Has anybody ever used a Kukri style machete in lieu of an axe?  I have heard they split wood just fine, and cut down on weight in your pack.  If that is true, I am going to get one for sure.

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Thanks Doc.  Ka-Bar is almost alwasy cheaper when bought from one of their vendors.  This was just the best picture I could find.

My friend had one or something very similar with the same BOLO shape.
We were at his house and making a hot dog roasting fire in his backyard.
He had some pine logs about 3-4" in diameter, and under a foot or so in length.  This is what I observed.
He set a log on a flat rock and swung down hard. The forward cant of the blade threw him, and ended up sticking blade in log and whacking forefingers of his chopping hand.
We laughed, he regrouped and the second cut was better, but still didn't split log. He ended up doing what us Hatchet/Small axe guy's do, hold the log steady with hatchet, and take another small log and pound back of axe, splitting log. Doing it THIS way, the hatchet was the clear winner
He then decided it would work better on smaller logs to split for kindling.
He faired a little better this time. He tried balancing the little log on end and taking a chop, but most of the time he either didn't split it all the way, or he hit so hard the blade dug into the ground, which you don't want. Ended up holding log with blade on top, and tapping on ground until blade "bit", then hammered down until wood split. Again I didn't see the how "it" was a big improvement? Lighter maybe a little, but I still think a small axe/saw combo is hard to beat, especially when its wet and rainy and you need to get some dry "heartwood" for a good fire.
Beaver-wood is fine, but as some recent trip reports noted, when you've had a lot of rain, you need a "better" fuel source for a good hot fire.
 I'm sure for clearing brush/trail, it would be a good choice, I didn't see the "advantage" over a hand axe and small saw.
 Still, I'd get it if the price was right and do you own test and see what you think? I just think that swinging hard at a log that's close to ground and missing or hitting too hard is a good way to dull a blade fast, or hurt yourself if not careful.
 I think that the head heavy shape cuts thru brush/vines at an angle with a downward slice, not sure if that's the optimum stroke for "splitting" a small log

There's a reason why axes were invented.  Axes do a better job on jobs that they were designed for.  I think you are better off using an axe for splitting wood.

Westwood

I have often brought a cheapo, light, thin bladed machete with me to Quetico.  Its use was more for clearing protage trials than for chopping or splitting wood.   

It functioned quite well for clearing trials - generaly brushing around blowdowns or trimming the branches off blowdowns.  One whack and a bent over alder or maple an inch and a half thick is cut thru, and it works much better than an axe for thinner stuff.

It stays in the back of my pickup normally, and I use it for splitting kindling and watermelons, and whittling tooth picks.  It is quite useful.

But it is too light to be effective at splitting heavy chuncks of wood - usually the blade will just stick and I might clobber it with another chunk of wood to drive it thru - it won't work very well on wood with a lot of knots.   It is better to carefully split off a wedge shaped piece from the first block of wood, and then use that wooden wedge for splitting.

I'd say it depends on what you have in mind - if you are going to cook over a fire and needing lots of split wood, you'd be better off taiking something like a Hudson's Bay axe - overall length of 24" is only 7" longer than the machete you linked to, and I'd guess about a pound heavier, but way more effective for splitting and chopping.  On the other hand, if you only want the machete for occasional use, it will probably do well enough once you find out its limitations.