Mauls: Not so Bad After All

[stihl sawing]

Hoping for a fiskars today when the inlaws come for dinner. My BIL laughed at me for wanting it. He's a computer geek. Need them too in this world I guess.

LT...

Yep, Somebodys gotta keep your puter going so you can stay on AS.lol

 

[Techstuf]

Pecor, thanks for the tip! It's been a couple decades since I've seen one. Used a friend's for a season and it really knocked 'em apart!


TS

 

[Techstuf]

I currently use the Fiskars Super Splitting Axe with the 4.5lb head. Got to say....I love it!

EXCEPT for the crazy short handle on the thing. Another 3 inches of handle and it would be hard to beat. I just got done splitting a rick of dead Elm, and she handled herself with aplomb. Just wish the handle was longer. As we all know, one's biomechanics respond with enthusiasm and endurance when wielding the perfect length of golf driver, baseball bat...etc.

The splitting axe is no different in this regard.


TS

 

[ac900tc]

Chopper1

I have been using only my hydraulic splitter for years. After all the talk of axes and mauls on this site lately, I decided to dig out the old Chopper1 axe and get some exercise. I,ve used it for about a half hour a day for the last week or so. It seems to work better than I remember. (or maybe that's just cause I'm pushin forty and get a great feeling from seeing those rounds pop apart on one swing). It has its place for the right kind of wood.

 

[Ozzie]

One thing I did notice when I started using the maul. It does not require brute strength, just a well placed blow. After creaming a few peices and having them land 15' apart, I began to ease up a little. Much less work that way. I will figure out a way to keep from bending over so much. I use a stump for placing the rounds so a tire is the next step. I've seen a couple of different ways to set up the tire to the stump. Have to cut the tire down in the garage as it's rainin cats and dogs this evening.

 

[DocDryden]

When using a maul with the bigger logs

When using a maul with the bigger logs,
You might want to try to wrap a bungee cord and a ratchet tie down around the bigger logs, it holds the pieces together why you do your splitting…

 

[swampdonkey]

Mauls are MUCH faster than a gas powered hydraulic splitter! i am not trying to brag but.. I have cut and split, and sold 20 cord since November, all split by hand. i do use a gas splitter for the real gnarly stuff, if i hit it three or four times with my 15# monster maul and it isnt even cracking it goes in the "splitter" pile!!

The more splitting with a maul that you the more efficient you become.. you learn to read the wood... the grain..

 

[clearance]

If you have a big saw and no splitter you can rip up ugly pieces, I usually leave them in the bush. I have a couple of mauls, often I use my 41/2 lb. axe.

 

[spike60]

Going back to colonial / 19th / early 20th century New England, it was common to rotate pastures and woodlots. A brushy pasture would be left to grow into a woodlot. When it got to be dominated by trees about 4" in diameter they'd clear the woodlot and let the cows back in as pasture, till it started to brush in again. 4" being a good size for one man to handle 8' lengths by himself and easy to saw, and no splitting needed -- just saw into shorter pieces after they were sledded out of the woods. They weren't dummies

Great post! This logic actually held beyond World War II. Besides not having to split 4" to 6" logs, the effort required to cut them with a hand saw was a realistic amount of work. Cutting 12"+ logs for firewood with hand saws was more work than splitting them with "wedge and sledge". Considering all of the "this saw vs. that saw" stuff that we talk about, it's pretty sobering to think about a time when there were no chain saws, and wood was the only option for heating as well as cooking.

I've moved back to using the maul for a lot of my wood, especially the straight grained stuff that pops pretty easy. I like, and need, the workout, and in addition to all of the related benefits mentioned, if you play hockey, it makes a noticeable difference in your shot.

 

[LTREES]

Christmas gift

Well, I got the Fiskar, But I mentioned the 4# axe and got the smaller one.
Oh well, I'll keep it. I'd hate to toke it back or tell him it's not the one I wanted. I split some kindling today and that thing is sharp!!!! I got a fiskar axe sharpener too. It is supposed to work great on an edge. I see that mechanical maul is 2 miles from my work, I'll go see if I can swing one of them and see how they work. You guys think $70.00 is too much for a maul?

LT...

 

[strongback]

You guys think $70.00 is too much for a maul?

I'd say spend the money on the fiskars splitting axe.

