Ive got an AXE to grind.....

A helko Vario Axe to be exact.

This is their 5lb Heavy splitting axe, supposed to work similar to a maul without all the weght to swing. So far Ive split about 20-30 logs and think it works pretty good.

I think my stump is a little high for me to develope a good swing (24") but Ill correct this in short order. The thing is downright violent when splitting 8-12" dried hickory. My wife offered to help stack but beat a hasty retreat back into the house after seeing it in action.:jawdrop:

If you swing just right it neatly splits the wood and the pieces fall to either side of the stump, swing too hard and your walking 6-8' in either direction to pick them up.













I think I might thin out the blade near the tip a lil for better penetration in greener wood,(hence the thread title) other than this I think its a good design and a bargain at $55.00.:biggrinbounce2:

Just sent a lick off to my brothers. They split wood. Where do they seel those mauls. Internet? Home Defunked?

Nice! I just looked it up online:

http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11718

(A) Heavy Splitting Axe - A heavy duty splitting axe with an extremely robust wedge shaped head. Excellent for splitting large logs, tree trunk sections, and firewood. 36" curved American hickory handle. Head weight - 5.0 lb.


Funny... That link seems to have found its way into an email to my wife.


(You know you live in a family of electronic junkies when you email things to your wife. Daily. )

Adrpk said:

Just sent a lick off to my brothers. They split wood. Where do they seel those mauls. Internet? Home Defunked?

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How come whe i use the word "maul", people look at me like i'm crazy, always have to follow it up with "SLEDGE!" That's what my father and grandfather called 'em, so maul is good enough for me.

Anyway, does that splitter work better than your average splitting maul, say 6 or 8lb? I also want to try that "Monster maul" someday. Any others out there worthy of a test?

MotorSeven said:

How come whe i use the word "maul", people look at me like i'm crazy, always have to follow it up with "SLEDGE!" That's what my father and grandfather called 'em, so maul is good enough for me.

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Well, it's the CORRECT name, so that's probably why your father and grandfather called 'em that!

. Mark hit the nail on the head as for availability, got mine from heartville for 54.99 and 9.95 shipping, took about 5 days to arrive.



. Motor7, Im planning on borrowing my neighbors 8# maul to see the difference in splitting effort. Personally I would rather have to swing the light (5#) one I have hard than to have to lift allmost twice the weight while doing the same work, but untill I do a test between the two I wont really know.


Ill Let yous know what I find after I borrow the maul.

I'll be looking forward to your report, RBW.

Remember when you're evaluating that how they feel has everything to do with what kind of shape you're in. The 12 lb monster maul feels the same to me this year as the 8 lb maul did last year but I'm in much better shape and the 12 lb'er really goes through some twisted nasty crap. And with the easy stuff I just have to kind of lift it to eye level and push it down and it splits.

Just like a baseball bat, hockey stick etc the energy comes from velocity and not weight.There are a lot of the 12 pound mauls sitting in garages when I deliver wood. Get a six or eight pounder , and get a fiberglass handle to save yourself some time changing it later.Home depot 25 bucks or so.

How about the difference between a maul and a mell?

If you've got the strength to swing the 12lb maul as fast as the 8lb maul then there is half again the energy. I did not think it was worth it and used the 8lb maul all last year. I started using the 12lb maul this year and now that I have the strength to really swing it well I won't go back. The width of the head alone really helps, you can sharpen the edge so it goes into the wood easier but the width doesn't let it get stuck. I usually can split 24" - 30" diameter rounds of softer hardwood now just with the maul. I split 30 face cord (10 full cord) a year by hand. It is my fitness plan. I've gotten to know the mauls really well...

Actually I didn't want to make you feel bad but I split using a 16 lb maul.

And I split 121 quarter face cords a year.

Hey that is one impressive-looking device. Wonder how it would work with these chunks of elm that defied logic (and force). Gave up after pounding the snot outa 14" rounds (they WOULD NOT SPLIT!), fired up the saw and made "hamburger patties" out of it. Elm might exist to keep some of us humble.

Hey!

RaisedByWolves , You got an update on this axe/maul from just the 20-30 logs ?....... I use a 28 ton 8 hp splitter so I'm not looking for the monster maul, I just like to have something to "fine tune" the wood next to the house that is going to be coming in to be burned. Thought this might be the ticket. Wha-ca-got for an up-date on the helko Vario .

