Found a young guy that gave me 5 bucks for my monster maul and I was glad to see it gone. I almost qualify for being an old geezer
I've said it before more than once and I will continue repeating it. The best way to use those monster mauls is to drill a 5/8" hole straight through the handle on the end furthest from the head. Then get some nice braided nylon rope (1/2") and thread it through the hole that was drilled. Tie it off and then use it for a boat anchor.
I've only been burning for two years so I can't claim to be an expert on all this. However I will say as someone who is quite logical and who is driven by facts, data, and common sense... I see almost no benefit in using those monster mauls. I see mostly potential for injury both long term and short as well as an old school mindset and machismo as the factors in using those mauls. I messed up my back at a young age.. yeah I'm only 38 but I messed it up at 18. Bulging and ruptured disks in my back. I was and thankfully still am an active guy. I'm talking motorcycles, surfing, kayaking, hockey and snowboarding (just went yesterday) to name a few. The point is that out of necessity I've had to find the easiest way to do things in order to continue doing the other things I love. It's absolutely ridiculous to use a huge maul and beat yourself up. Especially when there's so many smarter ways to split wood. You have dedicated yourself to heating with wood. Great! Why in God's name have you refused to buy a splitter? You can get one on sale for under 1000 bucks. You guys with oil save that much in 2 months! Ok maybe 3 but seriously. I got a splitter within 3 months of buying my house and learning to process wood. It's not that I'm lazy its that I want to be efficient and I want to have use of my shoulders and back when I get older. It only takes one incorrect swing or a few years of correct swings to break something in your body. Do the smart thing and get a splitter. Want to get exercise hand splitting? Put some easy to split rounds aside and get a fiskars or a few wedges and an 8 pound sledge. Monster mauls are dinosaurs. They need to stay extinct. As someone said above. Drill a hole in it and use it for a decoration.
Thanks for your opinion and post. Everyone has their opinion, and a maul is definitely not for everyone. I like my maul...it's the only thing I have, that works on the elm...excluding hydraulics. My Fiskars works on everything else pretty nicely. Guess I have too much stubborn German blood in me to drop it the lake!
Probably no reason to drag that maul out, get your money's worth out of the hydraulics you bought. I don't even use a maul anymore, if I have to bust up some big ones so that I can lift them I just use sledge and wedge, but if I can get it anywhere near the splitter hydraulics will be put into action. Felling/ limbing/ bucking/ loading/unloading /splitting and stacking provides a fair amount of exercise :stacke: I'll say it again, There is always more than one way to do it.
One day at the local metal recyclers while tossing off some junk, I noticed a perfectly good Monster Maul in amongst the lawnmower frames and bed rails next to my truck. Snaking it out, I held it up to the crane operator and pointed my finger to the truck bed with a questioning look on my face and he grinned and nodded a 'yes' to tossing it in. So...there it sits in the corner of the shed unused but ready if needed. But I doubt it will be needed. Just couldn't pass up such a conversation piece at that price. Hmmmm..... now I DO have a buddy with a boat......
