Felling and wedge axe

[NY Woodsman]

What specs should I be looking for in a felling/wedge pounder axe. Head weight, handle length and style?

[Plankton]

I like a heavy head on a short straight handle. Ive been running a council tools axe for probably 10 years now its had a few handles since then mostly due to driving over it with skidders. I spray paint the whole thing pink or red so its easy to find.

I cant remeber the pattern name of it off the top of my head.

Edit: i believe its a 5 lb head with around a 2ft handle.

[beenthere]

Often a felling wedge is plastic and primarily used to keep the saw chain kerf from closing and pinching the bar or allowing the tree to "set back" on the cut. 
Therefore, not much heft is needed to set the wedge in tight. I usually don't carry an axe with me. Just find a 3-4' long limb (cut from a top or lying on the ground) that is 2-4" diameter and use that to set the wedge tight in the kerf. 
Any light weight boy scout hatchet that is easily carried on the belt will do the job. 

[Stephen Alford]

   My go to is a 2 lb head I put on a 2ft fiberglass handle .  As Mr Beenthere mentioned its more of a tap than waillin on it.  Keeping one hand on the tree while tapping works for me. You will feel movement long before you see it. The plastic wedges can get peened and chunks will fly , best to trim em now and then.   Stay safe  

[chep]

@Stephen Alford 

What's that doo dad between the sledge hammer and the wedge pouch?

[Walnut Beast]

If you want a superb quality axe that holds a razor edge and has a head that can also pound metal that isn't prone to mushrooming  the Council Wood- Craft pack axe in the 2lb head weight range with 19" or 24" is considered one of the best out there. This is the axe I'm strongly considering. A guy said the other day that had a collection of over 100 axes in all price ranges and he said if he had to pick one all around go to axe it would be the Council pack axe.  You can find them for about 145 shipped to your door

 

[Stephen Alford]

   Well Mr Chep doo dad would be one name for it ,,,I do have others     . Its a screw in wedge. Do not use it a lot but it can come in handy .  

 

[Palogger37]

 No matter what weight of axe I carry I always have at least a 30 inch handle. I've found not bending over as far is much easier on my back. But I also throw my axe from tree to tree so the longer handle doesn't bother me as I don't wear it while limbing and bucking.

[Walnut Beast]

Another game changer Axe 🪓 . Is a Black Gold digger 😳. Pulaski axe!! When I was cutting down the big Walnut I found myself using a Mattock I had that had a pick and a little hoe on one end. It was actually new old stock for the back of my M37 for the tool carrier. Only problem is the head is meant to be put on and removed and handle is not real long.  It is a game changer for digging around a big Black Walnut to gain several inches to a foot or more to add precious length. I've got a vintage Pulaski with long handle on the way I bought on EBay that I'm pretty excited to put in the arsenal

[Plankton]

I know guys that use small belt hammers and tree limbs. Tree limbs kill your hands if your doing it every day and I personally appreciate a heavy head when I end up pounding 3 or more wedges in a back leaning oak on the edge of a bluff it cant go down.

[BargeMonkey]

 Reasonably heavy, I'm a fan of synthetic / fiberglass over wood. Bought one of the Husqvarna branded Fiskars I believe at the show and it's held up well so far. I'm all about buying American made but after a few Estwings falling apart in days and then customer service saying their "felling axe" isn't made to pound a wedge they forever lost my business. Whatever brand or style paint it so it stands out. 

[Walnut Beast]

Good to know about the fiberglass handles Barge. I've been looking at a few of them as well

[Old Greenhorn]

This is a little like that 'board return thread'. :D Whatever works for you is the best. When I started cutting trees more regularly a few years ago I went through my axe collection and found a Collins head I liked that was pretty close to a rafting head style, then I got a Rafting handle from Madsen's for a very reasonable price (I think about 17 bucks) and married them. I like the straight handle because it works pretty well for either cutting or driving. Driving wedges with a handle curved in the  'wrong' direction always felt odd to me. This one fits nicely in the Grizzly pocket on my belt.





 I won a Fiskers at the Pig roast a couple of years ago and like that one too, but the handle seems just a little longer than I'd like. Then I was gifted a 2nd one, which I passed onto a neighbor who loves it for splitting. I use the fiskers as a truck box tool, always there, and the rafting axe for when I know I am out driving wedges on a lot of trees. My Friend Bill prefers and inexpensive plastic handle 5 pound lump hammer with hard head wedges for driving over trees if he has to go that route. His go to is a hydraulic wedge in the form of a bucket attached to an excavator boom. ;D To each his/her own.

[B.C.C. Lapp]

i use the same axe and handle style as Old Greenhorn.   Chopping with a curved handle axe is great but turning it around to pound wedges is awkward at best.  

I paint my handles with pink florescent paint so I can find the dang thing quick when I dont need it for a couple trees then can't remember where the heck I laid it down.

