Anyone Use the Good Ole Splitting Maul anymore

[branchbuzzer]

I won't argue that it's okay exercise. But a lot of folks here I think overstate the benefit. E.g., cheaper than a gym membership, etc.

I think you'd need to split a lot of wood by hand - a couple cords a week year-round maybe - for that to be true. Busting up 4-5 cords over a couple weeks - and remaining more or less dormant for the remaining 4 dozen weeks of the year is an effective strategy for getting a gut.

Of course that depends on how good of shape you're in as to how hard it is, right? Certainly not going to be a major part of a year round exercise program, unless one is up the ying-yang-wazoo in firewood.

What to one person is a nice way to pass the time and loosen up can be purgatory to the next guy. I guess it gets easier the more one does it, but I kind of like the famous quote: "It doesn't get any easier, you just go faster."

 

[jerrycmorrow]

I won't argue that it's okay exercise. But a lot of folks here I think overstate the benefit. E.g., cheaper than a gym membership, etc.

I think you'd need to split a lot of wood by hand - a couple cords a week year-round maybe - for that to be true. Busting up 4-5 cords over a couple weeks - and remaining more or less dormant for the remaining 4 dozen weeks of the year is an effective strategy for getting a gut.

probably right that a lot of folks may do all their splitting in one short time period. i like to spread mine out over the whole year. between splitting and cutting and hauling my wood i get good workouts and get my heart rate up and my insulin level down. still overweight but my stress level is way down. good to do when the DW is on a rampage. legal too.

 

[jerrycmorrow]

I'll give you a "hint" for FREE....
[video=youtube;WoAOYLMU1Wc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoAOYLMU1Wc[/video]
[video=youtube;MVSwICvpIVE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVSwICvpIVE[/video]

curious as to what kind of wood that is. that "maul" you use makes it look easy. have you compared a regular maul to the Fiskars?

 

[Ironworker]

just bought the fiskars supersplit, awesome, can't believe how easy it splits wood, can't wait for the weather to break, got a bunch of cherry and ash rounds to split.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

curious as to what kind of wood that is. that "maul" you use makes it look easy. have you compared a regular maul to the Fiskars?

It is Douglas Fir...pretty easy split with the FSS.....
I do have a 8# maul...but one can't compare...It's just a different world....

With the FSS, I split easy with finesse and accuracy, focusing on the log...with the maul, I am busy just gett'n that 8# head to the log...LOL...:sweat:

I dont think I can split for more than one hr with the maul, and with the FSS, I never want to take a break...

 

[jerrycmorrow]

It is Douglas Fir...pretty easy split with the FSS.....
I do have a 8# maul...but one can't compare...It's just a different world....

With the FSS, I split easy with finesse and accuracy, focusing on the log...with the maul, I am busy just gett'n that 8# head to the log...LOL...:sweat:

I dont think I can split for more than one hr with the maul, and with the FSS, I never want to take a break...

thanks, i was curious. you should send a copy of that vid to fiskars and offer to sell them the rights. those pictures are impressive.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

thanks, i was curious. you should send a copy of that vid to fiskars and offer to sell them the rights. those pictures are impressive.

Thx, Credits from all of you guys are worth more than from Fiskars!!:yourock:

 

[TMFARM 2009]

i bought three different types of fiskars... i will tell ya the pro splitting axe 7859 i am not too impressed with.. i haven't received the pro chop 7858 or the super split yet, i hope they are better...

 

[epicklein22]

Been using this for the past 30 years. Quicker than a splitter and better exercise too.

I have split my fair share of wood with a monster maul. On my second one at the moment, broke the first one in two! Fiskars are great tool as well.

While I have a super split now, it still feels great to split up some wood by hand. No noise and just pure relaxation. One of my favorite things to do is to find a pecker pole, cut it down and into 16" pieces and then split it all up by hand. Quick, easy and relaxing.

 

[acguy]

No problem swinging the ole hickory handle!

 

[fearofpavement]

While I do have a very powerful hydraulic splitter, I split about 90% of our wood with a monster maul almost identical to the one in the beginning posts. I have other mauls and find the monster maul to use the least energy because you typically only hit the piece once per split. It never gets stuck and not too many pieces say no to it. For the occasional nasty piece, I throw that in a pile and once a year fire up the power splitter and deal with those. I split all my wood on the ground. ie, the only handling I do is to stand it on end. I throw the split pieces over to the stacking area but everything gets split where it landed when it came out of the dump trailer. I cut wood to length at the felling site and only split it enough to be able to lift it. On very large rounds, I take pieces off the outside until the diameter is reduced to the point it won't hurt me to pick it up. (well, I sometimes overestimate my abilities). I find that the monster maul will split wood effectively on the ground but a light maul does better if the wood is on a chopping block. I don't want to have to lift all the pieces to use a lighter maul as that is more total work. I typically split wood in the evening for 20 to 40 minutes as a stress reliever and truly enjoy it as a somewhat mindless activity. I have never noodled wood to make it smaller but when my wife saw some noodles I was making while testing out a chain saw, she indicated she would like some of those for animal bedding. So maybe I will be making some noodles not to split wood but to get the noodles. It is sorta fun too!

 

[watchamakalit]

I actually sold my splitter this year in favor of my fiskars SS. I prefer to split by hand and am acutally faster most of the time by myself on the fiskars as opposed to on the splitter. Plus I don't have to buy fuel for the fiskars. lol

 

[Kensterfly]

I'll give you a "hint" for FREE....

[video=youtube;MVSwICvpIVE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVSwICvpIVE[/video]

The rope and bungee works pretty good, I see. How often do you slice the rope or bungee cord? I prefer to toss a tire around a large round, or put several smaller rounds inside the tire, to the same effect. Saves lots of time and bending over setting up the pieces so you can split 'em some more. And it keeps them all together in one tight spot so it's easier to pick them up to move them to your stack.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

How often do you slice the rope or bungee cord?

Haven't happened yet. The key is to hit the opposite side of the log or bundle of logs.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

My buddy Doug from Oregon, have taking the bungee cord splitting to the next level....would need a XXL tractor tire for this one....LOL
<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zdfzb2EwQho" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

 

[Kensterfly]

I just may have to give that a try. We have lots of bungee cords around here. My Bride loves them and uses them a lot.

 

[TreePointer]

My buddy Doug from Oregon, have taking the bungee cord splitting to the next level....would need a XXL tractor tire for this one....LOL
<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="640" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zdfzb2EwQho" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

Another great Fiskars training video!

(Much more convincing than that Leveraxe thingy. )

 

[Kensterfly]

Is that really half a cord?? I'm convinced to try the bungees. One thing I would question is having such a large number of rounds in one bundle. Looks like the guy is having to bend too far over to reach across to hit the rounds on the opposite/far side.

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

I know this is late to the thread but I use the Ames/True Temper 6#splitting Axe and an 8# sledge & wedge.

I get a LOT of 'crotchy' stuff that I can't get through with the 6#er. Maybe I'm not swinging hard enough... I know that 'nibbling' the edges off is helpful but I've got enough kindling wood right now.

I also don't noodle too much because I can't run the saw when I've got time to split - it's usually weekend nap time for the kids & my wife would kill me if I woke the kids up.

I like my 'six pack' though

 

[Finland]

Out of stone age

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