Any of you use a Maul?
- Thread starter Adirondack
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TRI955
I'm the man in the box
Mauls, from what I understand, you can hit on the pole with a sledge, splitting axe is not designed for that. Plus a maul is normally heavier too.
zr900
ArboristSite Guru
I love a maul if the wood splits easy, and if only using it for an hour or less, but when I am splitting wood for 6-8 hours a day the splitter makes work much easier and faster.
DougNH
ArboristSite Operative
I split only with a maul (5 to 10 cords a year). It's environmentally friendly, helps add major distance to my softball swing, and my wife likes the results too! Not to mention, I have more money to spend on saws if I don't have to buy and maintain a splitter.
Not to be a wise ass but I was splitting fire wood at 10 years old. A standard maul is an 8 pounder. It's heavy but not as heavy as a sledge.
David Y.
Addicted to ArboristSite
super split
I took a look at their website. It looks fast on straight grained wood, how does it do on stuff like Elm or White Oak?
I took a look at their website. It looks fast on straight grained wood, how does it do on stuff like Elm or White Oak?
I've never owned or even had use of a splitter, so it was double-headed axe for a couple decades. Then I broke down and bought a maul. Now I use both, depending on the wood, and the maul for breaking down the round first and the axe for the smaller breaks. I find a hand sledge [3-4 lb.] is needed sometimes on the maul. I split a few days' worth a time in the winter, gets me outdoors and warmed up and aerobic. So far [59 yr. old] I can handle it. I would suppose there may come a day when I consider a splitter. Not yet. I find it no big deal to split by hand.
ned coed
ArboristSite Member
another i dont want to be a wise guy but..... in the 60s my old man could,nt afford a chainsaw even if there was somewhere near to buy one!!.
he had a two man cross cut saw, in fact it,s in my garage now. he did,nt have a car just a 650 BSA A10 golden flash motorcycle which he used to get him to work.
on saturdays in the winter he would take me and my eldest brother up to the woods to look for storm blown trees/ branches. these we would cut into dragable lengths (my brother and i taking turns on the cross cut) and get them to the lane nearest the woods. when we,d got five or more good lengths together the old man would tie them up ot one end - nearest the bike. he would then tie the other end onto the back of the BSA. i would sit in between the tank and my dad, my brother sitting back to front on the back and keeping an eye on the towed logs in case any broke away.
when we got them home he would get out his sledge hammer and splitting chisels and split the lengths all the way down in half and then set the lengths up on a log horse he,d made and then we would set to work again with the cross cut and cut then in to 10" to 12" logs. when we had logged them all we,d make a good log stack down the side of the house where there was a good draft and give them a couple of weeks to dry. aye the "good" old days. after 5 or 6 hours of that in winter you did.nt need a fire as youir whole body would be glowing and boy your evening meal just never touched the sides!!??.
he had a two man cross cut saw, in fact it,s in my garage now. he did,nt have a car just a 650 BSA A10 golden flash motorcycle which he used to get him to work.
on saturdays in the winter he would take me and my eldest brother up to the woods to look for storm blown trees/ branches. these we would cut into dragable lengths (my brother and i taking turns on the cross cut) and get them to the lane nearest the woods. when we,d got five or more good lengths together the old man would tie them up ot one end - nearest the bike. he would then tie the other end onto the back of the BSA. i would sit in between the tank and my dad, my brother sitting back to front on the back and keeping an eye on the towed logs in case any broke away.
when we got them home he would get out his sledge hammer and splitting chisels and split the lengths all the way down in half and then set the lengths up on a log horse he,d made and then we would set to work again with the cross cut and cut then in to 10" to 12" logs. when we had logged them all we,d make a good log stack down the side of the house where there was a good draft and give them a couple of weeks to dry. aye the "good" old days. after 5 or 6 hours of that in winter you did.nt need a fire as youir whole body would be glowing and boy your evening meal just never touched the sides!!??.
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SawTroll
Information Collector
Fiskars 2400 splitting axe, and chainsaw for the knotted and twisted rounds + the Y ones....
I prefer it that way, for exercise - and it mostly is faster as well.
I prefer it that way, for exercise - and it mostly is faster as well.
litefoot
Addicted to ArboristSite
Octane
ArboristSite Operative
Ive got a splitting maul but it rarely gets used. The gas-powered log splitters are so much faster and a lot less work. I used to split wood with the maul back when I was younger. I guess it made me feel like a real man or all big and bad or whatever. I dont use the maul much anymore though, thats too much like work.
I'll bet anybody on a case of beer that I can split a truckload of wood faster with a gas-powered splitter than you can with a splitting maul.
