The Axe Balance Challenge: CHOPPING AN ELEVATED LOG WITH AN AXE

Gday, running a few axes into an elevated Blackbutt Gum (E. pilularis) in the Aussie bush.
This kind of axe work is challenging, fun and a good test for an axeman, but it is dangerous. Apart from obviously falling off onto uneven ground with a razor-sharp axe in your hand, a wobbling log can increase the chance of a glancing blow driving into your foot or leg. An unsupported log may twist or crack unexpectedly, and fatigue in general can easily cause axe-y dents.
There are not too many situations where a Chopper would need to buck an elevated log into sections as I do here. The safest solution is one through-cut near a supported section and drop the log to the ground. As with any woodchopping, particularly solo in the bush, have some first-aid supplies nearby and consider wearing chainmail socks or leggings.
As always, thanks for watching, and special thanks to everyone who subscribed, liked, or commented on the vids throughout the year!
Stay safe and have a Happy New Year! Cheers mates

[@bombsawaylemay770]

Arguably one of the best axemanship videos on KZbin. Excellent work sir.

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate, much appreciated!👍👍🪓🪓

[@joshkelloggKCR]

Your accuracy while balancing on that shaking tree is nothing short of amazing, excellent work.

[@kurts64]

Thanks alot mate, I appreciate it!🪓👍

[@willcarmack1242]

God bless you Brother....I needed to see this...Excellent job and THE accuracy....Indeed...Much Respect from St Petersburg Florida

[@kurts64]

Gday Will sorry for the late replies mate, much appreciated 👍👍🪓

[@jamesgroves5294]

Outstanding skills Kurt! Nice video🙏🏿🇺🇸🪓

[@kurts64]

Cheers James, thanks for watching mate!👍👍

[@Brian2bears]

Super film Mr. Kurt. The documentation is full of data and specs. The spacing on the notches square...plumb...true...those sap pockets are well captured as well. Beautiful work and demonstration of some very important attributes that AXEMEN should practice in order to possess and maintain...

[@kurts64]

Much appreciated Mr B!🪓👍👍

[@940joey2]

Hell yessss Kurt !!! Awesome chopping man and dang you have some killer balance !! Love love love that lamaca work axe !! Great job man !! Looking forward to the next video 🤙

[@kurts64]

Cheers Joey thanks a lot mate!👍👍👍

[@aussieaxedude154]

Excellent job big shooter very neat cuts. Solid balance. Loved it!!!!!!

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate! Happy new year! 🍻 👍

[@mytimbersportsjourney]

You know it’s a good day when you open the app and see a new Kurt S video has been posted!

[@kurts64]

🤣thanks mate!🪓🪓👍

[@KevinsDisobedience]

Yep, no better chopping movies on the KZbins, except maybe when Skinny Bear gets motivated and makes a silent masterpiece.

[@kurts64]

@@KevinsDisobedience cheers Kevin, yep Skinnys helko vid is an all-time classic!

[@willcarmack1242]

The info on the ax was exactly what I was looking for....not to mention the the yearz of experience I need to aquire....Thanks again....

[@kurts64]

Glad to help mate, cheers for watching!👍👍🪓

[@bundufundi]

Very cool, nice one mate! Hope you and yours have a great New Year.

[@kurts64]

Thanks heaps mate, same to you!👍🪓

[@marksmith9295]

8:49 mark answered question I was going to ask. Always pays to watch the whole video before commenting😅. Would be neat to see you do this with narrower cuts (joggling) and using a broad axe for making square timber. Not balancing 3 feet over the ground though. Outstanding demonstration!

[@kurts64]

No worries mate! I really like hewing timber, don't get much chance for it these days but if I do ill try to show the process. Thanks for watching through the older vids Mark, this one was a favourite of mine, was a great day out. Cheers mate!👍👍🪓

[@timbarry5080]

I watched a great video about an older Australian guy that used to be a pro Sleeper cutter ( Joe Palandri - Sleeper Cutting ) i had had no idea what a Sleeper was. We call them "railroad ties". I have the same broadaxe as him, but as per Dan Dustin I use the bevel towards the work.. it was a great little video. That spring he used on the end of his saw, as well as the twig trick were awesome. Thanks for the heads up!

