The axe thread

  • Thread starter Thread starter davidwyby
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Pretty much what I figured.

My Husqvarna splitting ax is my usual pounder. 28"

I've used a longer, heavier maul. Worked for me. It was out of the truck one day when I needed an ax and I was already at the Husqvarna dealer/ rental store. I'm a hair over 190#/5'11".

My topping ax is only 12" or so with a 5# head.



I don't recall what length we used at State Parks, where we beat trees over most days. Wished for heavier, some days.




For a 5'6" GF/ coworker, maybe getting a shorter ax is warranted.
I built a booster platform for the mini allowing her better visibility. Gives me better visibility, too.
Tools need to fit the person.
 
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Most (western) loggers/fallers run 28” 5lb, rafting pattern (long poll) if they can find it. I have most of mine 30-32” to maintain some multipurpose but recently in the woods I saw the value of 28”.
 
I guess this Q belongs in this thread- anybody here ever use a Leveraxe? I'm wondering if they are any good. I have very good results with a basic 6 or 8lb splitting maul but wondering if the lever ax might be worth a try

 
A lot of the clever northern European solutions wouldn't work over here. This axe, the tire retainer, probably some other stuff. Birch rounds almost qualify as dimensional lumber. Every piece is about the same as the next, and it splits like a dream. Try that stuff with a 30" piece of knotted oak., or even a simple piece of cherry with a couple old hidden knots.
 
Does it split elm?

Everyone should know that splitting kindling off the outside of a round is much easier than splitting it into firewood chunks that will last a while.
 
I've seen, but have never tried one. I give the maul a twist, and you can usually keep the chunk upright. I always work the outside on a big chunk. Not sure why you would try to bust a 24" round in half. Unless it was ash and it was 0* outside. :/: My new favorite maul is the Stihl/Ochsenkopf. I had to split a cord back in February for a customer. Did it all with the Oxhead. Way faster that the Timbwolf TW5.
 
lxskllr said:
A lot of the clever northern European solutions wouldn't work over here. This axe, the tire retainer, probably some other stuff. Birch rounds almost qualify as dimensional lumber. Every piece is about the same as the next, and it splits like a dream. Try that stuff with a 30" piece of knotted oak., or even a simple piece of cherry with a couple old hidden knots.
Click to expand...
there‘s plenty of gnarly wood around here, but i leave that onsite and only bring straight and not too thick wood home for the tire ;)
 
Dave Shepard said:
I've seen, but have never tried one. I give the maul a twist, and you can usually keep the chunk upright. I always work the outside on a big chunk. Not sure why you would try to bust a 24" round in half. Unless it was ash and it was 0* outside. :/: My new favorite maul is the Stihl/Ochsenkopf. I had to split a cord back in February for a customer. Did it all with the Oxhead. Way faster that the Timbwolf TW5.
Click to expand...
The above part I bolded, from @Dave Shepard.

One answer is if you are splitting any western species of conifer that I'm familiar with. Rounds from these trees generally must be split on radius lines...there is not much give when you try to go any other way at them. Once rounds are reduced to wedge shapes, may it be simple quarters with smaller stuff or 1/16ths of bigger diameters, only then can you be very successful splitting across the radius.

Working the outside of a round just doesn't work.
 
We all burn the best of what we have access to. No reason y'all would burn a softwood, except maybe for kindling.

If there is a limb remnant within even thin wedges, you are very likely to fail splitting across the radius. Chainsaw ripping time :).
 
My statement was based on seeing people trying to split hardwoods in half, mostly on YouTube, so the softwood thing really didn't enter into it. You don't have to watch someone split very long to know if they know what they are doing. I bet there is more softwood used for heating globally. The closer to the pole, the greater the need for heating, the less hardwoods available.
 
My main experience with softwood is yard spruces. That means branches top to bottom. They're virtually unsplitable. With enough determination you can get them apart with wedges and a maul, but then all you have is smaller spruce. It isn't worth the work. Split them with a saw, or don't bother.
 
Dave Shepard said:
My statement was based on seeing people trying to split hardwoods in half, mostly on YouTube, so the softwood thing really didn't enter into it. You don't have to watch someone split very long to know if they know what they are doing. I bet there is more softwood used for heating globally. The closer to the pole, the greater the need for heating, the less hardwoods available.
Click to expand...
Also, the closer to the poles, within limits, of course, the slower trees grow.
Makes for smaller growth rings and harder wood= more BTUs.
 
Softwoods around here get really stringy in the lower part of the trunk, making the cuts nearest the stump even more difficult to split. Pinion pines tend to grow with considerable twist, at first glance, they look quite straight, meanwhile under the bark, they're growing in a tight spiral. Pinion can be completely impossible to split. Bust it up into chunks? Kinda, but it tends to leave a pile of chips and a lump of twisted weirdness that you can't do anything with but chuck on the coals. It's also a very resinous wood, lots of sap that guards fallen timber from rot. Pinion on the ground can be good firewood for literally decades.
 
Douglas fir can often be that way too; the first couple of rounds off the stump often feature intwined stringy fibers.

This is a good reason to make the felling cuts a few feet above the ground, to get a more consistent reaction across the whole hinge, when really accurate lays are called for.
 
Last edited:
Burnham said:
The above part I bolded, from @Dave Shepard.

One answer is if you are splitting any western species of conifer that I'm familiar with. Rounds from these trees generally must be split on radius lines...there is not much give when you try to go any other way at them. Once rounds are reduced to wedge shapes, may it be simple quarters with smaller stuff or 1/16ths of bigger diameters, only then can you be very successful splitting across the radius.

Working the outside of a round just doesn't work.
Click to expand...
It's different between whorls than with whorls within the piece.

Some people are set on all 16" lengths. I'm not.

All things considered, I'll take my hydraulic with a standard and 4-way wedge. Only a 22 ton... never been stopped, even with large, 20" lengths.

As much as I like hand-splitting, I prefer happy wrists.




A bit of a flick and loosened grip, immediately before impact, can help.
 
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