Tell me about Axes....

[CTYank]

I don't need any more saws - heck, I don't need all of the ones I have now - but there is one more I want to get. A 5020 is it: I want to see how much I can get out of a ported 5020.

If you've never run a PP5020, you're in for a pleasant surprise. For such a cheapie, they really rip, bone stock. I've got about 3 yrs on mine now, so it's broken in. It had no problem with the OEM bar fully engaged in blowdown hickory. Of course, the chain was sharp; that OEM "Vanguard" chain spit serious chips. The strato-scavenging doesn't hurt, for fuel endurance & local air quality.

A 16" bar works very nicely with it, better suited to confined areas, like a hardwood top that you're limbing. Second b&c simpler to pack into the woods than a second saw.

Bud I volunteer with tried it (he still has his Stihl 250- avail. cheap) and got his own as soon as he had the $. Still loves it, and the 455r I sold him. What I'm saying is that you might even be happy running it as you brung it. Except for the pleasure of tweaking it.

Ill be watching & listening to how it works out for you.opcorn:

 

[svk]

If you've never run a PP5020, you're in for a pleasant surprise. For such a cheapie, they really rip, bone stock. I've got about 3 yrs on mine now, so it's broken in. It had no problem with the OEM bar fully engaged in blowdown hickory. Of course, the chain was sharp; that OEM "Vanguard" chain spit serious chips. The strato-scavenging doesn't hurt, for fuel endurance & local air quality.

A 16" bar works very nicely with it, better suited to confined areas, like a hardwood top that you're limbing. Second b&c simpler to pack into the woods than a second saw.

Bud I volunteer with tried it (he still has his Stihl 250- avail. cheap) and got his own as soon as he had the $. Still loves it, and the 455r I sold him. What I'm saying is that you might even be happy running it as you brung it. Except for the pleasure of tweaking it.

Ill be watching & listening to how it works out for you.opcorn:

I remember this saw being over it's head in 18" sugar maple and needing to get rescued by an old junker Husky. And the chain was definitely sharp as you spent half the morning sharpening it....

I was "strongly encouraged" to try this saw and to me it felt like a somewhat heavy, modestly powered 50 CC saw.

Do you get kickbacks from Poulan and Council Tools? From what I can see they are average performing tools yet you carry on like they are the silver bullets of the arborist world.

 

[turnkey4099]

8 pounder huh. I'll see if Council Tool has one vice the 6 pounder. I've been thinking about the optimum splitting height. This will vary from person to person though. Figured there's probably a general guideline of how high the round should sit. Maybe knee high or below.

I like mine sitting about waist high at the top = results in the ax/maul being level when it strikes. My splitting blocks are cut to get that result from the average length of the stuff I'm splitting.

Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

Umm, that's one bad dude. He's wearing new age Jesus sandals to split rounds!!

His aim kinda sucks too. Unless he meant to strike it in 20 different places.

Very good lesson on how not to split wood. Gotta admire his 'jumping', gauranteed to hit the same spot every time!!! Even his wedge technique sucks. Best placement of the wedge is somewhat away from the center of the round not out on the edge.

Harry K

 

[Ambull01]

I like mine sitting about waist high at the top = results in the ax/maul being level when it strikes. My splitting blocks are cut to get that result from the average length of the stuff I'm splitting.

Harry K

I'll try that. Waist high seems a bit high to me though, unless you have one of those short legs long torso body type. I have some sweetgum rounds that I can cut into different sized splitting blocks.

Very good lesson on how not to split wood. Gotta admire his 'jumping', gauranteed to hit the same spot every time!!! Even his wedge technique sucks. Best placement of the wedge is somewhat away from the center of the round not out on the edge.

Harry K

lol. It looks kind of cool but I'm definitely not trying that technique. Probably miss the round and end up hitting my foot/shin.
Yeah I learned the whole wedge on the edge thing by trial and error. Usually just busts through the outer part of the round which forces me to hammer it out. In the center never really worked either in the bigger stuff, tended to get swallowed up and had to take a maul to the round to free it.

