That's the X-25... Fiskars has a whole series of axes from the X-7 to the X-36. There are two different heads too. There is a chopping axe head and a splitting axe head.. I've used both and each has it's advantages. I have an X-15 that I used to split 6 cords of wood one year.. 23 inch handle and the chopping head.. Then I added the X-25 with the splitting head which is now my go to splitter when I'm not using the Cub Cadet... Every once in a while there is a special on these. I usually get mine on Amazon.. I always take them in the woods with me..
I would like to try an x27, just to compare to my cheapo maul. It's hard to believe that such a lightweight head could split effectively, but lots of people swear by them.
I haven't tried an X-27. For me the X-25 is long enough... I can use it in the basement too for indoor re-splitting if needed.. Baseball, karate, boxing, football kicking and blocking, knife fighting, and yes firewood splitting.. It's all about setting an aim point on the other side of the target and driving through the target... Think Bat Speed.. Baseball players don't get home runs by using an oversized bat that has momentum. They pick a right sized bat that they can swing at maximum speed.. Same with the Fiskars.. I'm 6'2" and 210.. I'm able to get far more splitting force out of my 28" Fiskars than I can an 8 lbs maul because I can swing it much faster..
I agree with the speed and splitting force. On nasty pieces I like a common maul because it doesn't stick as much. Just one man's opinion. That's what I like about this place. For the most part everyone takes everyone else's opinions well and doesn't bash them apart.
BTU charts vs/Elm - kinda depends on the species of Elm. Rock elm ( red) right upthere with the other good stuff, Slippery elm kinda middle of the road. Same with Siberian or is that one in the same with slippery, never can remember.
Red/slippery elm splits very easily. Got about a face of it last Fall and hardly worked up a sweat with my X-25!!
For what it is worth, I split wood by hand for many, many moons so know a little about it. We constantly hear the praises of the Fiskar's and no doubt they are worth the dollars. However, I did get a chance to try one once and I tried to split an ash. Usually on the size I was trying to split, one swing is all that is needed. Not with the Fiskars though. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. A simple single bit axe will do as good of a job and a 6 lb or 8 lb maul will do even better. I prefer a 6 lb. And when I was splitting by hand, on the difficult pieces, a couple wedges and a sledge hammer works nicely. You just have to keep watch of the edges on the wedge as sooner or later chips can fly off the wedge and Lord help anyone who gets hit with one. Although, I've never seen anyone get hurt but one time it really woke me up when a piece flew off and hit a aluminum sheet and left a bit hole! Because of an accident, I had to graduate to hydraulics. The first day I used it was one of the happiest days of my life! I love it and can split wood for a long time without breaking out in a sweat. But just like splitting by hand, there are little tricks to learn when using hydraulics. Also one does not need the higher poundage splitters the companies keep pushing. Ours is a 20 ton with a little 5 hp B&S engine and it close to 30 years old now. The only thing I've had to do to repair is to re-tie another knot in the rope used for starting. We've split over 300 cord so that isn't bad. Also, the speed is also not bad and I don't even run it full open throttle. More like 2/3 throttle. Fast enough.
Great post BWS!! I agree with 98.67% of what you typed. But I swing a hammer for a living; and for the most part, it's not all that difficult to split wood with my Fiskars X-25!!! The trick is to "know how to SWING a hammer"!!!!! And I'll bet money here; that most here "DON'T SWING" a hammer properly!!!
I'm sure I prolly don't swing a maul /axe with perfect form. What would you say makes a perfect swing? It would be nice to eliminate some bad habits before they get too ingrained.
Yea but when I swing a hammer at work it's a 3 lb hammer driving 1/2" or 5/8" lags in some bad positions sometimes so what's right to me might not be the same to you.
Yes and no it can be very different when you can't get around a pole enough to take a full swing. Agreed in most normal circumstances their is a proper way to swing and an improper way. I've seen some guys that couldn't even hit a big lag.
I don't think these guys were swinging 8 or 12 or 14 pound mauls. Best part of this old video is from about 4:44 on. I spent 2 weeks with a man 18 years ago who's father was one of the men in this video just learning how to shape horseshoes!!! Head speed and precision striking are the key!!
I have a fiskar's splitting Axe. Mine has only 2.5 lb head, which is lighter than the X25 or X27, and the handle is slightly shorter. It will split almost anything, but I can imagine that the heavier version would be even better. I take my Fiskar's Splitting Axe backpacking because it is lightweight but can both chop and split firewood at camp.
Thanks Whitey. You are very correct in your thinking about the swing. It brought back a memory of one time we bought a new axe. On about the 10th swing, the handle broke near the axe head. Taking it back to the hardware the man told me he figured I had just missed and hit the handle on the wood rather than the axe. He congratulated me on my swing as he could tell by the break that I knew how to swing an axe. At the time there was a logger in the hardware and he said the same thing. At the time I was still a young man and it made me feel good. Funny part is that nobody ever taught me to split wood. I learned by watching. But one time one of the older guys was watching me and did give me a couple tips. Don't remember now what they were but that's okay. I don't remember what I had to eat for breakfast either.
I agree with y'all on proper "hammer" swing techniques, but sometimes the material is unwilling to accept these techniques. Then you bring a bigger hammer. Sometimes the hammer is hydraulic.
So, upon bringing a new bin of wood in for the night, I used my maul to split a 7" round of american barkless elm. It was a straight, pretty much as knot free as you can get american elm round, about 18” long. My maul is a Collins maul, looks like it has "6" cast into the head, so I'm assuming its a 6 lb maul. I struck near the center of the round, full silverback gorilla force until it split, all pretty much on target. It took 8 swings.
