start splitting.

That's just incredible!, as I was watching this, the "logic" of your technique just made absolute sense, first I've ever seen this method, all credit to you for passing on this knowledge, and you weren't out of breath at the end of it 😮

Brute force and ignorance is how I split wood

i have been splitting wood with my maul wrong for the last 10 years, seeing the crack, hammering the hell out of it, picking up the half that fell and doing it all over again. ohhh man my back will thank you for this amazing video!!!!!!!!!

I am impressed. The most efficient technique for manual splitting. Wish I knew this before i started using a hydraulic splitter.

All the negative comments here are either from guys too hard headed to imagine there may be a better way or are spoiled by nice species to split. I’m a tree guy and I heat my house 100% with wood. I also split it all by hand. I use all species, shapes, and sizes and have used every method I’ve seen. This is hands down the best I’ve seen (and tried) for tough splitting wood. As for putting it up on a block, yeah that’s extra unnecessary effort if you’re just blasting through easy splitting wood but for this method its obviously needed.

Holy smokes, think you've changed my life! Thanks for the vid.

Thx for the upload, lovely little vid, showed me something I didn't know.

This would have made my life a lot easier two years ago! That being said, I have two more oak trees to take down that I will be much less stressed about, thanks man!

Gee, thanks, dude. I gotta get me one of those splitting mauls one day. I've been splitting wood by hand since the early 70s. Today I split a couple of big pieces of pecan. I have a few pieces that are around two and a half feet across to split soon. Yesterday, I split the piece from the main fork of the tree using a 4 lb wedge, a 5 lb wedge, a cross wedge, an 8 lb sledge hammer, and a double bit axe. It was a lot of work but fun, too. I like to talk to my wood and my tools like, "Oh, a wise guy!", or, to the wedges when they jump back out, "I'm gonna beat you with a hammer, if you don't get in there and split that wood!" My favorite saying to the wood reminds me of my mother telling my brother, "I'm gonna bust you open" (if you don't, blah, blah, blah, . . .) 😂😂

Watching this makes me soooo thankful for my log splitter ;)

Great video! Thank you for saving me alot of wasted effort.

my shoulder hurts....I am outta breath now thanks LOL

i'm thankful for your video. both the explainers, the camera work, and demonstration.

You made this look so easy! Work smarter not harder!

Very good explanation. Exactly the info I was looking for.

That is a new way for me to try splitting my big rounds! Thank you.

excellent job. i didn't know what the heck you were gonna try. great work

I have been split logs for a few years, starting from edge to the center, but I never walk around. What you did is quite creative! You follow the rings of wood. It looks fun too. I will try. Greatly appreciated.

Got some Bob Ross vibes out of this video. Nice work. Very calming and good splitting technique.

Splitting large pieces of wood with a wedge and sledgehammer is my catharsis. Splitting THOSE pieces with my ax is my joy. It's such great exercise and there's something about hearing that first crackle of the wood giving way. This is a great video, and, frankly, your method has never crossed my mind. I do see the benefits of it. Thanks for sharing!

Whoah! Great aim brother. Thanks for sharing this technique

I see a Father’s Day gift in my husband’s future. He always says you can never have too many tools-which is why I have my own set too! PS. I love your sense of humor.

I started splitting firewood in 1958 and I was taught by my Dad a lumberjack from Kentucky. He used a double bladed axe and a splitting maul that were both handmade by a blacksmith. He taught me the technique of splitting wood the smart way. It was identical to the way you demonstrated. EXCEPT - for the ring you made splitting off the outer layer. This appears to be a distinct improvement. Five stars to you Sir! A video well worth watching. You do need to improve your accuracy a little. When you put a bunch of cracks in the wood it gives the wood a place to go if you know what I mean. Art from Ohio

Once the integrity of the logs circumferenc is broken they can usually be split through the centre. Great video,hard work and good humour. Cheers

Jeff, I just had to pick my jaw up from the floor. For a 66 year old man who has split a few cords of wood in my day this was just unbelievable. I was one of those who struck it like you demonstrate at 3:05 of your video. All brawn, very little technic or brain were used. Thank you sir for an exceptionally educational video!

