by Luke D.
Hello,
I read your information about mauls for splitting wood. We looked into buying one and had some questions. Some mauls have wooden straight handles that are like an axe and some have roundish handles like a sledge hammer. Are there differences or pros and cons?
Also I found a big metal maul that has a metal handle. The head is shaped like a big wedge. Are these good. I know your info says don't get too heavy and this was like 18 pounds or something like that.
Any advice would be helpful. Nice site.
Thanks
Luke D.
Answer
Luke,
Excellent questions, I'll answer them in the order you asked them.
In reference to the handles, it's really just a matter of personal preference. Most mauls come with rounded (or more oval handles) and some smaller mauls can have normal axe handles. I like the rounded handles on the heavier mauls(8+ lbs) because they are easier to control because the head of the maul is heavier than a normal axe. Also, as much as I dislike the feel of fiberglass handles, they are usually a better bet because they are less likely to break when you make the occassional miss-hit on a firewood round.
The very large maul with the metal handle and wedge-shaped head is commonly referred to as a Monster Maul or Mega Maul depending on the brand. These mauls literally are monsters and can vary between 12-18 pounds. They are equipped with steel handles because of the large size of the head.
These really large mauls have one advantage, the weight and wedge-shaped head make them good for splitting really large hard-to-split pieces. Other than that, I personally find them to be inefficient.
My theory on mauls is that there is a trade-off between size/weight and the amount of acceleration you can apply to the maul. I can swing a 6 lb maul hard enough to split almost any piece of wood. Also, I can swing a smaller maul twice as long as one of these Monster Mauls without tiring. For that reason, I don't recommend them for an everyday splitter.
Do the monster mauls have a place? Sure, but only for splitting the really large, tough pieces of firewood. All this being said, some people swear by these larger models. My opinion is that they only do this because they haven't learned how to use a normal sized maul properly.
I hope this helps!
-Firewood Matt