Gransfors splitting maul

[njc110381]

I know this isn't really something you'd take out in the field as a rule, but I'm after a splitting maul. I've just bought my first house and it has a woodburner (another first for me, my parents are kind of townie types).

I'm sure most of you on here will be like me and enjoy the idea of renewable energy to heat the house rather than use gas/electric. So, you'll all need to be splitting wood at some point even if it isn't in the woods!

Does anyone have a Gransfors Maul? I have two of their smaller axes and they are by far the best tools I've ever handled! I know they cost a bit, but you get what you pay for and I want the things I buy to last. I'm after some good feedback really as I've read mixed views so far and some people say they get stuck in the round easily!

 

[Aaron]

I have had one of these for about a year and it has stood up to the rigours of use both at home and work - I have used it to split everything from smaller diameter birch to bigger roundels of tough woods like hornbeam. The best features IMO are the metal reinforced sleeve along the top of the handle (or, if you will, helve) that prevents damage to it if you mis-swing, and the rough finish towards the bottom of the handle which gives you a better grip particularly when it is wet. My only comment on the manufacture quality was that I needed to reinforce the welding along the metal sleeve as it was only held in place with a couple of spot welds.

It comes with a good edge like all Gransfors axes, although tbh I have never bothered to to re-sharpen it as I really dont see the point with splitting axes (sorry whoever I argued with before about this but we will have to agree to disagree) - I guess if you wanted to re-sharpen it you would have to use an axestone or slipstone of some kind rather than a bench waterstone.It comes with a leather guard to protect the edge. In my opinion this is a quality tool and worth paying a little bit more money for than a glass fibre handled one off of the market - which coincidently I bought it to replace after my old one shattered. I bought mine from the Woodlore site as it was the cheapest (£65 I.I.R.C), and the delivery was prompt too, although it does turn up with 'RAY MEARS BUSHCRAFT' emblazoned down the side in big letters, which my workmates seem to find endlessly amusing.

Hope this helps.

 

[addo]

I agree the gransfors are excellent kit.
My splitting maul cost £15 from a farmers suppliers and has chopped all my wood for the coming season with ease. It has a hickory handle and I just whip some cord around the shaft to protect it near the head. it has gone through 5 foot dia rings of beech, and all manor of stuff in the 9 years of use and is in tip top condition.
Some shapness I find helps it to bite into the wood rather than bounce off, but no need to go mad.
If money was no object i'd get a gransfors.

 

[Lurch]

Nothing much to add to what those two say, a nice maul is a luxury not a necessity - they really are a sledge hammer with an edge so a cheapie will probably do the job but not look as nice.
Quite why I have a splitting maul (and hatchet) with two wedges yet I have no open fire nor facility to install one is open to debate....

 

[robin wood]

I have heated with wood for 20 years so have split quite a bit of firewood. I got a GB maul last year as lurch says more as a luxury than necessity, a £15 one from the local agricultural merchants does the job. The GB is nice, I like the metal collar to protect the handle where it enters the head, I never overshoot and bash the handle nowadays but I have seen a lot of splitting axe handles damaged in that area by inexperienced users. It is a big lump of GB metal for your money. Oh yes and no they don't get stuck in logs.

 

[Dave Budd]

I don't have a GB splitting maul, but I've modified a cheapy based on the GB.

I noticed some winters ago that most cheapy splitters have wide straigh or convex sided heads when viewed end on, that's (along with weight) why it splits so well. The GB ones are a little concave behind the edge until the widest part, where the handle enters.

I attacked mine with an angle grinder to give it a little concavity and it works much better, especially on harder to split logs

So I guess the GB axes are worth getting over the cheaper ones if you've got the cash to splash or on the prestence of the metal coller and the more efficient head shape. Although I think I'll stick to a cheap one and an angle grinder

p.s. I've now split firewood for 7 winters and only touched the edge up once (after my father put it into some concrete!)

 

[johnnytheboy]

Cheapo screwfix one done for me, only been splitting for a year with it, but had no bother

 

[bushman762]

Unless you're very flush with cash and the price doesn't bother you, I'd say buy a cheapie maul. The nature of the beast is it takes a lot of abuse and it would sadden me to see mine (if I owned one) to get damaged, which they do.

I have had a cheapie for a number of years, the head is starting to come loose, so I soak it over night before I use it now.

Cheers

 

[JonnyP]

Unless you're very flush with cash and the price doesn't bother you, I'd say buy a cheapie maul. The nature of the beast is it takes a lot of abuse and it would sadden me to see mine (if I owned one) to get damaged, which they do.

I have had a cheapie for a number of years, the head is starting to come loose, so I soak it over night before I use it now.


