Twelve universal axles tested
Universal axes are designed to be able to break smaller trunks, make trunks, cut branches or even fell shrubs or young trees. Our Czech partner magazine dTest tested 12 universal shafts with cable lengths of 45 to 50 centimeters. These are the good ones U1100 fast cell phone and the Fiskars F18 Also available in this country – both weigh just over a kilo, have a fiberglass-reinforced composite handle and cost around 40 euros. If you speak Czech or would like to read all the details using translation software: Click here for the original paid article.
They all fit well in the hand
For the practical test, the Czech colleagues took an ax and chopped wood. The test subjects had nothing to complain about in terms of ergonomics: the shafts fit well in the hand, were not too heavy and absorbed impact, writes dTest. Also important: the handle offers a stable grip for all of them – even for people who don’t wear gardening gloves when chopping, but swing the ax with bare, sweaty hands.
20,000 ax swings and hidden nails
So they can all hack it, but the testing ground is divided when it comes to durability. In the laboratory, testers attached each ax to a special machine and simulated 20,000 blows to the wood. The good axes didn’t care, but the last place did Pike 901000 It was badly damaged afterwards.
Some axes can also leave small dents in the steel blade if they hit a nail or metal wire that was left on the wooden board. This also affected Cellfast and Fiskars in the test – with the Fiskars axe, the examiners also noticed that the steel blade was minimally bent in some places. These axes can still be used, but they also no longer split wood.
Rust is yet another visual flaw
Axes aren’t completely immune to rust, either: After two days in a damp corrosion chamber, rust bloomed white or red on some axes—including the “back of the head” of the Fiskars blade. However, rust did not affect performance, so dTest did not rigorously evaluate this point.
Tip: Give your ax a dry place to stay when not in use.
Temperature doesn’t matter
Temperature fluctuations – even strong ones, like those that occur year-round in a garden house – had little effect on the axles, write the Czech testers: they were neither frozen to minus 20 degrees nor heated to 60 degrees in subsequent cutting. and drop test.