New splitter and firewood pile

[motowbrowne]

Hey y'all, I just wanted to share some pictures of my new maul. After using one of these that belongs to a friend, I broke down and bought one. It's a Gransfors Bruks, hand made in Sweden. I have split a lot of firewood with mauls and hydraulic splitters, and I must say both have their place, but as far as mauls are concerned, this one is by far the best I have ever handled. the design is really simple, but amazingly effective. I always though I preferred a longer handle with a heavy head, and this one has neither. It is only a 31 inch handle and a 5.5lb head, but the increased effectiveness of the design eliminates the need for more force, or so it would seem, and the shorter handle and lighter weight give the user a lot more control over the tool. I should also mention that it came razor sharp out of the box, which is nice, and also really seems to help the bit drive into the rounds. I also love the collar on the handle, which I think will really add to the durability of the handle (and not make me flinch when someone else smacks the handle on a piece of wood). I've split about four cords of wood with it in the last two weeks, and I love using it. Most of the wood was maple, but some alder, cherry, black locust, and fir as well. I haven't tried it in big oak rounds yet, but I have good expectations. I also threw in some photos of the stack of wood that I made yesterday, with some help from my girlfriend, Lindsey. She almost quit when I hit her in the leg with a nice chunk of wood, but forgave me and stuck it out.


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[Ausable]

Ha! Motowbrowne-----That is some of the nicest firewood stacking I've seen in my 71 years. You have to still be in Your prime to think of a 5.5 lb. maul head as light. Once in a great while on a good day - I'll split some wood with a 2lb maul head - Ya see old arthur has invaded parts of my body and my shoulders are about wore out ---ahhhh! sweet pain. I always figured I didn't want to croak shoveling snow or splitting wood - so - years ago I acquired a couple of snow throwers and a hydralic wood splitter - still gotta do my own stacking for house wood and sugar shack wood cause freezing is not a good way to cash in either. Hey! Glad to hear there a Young men out there not afraid to work. I wish You the very best and make lots of Maple Syrup in 2012 ----Mike----

[GramaCindy]

SaWeET Stacking Motowbrown! It looks as though you are really into that Maul! Good JOB!

[maple flats]

Years ago, in my thirties, I used a "Monster Maul" to split and liked it. I had 2 versions, a 8# and a 16#, both with steel handles and no padding on the handles. I soon decided I needed a hydraulic so I could split longer. Cycle time about 20 seconds. I now bought a Supersplit, cycle time 2-3 seconds. I can now split for 1 hr and get more done than I did with either maul or the hydraulic in 4 hrs. The only down side is that it cost more than all 3 combined. My defense is that I only have so many hours in the day and I get more done in less time.
That is a very interesting wood pile!!

[Brent]

Lee Valley has a whole selection of these. I have used one of the Swedish ones for 5 years. I did get a splitting wedge back 5 years ago
but find that a real splitting ax is so good I don't need the wedge. If fact I don't even know where it is now.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=20129&cat=2,44728,45794,20129

[cvmaple]

Yeah, that is a cool looking woodpile. Good to see some people are still splitting with an axe. I nailed a square piece of plywood on top of my chopping block and screwed a truck tire on top of that and I didn't have to bend over every time I took a swing. Saved my back and helped the woodpile get big faster. Keep up the good work!!!

[MapleME]

I have a Gransfors Hunters Axe that I have not used yet but just got this december. really nice made tool, can't wait to use it and try it out. Nice short handle too. I just can't find em local here in Maine, had to get this one out of Seattle from Filson.

[lastwoodsman]

Nice looking woodpile--is there anything better than making wood!!
I quit hand splitting at about 45 when it caought up with my shoulder. Now it is the power splitter.

Woodsman

[Ausable]

Now - not to take away from your maul. But - one of my Sons sent me a video today of a dandy log cutting and splitting attachment for a Bob-Cat. Probably cost a fortune - But the thing picks up an 8 ft. log and drops it on a rack. a ram pushes the log against a splitter-stopper and it stops - a chain saw bar drops down and cuts the log into a 16 inch length and raises - now the ram moves forward pushing the 16 inch chunk and log against a multi-splitter and out pops eight wood stove size chunks of firewood. It repeats itself till the log is gone and then goes after another 8 ft. log......kinda neat - Ha! a toy for an old guy with money - shame I only qualify for the old part - LOL --Mike--

[KenWP]

What does this gizmo cost by the way and where did you find it.Lee Valley Tools sells that brand but never seen that model before.

[motowbrowne]

I paid $174 on ebay and got free shipping. If I had known that Lee Valley sold them, I would have gone through them and gotten the same price. The maul is listed on the lee valley site, it's letter "G" in the picture if you follow the link that Brent posted. I did quite a bit of searching for a good price on this tool, and I didn't find anything less than $174. It is a lot to pay for a maul, certainly, but it should last a really long time. I would also add that I am happy to pay the higher price if it supports a company that hand-makes tools and has fewer than 2 dozen employees (all of their products have a stamp identifying which of their smiths made it). Sure you can buy a POS made in china maul for $30 and if they last even 1/5 as long as the Gransfors, you might save money, but purchasing the Gransfors not only supports better manufacturing processes and ethics, but will be a much, much more pleasurable tool for the user, that much I can guarantee. It really is a joy to use.