![]() Technique and set-up get you a lot, but when it comes down to it, right tool for the job. ![]() ![]() I've yet to try a proper spiting maul in Aussie timber, but a Fiskars splitter is on my list as my little brother seems to really like his, and they split a lot more firewood in a winter than I ever will in a lifetime living here. ![]() That said, even in good timber, my oxhead felling ax was a terrible block splitter, and I don't think their reputation for quality is unearned. To be fair, one of the reasons that northerners get away with one ax is that the compromise isn't as bad going from a felling ax to a splitter, well, that and extra work doesn't feel as bad in the cold. How does the edge hold up after all that use? Did you have to modify the edge taking some meat our of the cheeks for carpentry type use to build you barn? That timber barn looks fantastic! I'd love a project like that to play around with. What a gift! Great to hear it has been a good one for you mate. Well, it started as an axe and saw project to put up a simple lean too off an old tennis hit-up wall for the horses, but I got carried away.oops. I even used it for a bit of bush-carpentry building my "barn". I don't use it for splitting firewood, that's what my old Cyclone block-buster is for. The handle works well for me in size and shape and the pinned head hasn't budged. ( they were about 1/2 current price), I'd say it's a MK1, but there's only cosmetic differences from what I can tell.Ībsolutely fantastic axe, it's been used for felling hardwoods, softwoods and cypress, cutting fallen trees off fences, ( when I haven't got a chainsaw with me), a lot of barking fenceposts and doing stays. My wife bought me a Sneddon Knock-about axe about 20 years ago. Do you really need a 2kg head and a 36" handle What axes can you recommend from personal experience that fit the felling/splitting parameters well for Aussie hardwoods? I've also been thinking that an old used Kelly, Hytest or Plumb Tasmanian pattern axe head might be a good option to try. I'd happily pay $300+ if it is 3x better than the Hultafors that is coming. Obviously those are a bit higher in price and hence the struggle to find a quality tool at a reasonable price in Aus. Others I have looked and and considered are:Ĭouncil Tool Dayton (premium american) felling 36" handle, 1.8kg (4lb) head ~$330,Ĭouncil Tool Velvicut bad axe 1.02kg (2.25 lb) head, 28" handle ~$265ĭedicated splitter - Fiskars x27 - $128 (Bunnings) Well-priced (a lot of decent axes are quite expensive here in Aus as opposed to the UK or Amurika!), decent weight, good reviews etc. I will be giving it a go, and if I like it I will keep it, if not I might move it on. I have purchased a Hultafors Yankee Felling Axe 1.5kg for $160, and it is on its way in the post to me. Let me know if you know where I can get one to fit.Īnyways, I am looking for a good large axe with a 28-32" handle that is a good all-rounder, particularly focused on felling and splitting larger logs. However the handle is now done from too many overstrikes and I can't seem to find another good 600-700mm hardwood handle to refit it that fits the overly-large-for-its-weight 62x22mm eye. Decent and nostalgic but not impressive by any means. I have been using a vintage Elwell slim line 1 axe head that's about 100 years old (passed down from my great grandfather), which weighs about 1kg on a 600mm spotted gum handle, and have been getting by with that the last few years. Whether it was felling, or splitting large logs (the 35" was pretty good with this), they just never felt like it was the right tool for the job I was giving it. We have a ton of big hardwood trees in Aus, and I always found the GB's (even the 35" American Felling Axe) to be not quite up to the task of making light work of our hard timbers over here. Probably because that's what the forests of Sweden are mostly made up of haha! The edges come quite sharp but the head weight always seemed to be a bit light for the handle length to me. ![]() The thing that I found though was that the GB's seem to be strongly designed towards light work, light/medium splitting and softwoods. Don't get me wrong, they are amazingly made pieces of axe art! And anyone that likes axes should have at least 1 GB pass through their hands. Particularly Gransfors Bruks axes of which I have had all sizes, but at this risk of offending all the GB fans, none of them really seemed to hit it for me. I am looking for a new axe and have been researching this for a while now. ![]()
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