I'll bet anybody on a case of beer that I can split a truckload of wood faster with a gas-powered splitter than you can with a splitting maul.
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Lakeside53
Stihl Wrenching
I've split and stacked 13+ real tight cords in the past couple of months - all by hand. I HATE the traditional USA blunt "bullet" mauls sold in the Hardware store... But I LOVE my Stihl maul (Ox-head, relabled).
I no longer use wedges. Big rounds are flipped on their side and a single cut to the center. Then it's trivial to split even the tough stuff. if I have really tough knots or grain, screw it - saw the damn thing into pieces.
I can buy 5 of the crappy mauls for the price of the Stihl, but...
I no longer use wedges. Big rounds are flipped on their side and a single cut to the center. Then it's trivial to split even the tough stuff. if I have really tough knots or grain, screw it - saw the damn thing into pieces.
I can buy 5 of the crappy mauls for the price of the Stihl, but...
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Adkpk
Addicted to ArboristSite
I use the mall but not around xmas time the parking lots are too crowded.:monkey: :greenchainsaw:
serial killer
ArboristSite Operative
I maul almost everything. Between me and my buddy, we have an old monster maul, a newfangled SuperSplitter from Home Depot, and a bunch of axes. We burn about five cords each in the winter. Because we run a tree service, we get to pick and choose what wood we want to keep for ourselves and what goes to the dump. Wild cherry splits like a dream and really doesn't even need seasoned. Locust splits good, decent oak splits good, birch and maple need a little aging to develop some cracks.
We end up with some gnarly pieces laying around by accident or laziness and pile them to the side. A couple times a year, we invite people who own a splitter to come and bust them up on a Sunday. They keep half, we keep half. If it's reasonably sized to biggish wood with good grain, I am faster with the monster maul (15 pound head, steel shaft) than a splitter is.
We end up with some gnarly pieces laying around by accident or laziness and pile them to the side. A couple times a year, we invite people who own a splitter to come and bust them up on a Sunday. They keep half, we keep half. If it's reasonably sized to biggish wood with good grain, I am faster with the monster maul (15 pound head, steel shaft) than a splitter is.
woodbooga
cords of mystic memory
Everything gets maul split, sometimes ripped first if need be.
Mine is a $5 yard sale special. Had no edge at all, probably 1/4 wide. A few minutes with a flat file and she was good to go.
Mostly, I only split a little at a time. Half a Ranger load here, a dozen rounds there.
Exception was this weekend. Split up 2.5 cords in the blistering cold. Even the elm was splitting easy (relatively - though none of the elm was more than 12" in diameter).
Mine is a $5 yard sale special. Had no edge at all, probably 1/4 wide. A few minutes with a flat file and she was good to go.
Mostly, I only split a little at a time. Half a Ranger load here, a dozen rounds there.
Exception was this weekend. Split up 2.5 cords in the blistering cold. Even the elm was splitting easy (relatively - though none of the elm was more than 12" in diameter).
mattmc2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
If we were in wood that was relativley good (not all crotches and knots), and 1 on 1, no helpers, i don't think you could touch a maul with your splitter. Especially if we were doing this in the woods, where the tree is downed at. Cause you gotta get the wood to the splitter, or the splitter to the wood. All i gotta do wit the maul is walk over to it. No wrestling sticks around. I'd take that bet. But then again, if i'm not feeling well, or having a lot of rough wood, i don't stand a chance. But in good wood, you don't stand a chance.
+1 assuming we're talking about standard firewood length. 30"+ logs need a hydraulic splitter.
1 on 1 the maul wins. 2 on 2 is a different story. Still close though.
With a maul, you can whack some of the bigger stuff laying on its side. In a pile of rounds, you can pretty much walk around just picking targets and swinging. You have to move stuff around once it gets cluttered but you move it into the back of your pick up....Finished product.
With a splitter, you have to handle every piece. Also, the cylinder moves really slow. If you have one with a detent, it's all good. Mine doesn't have one. You have to keep a hand on it the whole time it's retracting. That's a fail.
Bets are off in the big ugly stuff though. Those are murder, hydraulic or maul.
I should snap a pic of my splitter. I had to really beef it up for my FIL. He's really hard on stuff and the rounds we split are UUUGLY!!! You'll see some of my precision metal work and X-Ray quality welds!
mattmc2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
I am looking for a splitter though, but i like the exercise anyway. My length is about 18-20" or so. I use a 6lb and wedges when it gets ugly.
Mountainman
ArboristSite Operative
In North Carolina, a maul is about all I need. When I was in Iowa, I found that the ONLY way to split wood there is with a hydraulic splitter. As someone else said, it depends on the wood.
Mountainman
ArboristSite Operative
Anybody ever use a powder wedge?
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