While we love the manual approach to outdoor work here at Axe & Answered, we understand that sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. When it comes to turning all the excess branches, twigs, and even hedge trimmings in your yard into useable wood chips and mulch, a little help from a powered tool goes a very long way into make your life easier and saving you a heck of a lot of time.

Aside from the massive amount of time you can save, by making your own wood chips or mulch from the organic material you already have access to, you can save a ton of money as well. You no longer need to pay for expensive delivery or make a run to your local gardening store and pay them for what you can make on your own.

But, what electric shredder is going to be right for your particular needs? Keep reading to find out.

While we love of axes and splitting wood with our hands here at Axe & Answered, we understand that sometimes you’re limited by time and energy. Sometimes you want a tool that can do more than you can do with pure elbow grease.

Enter, the log splitter. There are a few different kinds: electric, gas powered, and even hydraulic. But be assured, when you leave the maul behind to take a heavier duty approach, you will speed up the your splitting.

If you’re in a hurry, check out our Quick Chart, but if you have a few minutes keep reading to see our detailed reviews.

One tool the Axe & Answered team love is the axe of course, but it’s not the only useful tool out there. One of those useful tools is a folding saw.

They are typically easier to store and carry than an axe or hatchet due to the blade that folds into the handle. They might take a little longer to get the job done, depending on the task at hand, but their small size and light weight might be more of an advantage for you than the sheer power of an axe.

The reviews below go into the finer details of each saw, but if you’re in a rush check out the Quick Chart directly below.

If you plan on sharpening your axe or other bladed tool using a sharpening stone, you should definitely consider using some type of sharpening oil, also commonly referred to as honing oil, along with the stone. While you can sharpen your tool on a dry stone if you’re in a jam, using an oil has too many advantages to ignore.

Take a quick look at the reviews chart below to see our top choices for oil to use on your sharpening stone while fine tuning the blade on your axe or knife, or use the Quick Navigation to jump to any other section.

Some splitting mauls are truly works of art with custom hand-forged steel heads that bare the smith’s name etched into with beautifully crafted wooden handles. Some mauls and splitting axes are almost too sexy to use. That’s not the case for this pair or Truper splitting mauls.

These two steel beasts mean business. They are true workhorses. That doesn’t mean they don’t carry a certain aesthetic of their own, but these were manufacturing with mainly one thing in mind – function.

Ames is a well-known tool manufacturer, so it only makes sense for them to have a line of axes and mauls. Their product line-up can get a little confusing with all of the various names and model numbers they use, so to keep things simple, we’re only going to look at two of their most popular splitting axes and mauls.

Click on one of the links below to read an individual review or read the whole post to compare them both.

Are you looking for a top quality splitting axe? Then look no further – Estwing has you covered with their American made duo of wood splitting axes.

Before deep diving into each of their axe offerings, we can take a quick look at where they are manufactured. Estwing makes all of the axes and other tools within the USA at their manufacturing plant in Rockford, IL.

They also made a ton of other quality tools like hatchets, pry bars, and all sorts of hammers. But, let’s isolate and reviews their splitting axes.