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, yep that's a good one. Two others you might like are "Artisans of Australia- Timbercraft" and "Timbergetting in Western Australia", prob my two favourite old films. I'm about halfway through that Dan Dustin vid, he knows his stuff! Cheers Tim!👍👍🪓

[@michaelmullins6868]

Solid editing, you have an eye for it. Sweet compliment of toys. My pick is the first one, had a really nice crack when you hit the sweet spot.

[@kurts64]

I appreciate that mate, cheers! There's something about the Lamaca, it's a weapon! Thanks for watching!👍

[@gumboot65]

Most excellent vid Bushy !! You need a pair of corks (caulked shoes or boots) for walking, standing , working, up there. Your feet kinda sorta Stick to the log. Takes a LOT less energy to stand and work. A pair of Hoffman Caulked Hikers would be just right there. Excellent chopping ! Thanks for the vid !!!

[@kurts64]

I'll look into that mate, thanks! No worries, cheers for watching it!🙂👍👍

[@MattKeevil]

Picturesque and beautiful chopping as always! I already fell of off a log and banged myself up a bit, so I already know to avoid trying that again 😆The bloody sap on those gums is disconcerting.

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate, be careful up there! Yeah that sap has had me checkin that everythings still attached a few times lol

[@mattoster0994]

Hey mate awesome vid love seein that keech axe a beautiful tool an that lamaca axe ain't bad either seems to do the job quite well hope you had a great Christmas an a good new year best of luck 🤙

[@kurts64]

Gday Matt, glad u liked the vid mate cheers for watchin! Happy new years, have a good one👍👍

[@mrpoopypants9586]

Top effort Kurt. You make me feel lazy mate. Hey, would appreciate your advice on work axes, would make a great video looking at axes and gear that are currently available new from suppliers. Your vids have me leaning towards Tuas or maybe an Arvika or Agdor. Or something else? I understand each user has different needs etc but would make a great vid to discuss and compare which new ones suit which purposes. I saw in one of your chats you mentioned the Agdors from a particular supplier but didn't name them. Wondering how they compare to the Arvika? (Not quite silly enough to think I need a racing axe - other than to hold and look at, anyway! 🙂 But definitely in the market for a new work axe or two. Keep putting it in the too hard basket. Anyway, keep the vids coming mate and hope the new year is a ripper for you. Cheers PP

[@kurts64]

Thanks for watching mate! To be honest I dont have all that many current production axes, apart from the Lamaca, Tui, Muller, HB Montreal, and Helko tassie. I haven't tried Council, Granfors or Ochenkopf/Ox-head. Most of mine over the years have been vintage and I tend to stick to tassie patterns because they're available here and proven design. For an all rounder I'd go for a 4lb tassie. From the modern market, the Helko is probably the closest shape to an old vintage. The modern Hults Bruk agdor and arvika 5 star, as I understand are pretty much the same axe, with the arvika being a bit thinner probably due to the polishing process. The Hults 1.2kg and 1.5kg Agdors are great value too. I do have a modern agdor tas but haven't tuned it up and used it yet. Sorry I'm not sure where your located, but if your in Aus, "HuntGatherGrow" has a good range of HB's. Lol now I want more axes😆🪓 thanks again mate, happy new year!

[@willcarmack1242]

Calf muscles must be sreamin....

[@kurts64]

Haha they were at the end of this! And a few days after🤣

[@mytimbersportsjourney]

Dude I want to try that!! Haha Looked tough! That seemed to be a really good place to use the camp axe. No dirt under it to hit with that toe. And that timberman 😍

[@kurts64]

Haha it's good fun! Yeah to get the most out of the camp axe the logs really gotta be up off the ground, the toe feels like it's a long way from the sweet spot and because the bits so curved, that toe cops it on ground bucking. Timberman for the win!

