What splitting axe to buy?

I scrounge all my wood, never know what is going to turn up. The Fiskars definitely makes for the fastest work on easy splitting wood. But, splitting wood is often not easy.

 

gotta watch you ankles using a X25 without a splitting block...

X7, X15, X25, X27 in the order. Was so impressed with the 25, bought the 27, then the rest. gave the 25 to my brother. he bought the 27 and 15. I haven't used another axe in 3 years. its not just for small stuff....

 

My x27 handles all of my splitting duties, and does it well. I'm not sure there's a better tool for hand splitting out there

 

here you go, side by side. The 36 inch is noticeably heavier, probably twice as heavy,I bought it a few years ago . The 28 inch was my dad's, it's 20 years old, he didn't use it much.

 

Nice. I had no idea fiskars was making these 20 years back. Ya learn somethin new everyday

 

my 25 and 27 were almost the same sized head, maybe a 1/2 a pound difference, if that. not noticeably heavier. thought they were the same head to be honest

edit, yup heads are same weight. your 20 year old fiskars must have a bigger head... that would be nice for the bigger rounds....

x25 head is 4lbs total weight is 5.2 lbs, http://rockymountainbushcraft.blogspot.com/2012/02/review-fiskars-x25-splitting-axe.html

X27 head is 4lbs, total weight is 6.4 lbs http://www.groworganic.com/fiskars-axe-36.html

edit again, are you sure that isn't an X17? X17 have a 23" handle and a smaller head. your 25 has a different head than my 25...... the 17 and 15 have the same head, just different handles.

 

No, not sure. The shorter one is the 20 year old axe, and is noticeably lighter. I don't know what it actually is, it is not clearly marked as is the larger. The X27 measures 36" from top to bottom, I assume the other is the X25 by the same measurement.

 

I think that "x25" in that pic is actually the older super splitter axe, or whatever came before that. You can tell because the heads are different like freakin pointed out

 

1) For easy splitting wood, many tools will work. Fiskars are high value. Granfors Bruks are high craftsmanship. Your choice.
2) When splitting "not easy" wood, may I suggest a hydraulic splitter? If not, just about any wedge and sledge combo is equal.
I'm only 46 y.o., but I've done enough wedge-and-sledge work for my lifetime. I use a Granfors Bruks large splitting axe for the easy stuff. It does give you such a beautiful feedback to clean split logs by hand. Once it gets tough, I switch over to my friend's hydraulic splitter. Not enough time left on this earth for me to spend time with wedge-and-sledge. Your mileage may vary. This is strictly my approach.

 

I see.. I betcha your short one is an X17. its longer than my x15. Think mine was labeled as a chopping axe? the X17 uses the X15 sized head on the longer X25 handle..notice the head difference between #2 and #3 in my pic. #3 is a 25 and #4 is the same as your 27.

 

Wedge and sledge? No thanks! That's why I also have a 27 ton hydraulic.