Thanks Jeff! I watched this video a while ago, but to be honest, I forgot about it. Yesterday I came across it again and decided to put it into practice, and it made a huge difference! So thanks for that and thanks for the no BS teaching style as well!

Can’t believe I watched this whole video waiting to hear something I didn’t know

Great video and excellent pointers. We split a lot by hand, and I’ll certainly use your technique. We split in the winter, when the woods frozen. Splits a lot easier.

Hey Jeff, that was more than educational-it was fun to watch. Few folks make time spent viewing worth it, let alone profitable *I have three HUGE maples awaiting me outside that had to be dropped for safety reasons* your video helps me turn them into about 2 years of warmth for my family.

Seeing the knots at the very end was worth the wait. This is a great technique. I was ready to start at the center, but thank you for saving my back. You’re the only video that talks about chipping off the outer edges first and working around the log. Thanks!

Best video/technique I've seen. Who the heck wants to keep picking up pieces to split?!

Great video. I do something similar with a fiskers x27 axe. And I can really chop down the big ones fast. I probably do up to 18 or 20 inches easily with this type of technique. I work my way around and usually the wood splits out as I'm going, but if not I just continue the walk around. Wood seems to split better in winter when everything is frozen, of course. The smaller axe head doesn't wind me out quickly like a bigger maul axe would do. Fiskers makes the best axe (in the x27) as far as I'm concerned but you do have to worry about kickback sometimes or glance-off because the axe is so light. I've been splitting wood for over 40 years and its the est axe I've ever used. I can split for about an hour to a time easily. And you can really swing that axe without getting winded. Thanks for the video. Nice to see the technique. All the best!

Great! Great video man! Thank you. I am pretty new to axes and woodworking and stuff and I love it. Thank you for your video

I like the brains over braun approach. Make it as easy as possible! Thanks!

Simply brilliant. Thanks, man.

Never thought I'd get Rickroll'd by a video about hand-splitting wood, man at the times we live in lol.

You got a like from me from your first joke. If I could give you a second like, it would be for the really great tips! Thanks! As a small person, I would have thought cracking and not splitting it to be a bad thing, now I'll have more patience and go at it more methodically.

Always happy to see your videos. Great work man

At the beginning i wasn't convinced at all at your technique. But towards the end you got me! Its probably the next easiest way after using a 10t wood splitter.

A brilliant technique, had never occurred to try it this way; thanks.

I am very glad I watched this video, because I have a couple of rounds like that and I was wondering how the heck I was going to break it up by hand ... this honestly looks like fun, thank you for sharing!

I wasn’t expecting Arnie impressions, and being Rick Rolled, for sure! 😮

I have a Big Jim in my living room and a pecan tree that fell last year. This was exactly what I needed. THANKYOU AND Hello from Rocky Mount!

Watching this makes me appreciate my Brave log splitter even more! 🙂 Great video for hand splitting, however! Thanks for sharing!

WHAAAAT!!???? This is a game changer for me!!! Nice! So glad that I came across this video. 🤓👌🏼

The right way, the easy way, the best way, is to buy a bottle of wine, light some candles, and ask Nicole to pop round and do the chopping.😂❤

Your method is fine if you have a lot of extra time. I use the 5 lb Gransfors Bruks large splitting axe, which likely weighs half that of the Fiskars maul. I start with the edge of the round and the pieces fly off immediately. No pre-hitting required. I continue working around towards the middle. Occasionally I have to strike twice to break a piece off. I split 10 to 12 full cords per year using this method and it is pleasing work. I do swing harder than you, but with half the weight and likely a third the number of swings, it is an efficient method. I have split with everything from a double bladed felling axe (not cool), small mauls, medium mauls, heavy duty mauls, and even the ingenious Lever Axe. The time tested splitting axe is the best thing going. It’s a method worth considering.

Good thinking. That worked great. Thanks for sharing it with us. God bless you and your family!

Jeff - Thanks for the education! Simply brilliant!!! Texas sends!!

