Best splitting maul

[woodsmoke]

Thirty years of splitting wood, lots of wood, and when using a maul not the Bilt Rite, I have settled on that Stihl maul. I've used a Monster Maul, Gerber, Gransfors Bruks, basic 6 & 8 pounders, etc. The Stihl is the best.

 

[Patrick H]

This has been my favorite so far..

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=147592-302-1217000&lpage=none

 

[demographic]

Thirty years of splitting wood, lots of wood, and when using a maul not the Bilt Rite, I have settled on that Stihl maul. I've used a Monster Maul, Gerber, Gransfors Bruks, basic 6 & 8 pounders, etc. The Stihl is the best.

I have one of those Stihl mauls too and am pretty happy with it.

 

[BigE]

I just bought another Fiskars SS Axe as as gift from AceHardewareOutlet.com. (Baileys was out of stock.)

Try http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com and it will work a little better.

 

[BigE]

Amazon has it as well:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BX1I7A
$38.52 with free shipping.

Edit:
Oops, above is the 2 pounder. The 4.5 pounder is almost $48
http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-7854-Splitting-28-Inch-Handle/dp/B00004SD7B/ref=pd_cp_hi_3

 

[KodiakKen]

mine is a gransford bruks

Thirty years of splitting wood, lots of wood, and when using a maul not the Bilt Rite, I have settled on that Stihl maul. I've used a Monster Maul, Gerber, Gransfors Bruks, basic 6 & 8 pounders, etc. The Stihl is the best.

I don't know when you bought your maul but the one in my pics is a gransford bruks maul. Stihl has the sticker and gransford bruks makes the head..if you go to the gransford website..same exact thing except Stihl left out the handle protector and added their sticker

 

[woodsmoke]

I think that Ox Head from Germany makes the mauls for Stihl. Ox Head makes great axes and mauls and has a splitting axe that is super for straight grained logs. You can't pound a wedge with the splitting axe as you can with the maul.
The Gransfors maul is an excellent tool just not as heavy as the Ox Head/Stihl maul.

 

[HOGBEAR]

I bought the sthil maul when i bought my 351. Once the paint wore off, it splits like a champ. The paint is super sticky. Handle length is perfect for me, at 5'10.

No problems splitting those big maple rounds. I file it before I start, and it holds an edge very well.

Looks like a good tool I may have to try one. What about the cost?

 

[HOGBEAR]

This has been my favorite so far..

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=147592-302-1217000&lpage=none

I have the same splitter, it does a good job but I liked my old one better, it had a slimmer handle rather than the round handle that the new model comes with.

 

[HOGBEAR]

I bought the sthil maul when i bought my 351. Once the paint wore off, it splits like a champ. The paint is super sticky. Handle length is perfect for me, at 5'10.

No problems splitting those big maple rounds. I file it before I start, and it holds an edge very well.

WOW! My local dealer wants 100.00 plus shipping and taxes.

 

[howellhandmade]

WOW! My local dealer wants 100.00 plus shipping and taxes.

Yeah, me, too. I was tempted to treat myself when the Stihl website showed the price at $86, but when I held it in my hand and looked at a solid C-note price I just couldn't do it. I wonder if there are different versions of it; the one in the store, the head looked smaller than the one in the pic with the 361. Perhaps a trick of the lens. In the hand, it looked like a big, short spike and I remember wondering if it would be likely to bury and stick. I split all my firewood by hand (about 9 cords split this past year) so it appeals to me to have THE best maul, and something that is handmade and will last forever would be nice, so these threads interest me. I reckon I'll have to try the Fiskars. The short handle concerns me (6'4") but I reckon it would excel at splitting kindling if nothing else, and at $40 I won't feel like such a chump if it doesn't become my favorite.

Jack

 

[Marc]

Hardware store 6 lb-er. Holds up much better than the big box 8 lber my father bought... before I repaired is 6 lber for him.

Oddly, the 6 lb head I bought was made in Mexico... the Home Despot 8 lber was China. So far the Mexican seems to be much harder steel.

 

[HOGBEAR]

Yeah, me, too. I was tempted to treat myself when the Stihl website showed the price at $86, but when I held it in my hand and looked at a solid C-note price I just couldn't do it. I wonder if there are different versions of it; the one in the store, the head looked smaller than the one in the pic with the 361. Perhaps a trick of the lens. In the hand, it looked like a big, short spike and I remember wondering if it would be likely to bury and stick. I split all my firewood by hand (about 9 cords split this past year) so it appeals to me to have THE best maul, and something that is handmade and will last forever would be nice, so these threads interest me. I reckon I'll have to try the Fiskars. The short handle concerns me (6'4") but I reckon it would excel at splitting kindling if nothing else, and at $40 I won't feel like such a chump if it doesn't become my favorite.

