Log Splitter / Sledgehammer

[neiln]

the 2 have the same head, exactly, the x25 is shorter that is all.  at 5'7" yeah i'd take the x25.  also though take a look for the husqvarna s2800.  its about the same length as the x25 but a heavier head and ive read people say its a beter splitter.  also worth a quick google for the turquoise guise....the gardena s2800 (same axe, gardena are owned by husky....you just might find it a few quid cheaper by widening the search )

 

Ash is supposed to be easy to split but the stuff i had was virtually impossible.  coudnt even noodle it

as it was riddled with brick, concrete and copious amounts of barbed wire!  i got sold a pup on that load.  i'd expect a thin profile axe to split ash though.

 

ha yes we will get past covid.  we staid in a cottage...err 2 walled garden cottage, next to the little shop in west wittering.  weather aside we had a nice holiday nd i got the kids to the beach 3 times for sand castles.  is it always so windy though?  i took an old tent to the beach each time thankfully, and tbh my girls are only 3 and 5 so several hours in the tent with a picnic and blowup sofa thing (it got nicknamed the carrot canoe haha!) was fun despite the rain and wind.

 

had the smell of wood stoves in the village every day.

 

jealous.....wife and i decided we'd love to live there not south london. she was even getting keen on a T6 cali seeing so many at the beach!  even when i told her thy cost more than a Q7 she wasnt put off! 

Edited November 7, 2020 by neiln

[Ratman]

If you go for a splitter in time and want electric, i have the rockmachinery 12ton electric splitter, same breed as Andy’s above, not failed on anything i’ve give it yet, really pleased with it. Checkout their website, good choice and reasonably priced in my opinion, hence the purchase. Got the fiskers axes and some Husqvarna ones but never really get em out now. Good luck with your decisions [emoji106]

[Witterings]

21 hours ago, neiln said:

  is it always so windy though? 

I flew remote control planes for years and the one thing you don't want is wind ...because of that I looked into it and someone mentioned that Witterings is apparently a historical name for windy (not sure if that's Viking or Roman but we have The Roman Palace up the road and one area's called the Roman Landing) so yes it does seem to be quite a bit of the time .....  that said probably any coastal resort is much the same as the wind comes off the sea and this amasing summer it really wasn't that bad.

 

We were in Cornwall when you were here and it was windy there as well if that's any consoluation although I think you were just a bit unlucky with the week you happened to come down.

Edited November 8, 2020 by Witterings

[daveatdave]

12 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

Keeps you fit if nothing else.

Im filling a 1.25m3 bag an hour with my wee petrol Splitter. Thats including clogging up with the Chainsaw and driving the logs over to the bag with the lawn tractor and bogie. A 4 way splitting head, a set of tongs to pick the logs up and im hardly breaking a sweat. Saves my back as im not bending over at all. 

put some greedy boards on you will get more in 

[Dan Maynard]

Ash is a funny one, it's known for being easy to split and that is mostly true. Every now and then though you get one which really isn't - springy and tough and stringy to pull apart.

Cut the rings shorter is another good idea, makes it much easier. You can even go to 4 inch and then not split down as far, make log shapes with the grain sideways if that makes sense. All burns.

[Peter 1955]

There's no one-size-fits-all answer. That's why there are so many options, axes, splitting mauls with varying profiles, wedges, grenades ( bloody useless, I had one), and powered splitters, to name but a few. I wouldn't be without a powered splitter now, but wouldn't look at anything with less than six or seven tons of force. 

Sadly, due to changed circumstances, I no longer have access to the one machine which dealt with almost any gnarly, twisted awkward log presented to it, and turned out a tidy, straight, even sized product. 

A big sawbench. Still miss mine.  

[petercb]

Not a good idea to hit a hardened metal axe with a hardened metal hammer as the metal can fragment and fly off and cause injury. Metal chisels have taper up to striking face to stop this happening as do those grenade wedges.

[Rough Hewn]

Not a good idea to hit a hardened metal axe with a hardened metal hammer as the metal can fragment and fly off and cause injury. Metal chisels have taper up to striking face to stop this happening as do those grenade wedges.

I’ll testify to this.
I’ve destroyed a good felling axe and sledge hammer from doing this.
Starts with little chips then lumps of cracked steel shooting off.
[emoji106]

[Stere]

Used to mess around with sleges and wegdes but now found its easier put the awkward bits too one side and  use  a chainsaw to noodle them up.

 

Don't use the x27 that much find its too abit too lightweight  for most stuff unlesss smaller diameter rounds with prefect grain.

 

Prefer a maul with more weight in the head. Takes   less effort to use than  the x27 as you don't need to hit the wood as hard.

Edited November 8, 2020 by Stere

[neiln]

The poll on most axes isn't hardened.  It's soft and easily deformed. The eye is also easily deformed.  Some axes have a hardened poll but the eye will still be softb so pounding on an axe like a wedge is always bad