Log splitting maul recommendations

[speccy]

Ive gone through two Roughneck Splitting Mauls (8lb) now, both times the head has snapped off from the fibre shaft.

Im chopping some pretty large diamter logs 40-50cm . Im thinking about a Fiskars instead?

Was looking at this one anyone used or recommend?

Fiskars Safe-T X39 large splitting axe

Handle/axe head: FiberComp/PTFE coated steel Length cutting edge: 8.4 cm Total length: 90.0 cm Weight; 3900 grams

www.knivesandtools.co.uk

 

[scbk]

Did you like the shape of the roughneck mauls? Have you thought about replacing the handles?

 

[speccy]

Did you like the shape of the roughneck mauls? Have you thought about replacing the handles?

Not really just what was available at screwfix at the time. No way can i just replace as the fibre shaft has snapped with all the fibre still sealed in the head. Im not up for attempting to source a shaft to fix the head etc.

 

[speccy]

OK for anyone interested i tracked down one of these, im very excited about recieving it actually.

IsoCore Builder's Axe XXL 8 lb / 36" | Fiskars

Great for hardcore wood splitting, this powerful maul features our patented IsoCore Shock Control System to reduce shock and vibration by up to 50%. It allows you to take on tough wood splitting jobs while helping to reduce muscle fatigue and joint pain. Its forged premium steel head features a...

www.fiskars.com

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Hultafors do a wooden handled splitting axe. I admit I don't own one, but I do have a couple of their forged pry (wrecking) bars and they are absolutely the best product in class, the best conventional wrecking bars I have ever owned. If the axes are in the same league (and reviews seem to infer they are) then they will be superb. The downside of Hultafors stuff is unfortunately the price!

 

[scbk]

Not really just what was available at screwfix at the time. No way can i just replace as the fibre shaft has snapped with all the fibre still sealed in the head. Im not up for attempting to source a shaft to fix the head etc.

You can replace fibreglass handles, with wood is fairly easy, new fibreglass is possible too.
But there's no point if the head is a rubbish shape anyway!

A decent local tool/hardware shop should stock wooden handles for sledgehammers, mauls, axes, spades etc.


Wood handles are nicer to use than fibreglass etc, but don't tend to last as long


Update the thread with how you get on with the new fiskars

 

[Mr Chibs]

I've got one of these, been using it for years, so gets my thumbs up.


Stihl Maul

 

[feynman]

Charlie DIYte has done a recent video on youtube about log splitting using a selection of mauls, axes and a hydraulic splitter.

 

[jacko555]

I have a gransfors bruks maul

Gränsfors Splitting Maul | Gränsfors Bruk Sweden

The Gränsfors Splitting Maul can be used for splitting very thick and knotty chunks of wood. Item no: 450 Length with handle: 80 cm (31.5”) Weight: 3,2 kg (7 lb) Sheath in vegetable-tanned leather…

www.gransforsbruk.com

Was a birthday gift. Brilliant.

 

[johnny2007]

I've "wrapped" the top of my axe wooden handle with steel wire.
20 years later is still there, unmarked.
Admittedly, I don't chop as much wood as before nowadays, but I have lent this axe to many friends and nobody managed to break the handle.

 

[Stivino]

I used to spend an hour os so most Sundays splitting logs. As a result, I used to keep and old axe heads and use them as a splitting wedge, which can be used with a club or a sledgehammer.
If you try to hit the log bang on and not overshoot so that the shaft hits the log, axes will last a lot longer.

 

[johnny2007]

If you try to hit the log bang on and not overshoot so that the shaft hits the log, axes will last a lot longer.

Easy to say, but in reality there will always be some less precise swings.
Hence my solution to wrap a steel wire on the part of the handle closer to the head, so to form a collar.

 

[cwhaley]

I never really got the hang of splitting logs and have been burning them for six years now. My solution has been to use a hand axe by placing the bladed side onto the top of a log and then coming down on it with a lump hammer. The Screwfix axe I'd been using has just failed after all this time (through the repeated stress of the lump hammer) so time for a new one.

 

[feynman]

I didn't know that an axe is not the best tool to split logs - it gets jammed and stuck too easily. A maul has a different head profile and it does not have a sharp edge, by design.

Axes are for cutting across wood grain if you are chopping down a tree; mauls are for splitting the logs apart along the grain.

 

[cwhaley]

Yes it has a wider and heavier head.

Rarely had any problems getting through timber though with my axe. The head is about 1" across at its widest point which manages to split nearly all the logs I work with (apart from the knotty/gnarly ones). I also burn a long of hardwood and softwood off-cuts from local furniture factories which are easy.