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Your axe of course. The axe used on a logging side for cutting cable is called a rigging axe, the cable cutting side is so trashed that it will probably never cut wood again. Here's how the rigging axe is used to cut cable so adapt the best you can at your location if you have to do this. A normal use of the rigging axe would be the drum (winch) line on the D-7 Cat. This is one inch diameter steel cable. The end of this is a spliced eye to hold the shackle from which the Bull Hook is hung. After months of hard use the eye of the splice may be frayed or break so the cat is backed up near a stump and some slack is pulled from the drum. We take the double bit axe and stick the sharp side hard in the stump. Two men are best used for this job. One holds the cable over the axe and the other hits it with a big hammer on top, Lay the cable over the exposed edge of the axe where you want to cut it, hold on AND LOOK DOWN! Short sharp wires may break off and hit you. We always put our hardhats to the cut. The best hammer is at least a 6-8 lb. sledge but it could be done with a 4 lb. hammer if needed. The cut shouldn't take a whole minute from the time you stick the axe in the stump and wrestle the line up to having a pretty clean fresh end to work with. You then use the rigging axe to cut the loose ends of the finished splice after your done with that too.
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