Leveraxe Splitting Axe, Vipukirves 36-inch

This is a great product. I've been chopping wood since I was a kid in Boy Scouts. I've helped friends clear lots with an axe and chainsaw. But splitting logs for firewood has always been a pain. Propping up the log, splitting it and then repositioning it. And if you've got a full log, it's almost impossible. Just after I ordered this axe, my furnace died and it was getting pretty cold. I had a tree cut down but it was in logs. Chopping it up with a normal axe wouldn't have worked (2' diameter sections). But with this axe, I just setup the section and split out wood in minutes. I could reduce a whole piece into 20-30 splits in less than 20 minutes. It took longer to haul them back to the house than it took to split them!If you're looking for a tool to make firewood fast, this is a fantastic choice. Get an old tire and a stump and you're ready to make a ton of firewood. You'll still need an axe or chainsaw to cut down trees or make logs, but this will turn it into firewood fast.

Bought this to use while camping in the high Sierras, so no old tires around. Everyone was required to read the manual before trying to use it. My weight lifting teens could do little with it. [we were a family group of 25] The men even took turns and not much. Back to our normal axes. THEN, I had purchased it early to be sure it arrived before we left. The handle of this axe split long-wise around the fourth day. We returned home the day after it could be returned. So now I am stuck with very expensive trash.

Before purchasing, I read a lot of conflicting reviews on this axe. A lot of reviewers hadn't actually purchased or used one, but found the cost so excessive that it couldn't be worth it. The value for the price is hard to assess for others, but I will say that the axe is unique and works as advertised. I spent a few hours splitting yesterday and while I wouldn't give up my other splitting tools, there's a place for the Leveraxe. On dry, clear rounds, it works quite well, and on some of the twisted, evil knotty logs I'm trying to split, it works as well as could be hoped.What I like about this axe is that it's relatively light and has a longer handle than my other splitting maul. Also, the design prevents the head from driving too deep into the wood and sticking. These characteristics mean I can make several strikes on the same stubborn round where my other maul would drive deep and wedge into the wood.As I mentioned, a lot of my rounds are very tough to split, and I found that while the Leveraxe would start to split the wood, sometimes it wouldn't completely separate the pieces the way my traditional maul would. I ended up switching back and forth depending on the round (with this kind of wood, I often have to resort to wedges and a sledge too). Switching between axes is kind of nice too; I think it helped prevent fatigue.One other thing to mention, the Leveraxe is asymmetrical, and you have to use it on the left side of the rounds. This was sometimes limiting for me and I ended up circling around or rotating the heavy rounds more than I would have with my splitting maul.

It did not live up to its hype.

interesting piece thank goodness i did not have to pay for need show it to my blacksmith 150 or so possibly but dbl that no siree ..

Works great. Less effort and safer.

Bad AXE. Phenomenal marketing. With two other experienced wood splitters we tested the Leveraxe against a six lb. splitting maul, wedges, and a eight lb. splitting maul. We were splitting oak and hickory. For the Leveraxe we constructed a splitting block with a 15" tire and one with a 20" tire. No contest, even after some practice with a lose grip the Leveraxe could not keep up with the splitting mauls. The Leveraxe had trouble with the hardwood so we tried some ash and some holly, much better performance but still no match for the mauls. Within thee hours the head on the Leveraxe was loose! Had to get handle wedges to tighten. The painted handle seems cheap for almost $350.00 worth of axe. I anticipate their will lot of Leveraxe bargains on Craig's List and E Bay.

This axe is worth the money. It's not a cure all end all. But it will split knotty pine and oak with much more ease than an traditional axe or maul. So in my opinion, it's fantastic because it saves your back, and splits better than other hand tools.