First off hello everybody, new member here. Finally go off my butt to join the forum rather than just lurk since I felt Fiskars deserved some love. As most of you know I'm sure, the Fiskars X27 is a pretty awesome splitting tool. I go mine about a year ago and have split at least six full cords with it since then. Well, I pulled a stupid the other day. Went out to split some wood and forgot to take the cover off before I split the first round - shattered plastic. My wife got on the Fiskars website to see if there was somewhere you could buy just a new cover. She sent an e-mail explaining what happened and asked for the info. but got no response. At least until a few days later when a new cover arrived in the mail! She didn't even remember giving our address, but obviously she must have. Anyway, kudos to Fiskars, what a great company!
Welcome DrewCat , stopped your lurking and you came to the front door and they let you in. I agree with you on the fiskars. I got an x27 for x-mas and have yet to swing it once yet. Are you a hand splitter or do you use a hydraulic as well?
Good to have you DrewCat! I have the X27 as well. A nice tool, and Fiskars seems to be a good company. We also have some scissors made by them.
My IS Heats...No hydraulic splitter, split everything by hand (or the sawmill ;-) ). Just got my stove last year so new to burning. I enjoy the splitting, good exercise and actually goes pretty fast. I did have about 1/2 cord of elm I cut this spring that I thought had me defeated, the Fiskars bounced off it like it was made out of rubber. But, I went out last week when the temp was low single digits and it actually split! Not easy, but it did split.
Love my X27. Bought the X25 in May 2011,split 20+ cord dead mostly red/white oak over next 2 1/2 years.Sold it on CL 2 months ago. The X25 was great but wanted more power/leverage with the longer handle so bought the X27 in Dec 2013. It will bounce off some gnarly stuff,even as small as 8"-9" but works good on bigger straight grained ones if you attack the outside first then bust up the remainder. On most extra large tough ones I have to either half or quarter the logs first with a big saw, and/or use 20lb sledge/twisted wedges then its much easier splitting down the chunks. But all in all its a great tool,it splits 90% of my yearly supply without any problems.I've been splitting wood for almost 35 years & have seen pretty much every kind of manual splitting device out there.Some things work,some don't,some are just a 'fad' that don't stick around. But the Fiskars axes are the real deal.
Welcome to the forum Drewcat! We're glad you moved beyond Lurker status.... I too have an x27 and think highly of the tool and the company. Unfortunately, joining this forum has caused me to purchase a hydraulic splitter so the 27 is not seeing much action these days... I see you have a woodmizer? That is so cool, we're going to need to see what kind of projects your up to with that. Mark
Welcome! I have and like the x27 also, have split a bunch with it. Husqvarna has a similar tool that I would like to try also. http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/forums/threads/husqvarna-s2800.8330/#post-203799
Welcome, Drewcat. This is a great place. Your testimonial for Fiskars and the X27 has me thinking I need to add a 3rd wedge to my Armstrong splitter!
Nice pics Thistle. Are you slowly saving for a hydraulic splitter for when you need to start doing less manual splitting? There will come a day when ........
Not really....I owned a SpeeCo 20 ton horizontal/vertical with 8HP Tecumseh bought new Apr 1996 to Dec 2005,when it was sold for some needed cash.The last 3 years I owned it,it wasn't used,sat in parents garage.I supposed maybe some day though,but rarely over 5% of the wood processed yearly is really stubborn/gnarly. Under 12" the big bandsaw works,anything over that one of the big saws takes care of it.
Thistle, are both of those wedges Helkos? I love mine. I have one of those and a Gransfors. It's small though. Good for tough starts. But, the Helko wedge is a warrior!
1 is Helko 5.5lb (approximate),1 is a Mueller 4.4lb from Austria.The Mueller is hand forged,the Helko drop forged.I also have the Wetterlings twisted one roughly 3.75lbs with 'teeth' on one side.Its good but not quite as "quick" as the others. The factory angle on the Wetterlings was a bit thick,it was hard to penetrate without constantly bouncing out,until I thinned it out a little with the 4.5" mini grinder.Made a world of difference.
Ok, thanks. Not familiar with the Mueller. I'll have to look that up. The Gransfors wedge is really good for tough starts seeings how it's so small. The Helko just blows stuff open. Interesting about the Wetterlings. I found the big splitting maul of theirs to be worlds better than the Gransfors because it was thicker. The GB would get stuck in a flash. I broke a quarter-sized hole in the business end of the GB one day when I hit a hidden bolt. Not GB's fault at all. When I ground it back, with a 4.5" grinder and many dunks in cold water, it was worlds better. Interesting parallels.
http://www.traditionalwoodworker.co...-Hand-Forged-in-Austria/productinfo/367-0299/ This retailer is the sole US importer/distributor of Mueller forestry gear.One of the oldest forges in Europe,this family run company has been in business since 1675.Not cheap,but quality never is..... Wetterlings is sold by Garrett Wade & a couple other places,dont remember them now though.Got mine from Harry Epstein & Co.,a Kansas City Missouri hardware/tool wholesaler in business since 1930.At the time it was cheapest I could find anywhere,had to wait a month or so for it to get back in stock but was worth it.Dont know if they still sell them or not. http://www.garrettwade.com/wetterlings-swedish-splitting-maul-wedge/p/25S04.01/
I found a guy selling them in an old farm store down near Williamsburg, VA a few years ago. That store was unbelievable. They had old-time stuff you just don't see anymore. Last time I went down there it was closed down. There was a guy selling them on eBay last winter when I looked once. Seemed to me his prices were lower than for Gransfors. Garrett-Wade is serious full-blown retail. Thanks for the links.