Cheers

I use sledge hammers and shovels, grafters, etc a fair bit and have had the handles come loose... I was told by an old chippie to soak in water to swell the wood, but over the years I have found this does not do the wood any good, keeping on soaking it. I then went on to soak the wood in creosote... It still swells the wood but also protects it too..
Seems to work ok... Any thoughts..?

 

[demographic]

I have a cheapo that I have had for years, its a belter
I think min cost a fiver off a bloke who found it in his home office after a break in.

Stihl (who make chainsaws) also sell them.

Don't go spending much money on them cos theres not much point, its just a hammer attached to a wedge.


I even cut kindling with it, just hold it right up by the head in my right hand and hold the kindling in my left.

 

[Mike Ameling]

I've heated with wood now for most of 3 decades. So I have a bit of experience with cutting/splitting wood. Most of my firewood is oak or elm, with some maple/walnut/poplar/cottonwood/basswood thrown in.

And I have several of the regular 6 and 8 pound splitting mauls from the local farm stores. They work OK, depending upon how you use them.

Gransfor makes good axes/mauls. But you also pay a lot for the name, when similar tools will do just as well for the average person.

But the best splitting maul I have ever found is something called a Monster Maul. (Yeah, they trade-marked the name, but other companies make similar ones.) It is a simple BIG triangular wedge welded onto a steel pipe handle - with a foam cushion grip on the end. It weights around 15 POUNDS! The head is an equilateral triangle 6 1/2 by 6 1/2 by 3 3/4 inches, and is 3 inches tall. With handle is stands around 2 feet 7 inches tall. Yeah "piece of pie" shaped, probably around a 30 degree angle on the "wedge" part. That's a steep angle for a splitting wedge. It is amazing what you can split with this thing - even the tough/twisty stuff like elm.

(They do now make a 12 pound version, as well as a 5 pound "kindling" splitter.)

Their literature says to just "let it fall" when splitting wood. That the "weight" of the head will do the splitting. Well, on 1 foot diameter straight grained oak it will, or similar wood. Most of my wood tends to be 2 foot or more in diameter. So I SWING it down! And some pieces can take a half dozen blows before starting to split - especially those with knots. Their literature also says that you can't get it stuck in wood. But I have. And occasionally stuck enough that I had to get another maul to hammer it out.

But that Monster Maul just works so much better than any regular splitting maul that I have ever tried. When cutting wood, I always have it along. I usually pop those 3 and 4 foot diameter oak blocks apart into at least quarters - so that I can pick them up and throw them in the back of the pickup truck. When I'm cutting firewood, I cut and haul it home. The real firewood splitting takes place later. My main purpose is to get it cut and hauled home.

I don't really remember what I paid for it. I think it was around $30 usd. They are usually listed in magazines like Mother Earth News, Farming Uncle, Small Farmers Journal, Organic Farming, etc. A web search should give you some leads

Yes, swinging that Monster Maul around for a few hours will sure make you sleep at night! I've tuckered out several friends trying to keep up with me splitting firewood. (I actually have two of them.) But I also have a hydraulic log splitter for the main work. I go through between 5 and 6 cords of wood a year for heat. (poor insulation in an old 100 year old farm house where the wind rattles the windows on the other side going out!)

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Mike Ameling]

Soaking wood handle tools in water to swell up a loose handle does work, but only temporarily. When the wood swells up, it also crushes some of the cells in the wood. So when it dries out, it is looser than before. And each time you "soak" it, it will do the same thing.

Soaking it with creosote or oil will have that oil/tar/creosote absorbed into the wood, and it will take a whole lot longer to dry or leach out. So the handle will stay tight in the head longer.

When my blacksmithing hammer handles start to get loose, I tighten them up with iron wedges, or replace the handle. Soaking in water is just too temporary of a fix for a working tool I use so often.

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[JonnyP]

Soaking wood handle tools in water to swell up a loose handle does work, but only temporarily. When the wood swells up, it also crushes some of the cells in the wood. So when it dries out, it is looser than before. And each time you "soak" it, it will do the same thing.

Soaking it with creosote or oil will have that oil/tar/creosote absorbed into the wood, and it will take a whole lot longer to dry or leach out. So the handle will stay tight in the head longer.

When my blacksmithing hammer handles start to get loose, I tighten them up with iron wedges, or replace the handle. Soaking in water is just too temporary of a fix for a working tool I use so often.

Just my humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

Sounds good to me... Cheers Mike...

