I'm such a Dumb---

[jargo432]

You ever do something and think, "I can't believe I did that?" 

Last year I bought a Stihl splitting maul.  It was the standard model without the steel sleeve.  So when cutting season started I was set up.  Last week I was halving rounds to carry home and the handle broke up in the head.  I called the dealer and they said it was covered so I took it to them and they replaced it with the pro model.  "WOW" This thing is awesome.  While I was waiting for it to come in I built a splitting tire block. "See Wranglestar"  So, the new maul comes in, I start splitting and I really got carried away and wasn't paying attention and I tried to split a piece but didn't notice the piece in front of it and had a huge overstrike.  You guessed it, I busted the handle.  It didn't last one day.  There was no way I was going to ask to get it replaced since it was my fault but didn't know what to do.  I broke down and called the dealer and told them what I did and asked how I could fix it.  "It doesn't have a standard handle"  They told me that Sthil sells a handle kit for it for $40 so I ordered one and am going to fix it myself. 

Splitting in a tire is great but you really have to be careful.

[WV_hillbilly]

I bought a Fiskars X27 splitting axe earlier this firewood season . Really like it, works well and has a supposedly unbreakable handle . it has a lifetime warranty also .
So I probably wont be buying anymore wooden handled splitting mauls anytime soon . Just like going from wooden handled cant hooks ,peaveys, and hookaroons  to all Logrite tools . They work extremely well and no need to buy new handles
 

[jargo432]

I've been looking at the Fiskers and have been thinking of buying one.  I got the new handle put on and am back in business.  I also took an old 8lb maul head and put in on an axe handle.  I like that really well because it shortens it up.  I also have a Truper fiberglass handle 4.5 splitting axe that I like a lot.  That's what I use with the tire block now.

[woodsdog2015]

My wife got me the Fiskars X27 for christmas and I've been using it...... I highly recommend it.  You can swing that thing for a long time before getting tired.  I've overstruck a couple of times and it really didn't phase it.  When you first get it almost seems like a gimmick that base of the handle is hollow but let me tell you... this thing feels like you're using a wood maul.  There is no vibration, no feel of flex in the downswing like some other cheaper fiberglass handled stuff I've used and the head designs seems to facilitate easy splitting.  I'm used to my Dad's steel handled splitting mauls he'd weld together after he broke a wood handle and I've had them for years but they get very heavy after awhile.  The X27 maul is very sharp too and it comes with a reuseable sheath that doesn't hold moisture. I always wipe it off after use with a rag I carry to clean the fuel and bar chain oil reservoirs on my saws as the rag is saturated with this "lube" and it cleans up quick. The sheath is plastic but well made and protects ths sharp edge.  It has a carry handle and you can hang it easy too.  Don't throw that away when you get it!!!!

I will say I've not had a lot of time splitting green or freshly cut chunked wood up with it but with logs that have been down for anywhere from 6 months to a year it goes right through the biggest of the straight grained stuff like a hot knife through butter with no problems.  Its harder for me to get the chunks into position for splitting than the actual splitting of them.  The only issues I've had are a few pieces with nasty knots chunks with 12 limbs coming out of them that even a 27 ton splitter struggles with.  I save those for later and split them with my saw or use my old steel handled mauls with a wedge.... or leave them in the woods on their side until I'm in the mood.

[Ljohnsaw]

+1 on the Fiskars x27 X25 ( just looked at it).  Got one 2 years ago.  So easy to swing, I can split all day - very good design.

[jargo432]

I took the plunge, however it was in the shallow end of the pool.  I finally found a hardware shop that had the 36 inch and the 28 inch Fiskers splitting axes.  After looking at them both I went with the 28 inch.  The 36 inch seemed too long for me.  (I wish they had one about 32 inches long)  I gotta agree, the thing works great.  Since it's so light I can really get some speed up on the swing with little effort and it really goes through the wood good.  I did have to grab "Grandad's  8 pounder" a couple of times for some knotty stuff, but all in all I really like it.  One thing I have to remember is to take the sides off first on the big stuff. 

[valley ranch]

jargo, I've done some duzzys, you know the kind when you say to yourself: I should do this or do it with that tool, then you screw something up just like you know it might happen,  there's no one to blame but yourself and it's almost makes you laugh, if it didn't hurt so bad!

No, never done anything like that.

[sandsawmill14]

i still use all wood handles in everything just dont seem right to make a living with a sawmill and not use the wood ;D :D :D :D

[4x4American]

i still use all wood handles in everything just dont seem right to make a living with a sawmill and not use the wood ;D :D :D :D

That's right, support the industry! 
Also another reason to get paper bags at the grocer's mart, supporting the paper industry as opposed to the plastic industry..plus they are tougher.

[AfraidChocker]

We are the most heavily forested state in the nation yet we don't even get the option of plastic or paper, just plastic if you do not bring your own.

Now some cities are putting a ban on plastic bags. It is really not a ban, just you must pay a few cents for every plastic bag you use...they call it a "fee", but this is Maine, we do not pay many taxes here, just a lot of "fee's"...but I digress.

Anyway they do studies on these tree hugging reusable bags and come to find out, because they are reused so much without being disinfected, they are actually teeming with bacteria.

Once again the government (city government) gets involved hoping to make things better and they screw it all up like when they mandated no more incandescent light bulbs, but because they were dim in the cold, more people left lights on all the time thus using MORE electricity then they did before!

I used to ask for paper, but now I am degraded to bags that were pumped from wells half way around the world, hauled over here on a tanker, pumped off and into an inflatable mold, just to be tossed into a land fill somewheres. It seems stupid to me, but we call it progress today.

[Mooseherder]

The reality from the Grocer's point of view is you better be good at controlling your bag costs.  Large paper bags cost over 7 cents each.  I havent been involved with for some time so it may cost more now.  The cost of double bagging soars. If you have millions of bags going out each month it isn't sustainable for the bottom line.  I don't know what the plastic bags cost now but I think it was under a penny last I remember.

[4x4American]

If they started out with halfway decent bags in the first place you wouldn't have to double bag em! 

[sandsawmill14]

the last large grocery bags i bought cost 21 cents a piece i think there was 500 in the bale but it may have been 250 i cant remember. i used them at the flea market when i was selling plants, baby chicks and ducklings

[Stuart Caruk]

Shoot when I was in Honduras they don't give you the bags, you have to buy them if you want to use them to carry groceries home in them. For a few Lempira though you get a plastic version of a feed sack that holds 4 or 5 bags of groceries. There are no paper sacks there though, and almost nobody throws away the plastic sacks.

[WV_hillbilly]

 I agree with utilizing wood products, but I will never use anything for log handling other than my Logrite tools . I think the Fiskers axe is the bomb cause my 17 year old son hasn't been able to destroy it yet

[jargo432]

So, I got the new handle in the maul and used it for a large round.  I hit dead center but the split looked like a lazy L with the handle hitting the part that didn't split.  In short it was the same as an overstrike.  It hit hard, but this time the handle didn't break.  I decided to limit it's use till I really need it.