Ironton Heavy-Duty Splitting Maul - 12-Lb.

This maul isn't for everyone, but if you're ready for it, it may be the last one you ever need.I split wood a few times a week. It's cheaper than a gym membership and keeps me and my friends supplied for camping trips and for my backyard fire pit.I started off chopping 10 years ago with a 3.5# axe with a fiberglass handle by True Temper from Lowe's. After a couple years with that I graduated to an 8# maul, also a True Temper with a fiberglass handle.Fiberglass-handled mauls are great, much easier to work with in my opinion than wood handles. Also, they'll take a few more overstrikes than a wood handle, which tends to shatter after just a couple. However, it will happen eventually.Lowe's has a very generous exchange policy, and I got several axes and mauls replaced for free, but a few years ago I decided it was time for something that would last. I was intimidated by the weight and the straight-pipe handle of the Ironton maul, but everyone agreed on its durability.This thing does take some getting used to. Even if you are well seasoned using an 8# maul, you will notice the extra weight with the first swing.The first thing I noticed was the handle. When the head hits you will feel the shock wave throughout your body. I recommend using well padded gloves with this maul. You will get used to the swing and increased vibration eventually, though.The handle is a simple steel pipe. Ergonomically designed it is not. As others have stated this can be confusing as you don't immediately know the position of the head when you pick it up by the feel of the handle - like the True Temper maul with its "Total Control" handle. For me this wasn't a big deal. Yes, you want to visually confirm the head is pointed the right way while you're getting used to this maul. But after a while, you'll know by instinct when you feel the weight of the head as you grasp the top of the handle.Getting used to this maul is a bit of an adventure. Since the handle is smooth steel, expect it to be a bit slicker than what you're used to. I took the rubber sheath at the bottom of the handle off, because I'm used to connecting both hands at the bottom of my swing. But I didn't think of just cutting it down, like JimProPhoto did. So I had a few instances of the maul simply flying out of my hands, which is always exciting. Give yourself plenty of room when working with this maul. The other thing you'll notice is that if you happen to hit the wood at even a slight angle, the maul will fly out at a crazy angle. It's scary when it happens but you will instinctively let go of the handle and eventually you learn to lean into it and let your body weight absorb the recoil.ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES. Of course you know this already. Most logs will of course split off to the sides, as with any maul. But the weight of this maul is where it just shines as a splitter. The wood doesn't so much split as explode off this maul. With the right kind of wood, the hit from this maul sounds like a gunshot, which is fun. Just make sure your path to both sides of the log is entirely clear. And every once in a while when you hit a knot in the middle of the log and the wood comes toward you, you WILL want to be wearing glasses. In my experience it's been more common for a piece of wood to fly out and hit me in the shin, which argues for wearing chaps as well. Either way you want to protect your eyes at the least.You get used to the extra weight fairly quickly, if you are already used to splitting wood regularly. But it pays to be deliberate when picking up the maul for the next swing. If you just toss it up into your dominant hand (like I was used to with the True Temper), you'll feel it from your fingers to your elbow the next day. Take it slow at first.The head is painted red as well as the handle, which is just silly. You'll have a splotch of red at the edge of your split wood for quite a while.All in all, I love this maul. I picked mine up a couple years ago for about $40 if I recall correctly, so the price has more than doubled since then. I wouldn't have paid $100 for it sight unseen, but if I had to replace it now for that price I probably would. It's just that tough. You will absolutely feel it, and regret it, when you overstrike. But you're not counting down to the end of its useful life like when that happens with a fiberglass handle. This maul is always ready for more.My thoughts on some other reviews:Gail - as she describes, the handle is 31", with the head the total length of the maul is 34". I agree, the head looks dull. But the edge isn't as important as the weight of the head here, that's what powers through the wood. I've never felt the need to sharpen mine.JimProPhoto - great ideas for mods, like cutting down the sheath mentioned above and fitting a rubber bumper.Andrew and Michelle - my experience has been that this maul performs significantly better with dense and knotty woods than my 8# maul. The weight of the head just powers through wood where the 8# maul gets stuck. As a bonus, this maul tends not to get stuck nearly as often, because of the weight and (I think) because of the triangular shape of the head. When it does get stuck, it's easier to pull out.Dmitri - I think you're reviewing a different product. The total length of this maul is 34".

This 12 pound maul does the job on dense wood. I have used it on a variety of wood- Maple, Oak, and Pine. The mass of the 12 pound head drives it through anything with straight grain, and does much better than lighter mauls on twisted or knotted wood. The only wood that did not split easly were tree trunks that branched and formed an impenetrable "Y". I doubt any hand driven tool would work any better on some of the most difficult splits.Swing this thing a couple of times and your "heavy" 8 pound maul will seem light as a feather. This is great for initially breaking up the larger rounds, and then I transition to the 8 pound maul or 4 pound splitting ax to finish.I made two modifications- I added a rubber bumper at the top of the handle. This thing is solid steel, so the handle won't break, but the rubber helps protect me from the shock of an overstrike. Second I cut down the rubber grip so that it is just covering the very end of the handle. The long rubber grip stops the natural slide of the support hand during a power swing. Cutting it back allows the strong hand to grip the handle at the base while letting the support hand slide down and connect at the bottom properly.

It is a decent maul. I have another 8-lb splitting maul that I use more often than this one. As another reviewer said, the round handle makes it a bit tricky to keep it perfectly lined up as you swing the maul. The hickory handle on my other maul is oval in shape and fits the hand a bit better and makes for more accurate strikes.I originally purchased this thinking that it would just blast through tough wood that my 8-lb maul just could not handle. However, I have found that this is not the case. They seem to perform equally well in how they split, but the 8-lb one is much easier to use.It should be mentioned that this is one sturdy maul. I don't think I will ever have to replace it as it has steel construction throughout the entire maul.

Great wood practically split itself. I was splitting seasoned and green hedge and a little bit of oak. You get the velocity behind the weight and our ts great.

gives me no joy to write bad reviews. well, maybe a little.this is a hunk of metal sloppily welded onto the end of a pipe.round pipe in cross section, you have no idea of orientation of the head by feel.i have one of these:Fiskars X27 Super Splitting Axe, 36-Inch ...which is an absolute joy to use.got the ironton thinking it would be better suited to power thru some knotty stuff. nope.i don't even want to give it away...sorry folks.get the fiskars and experience fine functional design.

Main problem my husband has with this product is that it is unbalanced. He has an 8 lb maul with the handle mounted more to the center and it does well. He hoped this would be better with more weight but since the handle is mounted toward the back of the maul it jerks to one side or the other when he hits the wood to split it and it causes some pain in his arms to try and control it.

pros:Heavy hittingDurableMinimalisticCons:Inefficient for most jobsBad handle design( too large, round)Small striking surfaceNot usable as a wedge for strikingOverall:Hits like a dump truck and is exactly what I was looking for! I get knotty wood, my fiskars iso-core 8 lb. was not quite as capable for the really tough and gnarly logs. It is absolutely a niche tool and most people splitting fire wood wouldn't have a need for this tool, I get benefit from its added weight. The handle design is awful. It's round and tends to roll after making contact. This is murder on my hands and wrists and would probably be mostly fixed if it was in a more oval shape. There might be a reason behind this being round but I expect that is just much cheaper to make. On a brighter note it is also very affordable 👌. 5 stars