RaisedByWolves said:

A helko Vario Axe to be exact.

This is their 5lb Heavy splitting axe, supposed to work similar to a maul without all the weght to swing. So far Ive split about 20-30 logs and think it works pretty good.

I think my stump is a little high for me to develope a good swing (24") but Ill correct this in short order. The thing is downright violent when splitting 8-12" dried hickory. My wife offered to help stack but beat a hasty retreat back into the house after seeing it in action.:jawdrop:

If you swing just right it neatly splits the wood and the pieces fall to either side of the stump, swing too hard and your walking 6-8' in either direction to pick them up.

I think I might thin out the blade near the tip a lil for better penetration in greener wood,(hence the thread title) other than this I think its a good design and a bargain at $55.00.:biggrinbounce2:

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it looks heavy duty..and i like how the bolts go thru the whole thing on the head. the design looks great and should last a long time.

Well, borrowing my neighbors maul for testing was a wash as it was only 6lbs and wasnt really much different than the helko.



Overall I like the axe in design and function in smaller sectioned woods and soft woods, although being the tinkerer that I am I still think I want to modify it some.


This thing will really let you haul off into a piece of wood and as long as you judged the piece correctly and hit it squarely your good.


Mis judge or hit the edge of the log and she tries to bite you on the ankle.:jawdrop:

Part of this is due to the curvature of the handle (my block is also too high) witch can cause the head to come down on an angle.

The curve of the handle lends to the development of more power, but can push the head too far forward if your not acustomed to the correct swing, especially if you become fatigued.



My idea for modifing it is to add a block of steel held to the rear of the handle by the screws. Mabye adding 2lbs partially for more force but also to make it feel more balanced and to stabilize it so the head comes down straighter.



What can I say, I like to tinker, but overall its much better than using an axe to split.

nice piece

RaisedByWolves said:

A helko Vario Axe to be exact.

This is their 5lb Heavy splitting axe, supposed to work similar to a maul without all the weght to swing. So far Ive split about 20-30 logs and think it works pretty good.

I think my stump is a little high for me to develope a good swing (24") but Ill correct this in short order. The thing is downright violent when splitting 8-12" dried hickory. My wife offered to help stack but beat a hasty retreat back into the house after seeing it in action.:jawdrop:

If you swing just right it neatly splits the wood and the pieces fall to either side of the stump, swing too hard and your walking 6-8' in either direction to pick them up.

I think I might thin out the blade near the tip a lil for better penetration in greener wood,(hence the thread title) other than this I think its a good design and a bargain at $55.00.:biggrinbounce2:

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try and compaire it to the fiskar splitting axe with the long handle this is what i use and it works real nice, light enough to swing all day and eazy on the elbows as it has a fiberglass handle. $43.00

ASEMASTER said:

try and compaire it to the fiskar splitting axe with the long handle this is what i use and it works real nice, light enough to swing all day and eazy on the elbows as it has a fiberglass handle. $43.00

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DO you have photos of the fiskar, I can seem to find them around me

I searched online no good photos of the head, and according to the fisker site it only has a 4 1/2 pound head and a 28" handel seems short to me. I have their ax same problem the handel is too short.

RBW how is that Vario holding up? Is it the only type of maul you use now? I'm thinking about putting the Vario on the christmas wish list cause I know I could never "justify" a $55 splitting maul to the wife any other time.

Sheesh the things a man has to do!

SmokinDodge said:

RBW how is that Vario holding up? Is it the only type of maul you use now? I'm thinking about putting the Vario on the christmas wish list cause I know I could never "justify" a $55 splitting maul to the wife any other time.

Sheesh the things a man has to do!

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Better get it wile its still "on sale"
If its hard to "justify" a $55 splitting maul to the wife NOW , its really going to be hard to "justify" when it goes back to $67.99 off sale.

JUDGE1162 said:

DO you have photos of the fiskar, I can seem to find them around me

I searched online no good photos of the head, and according to the fisker site it only has a 4 1/2 pound head and a 28" handel seems short to me. I have their ax same problem the handel is too short.

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thats the axe with long handle... 72cm handle, 1,66kg weight... seems fine to me, even thou i myself use age old fiskars axe with real wooden handle, havent yet seen a wood that wont break with it...