Your Favorite Maul for Splitting Wood?

With mauls, it is less about weight and more about technique and speed. A heavier maul will just wear you out quicker, and is usually unnecessary to split most wood. That's why when you split, you go at it with more than one tool. But if you're looking for a maul, it's the GB in my opinion.
 
I like my Mastercraft 3 lb maul with the nylon handle. Been using it for years now and the head never comes loose. It is much less tiring to use than the old 5 pound maul with its head constantly coming loose. The 3 lb is a nice light maul that I use to split 7 bush cords of white birch each season. White birch is very easy to split, much like oak.
 
Yes and I still prefer the Gransfors. I use the Wetterling sometimes when my wife has laid first claim to the "good maul."
 
If you guys talk me into Gransfors my wife is going ask how many axes and mauls do you need for just our own firewood?
 
I'm not sure exactly what it was that I used to chop wood with it but my dad called it a "monster maul". It looked like a giant cheese wedge attached to a large pipe. I wouldn't want to carry it backpacking but it worked like a charm.
 
thunderstick said:
Has anyone used the Mueller Classic Maul? http://www.traditionalwoodworker.co...Hand-Forged-in-Austria/productinfo/367-92573/
Or the Iltis maul with the overstrike protection? http://www.traditionalwoodworker.co...Germany-by-Iltis-Oxhead/productinfo/598-3009/
I would think these mauls would be a comparison class to the Gransfors....
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There's a guy on "arboristsite" who raves about his Mueller. The Iltis looks nice but I've never seen any reviews on it.
Here's an obscure maul made by Halder, next to my Gransfors.


The synthetic striking surface is nice because there's no need for ear plugs, or worry about shrapnel. Overall it's performance isn't outstanding
 
A large wooden maul or beetle with iron collars as a stand-alone striker would make more sense to me than a synthetic striking surface on a splitting maul if you wanted to avoid mushrooming or the need for hearing protection.
 
You'll lose efficiency with either a wood or synthetic striking tool. Steel on steel transfers more power to the work. But with steel on steel you get mushrooming. I guess there's no perfect world.
 
I confess that my splitting outfit is no showcase of craftsmanship. I use a hardware store Collins 6lb traditional maul and a 4lb Collins Michigan style axe, both with synthetic handles to better stand the occasional overstrike. I will not use wedges for splitting as nearly every injury I've seen related to splitting came from a shard or an entire wedge flying off at an unexpected angle. I'm usually splitting Douglas fir, red alder, western red cedar, and the occasional piece of hemlock. I do prefer to attack a round from the sapwood after finding a promising looking crack to work and I find that being able to hit the same spot consistently is key. Alder splits beautifully and usually I can get by with just the axe. I once made the mistake of naively accepting some large (3') diameter poplar rounds from a co-worker who had a tree taken down on his place. Not only did the poplar not produce much heat when I finally got it dry enough to burn, but the twisting, interlocking grain and surprise buried knots made it an absolute devil to split. Despite my stubborn pride at never having been "defeated" by a round no matter the size I ended up giving up on about two-thirds of the rounds and chucking them on my burn pile.
 
Alocksly said:
I confess that my splitting outfit is no showcase of craftsmanship. I use a hardware store Collins 6lb traditional maul and a 4lb Collins Michigan style axe, both with synthetic handles to better stand the occasional overstrike. I will not use wedges for splitting as nearly every injury I've seen related to splitting came from a shard or an entire wedge flying off at an unexpected angle. I'm usually splitting Douglas fir, red alder, western red cedar, and the occasional piece of hemlock. I do prefer to attack a round from the sapwood after finding a promising looking crack to work and I find that being able to hit the same spot consistently is key. Alder splits beautifully and usually I can get by with just the axe. I once made the mistake of naively accepting some large (3') diameter poplar rounds from a co-worker who had a tree taken down on his place. Not only did the poplar not produce much heat when I finally got it dry enough to burn, but the twisting, interlocking grain and surprise buried knots made it an absolute devil to split. Despite my stubborn pride at never having been "defeated" by a round no matter the size I ended up giving up on about two-thirds of the rounds and chucking them on my burn pile.
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I reported on here that I got a Condor German splitting axe. Once observing how well it worked and noticing that it rarely stuck and seemed to have a good balance between penetration splitting ... I went back to my 6lb splitting maul and thinned the bit and the start of the ramp till it stopped bouncing and gave good penetration with just a little sticking occasionally. That maul then performed to a whole new level by significantly thinning the bit and then transitioning it smoothly into the ramp. Part of the reason for this thread was to let folks like you know that you can take your box-store mauls and rework them for better geometry and more proficient splitting. While they may not have the bit hardness of a Gransfors most will hold a convex edge sufficiently well to significantly improve their splitting capability. Honing the edge to remove all the grainy structure of the steel also significantly reduced edge deformation when hitting knots.
 