 

[maddave]

My maul is a 6LB head on a fibreglass handle. It's called "Big Yeller" (coz the handle is bright yellow) It cost a tenner and is indestructable.. Like some of the others say A GB maul will be pretty, but they're not for carving feather sticks with. A maul is a brute force and ignorance tool, so save your money and go to the local farm supplies shop and get a cheapie

 

[Northwoods]

Are you sure you want the GF maul ? I have the GF large splitting axe and it does the trick for all wood and is more handy. The maul proper is for reversing and using as a sledge hammer.

I also have a monster fibreglass handle cheapo maul which I never need to use.

 

[njc110381]

Thanks for all the replies. I can see the point about how a maul doesn't have to be as well engineered as a good hatchet or felling axe, but I like to buy quality kit and then expect it to last if I take care of it.

I've ordered a Gransfors maul. Although the splitting axes they offer look very good I do like to be able to use the same tool for hammering wedges so the maul is a must. I paid £72 inc postage for it, which although slightly more expensive than Woodlore, doesn't have the Ray Mears advertising stamped on it. Although I like the guy he doesn't make the axe, so I don't see why his name should be plastered all over it for all to see!

I'll do a bit of a write up of my opinions when I get it and use it a bit.

 

[demographic]

Thanks for all the replies. I can see the point about how a maul doesn't have to be as well engineered as a good hatchet or felling axe, but I like to buy quality kit and then expect it to last if I take care of it.

I've ordered a Gransfors maul. Although the splitting axes they offer look very good I do like to be able to use the same tool for hammering wedges so the maul is a must. I paid £72 inc postage for it, which although slightly more expensive than Woodlore, doesn't have the Ray Mears advertising stamped on it. Although I like the guy he doesn't make the axe, so I don't see why his name should be plastered all over it for all to see!

I'll do a bit of a write up of my opinions when I get it and use it a bit.

Mauls are great, just don't try and convince us that the Gransfors one does the job any better than the cheapo ones

 

[njc110381]

Often a cheap alternative will do just as good a job - you can compare a pro mac chainsaw to a Stihl or Husqvarna, they both cut down trees - and a Bentley to a Lada, they will both get you from A to B without having to make too much effort. The differences are very small, but the better kit just seems to do the job a tiny bit more comfortably. Whether that's the case with a maul I don't know, but my Stihl chainsaws certainly leave me a lot less tired at the end of the day when compared to the cheap kit I had when I started out.

I've split probably a couple of hundred tons of firewood in my life but have never used a quality maul. I'm only 27, but for a couple of years I worked as a woodsman loading charcoal kilns, making wattle hurdles and splitting wood. I've used a fibreglass handled job of around 6lbs, a silverline cheapo of about 7lbs, and also some weird thing like a normal axe but with hinged wings that opened out when the round is hit. All of them have done the job without too much bother but now I want something I can feel good about - a tool that has been carefully crafted by hand by a skilled human being who takes pride in his work just as I do. I'm sure it will not split any more wood in a day than the Chinese wedge on a stick that I've used in the past, but at least I'll enjoy using it!

 

[Longstrider]

...but now I want something I can feel good about - a tool that has been carefully crafted by hand by a skilled human being who takes pride in his work just as I do. I'm sure it will not split any more wood in a day than the Chinese wedge on a stick that I've used in the past, but at least I'll enjoy using it!

I wish I could rep you for that mate. That's one of the best explanations of the reasoning behind the purchease of a quality tool that I've ever seen on-line. We think alike

 

[demographic]

Often a cheap alternative will do just as good a job - you can compare a pro mac chainsaw to a Stihl or Husqvarna, they both cut down trees - and a Bentley to a Lada, they will both get you from A to B without having to make too much effort. The differences are very small, but the better kit just seems to do the job a tiny bit more comfortably. Whether that's the case with a maul I don't know, but my Stihl chainsaws certainly leave me a lot less tired at the end of the day when compared to the cheap kit I had when I started out.

I've split probably a couple of hundred tons of firewood in my life but have never used a quality maul. I'm only 27, but for a couple of years I worked as a woodsman loading charcoal kilns, making wattle hurdles and splitting wood. I've used a fibreglass handled job of around 6lbs, a silverline cheapo of about 7lbs, and also some weird thing like a normal axe but with hinged wings that opened out when the round is hit. All of them have done the job without too much bother but now I want something I can feel good about - a tool that has been carefully crafted by hand by a skilled human being who takes pride in his work just as I do. I'm sure it will not split any more wood in a day than the Chinese wedge on a stick that I've used in the past, but at least I'll enjoy using it!

Thats fair enough, I have a beat up old van, three 18 or more year old motorbikes and live in a terraced house but theres some things that I get just because I like them.

I have a patern welded japanese general purpose cooks knife that I just wanted, can't say it cuts my onions up much better though. To be fair it does take and hold a good edge.