[chep]

I agree on the rafting style handle.  

 

 i have started making my own from some ash blanks I sawed out. I have been playing with handle shapes and thickness but, i l ove the spring in the ash. The factory hickory handles I have used always feel a bit bulky. The thinner ash handles feel limber and flexible. Most of the heads I use are antiques. And range from 3 to 4.5 lbs. But most have been ground down and abused so not sure on the actual weight

 

 

[chep]

@stephen Alford

OK I'll bite. So the doo dad screw thingee. Tell us more? Where did you get it. What sort of lean can it overcome. Could you use a drill/driver to drive the thingee? How much does it weigh? 

[Skeans1]

It going to depend on what you're cutting, there's time I carry a 10 pound custom axe with a 36" handle for heavy back leaners. Most of the time it's either a 5 or 3.5 pound on a straight wood handle they present less vibrations back up when things really need to be drove. As far as wedges it'll depend on the timber anywhere from 8" to 12" normally single taper maybe carry one triple and a full set of two of the mains for stacking. I also carry a 15" setting wedge which can pull double duty as a sight lever in the back cut to watch slight movements of what actually happening to the tree well cutting.

[Stephen Alford]

 

 

  Well Mr Chep the dodad  will give you a 2 in lift about the same  as the steel wedge 4th on the left which offers about the same lift . In our woodlot sitch work was mostly firewood removal with the focus to leave the best genetic stock for the future . In general not dealing with to large of a tree.  The two go to wedges ...2&3 ... gave about an inch lift at 5 inches. The 10 in wedge gave about a 1&1/4 lift .
  The hurricane last fall has changed everything in a single day weather event.  The work now is domestic tree clean up .  Its just a whole new day .  The work is really hazardous and any and all tools are on the table so the dodad made a come back.  The only down side to it was with tractor logging the stumps have to be kept low and the not being able to turn the handle 360 was a pita but in this cleanup work stump height is not an issue.  This one was over 25 ft lol



 

  Not a big deal to make it 1/2 drive Milwalkie friendly... just a piece of pipe a bolt and an ol socket. Bought it at the local saw shop it's made of aluminum not very heavy .

[Walnut Beast]

Hey Skeans what brand of wedges do you use and like?

Chep that is a nice looking handle and Axe! 

[Brian_Rhoad]

This can replace your wedges and axe/hammer.

[Walnut Beast]

Who sells that unit ? Looks like it's not available in the US. I'm sure some guys would get tired of carrying it around. I see a pump jack that's a wedge unit but it's 4,500+ 

[Brian_Rhoad]

@Walnut Beast 

Felling Wedge

[Walnut Beast]

Did you see the unit that goes on the long screw rod that they also have

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, the last time we discussed this it was not available in the US and it seems it still isn't. I know  few guys are anxious to try it. I know one local guy who would buy it, but nobody can find a US outlet yet.

[Brian_Rhoad]

I haven't been able to find a US dealer for them. I've seen comments where they are required in some areas of Europe when felling dead trees. They don't shake the dead limbs as much as a hammer and wedges. Keeps the dead limbs from falling. European countries have some very strict regulations when it comes to working in the woods. One friend told me they must carry at least 5 wedges with them when cutting. Different world over there.

[Skeans1]

Hey Skeans what brand of wedges do you use and like?

Chep that is a nice looking handle and Axe!

It depends on what we're cutting most of the time it's the Madsen's blue wedges in the 12's in the bigger timber, 10's in shorter timber 150' and down range. The 15" is a double taper brand and it's something I want to have my hands on when I buy one because I'm looking for a certain feel as well as a style that works with my hand.

[Old Greenhorn]

AH HA! Another guy that likes the Madsen's blue's. I do too. I have a bunch of 12's (I try to keep new replacements i stock here). I am not sure if I have any 10, but I think I have 8's that I use for bucking and smaller trees. 
 Funny thing, I was in a logging class and part of it was feeling larger trees, I drew this hard maple, about 30" on the stump with a back lean and I was trying to drive it over with my "any old cheap yellow plastic wedges", but it was a no-go. The tree didn't move much. Finally the instructor stepped in and handed me a Madsen's blue 12" and we drove one and it lifted, then another, then a pair stacked and the tree went. When I looked at my cheap wedges, I found that the tree "won" it actually compressed my wedges as I drive them, which is why there was no lift. After class, where I scored in the top 2 the instructor gave me a new 12" blue as a 'prize'. It didn't matter. Monday morning I called Madsen's and placed an order and took all my cheapos to the mill for use on big slab milling. I do wish we could get those 'blues with a double taper option.

[Log-it-up]

 

 

 I tried to put these on a while ago but I got sick of breaking handles so I went a straight 24" weld on type the head is a Stihl 3.5 lbs felling ax