Wilton B.A.S.H 36" Splitting Maul, 6 Lb Head (50636)

I split mainly 16" lengths of osage orange and the 6lb head generates plenty of power. I rarely need a full swing for my purposes so the 8lb head would have been overkill. I'm happy with the length of the handle (I'm over 6' tall) but I still wonder if the shorter handle would have been sufficient. Cuts/splits great. Sometimes I think a slightly longer bit (cutting edge) would be handy but the head feels like you couldn't hurt it if you tried.The best and worst part of this maul is the handle. One of the joys of swinging an axe or maul comes from proper weight distribution--a strong but light handle with all the weight at the business end. You definitely aren't going to get that feeling from this tool. Unsurprisingly, the steel cables in the handle are heavier than fiberglass or wood--this makes handling it feel a bit more like a chore. On the flip side, this thing is indestructible which brings its own kind of joy. Knowing you can swing freely without fear of a mishit sending you to the store for a replacement handle or new tool is satisfying.I'll save 5 stars for perfection --an indestructible maul with a light handle. Since perfection doesn't yet exist, the last maul I will ever buy will have to settle for 4 stars.

Felt a lil heavy at first but after a day or two with it becomes like an extension of your self this thing is mean it will power the snottiest of block with ease the weight distribution makes it very easy to use and the reinforced handle is super durable plus wilton will give you a thousand dollars if you manage to break this bad boy so this mail is a no brained , I'm about to order the 8 pound one now but this 6 pounder is more than enough to get through anything with ease !

I have no doubt that the handle on this maul would last a lifetime. However it may be because I would use this maul only as a last resort.When I recieved this maul the edge was.... Well there was no edge it was blunted so badly it could have been labled a safety feature. The handle feels as though it weighs half as much as the head and throws off the whole balance and sucks out my speed when swinging . I attempted to split large logs of STRAIGHT grained oak with no knots and it bounced off. Yes it bounced off. So I put more force into it and after five or six good blows the mighty log was split. (A comparison log cut from the same tree I split in two blows with a fiskars splitting axe) so I sharpened the Maul and tried again. While there was noticeable improvement it still wasn't great. So I'll put this with the other misfits I have and when the time comes to teach my boy about work smarter not harder I'll let him try this maul for a bit then I'll hand him the Gransfors Bruks I purchased after giving up on this thing.

On first use I noticed that the heft of the maul felt like 8 lb conventional mauls. I double checked to make sure I had not misordered or that the wrong product had shipped. Everything was correct. I finally figured out the the steel core added to the weight making it essentially an 8lb maul. I much prefer a lighter 6lb for better control and less fatigue when using.Other than this, I am extremely pleased with the maul. It is well built, and I certainly will not be dealing with the yearly handle replacement I usually go through with wood handled tools.

You can tell Wilton is new to making anything edged because the edge on my maul was absolutely the most pathetic attempt I have ever seen at "sharpening". I know a maul isn't supposed to have a nice fine bevel, but it would've been nice if both sides of the face came to a point even! It was just a semi ground face with a flat "edge" anywhere from .5-2mm wide from top to bottom. This is ridiculous! For this price you could at least give me a dull edge! It's supposed to SPLIT wood by separating the grain, not by EXPLODING it with blunt force trauma! Ok, rant over!After spending a solid 20 mins with a 4" grinder and 50 grit 3M discs, followed up with 3" 80 grit discs and a quick hand honing, I got to use my new toy! Had some nice oak that literally just clunked in half and some wicked knotty ash I've been having trouble with for some time. Even the wedge has a helluva time getting through this stuff. That gave me a great reason to try the sledge face of the maul. Now the face is quite a bit smaller than the face of a regular sledge, even though it might be deceiving in the photos. I still had no problem making solid strikes. No over strikes yet so I can't say it's truly unbreakable, but I feel pretty secure with this one. A lot of people comment on the handle weight throwing them off. Well, if you've only ever swung wood or fiberglass, then yes, it's different. If you've ever swung a steel handled maul then it's very close in comparison. Heavy enough to do work but still light enough to not cuss at after 100 swings. I can say that this will be my go-to maul now when splitting cord wood.UPDATED 9-19-14After only 3 months of mild use (probably split one cord of wood, maybe 1000 strikes) the head is starting to loosen. "No big deal" I thought, I'll just contact Wilton's warranty department and see what they say. The answer, and I quote it from the email I received, "However, when the product is loosening up or twisting at its head it is at the end of the products lifecycle."I bought a freaking UNBREAKABLE maul and only have 3 months of use out of it and it's "at the end of it's lifecycle" ?! Come on! That is absurd! This has got to be a joke to claim that the handle is unbreakable, but if it wears out and the head comes off, it's because it was used too much!

Maul

USED FOR SPLITING CUT DOWN TREES.

Tried it out. Had to grind it some to make it split better.