[@Joey-L]

Great work as always. Bonus points for the balancing act

[@kurts64]

Cheers Joey! Thanks for watching mate👍🪓

[@peterfletcher8411]

Another great vid Kurt. That's a huge amount of skill to accomplish this feat. Accuracy, strength, endurance and lets not forget, 'Balls'. You looked pretty comfortable up there for the mostt part. Is this a particular challenge of 'Cordwood', or you just did this for your own challenge?. Best of all, you didnt have any axe y dents🙂 Great workout and super clean notches. Well done mate.👍

[@kurts64]

Gday Peter, thanks a lot mate! No it's not technically part of the cordwood challenge, but I like finding tricky jobs like this, they make a good skill builder and learning experience. There's plenty of times out bush when standing on a log is handy or necessary, so it's a thing that should be practiced, but this was just for fun. Thanks again mate!👍👍🪓

[@polderfischer8565]

Your striking accuracy is stunning! Thanks for showing!

[@kurts64]

Thanks alot mate, cheers for watching!👍

[@chimmy4244]

Nice looking notches and a great display of skill and axemanship! I'm somewhat axe-y dent prone so I don't think I should try that one lol! Grass tree at 0:16?

[@kurts64]

Cheers Chimmy, grass tree! Good stuff man!

[@williefick]

Good stuff. Is someone sawing in the background? How many cuts did you make? That Keesteel is just one of the best axes. I am looking for one, but they seem hard to get.

[@kurts64]

Cheers Willie, nah no one else around, probably the gums grinding in the wind. 29 or 30 notches I think. Keesteels unfortunately are pretty hard to get now, they stopped producing a year or two ago, so unless you get lucky on an old one at a market or yard sale, they go for crazy prices. Many end up in collectors drawers, which is a shame

[@johngibbons6155]

Cool video and a nice idea! I think I would try it barefoot, maybe help to get a more relaxed stance on the log. I will have to try!

[@kurts64]

Thanks for watching mate! Barefoot or a pair of Volley's would be ideal for this kind of stuff. Good luck!👍👍🪓

[@shaveclassy9986]

Bushie Kurt your a marvel mate you got balance and enough woodchips to burn out a chip heater, what sort of tree mate?

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate, this was a fairly young-ish blackbutt. Beautiful species!

[@shaveclassy9986]

@@kurts64 indeed

[@brettbrown9814]

What a super end of year video mate! Great chopping and beautiful notches. Loved the close ups at 14:42. All the best for 2023.

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate! Same to you!🪓🪓👍

[@brettbrown9814]

@@kurts64Tough question.... which axe was your favorite on this log?

[@kurts64]

@@brettbrown9814 it was nice to have the few to use in different sized wood. The Montreal was outgunned straight away, would have been better off using that further down in the crown and limbs. The lamaca is just perfect to use, light, cuts deep, easy to overlap cuts, and inherently accurate. The tui is fun but sometimes it's wedgyness can work against it for depth. I reckon if I could have two axes only, they would be the lamaca and the keech. Edit: one axe only would have to be a 4lb tassie!

[@brettbrown9814]

@@kurts64 perfect answer!👍🪓

[@BasajaunMM]

Great video as always man! I´ve done this kind of axe works and they´re really challenging, you have an amazing balance and accuracy! I´ve got a question for you, do you make your own handles or you buy 'em (if it´s the case, which brand do you buy from?). They look really good. Cheers from the Basque Country.

[@kurts64]

Thanks alot mate! I've made my own handles in the past but the last year or so I've been liking the Engineered For Axemen race handles. I've got four now and they've held up really well, plus a great shape straight from the factory. Cheers for watching mate!👍🪓

[@BasajaunMM]

@@kurts64 I'll check them out, thanks man🤝🏻

[@four4bman979]

I could never balance myself like that! You are the man!

