Need to split a lot of wood/logs

[tenplay]

Just had three old dead or dying trees cut down. Now I have a lot of wood to chop for firewood. After chopping away for an hour with my old ax, maul and wedge, I'm thinking there's got to be an easier way to cut up the wood. As a senior citizen, my shoulders and back aren't what they used to be. Searching on the Internet, I saw an Anaconda wood/log splitter for sale on Ebay for $30. It's a spearlike tool that one sticks into the wood and then moves a lever up and down until the wood splits. They claim that it replaces the old tools like the ones I already have. Has anyone tried it before? Does it sound like it would work? I can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars on those hydraulic or gas powered splitters. Thanks for any advice.

[Shopdog]

I have that naggin feelin that what your lookin at on Ebay is not worth the price for the aggravation. You'd get the bursitis from all that leverin. Your best bet would be to rent a gas powered splitter for a couple of days. Can't be all that much to rent, plus you'd get to split that wood much quicker and with the touch of a button no less!

Searcher

[Jim McLaughlin]

I've rented the big hydraulic splitters on occasion. Was $60.00 for 4 hours, IIRC, last time I did it.

Had the wood all pre cut into 16" "rounds" and sort of all lined up. With a couple three neighbors we went through 3 big Doug firs .

I've done the maul, sledge hammer, wedges, "wood grenades" route, too. Still do it in limited amounts on occasion, but like you, being in the "senior" status, I don't this as well or as often as I did 35 years ago.

I don't think I've ever seen the "Anaconda" product you describe.

I did once borrow and try a yellow metal thing, you put the log upright on the base, lowered a wedge thing onto the top of the log, and then hit the wedge thing. I g uess the idea was that the frame of this thing kept the wood upright and you did't need to worry about t falling over. I never used it aain.

[Harry K]

There are a lot of such type things out there. Most of them based on a manual hydraulic jack. They work very well indeed but only for extracting money out of the purchasers pocket. The only _cheap_ splitter that does work that I am aware of is the "Stickler" or take-offs of it. Those are so dangerous I wouldn't be around one while it was working.

Harry K

[Goedjn]

It will work, but so slowly that your heating season will be over before you get the wood cut. Get someone to split the wood for and with you. (They split it, they get half)

[OldRoads]

I've only had good luck with 2 methods:

1) If you have a lot of wood to split, rent a gas-powered splitter 2) If you're going to do it by hand, use a tool that looks like an axe but has a head shaped like a triangle. I wish I knew the name of the manufacturer. The head is a straight-sided triangle and each side of the triangle is about the same length. It's not particularly heavy or hard to swing.

Vin - Menotomy Vintage Bicycles

Goedjn wrote:

[Anonymous]

"Monster Maul" made & sold by Sotz Corp. .. .. I've had two of them for nearly 30 years .. .. haven't touched 'em in 25 .. .. since I built a monster hydraulic splitter.

[hallerb]

cut wood to length and let dry a year before splitting, saves tons of work.

dry wood splits much easier

[OldRoads]

Monster Maul - thats it!

The wood splits before the maul even hits it.

V> OldRoads wrote:

[SteveSch]

I had a friend rent a smaller version of the sticker. Instead of connecting to a car axle it had a gas engine (+-10hp IIRC). It worked quite well. Well until he stuck a piece of root on it. Can you imagine trying to unscrew a 10 or 12" wood screw with nothing but your hands. Keeping in mind it was screwed in TIGHT by a 10 hp engine geared down for torque.

We finally ended up using a chainsaw to cut most of it off. I'm sure it ate up most of our time savings fighting with that dang root.

For those that wonder what a sticker is

Steve

[Scotty o]

I'd like to buy one of those old mauls if you'd like to sell it. All the new ones are Chinese junk

[Harold W.]

Scotty o scrit:

How could a solid steel maul be junk?

What could possibly go wrong?

[Don Phillipson]

Because there are many types of steel with different properties. You want a maul to be elastic, viz. resist repeated blows without shattering. If wholesale buyers fail to specify their requirements appropriately, manufacturers will simply supply the cheapest material, whether fit for purpose or not.