I am thinkig of investing in some tools to assist me in hand hewing some pine and hemlock. Can anyone recommend any particular brand to buy, be it used or new for a felling axe, broad axe, and adze. I have looked into Iltis Oxhead. They seem well made though they dont quite have a very natural look to them. Barr seems an obviosly superb adze, but pricey. Gransfors bruks look amazing but have the high price to go with it. Snow and Neally axes seem also well made and affordable. Garrett Wade sells both felling axes and broadaxes made in Sweden that look really nice. Please let me know any details you might have on any of these products and any I have not mentioned. It is extremely difficult to shop for tools without picking them up and feeling them. Unfortunately the internet and mail order seems the only way to purchase such specialty tools. Any info would help. Much thanks tb

TB ,
You may wanna email Northern Hewer. clearly an experienced and expert ax driver.
deralte

Iltis Oxhead for lighter scoring. You are right to consider granfors, anything I've gotten from them is excellent.
I took an older western style broadaxe and cut it down from a 13" blade to a 9" blade, so I could swing it. Those old hewers must have had a lot of muscle....
I have a scoring axe I really like that I got from Lee Valley a few years back. The name on the axe is Biber, and i cannot find this axe anymore. The axe has about a 7 or 8 inch cutting edge and weighs probably around 4 or 5 pounds. It has a slim blade and scores like the devil. Check out the photo below to see the profile...

I also have an older austian broadaxe which I use 99 % of the time for hewing. Below is a photo of the broadaxe, the Biber, the Iltis and my Japanese hatchet

Not that easy to find hewing tools as not that many people doing it.

I love that 5 lb. Biber. Wish I could find a nice heavy scoring axe like that>