Those mechanicals mauls work okay but the whole moving parts on a tool meant to be swung, repeatedly and at high velocity, at other things, is just not a good idea. I don't know about the specific brand but my dad bought a "mechanical maul" when I was a kid and it didn't hold up for a month before the levers stopped functioning properly and to make matters worse it wasn't even as good as our hardware store maul without them.

Most of my wood this year was red oak so a splitter didn't stand a chance. If I ran into a crotch or something knarly I just toss it to the side and keep on truckin'. John Henry I ain't (though he is my hero) but in my situation a splitter doesn't stand a chance.

 

[brian660]

my girlfriends got the richest 12yo in southern montana... because he gets 10$ an hour throwing blocks on the stump for me to split with the maul, only downside is he`s gettin strong as heck and will likely be able to whoop my ass in a few short years.


never much cared for the splitter, always seemed like more work to me.

 

[LTREES]

Just got my Fiskar Super splitter. Huuuweee, that's nice. Just split a gnarly piece of oak in 5 swings. I do wish it had a nicer handle. oh well.

LT...

 

[Brushwacker]

I'd say spend the money on the fiskars splitting axe.

Those mechanicals mauls work okay but the whole moving parts on a tool meant to be swung, repeatedly and at high velocity, at other things, is just not a good idea. I don't know about the specific brand but my dad bought a "mechanical maul" when I was a kid and it didn't hold up for a month before the levers stopped functioning properly and to make matters worse it wasn't even as good as our hardware store maul without them.

Most of my wood this year was red oak so a splitter didn't stand a chance. If I ran into a crotch or something knarly I just toss it to the side and keep on truckin'. John Henry I ain't (though he is my hero) but in my situation a splitter doesn't stand a chance.

I had and used a chopper 1. Way to much work prying it out of what it wouldn't split and the wood would fly dangerously apart if the levers did reach it. Better collectors piece or scrap in my opinion.
Monster maul does the majority of my splitting and when its mostly easy I use an curved handle axe or occasionally a smaller maul. The very tough stuff gets the chainsaw or splitter depending where its at and how much to do. I aim to try the heaviar Fiskers some day.

 

[Techstuf]

I've got a 4.5lb Fiskars and they fill the bill. I've used a Chopper 1 and in the final analysis, the leverage obtained over the arc of travel for the side cams is no better than a similarly shaped maul head. What I mean to say is that if one traces the "splitting path" over the complete range of motion of the side levers, it affords no better force translation than the Fiskars.

I emailed the company about better/longer handles and got the reply that they get that all the time and "might" look into it.


TS

 

[LTREES]

I dropped 2 oaks in my neighbors yard last Friday, walked over today with the fiskar and almost split them both in 1/2 hour. That was quite an experience.

 

[outdoorlivin247]

Between my dad and I we cut and split about 18 to 20 cords a year...I split I would guess 80% w/ the maul b/c if I don't, old Ray Ray will be lifting it on to the splitter...He gets the nasty stuff and I leave several halves for him to make his nice neat flats for tying the ends...I would not trade that guy for the world...He does almosts all the stacking and hauls it to my house, 11 miles from where we stack it, thru out the winter months...

 

[chainsawaddict]

I cant talk myself into the fiskars splitting axe. There is just something about a maul that is hard to beat.

 

[Laird]

Every evening

I pull logs out of the woods and buck them most weekends. Then most weekdays I spend 1-2 hours every every evening with the monster maul and stacking. When I get older I will most likely get a hydraulic splitter, but I suspect that my time with the maul helps keep me young.

 

[Denis Gionet]

I use the Fiskars super splitting axe, with only a 4.5lb head. I've split all but the toughest elm with it. I can't figure out why they make the handle so short on the thing. 3 more inches and it would be just right. If I'm splitting by hand, I usually cut my hardwood rounds shorter, say 15" or so. I'm sold on lighter heads that are well designed. I've used a Sotz monster maul years back, and one, I forget who made it, that had two cantilevered inserts that caught the edges on the way through and popped out the sides, lever action, to increase wedge force, that crazy contraption actually worked well, but I never used it long enough to ascertain longevity. The fact that it never stayed on the market says alot.

Wish I could find another one:

TS

Yeah, they work well don't they ! A friend had one and I found it worked awesome ! I'll be looking for a maul very soon, I'll likely get a standard maul first and then shop for one of these.