Splitting axe (axe head)

greenbee

FreeBear said:

I got me one of these a few years back - https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb762lsp-corded-brushless-37cm-log-splitter-1-5kw/649gf (ouch, £100 more than I paid). It struggles with really big rounds, but nothing a chainsaw won't fix.

Had fibreglass handled hammers & axes, but kept breaking them..

I have something similar. I tend to alternate between the maul and the log splitter as I get different kinds of backache from each   The log splitter was bought when I had to take four mature conifers down at my last house - I think I'd just about finished burning those, two ash that contracted ash die-back, a willow, a silver birch and a couple of fruit trees when I sold... I was shocked at the price of wood when I had to buy it this season. 

Eldi_Dos

B0bbyEwing said:

Eldi_Dos said:

Would have thought Oak more valuable as timber rather than turning it into logs to burn.

What if someone has sorted you out with a few small sized logs that need chopping down for the fire but are too small to do anything with?

Usaually I would expect them to take all the timber except twigs when they felled the tree.

A relative had a Oak tree in their garden that they wanted removed, a tree surgeon quoted £1500. They baulked at this, shopped around and found a artisan furniture maker who was only to glad to source locally grown Oak, he paid them £1500 and arranged the felling.
Hence my surprise that someone was using Oak for logs, could be money going up in smoke.

Ectophile

It looks quite a similar design to my Silverline log splitting maul.  The head is big and heavy.  It's almost a sledgehammer, but with one side tapering to an edge.

If you try to split logs with a normal axe, it's very easy for the thin blade to get stuck in the end of the log, and it's a lot of work to get it out again.  The maul has a much broader head.  The end result is that it either splits the log apart or it bounces off.  It never gets stuck half way.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

B0bbyEwing said:

Turns out I've been using a felling axe to work my way through logs so I went & bought a splitting axe, or rather a 'splitting maul' as it's listed.

Problem with these is the heads come loose after a while, Roughneck replaced one under warranty, 2nd eventually suffered the same fate so I switched to an axe, not sure what type it is, was £10 down the local market, not had any problems splitting logs (mainly ash). 

I think the best accessory for log splitting is an old car tyre fixed to the top of the chopping block, saves so much time and backache keep bending down to pick up the logs. 

Ectophile

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

I think the best accessory for log splitting is an old car tyre fixed to the top of the chopping block, saves so much time and backache keep bending down to pick up the logs. 

It also stops the logs flying across the yard and smashing flower pots or anything else that gets in the way.

daivid

3” seems sensible for a maul, as others have said you want a heavy blunt wedge that creates a shockwave rather than cuts and doesn’t get stuck/is easy to unstick. For my splitting I have a selection of wedges and a selection of hammers to get down to a size I can process with felling axe (and for kindling a splitting hatchet). If money and space were no object I might buy a nice maul but the benefit of wedges is it's easy and cheap to have a small collection and when one gets stuck another can be driven in a little way down.

Ectophile

But be careful of thumbs when using a big hammer and wedges.  A three pound hammer on the thumb can hurt quite a bit