The least loved axe of all - the axe mattock

Square_peg said:
I like the longer axe side of that tool.
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Yeah that's what I like the looks of with them. Deep bits on both sides, and they look to be pretty thin so they'll keep cutting well even when moderately dulled.
 
Just a very useful, very un glamorous tool. I would never be without one. Aside from obvious uses, I use one to dig out old garden beds, where you can chop through big stalks, clumps of grass, etc., and loosen dirt at same time. Sure there are better hoes, but the mattock works fine.

That stump looks like too much "fun" :)!
 
Square-peg - excellent find. I would have taken that one in a heart beat.

This thread brings up a LOT of old memories that are less than pleasant. :D.

I've use the term "mattaxe" for these. That is what it is called around my neck of Texas. I've dug out way more mesquite and Ashe juniper roots than should be legal. Back when I was a young sprout. I learned the hard way to find out what my great-grandfather was working on before getting the tool/tools he wanted.

In a heavy German accent, "Bring ze mattocks." sounds a lot like "Bring ze mattaxe."

"Vy vud I vant zvei mattocks to chop ze ruuts?" (Why would I want 2 mattocks to chop the roots? - yes I know zvei is zwei not zvei but it makes it easier for non-Germanic tongues to know how to say what I heard. :D:D)
 
Maybe my back just cringes looking at that stump, but what I'd do now with my less than perfect back is drill a bunch holes in the top of that stump with my 1/2" diameter 12" long drill, fill the holes with charcoal lighter fluid a couple of times (letting the fluid soak into the stump) and then call in a controlled burn. :D Then just sit back with a lawn chair, a garden hose and a beer.
 
I am xeriscaping my back yard, and after a few hours today chopping out hedge stumps with my Pulaski, I am totally willing to admit my lack of love for that thing. It's the right tool for the right job, but boy would I rather just be swinging an axe at a trunk. Digging out roots and stumps is too much like work.
 
This is my recently acquired Spanish "Bellota" made one with a round slip handle.

l used it a few weeks ago to dig a narrow trench to run a cable, perfect tool for the job but I did sweat just a little...... :rolleyes:


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Just had this little guy land yesterday, though Rinaldi goofed and didn't send me a handle. Good thing I have a piece of hickory that'll be perfect for it. It's referred to by them as a "hazelnut hoe" and is obviously just a tiny version of the larger varieties of the tool.

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No clue as far as the pick handle goes, but probably. I think those have a bigger eye than this does. Measures about 1-9/16" x 1-1/8" at the top of the eye. Should be a real handy little tool, on a long handle or short. I'd be tempted to put it on something like a 36" or 40" handle, though it'd do equally well on something 24" or less.
 
BG_Farmer said:
That stump looks like too much "fun" :)!
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It was! We got to it this past weekend.

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In the above photo you see the axe mattock as well as a POS import flat-cheeked fiberglass handled thing. This work is the perfect place to pull out your POS axe. I absolutely don't care if I strike a rock with it. Perfect for digging out stumps from a rock pile.

I hooked up 2 come-a-longs. The one on the left is a Maasdam 2-ton cable puller. The one on the right is a 1500 pound Maasdam rope puller with a snatch block added to create 1.5 tons of pulling force. My son-in-law and I both have 4-wheel drive trucks but I think it's foolish to risk a transmission where a far cheaper tool will do the job.

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After about 4 hours work we had it up.

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My secret weapon - GRANDSON POWER!!!

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We pulled it up and over onto a flatbed trailer to haul to the dump.

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The grandson quickly found a use for the old stump hole.

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That is getting work done - thanks for the pictures!

That was a forbidding looking stump you coerced out of there. Made me think of another I had seen...

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*Your grandson might get a kick out of Dozer Days.

Or he could just hang out with you for the same effect lol.
 
Daaaaaaang, man! That's some fantastic work! And my compliments on that solid shank shovel in the second pic. :D
 
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