It is a very nice tool. My control is about as good as with the X25. Here are the tests: First a pretty dry chunk of maple. No problem! Next a funky old elm chunk, a little rotten. No go with this Bradford pear, or fresh cut white oak. But to get my confidence back, a yellow birch crotch. So, it doesn't bring me up to one Mike power, MikeInMa, but it evens the odds a little bit?
Hit those unsplitables on the edges instead of centered. That's the secret. Once it isn't round ( a piece has been split off), it splits much easier. The next hit should be near the first split piece. Circles be strong and stuff
Good advice. It is the opposite with wedges (what I'm coming from). Wedge it in half first, the quarters, etc.
Nice looking tool there, MW. Put it on your list of things to bring to the GTG. I'm planning to bring most of the tools I use. 1mp could be "one Molly power"! When I'm splitting thick rounds, I'll usually do one of two things - If splitting into woodstove sized splits, I'll slab off pieces from the edges. I just work my way around the circumference. When done, the round is no longer round, it'll be more of a square/pentagon/hexagon. I then attack the corners, splitting off triangular-ish pieces until I'm done with it. When I was halving those thick oak rounds of mine, I was reaching for the far side of the round, directly across from where I was standing. A few good thumps and the oak round would show me where it wanted to split, and I then followed those cracks. Good luck - enjoy your new tool without getting hurt. Stay safe.
Thanks, I will bring it, it's pretty sweet. However, I'm not going to use it again for today, I want to gauge how my body feels about it tomorrow.
It left me feeling exercised, but not sore, the next day. Today I used it to split some wet red oak and some ancient black locust I dug out of the dirt. I had some one strike splits, which was satisfying. Even being a heavy tool, it is fairly easy to hit the same spot. The edge has kept its sharpness,too.
X25 and and Big Ox/Ochsenkopf depending on the current log both had their ups and downs. Nice one Midwinter, i saw those Helkos before and always wonder what they might be like... I reckon i buy one
A year and and three weeks since I bought it, I've broken my axe. The top bolt broke off, and the threaded end is stuck in the axe head. My husband says a machinist would have the right tools to extract the bolt, but I can't be without it for any length of time, so I ordered a new one, arriving Monday. I'll contact Helko as well, to see if they'll do anything for me.
I've contacted Helko, and they are sending me a new bolt (which is all I asked for). I also emailed a local machine shop, which does custom motorcycle parts and the like, and they may do it. I sent a picture, and if they say yes, I'll run it over there. But thanks for the offer, walt!
If you know a welder they can tig weld a smaller bolt or nut to the broken piece and you can spin it out. This is how I have removed broken bolts in the head of an engine. The exhaust manifold bolts break off a lot.
Look up a Sotz monster maul. About 15 pounds. When you get the hang of it you can split a 4” round. Great on big stuff. You learn to swing it instead of lifting it. I used mine for about 40 years and would never even consider another.
Looks cool, but only available used on eBay as they are out of production. Different knock-offs cost about $40.
That’s too bad. About 25 years ago I had a crack in the weld so I had a neighbor re weld it. Then I bought a second one in case they ever went out of businesses. I never used the second one. The first one probably split well over a hundred cords throughout the years.
My new axe came today! American hickory handle. I christened it on some oak rounds in the back yard, and realized I hadn't kept my old one sharp enough. The old head is at the machinists, they said they'd get the bolt out soon.
