I always don’t use my gnarly pieces of big fork sections cause I split all by hand. I’m actually just using and old axe which surprisingly splits well. But it’s time I get a real splitting maul
I use an ax, and mauls (6 and 8lbs.) and that covers about the toughest stuff I want to mess with. I'm an old man, and need to preserve my body at this point.
Use the lightest tool that will do the job, buck those crotches real short with the saw, like 12" or less to where they are easy to split, and make some chunks. You can even rip-cut (noodle) the short-bucked stuff the rest of the way, if you don't wanna split it.
the monster maul is great....the only bad thing about it is the steel handle has no forgiveness on hard to split rounds and your hands bear the brunt of the vibration lol.
Yeah, that thing is brutal. The handle on mine is broke up by the head, and I'm in no hurry to fix it.
But the way to minimize shock is to hold whatever you are using, as light as you possibly can without losing your grip on it. Good, grabby gloves sure help:
Cordova TOWA ActivGrip Gloves (AG581) are nitrile coated for oil and wet grip hand protection. The nitrile coating protects the hand from liquids penetrating the glove.
www.indsafetyequipstore.com
Swing an ax or maul like a golf club.."try to stick the butt of the handle into the ground." Start with your arms at a right angle to the handle. I will even let the handle hang straight down behind my back, then do a squat move to initiate the swing. Don't try to muscle the head into the wood; The best speed will come when you just try to stick the butt of the handle into the ground, and centrifugal force will pull the handle into a straight line with your arms by the time you reach impact. And grip light.."like you were holding a baby bird" as Sam Snead said.
Using a short chopping block, like 8" or under, will give your swing more time to build head speed.
someone on here awhile ago scientifically explained how axe speed is better than the weight/mass of the axe itself.
That's true to a point, but sometimes you need the inertia of 8-pounder to plow through some of that tough stuff.
A wedge and sledge can be useful too.