About the same size as felling axes, these mauls feature a heavier, chunkier wedge-shaped head ... and splitting wood in ...

While both of these axe types split wood along the grain ... That puts them between splitting mauls on the heavier side (their heads weigh ten pounds or more) and felling axes on the lighter ...

the Gransfors Bruk Splitting Maul ($255) is hands down the best overall axe for almost any wood-splitting task. Its 5.5-pound ...

Rather than cut deeply across the grain as a felling ax does, a splitting maul utilizes a heavy wedge-shaped head designed to rend logs along the grain. These axes feature a 6- to 8-pound head ...

You'll want to use a splitting maul instead of an ax, because a maul won't stick and its shape increases the outward pressure on the wood making it split easier. For tougher logs, a wedge and ...