OK Why didnt you tell me my maul was a 6lb er

BIG difference between what you can split with an 8-pounder and a six-pound maul.

With that attitude, babalu87, I agree that the wood don't stand a chance. Hope you've got the nice weather we've been having around here. In the '50s today and lots of sun. Lamentably, I have no wood to split, so I raked the front lawn. But I do have 2 dead elms in the yard that need to come out, and I'll def pull out the 8-pound rig for that. Maybe tomorrow.

I have an 8 pounder now, too. Fiberglass handle instead of the wooden one that I began to destroy my first outing. Oops. My fault of course, but I have a hard time finding the wood with the metal sometimes. I bought the 8 pounder last summer when the 6 pounder finally lost so much wood from the handle I was afeared of impaling myself with it.

I'll never go back to a 6 until my bone and muscles are shouting at me louder than the blasted wood I wail upon. I think my slow swinging style really benefited from the heavier maul and I really haven't noticed much additional fatigue. I don't split near as much as Eric, but hey, who does?

I've heard some folks swear by a 6 pounder, saying velocity is everything, but me, well, my velocity's been slowing for quite a few years now. The 8 pounder seems to make up the difference.

One other thing I started doing this year different after watching my neighbor split a few oaks he had dropped in his yard. I no longer lift my rounds up onto a chopping block. Especially the big ones. Works even better just hitting them on the ground. Saves boo-coos of energy, too. I'll have to remember to thank him.

I thought the reason to get 'em off the ground was so the energy of the swing was not absorbed by the "ssoft" ground?? does that not work physically speaking.

Along those lines, I like a nice short chopping block, right now mine is about 6 inches tall. Plenty of room to get most of the power from my swing, but still keeps me from bonking my maul off of the rocks which make up my splitting area.

Perhaps I will give some grounded wood a try and compare for myself. I did see a guy a while back who, in his processing area, had sunken a few pieces of RR tie into the ground. This may be the best of both world's- get the full velocity off of a full swing and also have something to block some of the absorption. I am sure one of the math nerds will be spouting equations here soon- that will be helpful if i can figure them out.

I always split on the ground, too. The only thing I don't like about it is that you get dirt on the maul wedge when it goes into the dirt. Where I live it's pretty heavy to clay, so that stuff sticks to the head and I have to clean it off or risk having it fall down on my head when I lift the maul for my swing. Anyway, my motto is: "Hit it hard enough, often enough in the same spot, and it will eventually split."

martel said:

I thought the reason to get 'em off the ground was so the energy of the swing was not absorbed by the "ssoft" ground?? does that not work physically speaking.

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This was always my assumption as well, until I tried splitting on the ground. I'll never go back. There is a significant savings of time, back pain, and energy by eliminating the lift up onto a cutting stump. And I swear I get WAY more first time splits, especially off the sides of big rounds, than up on a block.

I still use a block to split splits into kindling, or just cut 'em down to size with my trusty fiberglass handled camp hatchet. I like to give a little whack, just hard enough to stick the blade into the top, then lift the whole thing up, flip it upside down, and slam 'er down on the hatchet butt (heel?). Pop! One piece turns into two on most occasions, with nary another effort.

After tearing my right rotator cuff twice, the full-bore, from behind the back swing of the axe is no longer possible.

So the 8 pounder, from above the head and down to the wood works great. The fiberglass handle does dampen alot of vibes that really hurt my elbows.

I don't bother wasting energy setting the logs on a chopping block either. Wherever they are, they get the maul.

Yeah Sandor. You lift the maul up directly above your head and then pull straight down. It's all in how hard you pull. That, and accurate aiming (lol).

Well, my maul is 3 pounds. Guess I'm in the minority here. I bet I'm splitting smaller stuff than most of you but it's still fun for me. It's all about high speed chopping with the 3 pounder. I get in some decent fights from time to time but most are one hit wonders.

It's not so much the swinging of the axe or maul for me, but the bending over to reset the log for another wack. It never fails that a couple splits get knocked over as a by-product of flying wood, that's why I try and pack the rounds together before swinging. Yeah you have to move around a bit to hit all the logs, but it sure beats bending over at least a couple times per log. This pic shows smaller logs, but it works equally well for the larger stuff too.

Dylan said:

Get yourself a couple different sized bicycle tires or bicucle tire inner tubes. Stretch the appropriately sized one over the round (or too large split) and you can make multiple strikes/splits without having to reset the round.

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mark this up to one of things I learned this year... gonna go give er a try