Yeah as long as you're willing to put in some elbow grease, even a cheap maul can be made to split well. They do typically require a good deal of thinning right at the edge.
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
Yes and I still prefer the Gransfors. I use the Wetterling sometimes when my wife has laid first claim to the "good maul."
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I would be more than happy to let my wife use the GB maul. You have a keeper there. I agree with everyone that the GF maul splits much more efficiently than the typical box store variety of mauls and weighs much less. Both the Husky and Stihl tools are hand forged in Sweden, and many suspect that they are made either by GB or Wetterling. I can say that I like very much the Husky splitting axe. I have several GB and Wetterling axes, good choppers, but not good splitters. I cannot comment on the Wetterling maul as I have not used one, but the hatchets and axes that I own by Wetterling are very good.
 
thunderstick said:
I reported on here that I got a Condor German splitting axe. Once observing how well it worked and noticing that it rarely stuck and seemed to have a good balance between penetration splitting ... I went back to my 6lb splitting maul and thinned the bit and the start of the ramp till it stopped bouncing and gave good penetration with just a little sticking occasionally. That maul then performed to a whole new level by significantly thinning the bit and then transitioning it smoothly into the ramp. Part of the reason for this thread was to let folks like you know that you can take your box-store mauls and rework them for better geometry and more proficient splitting. While they may not have the bit hardness of a Gransfors most will hold a convex edge sufficiently well to significantly improve their splitting capability. Honing the edge to remove all the grainy structure of the steel also significantly reduced edge deformation when hitting knots.
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I'll give that a shot with my maul. I have yet to split next winters firewood and anything that make that task easier is fine with me.
 
Improving a US common maul will take a bunch of work to get it anywhere near the Nordic styles. After reading all the positive comments I wanted to try one. No one I know would spend that kind of scratch on a maul. Finding one used wasn't going to happen either. I bought the Husqvarna because it appeared to be the same design as the Wetterlings at half the price. The GB was out of my price range.
The wetterlings/ huskys have a ridge forged in rather than flat cheeks-seems to decrease it getting stuck. I'm attaching a picture of the husky next to a 8lb luddel. ALso a above shot from Janfrederik's post of his new Gb.
If there are any US made mauls of different design other than the "Chopper One" "great divider" and "monster maul" I would like to compare them also.
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The Seymour, Collins, and True Temper are readily available. Those mauls will have a longer splitting ramp than the one pictured. With a longer ramp you can thin the first 1/2" and then smoothly transition up the ramp. What I found is that the 1/2" is key to penetration and keeping the maul from bouncing. After that the wide profile keeps it from sticking and initiates the splitting. It does not have to match the Nordic profile to be more effective--remember the Fiskars is just a wedge but they start with a thinner bit.
 
Yes, Fiskars lots of guys like those also. I have to ask around and see if anyone I know has one I can test. They are sold just about everywhere, might even be able to pick one up second hand.
Here is how the Fiskar ramps compare.
FiskarsAxes003.jpg
 
thunderstick said:
The Seymour, Collins, and True Temper are readily available. Those mauls will have a longer splitting ramp than the one pictured. With a longer ramp you can thin the first 1/2" and then smoothly transition up the ramp. What I found is that the 1/2" is key to penetration and keeping the maul from bouncing. After that the wide profile keeps it from sticking and initiates the splitting. It does not have to match the Nordic profile to be more effective--remember the Fiskars is just a wedge but they start with a thinner bit.
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Yup--make it thin enough just to get into the cut in the first place and then make the transition into the cheeks smooth. :)
 
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