Best maul?

[NORTHERN NYer]

I like to burn the birch pictured decent quick heat, but I really like the smell of it burning. The birch in the pic(we call it white birch, not sure) I try to use the same year its cut(6-9 months), seems to rought really quick and gets light as a feather. The best I have found is the yellow birch, better btu's from it and still the same nice birch smell. It can be a bear to split though if you get a log with alot of limbs and knots. I would take birch over alot of other wood out there. Just my opinion.

 

[Dr. Hackemoff]

Do you think the overstrike protector will fit the fiberglass handle? It looks as if they don't come standard with them.

Hi, you can call me Ian, but Overkill is my middle name.

I believe either the toughness of the handle doesn't require the use of the overstrike protector. More info:

http://www.helko.de/produkt/tomahawke.htm

 

[ciscoguy01]

Birch

ciscoguy01, I see you have a lot of birch in that wagon, have you had good experience burning it, I see on the BTU tables they tend to be low value, I cut some for clearing work an plan to burn it, figured why waste it but was looking to see how you liked it.

Hey dude, I've always had good luck with birch. It's considered a hardwood I guess, but I believe it's one of the softest of the hardwoods. It does make beautiful tongue and groove or cabinetry. For burning, I like it. Only bad thing is if you knock it down and don't split it right away, it seems to rot quite quickly, because of the bark I believe. It produces a hot hot fire, kinda like popple, but burns alot longer for me. It's always splits extremely easy, once split dries pretty fast. You can bust it up small and it's great kindling to build your fire with. It's a good overall wood I think. Of the 20 or so cord of wood I get a year, probably 8 or so is birch. I'll take all I can get. Hope that helps guy. I guess you know it's very prevalent up here in the dacks... Also, I save all the bark, it's awesome to start your fires with.

 

[ciscoguy01]

Yup

I like to burn the birch pictured decent quick heat, but I really like the smell of it burning. The birch in the pic(we call it white birch, not sure) I try to use the same year its cut(6-9 months), seems to rought really quick and gets light as a feather. The best I have found is the yellow birch, better btu's from it and still the same nice birch smell. It can be a bear to split though if you get a log with alot of limbs and knots. I would take birch over alot of other wood out there. Just my opinion.

That is white birch. Yellow birch is a little less common, but is here also. That's a much harder wood, it seems to me, and when it gets bigger, no joke, it looks red red like cherry on the inside. Yellow birch is beautiful wood for anything.

 

[STIHLSamantha]

me being a short lady with a short arm length, i require a smaller maul but with a heavier head. my husband and i managed to find a nice small maul but the head was too light....so we added some weight to the head using pipe welded to it, a closed screw top, and two small pennies in the center for good luck splitting power....one with his birth year on it and one with mine....check it out...it splits like a gem! I will never split with another till this one falls apart...the only down fall is that the screw parts will rust, so i have to keep it out of the rain and snow...not like the other mauls and splitting wedges we have. Tell me what you think...haha....

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Hey! That's cheating!


Doesn't that make it a bit top heavy?

 

[STIHLSamantha]

haha, yeah it does...but that was the idea....i needed something heavier than what the maul originally was so that way it would carry through the wood i was splitting better....i've been using it ever since we modified it, and my accuracy and number of swings have improved greatly....not only that, it is very very comfortable to swing with....the handle is light but the top does it's job....not only that...but once it gets a little light, the top un-screws so i can add more weight into the compartment...i can't help it...i'm a cheater....haha...

 

[chainsaw1]

Where can i find a Vario 2000 at i did a serch and nothing turned up?

 

[SRT-Tech]

http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11718

 

[musch]

Thanks for all the helpful responses. I will get a vario, and see how that works.

As for the birch topic.
There is a lot of it here in southern wisconsin, and it is almost included among firewood piles. It seems to dry fast, and it burns fast and hot too.
I like to use the dried bark, and smaller pieces as kindling for other wood like maple and oak.
Its a real nice wood to burn, but if you load up a stove with it, it tends to overburn some, hard to damper down if seasoned right. JMHO.

:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[ciscoguy01]

Birch

Thanks for all the helpful responses. I will get a vario, and see how that works.

As for the birch topic.
There is a lot of it here in southern wisconsin, and it is almost included among firewood piles. It seems to dry fast, and it burns fast and hot too.
I like to use the dried bark, and smaller pieces as kindling for other wood like maple and oak.
Its a real nice wood to burn, but if you load up a stove with it, it tends to overburn some, hard to damper down if seasoned right. JMHO.

:hmm3grin2orange:

Yea, you really gotta starve it if you burn alot of small pieces. BTW, I love wisconsin dude. Was there for a couple weeks a yr or so ago in Menomenee falls near milwaukee, we went all over the place, Black River Falls was my fave for sure. Very pretty country... And I'm a big Pack fan

 

[Rspike]

Helko Vario - 2000

Yep , That what i ended up getting about a month or so back after reading RaisedByWolves post on them.
Great splitter. I got the "36058 (A) Helko 2300G Heavy Splitting Axe "
There on sale this week i noticed and my shipping was $9.
I used the Helko Vario - 2000 splitter to fine tune my wood pile in the early fall and late spring for smaller splits and warmer weather.

Thanks for the heads up RaisedByWolves.

 

[chainsaw1]

Thank you for the link i just ordered my Helko 2000. That will go nice with my 22 ton spliter.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

No problem RSpike!




Glad to here you like the axe.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

No problem RSpike!




Glad to here you like the axe.

 

[musch]

Got the Helko Tomahawk 2300g axe today.
Works awesome. I cant believe that a 5# axe can outperform a 8# maul.

Thanks a lot guys.

 

[logbutcher]

Birch Firewood

There is a lot of it here in southern wisconsin, and it is almost included among firewood piles. It seems to dry fast, and it burns fast and hot too.I like to use the dried bark, and smaller pieces as kindling for other wood like maple and oak. Its a real nice wood to burn, but if you load up a stove with it, it tends to overburn some, hard to damper down if seasoned right. JMHO.:hmm3grin2orange:

Paper/White Birch gets more common the further north you are. Our coastal Downeast woodlands have too much of it since the forests were cut off pre-WWII and grew up with spruce and fir mixed w birch as a "pioneer" species. The "doghair" spruce woods were so thick and skinny that deer wouldn't go through. Birch grows fast and small first after clearing. Birch is close to 1/2 of the wood we burn, then red/"soft" maple, some brown and green ash, then little red oak. You burn the trees you got, Alaska and Canada burn a lot of spruce/fir.
On our place, the spruce and fir are sold for pulp and sawlogs. The hardwoods for heating here. We cut and do TSI (Timber Stand Improvement)for later harvesting,mostly in the winter : easier to move around on frozen ground, and it's cooler to work the woods.
Birch rots or pooches fast, so the bark needs to be slit when the tree is dropped...easy to do before bucking. Run the lower tip of the saw along the bark to open it up for drying. I use the thin splits for starting, then mix the thicker splits for longer fires. It's a soft hardwood for heating but we use what's there. .
Send us your surplus oak, hickory, hard maple.....now. Will NOT work for free firewood. :spam:

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Update

I bought one of those Super Splitters at wally world this weekend. The only thing I don't like about it right off is it's light, only 4lbs. So naturally I had to drill and tap the back of it and add on an extra pound of 1.25" solid square stock to the back of it with 5/16 grade 8 bolts. I'll get to try it this weekend on some standing dead oak over at a co-worker's house. If it isn't heavy enough, I'm going to get some 1.25" 3/16 wall square tube, weld some ends on it, and pour it full of molten wheel weights before I bolt it on. That should add 2-3 lbs.

 

[ray benson]

When the maul doesn't go completely through the wood, the exposed bolt heads would be damaged from hitting the maul with a sledge.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I've never in my life hit a maul with anything.

Ian