Council Tool Maul

[AmateurSawer]

Thinking of buying a CT 8 lb axe eye maul.Son has a fiskars but I am worried about the edge chipping if I don't have a splitting block in the woods.
Have a couple other mauls but they have fiberglass handles and blunt profiles.One is sledge eye and I don't think I can control the placement of the strike with it as well.

Any advice ?

 

[Tenderfoot]

What are you splitting? I put the edge of my X25 and X27 in the dirt all the time. Not much issue with edge chipping, honestly. I use stumps as splitting blocks a lot too. Works well for me.

 

[chucker]

What are you splitting? I put the edge of my X25 and X27 in the dirt all the time. Not much issue with edge chipping, honestly. I use stumps as splitting blocks a lot too. Works well for me.

! makes more sense then a big ole flat rock for a splitting base!! there are usually a few extra stumps stuck in the ground somewhere close by to I bet?? lol

 

[Doug Fir]

Thinking of buying a CT 8 lb axe eye maul.Son has a fiskars but I am worried about the edge chipping if I don't have a splitting block in the woods.
Have a couple other mauls but they have fiberglass handles and blunt profiles.One is sledge eye and I don't think I can control the placement of the strike with it as well.

Any advice ?

I have two CT 8-lb mauls. The head shape is terrific. I've owned a lot of mauls, and the simple head shape of the CT maul works the best. I have both the axe-eye and the sledge-eye. Switching back and forth it's hard to know which one is easiest to control, but I think that I would give the edge to the axe-eye, so I think that you're on the right track. A couple of comments:

Both mauls were incredibly dull when they first arrived. They were very poorly ground at the factory. One was worse than the other, but they both required a lot of work with my axe file to get them nice and sharp. Some people think that a dull maul works better than a sharp maul, but that definitely is not my experience. If there is one thing that using the Fiskars has taught me, it is the benefit of a sharp edge. Sharpening the edges of my CT mauls has greatly improved their performance.

Speaking of Fiskars, I have both the X27 and the original Super Splitter, which has a heavier head than the X27. I prefer the longer handle of the X27, but I prefer the heavier head of the Super Splitter. I prefer the CT maul to both of these when splitting anything that is the least bit difficult. The Fiskars has the advantage with straight-grained wood, particularly with smaller rounds, but the CT maul is clearly superior when splitting difficult rounds. And yes, I know how to use the Fiskars. When I am splitting a mix of easy and difficult rounds I now just stick with the CT maul rather than switching back and forth. I find that I quickly get used to the extra weight.

I hope this helps.

Doug

 

[svk]

Don't do it.

I'd strongly advise you to get a Fiskars Isocore if you want a maul.

A couple years ago some guy was on here pimping the CT tools and a several members bought them based on his recommendations and were sorely disappointed even after putting a good edge on it. Everyone went back to their previous splitting tools.

 

[Doug Fir]

Don't do it.

I'd strongly advise you to get a Fiskars Isocore if you want a maul.

A couple years ago some guy was on here pimping the CT tools and a several members bought them based on his recommendations and were sorely disappointed even after putting a good edge on it. Everyone went back to their previous splitting tools.

I remember someone (CTYank?) "pimping" the CT maul. That's why I bought one. But it's not true that "everyone" went back to their previous tools. I now use the CT maul as my primary splitting tool. It's kind of silly for you to suggest that you know what everyone did. As with most splitting tools, there is a diversity of opinion. Fortunately these things are cheap enough that it's feasible to try it out for yourself. It's a small investment. Finding the right tool can pay big dividends when you split as much wood as I do.

I haven't yet tried the Fiskars Isocore, although I plan to do so. Hopefully it will be an improvement, but I wouldn't recommend a tool until I have tried it out myself.

Doug

 

[svk]

I remember someone (CTYank?) "pimping" the CT maul. That's why I bought one. But it's not true that "everyone" went back to their previous tools. I now use the CT maul as my primary splitting tool. It's kind of silly for you to suggest that you know what everyone did. As with most splitting tools, there is a diversity of opinion. Fortunately these things are cheap enough that it's feasible to try it out for yourself. It's a small investment. Finding the right tool can pay big dividends when you split as much wood as I do.

I haven't yet tried the Fiskars Isocore, although I plan to do so. Hopefully it will be an improvement, but I wouldn't recommend a tool until I have tried it out myself.

Doug

Yes it was CTYank and you are the first person in recent memory to post anything positive about a Council Tool maul other than the low price. I had the opportunity to spend a day cutting wood with Mr Yank a couple years ago and can say that in person he was as pushy and condescending as he came across on the site. I watched him operate his vaunted fleet of tools which I might add failed to perform to their very high promises of performance.

The OP is asking for opinions on what to buy. If he wants to save a few bucks and buy a maul that requires reshaping of the head and take a chance at getting a poorly crafted handle that may fail on his first time out then go ahead and buy a Council maul. If he wants a tool that's ready to kick ass out of the box and has a warranty then he should grab an Isocore and get splitting.

In the end if the tool works for you I'm happy that at least someone didn't waste their money on these.

 

[bigmoose]

The isocore is a beast!!!!!!!.... but what works for one may not for the other guy. I want to do a side beside with the isocore and the wilton 8 lb. anybody have both?

 

[svk]

The isocore is a beast!!!!!!!.... but what works for one may not for the other guy. I want to do a side beside with the isocore and the wilton 8 lb. anybody have both?

I had a Wilton and it was on par with the other box store mauls. I'd suspect the Fiskars would be the tool of choice between the two.

 

[bigmoose]

Im gonna try one

 

[CTYank]

I remember someone (CTYank?) "pimping" the CT maul. That's why I bought one. But it's not true that "everyone" went back to their previous tools. I now use the CT maul as my primary splitting tool. It's kind of silly for you to suggest that you know what everyone did. As with most splitting tools, there is a diversity of opinion. Fortunately these things are cheap enough that it's feasible to try it out for yourself. It's a small investment. Finding the right tool can pay big dividends when you split as much wood as I do.

I haven't yet tried the Fiskars Isocore, although I plan to do so. Hopefully it will be an improvement, but I wouldn't recommend a tool until I have tried it out myself.

Doug

Who was "pimping" what? Not me- just honest eval. Did you get my memo about the minor rework around the edge of the CT maul? Makes a big difference in how it enters the wood, kinda critical for how it splits the wood. Truly a no-brainer for the price, even if some folks here had some "religious thing" against it. It's still in my top-trio of wood-splitting tools, with 3 kg Mueller and 5 lb Wetterlings. Much prefer the 6-pounder.

 

[svk]

Put on the waders, the manure shall start to flow!!!

 

[AmateurSawer]

We have a lot of rock in the ground here so I can easily nick a brittle blade.I also have steep ground in places and usually cut trees then drag them to where I can load onto the pickup so I don't always have a stump near my work area.Not trying to be hard to get along with just clarifying

 

[Tenderfoot]

I was just saying how I do it. Whatever works is what works. Honestly, doing as much wood as I do, I could not imagine not using a splitter. I can do a bit better then two cords in 5 hours if they rounds are pre cut on a normal day taking my time. Cannot even touch that by hand.