Jack

I split quite a bit of wood for myself and also for my mama and daddy. The fiskers even with the short handle does a great job with very litle fatigue, the tru temper/ames version is also nice but the round handle causes some hand fatigue but you can control it well. I dont have a good maul but would like to get one but I cant choke down the price that they want for the higher end mauls or my wife might choke me. Either one of the axes above would get the job done well for under 60.00 bucks. If you decide to go fiskers make sure its the super splitter with the 4 1/4 pound head not the pro version which only has a 2 1/2 pound head I think.

 

[Islander]

Fiskars 4.25# SS for me

Have to side with the majority here. The Fiskars super splitter is something special.

I have the red-handled Ames, and an old Craftsman, and the Fiskars is in a class all its own. Better control, less getting stuck, less launching splits to the side, and less fatigue overall.

Just yesterday was splitting 20" ash rounds with the Fiskars. If I started by slabbing off the edges, every one split, and mostly on the first strike.

Fiskars is the surgical scalpel of wood splitting

The Ames is the utility knife,

8# Craftsman is a big butter knife...

 

[Nonprophet]

This has been my favorite so far..

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=147592-302-1217000&lpage=none

When I couldn't find a Fiskars SS locally, I tried one of these True Temper splitting axes--it sucked!! It rarely split on the first whack and then it got stuck something fierce!! I took that thing back ASAP and ordered the Fiskars SS from Amazon---10 times better! I'm 6'3" and while at first I was a little concerned about the (comparatively) shorter handle, I split on a 20" tall x 28" wide elm round with a tire on it, and it works great for me! In fact, even if they offered a longer handle I think I'd opt for the shorter one.........

Bailey's now carries the SS, $39.95 (w/out shipping) is the lowest price I've seen.

NP

 

[Henry G.]

Another vote for the Fiskars. Its almost like magic, it splits so well. I have a few 36" plus pine rounds that are too heavy to lift, a few whacks with the Fiskars on the edge and now I have 4-6 chunks ready to load in the splitter. That thing is SHARP.

 

[Patrick H]

When I couldn't find a Fiskars SS locally, I tried one of these True Temper splitting axes--it sucked!! It rarely split on the first whack and then it got stuck something fierce!! I took that thing back ASAP and ordered the Fiskars SS from Amazon---10 times better! I'm 6'3" and while at first I was a little concerned about the (comparatively) shorter handle, I split on a 20" tall x 28" wide elm round with a tire on it, and it works great for me! In fact, even if they offered a longer handle I think I'd opt for the shorter one.........

Bailey's now carries the SS, $39.95 (w/out shipping) is the lowest price I've seen.

NP

:shrug:
I don't know. Mine works well. I split about 5 1/2 cords a season with it..

 

[BigE]

Just purchased my Fiskars from Acehardwareoutlet.com. Once I saw they took Paypal, it was a done deal.

I've got two manual splitting devices right now - the standard 8lb maul that I normally use, and one that looks like this:
http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(i5nkxpfleffqk4vgit5ykz45)/productDetails.aspx?SKU=1000026634

The one above I finally just stashed in my travel trailer. It works OK, but just doesn't have the weight to split the heavy stuff and tends to bounce off or get stuck. It works fine for splitting dry firewood at the camp site.

I also use this:
http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(i5nkxpfleffqk4vgit5ykz45)/productDetails.aspx?SKU=998023150
when I get a piece that is too water logged to split right away. Works well on the 36" plus pieces as well. I've only got this style wedge stuck once, and that was in a piece of stump wood.

Of course, if I'm splitting a lot, I'll drag out my powered splitter, but sometimes it just isn't worth the effort, and for the first 30-60 minutes I can easily out pace it with my 8lb maul.

 

[tjbier]

I had only an 8lb maul, then got the True Temper splitter and love it, so much lighter and I've not had problems with it. and not so dead tired after splitting with it...... I split mainly oak, maple, cherry..
But now I want to try the Fiskars?? :monkey:

 

[BigE]

Just purchased my Fiskars from Acehardwareoutlet.com. Once I saw they took Paypal, it was a done deal.

Caveat Emptor: When I purchased from Ace on the 12th, they said I should be receiving the axe on the 17th. I just got a note my email this morning saying they had shipped it this morning! To top it off, I won't be receiving it now until the 24th. Funny how the lowest price always has the slowest shipping time and the worst customer service. Bottom line: if you need to get the axe to actually use it soon, buy elsewhere.