Excellent tuition, thanks.

Thanks…finally a video from a smart and experienced person.

Nice. Never have I seen it done like this before. Learn something every day. No big wood on my place but I’ll remember this. Thanks. Good job.

Jeff thanks that is a master class in chopping wood

Thank you, you helped me so much with this video

Yeah, I got that going now on some 23" rounds. I find that when it is below freezing the logs WANT to split. I think the water in it expands and bursts or shatters the wood. Busting them them smaller makes it easy to split them with a 6 ton electric splitter. It is nice getting out the axe and watching them split.

Well done! I learned something and had a couple good laughs 🤣🤣

This man knows what he's doing, good job.

Great idea and execution . Many thanks

Just bought a house with a fireplace. So I am new to splittin' firewood. This was an awesome video! great technique! Thanks for sharing!

Theryes not way im trying this tmrw. This dudes a genius

Excellent demo! I learned something useful here. I’ve been doing it all wrong.

I've been doin it wrong. Love this technique. Super. Thanks bigly.

I use a Fiskars X27. Start at edges and this could be done in half the time with a lot less swings.

Great approach! Thanks for this vid 👍🏼👍🏼

That fellow has dang good aim! Don’t see many guys that can hit twice in the same spot. 👍👍

I have raised pallets on either side of my blocks to ease resetting but I have to say this gave me something to think about. Thanks!

Way to go dad! Love the channel. I’m Old now but have strong grandkids 😂

Clever idea, thank you, sir!😊

beautiful wood. love red oak. red oak and white oak is what i primarily use for firewood. i've been cutting and splitting wood for many many years. i've never used that method, i'll definitely try it, i have always been one to exploit the first crack. but it is a lot of bending over, picking back up, repositioning. i liked how you just chipped them off like that, well done!

Great video - thanks for sharing

Thanks for the tutorial! I did notice your breathing accelerated a good bit. It takes a strong cardio-pulmonary system to swing that heavy maul that often even half a day!

Get yourself a trailer tire and keep it near your splitting stump to put your round inside. This will contain the new splits and it will save bending over to pickup the smaller pieces every time they split off. You did confirm all my practices about reducing the holding wood, but added a new twist which is working around in a smaller circle. Thanks.

I doubted you at first.. I have to apologize. This is great information. Many thanks! I've been using 2 old tires on a solid wood platform that I built. It works OK for small rounds. Thanks again

All the best for a Happy Holiday Season .

Learned a lot, thanks for the Video!

Another very informative video

Just bought a house with two fireplaces! So helpful!

I will say one thing. It may not look as fast, but this saves a TON of energy in the long run and doesn make you feel as beat up just in the fact of you dont have to keep bending down to pick crap up over and over. Just let the tool and physics do the work

Nice tips. Thanks so much!

Awesome! Great video!

Wow. I feel like an idiot. I thought there may be an easier way to split by hand. KNOCKING off the OUTSIDE rim is genius. Thanks

Best 12 min in a while

impressive work, good explanation!!!

Was expecting you to split it under a minute. :) No way I could last more then that. Really thinking now to buy a gas splitter. Thank you for the tutorial though - very informative.

Totally learned something. Thanks

Great video very informative thanks

Good stuff, made that look easy

Excellent skills!!

i tried this and it works very well, thanks

If you rub down the head of your splitting maul with wax it will penetrate the wood easier. About every 30 minutes rub the surfaces of the head with an old candle, parafin, or something similar. Especially effective when using an ax as it keep the ax head from getting stuck.

Great tips.

I've never learned this. Thank you

Great video!

Thanks for this. Good advice for oak wood splitting.

I use the Fiskars Isocore for splitting the rounds into 4, 6 or 8 wedges while they are still on the ground. Then process the wedges on a block using a tire to make sure they don't fall down. The last part is done using the Fiskars X27. The wedges are light enough that I can turn them by hand if needed, so I don't have to walk around the block. I find this to be the quickest way, and I don't have to lift the rounds onto the block - which I probably couldn't in most cases even if I wanted.