Best Wood Splitter Ever

I've been dreaming about getting a wood splitter for some time now. I don't like the noise or exhaust fumes of the gas ones so I was considering one of the smaller electric models.

A friend told me about an old black oak that had blown down in a storm. I checked it out and ended up bringing home about 3-1/2 cords of it over a 3 day period. I experimented with my splitting maul and found it easier to split green than some of the dry rounds I already had.

I can't remember why, but somehow I ran into a review of Fiskars new long handle x27 splitting axe. I was very tired of dealing with an 8 pound maul, bouncing off the wood all the time, handle breaking, head flying off and the muscle aches (I'm 66), but the new Fiskars intrigued me.

It's not cheap for a maul at $58 plus tax, but I thought it was worth a try since I really wasn't looking forward to lifting these 12" to 20" green oak rounds up and onto a splitter.

Well, I'm amazed. The blurb say it's a one-strike-split axe and it is! One thing I did have to learn is to not swing so hard except on the very toughest narly pieces. And, it's faster than a splitter - much faster except for maybe the new flywheel type that cycling in a couple of seconds.

Most splitters cycle somewhere between 12 and 16 seconds. In 16 seconds I can easily have a 16" to 20" round split into 8 or 10 nice woodstove sized chunks. I've found that I can easily stay at it for at least an hour at a time.

Bottom line is that it does work and it is much easier than using the old heavy mauls. It splits fast and accurate, takes no gas or electricity. Keep it sharp and it will split most anything. Added benefit is that it's really good exercise!

I bought mine from my local Ace hardware store. I ordered it and 3 days later I had it - as quick as buying online from a big box store with the added benefit of buying local - something that is very important to me.

I don't get any commission or anything like that. You can check it out at the Fiskars site and there are several videos of the Fiskars X27 on Youtube. I'll be doing my own video soon.