The Wood splitter

     With temperatures dropping in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the time of year when many people start processing firewood for the coming winter months. For the city folks, that means chopping a tree into logs, and then splitting those logs into something small enough to fit in your wood stove. You can do it all with hand tools, but if you’ve got big enough logs, a wood splitter is a worthy investment.

Curling up next to a crackling wood fire can be comforting, but the experience doesn’t come cheap. Depending on where you live, you could pay several hundred dollars for a cord (4 by 4 by 8 feet) of split and seasoned firewood. No wonder lots of folks try to save money by chopping their own wood.
      Swinging an axe to split firewood is great exercise and a wonderful way to blow off steam. However, if you’re not a muscled-up Hollywood character that needs to do some emotional processing, it can get pretty dull. Building a wood splitter could make the work less strenuous.
      Trouble is, the tedious, labor-intensive process of swinging an axe can hurt your hands, shoulders, neck, and back. A wood splitter is the solution. While you still have to fell the tree and cut it into logs with a chainsaw, a wood splitter takes care of the hard work of creating smaller pieces that will fit perfectly into a firebox.

How to split wood with an wood splitter
1.Designate a safe work space.
2.Read the owner’s manual. Each powered log splitter has slightly different operating and safety features. Make sure you read the entire manual to know what size logs can be split — length and diameter — and how to safely use the machine. Most require two-handed operation to keep your hands free from danger while splitting wood.
3.If you get tired, stop.