 

[Philbert]

A few more good axe references (USFS PDF):

Northeastern Logger's Handbook http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/CAT87208315/PDF

Using Axes http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf99232823/pdf99232823Pdpi72pt06.pdf

Philbert

 

[BeatCJ]

Yeah I learned the whole wedge on the edge thing by trial and error. Usually just busts through the outer part of the round which forces me to hammer it out. In the center never really worked either in the bigger stuff, tended to get swallowed up and had to take a maul to the round to free it.

I try to never use a wedge unless I have a second available, too. Like Harry K says, somewhere between the center and the edge. I try to place the first one somewhere around halfway between the edge and the heart, leaves room to start a second. If I get them BOTH stuck, then I beat the opposite side to death with my maul, sometimes work the outside edge next to the wedge. In my wood, that has never failed to split a round for me.

 

[zogger]

I try to never use a wedge unless I have a second available, too. Like Harry K says, somewhere between the center and the edge. I try to place the first one somewhere around halfway between the edge and the heart, leaves room to start a second. If I get them BOTH stuck, then I beat the opposite side to death with my maul, sometimes work the outside edge next to the wedge. In my wood, that has never failed to split a round for me.

You need two, and/or an additional maul, etc because the dang wedge companies will not ship a big wedge! I want one longer than 16 inches so I can smack that dude ALL the way through the round, and I want it wide and thick. Even up to like a 20 lb wedge.

If I have to break out the hammer and wedge, I want it to work, because I am staring at something nasty.

Lack of real big wedges makes me noodle a lot more, I know full well the limitations of these normal size wedges they sell at the various hardware/farm stores. I very rarely wedge anymore precisely from getting multiples stuck.

 

[woodchuck357]

You need two, and/or an additional maul, etc because the dang wedge companies will not ship a big wedge! I want one longer than 16 inches so I can smack that dude ALL the way through the round, and I want it wide and thick. Even up to like a 20 lb wedge.

If I have to break out the hammer and wedge, I want it to work, because I am staring at something nasty.

Lack of real big wedges makes me noodle a lot more, I know full well the limitations of these normal size wedges they sell at the various hardware/farm stores. I very rarely wedge anymore precisely from getting multiples stuck.

Gluts, large wooden wedges normally cut from dead limbs. One diagonal cut makes two.

 

[zogger]

Gluts, large wooden wedges normally cut from dead limbs. One diagonal cut makes two.

I make those for lifting logs for bucking, to get them off the ground, but never tried a hardwood wedge for splitting rounds. And also for felling, before a couple years ago I never owned any plastic wedges.

 

[handsplit!]

I have over thirty axes. All old vintage ones that ring like a bell if tapped on. I've used almost all the patterns on single bits and double bits. I bought the dvd above on axes . I have lined them up and split green oak. In my opinion the best splitting axe is a 3.5lb Kelly jersey pattern axe. It will run thru the wood. I have big 5lb jersey patterns too and they don't do as good as the 3.5lb ones? I guess I can't swing them as fast. The jersey pattern seems to be a lot better pattern than any other axe in my opinion. On the old axes you can honestly put a shaving sharp edge with a file.

I have over thirty axes. All old vintage ones that ring like a bell if tapped on. I've used almost all the patterns on single bits and double bits. I bought the dvd above on axes . I have lined them up and split green oak. In my opinion the best splitting axe is a 3.5lb Kelly jersey pattern axe. It will run thru the wood. I have big 5lb jersey patterns too and they don't do as good as the 3.5lb ones? I guess I can't swing them as fast. The jersey pattern seems to be a lot better pattern than any other axe in my opinion. On the old axes you can honestly put a shaving sharp edge with a file.

Love the Jersey and Michigan style axe heads. 3-3 1/2 axe and 6-8lb mauls. Can't beat em! And a hickory handle. Nothing better. Would like to try an ash one sometime!

 

[Ironworker]

Just finished splitting with a Gransfors large splitting axe and splitting maul, can't decide which one I like best, they are both good and really make the wood fly apart, by far they are the best splitting tools I've ever used and by a lot also.