[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Splitting wood

[Lawrence Lile]

Yup the old monster maul is a good tool.  I have one around somewhere.
The one I use most is an 8 LB maul with a solid steel handle welded into
it, so the whole asswembly has the heft of a monster maul.  

Now, my wife has never got the hang of a splitting maul but is hell on
wheels with a wedge and a big hammer.  And either of these tools works
best with dry straight oak, cut into short lengths. They almost split
themselves.  Big, long, green  knotty maple will foil any of these
tools.  Maybe that's what those hydraulic splitters are for? 

Lawrence Lile, PE, LEED AP
Project Solutions Engineering

-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of
dpwentling at comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 6:45 PM
To: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
Subject: [BULK] [Greenbuilding] Splitting wood
Importance: Low

For the last 28 years I have been using a "Monster Maul" which looks
like a large triangle of steel welded to a slightly bent steel handle.
The "Orange monster" allows my 140 lb short frame to split most logs
with 1 - 6 strikes. If the species is wet tangled fibers then I split
off side pieces to reduce size.

Many friends I work with are always amazed by the effiency of the tool.
Weighing about 15 lbs you lift the maul straight up in front of you and
swing downward with a slight rotation at the last sec to apply maximum
force.  In my younger days I would cut & split a cord a day, five days a
week (I was foolish & young!). Now at a half century old I can still
split 30" red oak rounds with 2-3 strikes (only now it's once a week for
few hours).

I have not seen this advertised for many years. A recent google search
found it called "Splitzall Maul".  Would be interested in knowing if
others have every used one.

--
David Wentling
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