HB Agdor vs CT FSS

[TigerBlades]

I was looking for an axe around the 100$ price range, with a 28 inch handle that would be good for most things.

I then stumbled onto these 2. I can't decide which one. Any thoughts?

 

[kwantam]

I own and regularly use both the Council FSS Boy's axe and the Hults Bruk Agdor Montreal pattern. Both are really good axes, some of the best in production today. You are not going to go wrong with either one. You could just flip a coin and there'd be no reason to be particularly disappointed with the result.

(By the way, I'm assuming here that "most things" includes limbing, bucking, light felling, and light splitting. If you're planning to mostly split, both of these are too much of a compromise---get yourself a splitting axe. I'm partial to the German-style splitters like my trusty Mueller. Happy to elaborate.)

I don't consider either of these axes "out of the box" users: both need the bits reprofiled and the handles thinned. But the Council handle is much, much, *much* closer to usable out of the box than the Hults Bruk. The HB handle is far too thick and thus too stiff; it will injure your hands, wrists, and elbows if you use it seriously without thinning it.

From my experience---which is by no means a statistically significant sample, so of course take it for the plural-anecdotes it is and not the data it ain't---it's better than even odds that the factory hang will come loose under serious use no matter which one you get. If/when it does, the Council FSS has the edge because it has a plastic wedge that's easily pulled (and no metal wedge at all, thankfully). Pulling, tightening, and re-wedging is a snap. The HB has a big ole barrel wedge; pulling it is a bit of a production, but probably does make it a bit less likely that it'll come loose in the first place. (That said: my particular Agdor came loose almost immediately. I'd hope that's not typical.)

The one really big advantage of the HB is that it's a quarter pound heavier. Doesn't seem like it should make much difference, but my unscientific gut feel says that it does. It's a really, really good chopping axe. Don't get me wrong, the FSS is good, too---but the Agdor is slightly better.

Again, from my perspective it's pretty much a dead heat. You really can't go wrong with either, you'll just face slightly different imperfections depending which path you choose.

 

[Square_peg]

The Agdor is likely made of C55 steel which is very good and makes a fine axe. But the FSS axe is made of 1080, even better steel with better edge holding and abrasion resistance.

I bought 2 of the FSS axes and both came very good from the factory, needing just some light honing to finish the edge - no file work.

 

[Sid Post]

... If you're planning to mostly split, both of these are too much of a compromise---get yourself a splitting axe. I'm partial to the German-style splitters like my trusty Mueller. Happy to elaborate.)

Please tell me more. I have been looking at them at Wiseman Trading in Alabama.

 

[kwantam]

Sure thing! (with apologies for a slightly off-topic post)

I have the smaller of the Mueller Dynamax splitting axes. I'm sure the bigger one is also great, but the shorter handle on this one is pretty, um, handy

I split mostly ash with a small bit of maple, black cherry, and every once in a while white pine, and I find that this splitting axe is just fantastic on the hardwoods. The head design rockets the grain apart and really doesn't get stuck, and the built-in overstrike guard gives great peace of mind. Compared to a Fiskars X27 (one of my other regular splitters) I find this axe more effective on hardwood. I think this is because the Mueller has a wider wedge, meaning that it splits and then really forces the split pieces apart.

For softwood, the results don't seem to be quite as good. Most of what I'm splitting is really knotty, and it seems like the thinner wedge of the Fiskars X27 does much, much better at getting deeper into the grain to force it apart.

The Dynamax also does a pretty good job on big hardwood rounds---enough that I can get away without using a maul for the most part. For the really stubborn stuff the maul's extra grunt helps a bit, of course.

One minor criticism: the "shock absorbing" thing seems mostly to be a gimmick. That's not a serious complaint, though, because this same design feature is what gives you the integral overstrike guard, which seems very solid and is thick and heavy enough that it probably lends the axe a bit of authority, too. But I wouldn't assume that this axe is much better shock-wise than, say, its Prandi or Helko or no-name counterparts with the same head design (though none of those has the integral overstrike guard).

In sum: definitely one of my favorite splitters. You could probably get away with a cheaper axe of the same design, especially if you added a beefy overstrike guard to it, but I have no buyer's remorse.

 

[TigerBlades]

Got the Council Tool. Give a little sharpening, axe collar, and boom it's ready. I went with the sport utility, so I also had to do some handle mods.