Was wondering how this Fiskars does on oak rounds over 15" diameter?
I am sure it varies depending on the round's grain and how dry it is. But I can tell you my recent experience.
I had some 18-20" diameter Swamp Oak rounds here, cut down in September and split in early November. Most of the pieces took 1-3 hits for the initial split. I think it was all about how good the first strike was -- if well placed, the round would break apart the first time. Some rounds took as many as 3-4 strikes.
Now, ocassionally, I would have a strike that wasn't aimed well and came in closer to the edge. That would generally slice off a piece instantly. So there may be some merit to working around the outside on large pieces. I need to experiment with that. My normal approach is to half, quarter, then eighth big rounds (when all goes according to plan, that is).
I remember one piece that was cut near a tree crotch and had a very complicated grain -- it was a battle. But normally that is a challenge for anything. The fact that I could split it at all with the X-27 was a good sign to me.
The thing to remember about the X-27 is that efficiency is all about the strike speed. The long handle and light weight let you get it moving very fast, and it builds up a lot of energy (which is proportional to the square of the speed). It's a different concept than a heavy maul, where the energy depends on the mass of the head (and that does not square, so it's a less efficient way to build up energy).