[@kurts64]

😆Thanks mate, just lots of practice!👍🪓

[@urbanlumberjack]

First! Really impressive chopping. Australia feels like another planet coming from the southeast US. I’m trying to find some spotted gum handles, would love to try one out.

[@kurts64]

Chris just beat you! Lol cheers mate. Are you on Fb?

[@thefellingfella9886]

You have great balance mate, and the video is high quality as always! It must be exhausting to chop in the Aussie summer.

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate, yeah it gets pretty warm sometimes! I think it was about 30°C on this day. Some shade would have been nice for sure!

[@PencilProper]

Another great movie Kurt, very impressive balance and accuracy! Curious what your physical stats are? Height weight ect I recon I would snap the tree in half just walking across it 😂😂 Cheers!

[@kurts64]

Thanks alot mate, I appreciate that👍 Fully tooled up, boots and all, I'm about 63kg and 5'6....wait...I mean um 120 and 6'3💪😆😆

[@Brian2bears]

@@kurts64 I also have wondered and speculated, you have awesome strength and speed for any size man...

[@kurts64]

@@Brian2bears thanks Brian!

[@PencilProper]

@@kurts64 A power house thats for sure! Cheers

[@ethicalaxe]

Great pace and energy efficient swings. My experience with balance while standing on wobbly timber is my feet and ankles got tired. Just lets me know where my weak points are in my body that I should work on. The Blackbutt didn't seem so crazy hard for your woods I've seen but still like beech or maybe tougher at least for chipping out. Interesting to note that the timber called for longer bit that still had some thickness after a keen edge. The keech also has a relatively wide bit so it really was great for this. I wonder what would happen if this was a felling test for all these axes? I was talking about this with bluegrass outdoors that it seems like timber standing is tougher to cut and lends itself to a thinner profile axe. I thought maybe the weight on the wood you're hitting creates an almost surface tension that makes it harder.

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate, yep this kind of stuff wears out your legs, much different to a timbersports-style block with foot placement cut in. The round surface and slippery bark, plus the wobble, means you can't get on your toes to really reach and load the swing like you can with flat-cut blocks. Yep this was a pretty nice tree to work on, fairly young, straight, few limbs and plantation grown so is softer than a forest grown blackbutt. Also still had the root ball and limbs intact, holds its moisture well. I reckon you could be right about the tension in a standing tree, it's also about how the two different notches (fellin vs. bucking) chip out. You can get away with a thinner axe on felling though, cause your essentially only cuttin a notch half as wide as a bucking notch, so the chips are smaller, but can feel like it's taking longer due to the 90° cut being not as deep as the 45. A good bucking axe needs to cut two 45s, so can be very wedgy, a felling axe has to cut a 45 and a 90, so should be thinner, because the depth of the 90 is never gunna equal the depth of the 45. You may need three 90° hits to equal the depth of one 45, as opposed to a pretty much one-to-one ratio in bucking. Great comment! Cheers mate!

[@southafricanaxeenthusiast9144]

How many times did you fall off? Really?

[@kurts64]

🤣🤣Haha no falls. If I did I would have left in in, cause it would have looked awesome! But I did have to get on and off about 120 times to move the camera!

[@brettbrown9814]

Second/third/forth?

[@kurts64]

Haha cheers Brett!

[@KillingerUSA]

First!

[@urbanlumberjack]

Haha dang I thought I was first! You’re fast

[@kurts64]

Chris got it! Haha cheers!

[@KevinsDisobedience]

Second?

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate!

[@cosmicbilly]

Balancing on that log is actually a GREAT workout for all the smaller stabilizer muslces. Looks like fun dude! Lol i don't know if i should envy you or pitty you, because all the wood you cut looks and sounds incredibly hard lol😅 But the wood is all so beautiful. Not to mention the views and forests you have. Also, have you ever come across any dangerous animals or insects while out in the bush??

[@kurts64]

It's definitely a workout mate, the legs could feel it the next day! Thanks mate, it is a beaut forest area around here. Yeah plenty of bugs and snakes around, they're a menace! 🐍 🕷