Harbor Freight Log Splitter Review

[JerryK]

I have had a HF 20ton for about 10 years, split lots of wood with it. I bought it with an industrial BS motor. I used to have wood chips dumped on my property and the tree services would oblige me supplying me with wood. The problem was that most of the wood was up to 3 foot blocks, cut to any lenght they could manage with their crew, and was usually the hard to split leftover junk. The splitter I bought was a horizontal/vertical design, and I use it almost exclusively in the vertical position, with me sitting on a milk carton, manhandling the blocks into position to split. The little 20 ton split just about everything I've ever tried with it. I still use it yearly to put away wood for the following winter, but now it splits mostly beech, sugar maple, and cherry from my property where I retired. I run it a little above fast idle, you don't need something moving superfast when you get older.

[CTyler]

I have the 30 ton HF splitter as well, this is the 3rd year using it. I split 5-6 cord of wood a year. Other than having to tighten some fittings and clamps when new it has been great.

I'm not sure what all the negativity is on the Briggs engines is all about, never had a bad one. The splitter has an 8hp BS OHV engine, starts easy and runs great. 3 year old Craftsman rider has an 18HP Intek always starts good and runs well. One complaint on that one though, it does backfire once in a while when you kill the engine. Our 8-9 year old push mower with a 5hp BS, same thing. The previous mower, 10 years, had a 3hp BS that we could not kill. Never changed the oil for 6 years and it had water in it when I did change it. We had this at our duplex for the tenants to use. Everything else went to crap on the mower though and finally junked it.

[have_blue]

Originally Posted by CTyler

I'm not sure what all the negativity is on the Briggs engines is all about, never had a bad one. The splitter has an 8hp BS OHV engine, starts easy and runs great. 3 year old Craftsman rider has an 18HP Intek always starts good and runs well. One complaint on that one though, it does backfire once in a while when you kill the engine. Our 8-9 year old push mower with a 5hp BS, same thing. The previous mower, 10 years, had a 3hp BS that we could not kill. Never changed the oil for 6 years and it had water in it when I did change it. We had this at our duplex for the tenants to use. Everything else went to crap on the mower though and finally junked it.

Ditto on the B&S. I used to hate them, but lately I'm liking them a lot. They all start and run just great, and last just fine. They're a bit noisier, not as torquey, and don't last as long as the Robin and Honda engines. But,,, they're not as expensive either.

[wild4nature]

I love that reply from BTDT. Good one. I have the woodstove, chainsaw, and pick-up truck. Quite an expensive proposition if you just want to heat the house or garage. I recently got a tractor and am going to get rid of the old Chevy truck. The tractor seems to be a versatile little machine.

Anyhow, thanks for the reveiw on the log splitter. It's on my "would like to have" list, but not at the top.

[Stoweski]

Ok, for those of you who have a HF splitter, a question...

When you replace the hydraulic fluid & filter what filter do you use? I'm sure that I could run down to Walmart and pick up a Fram filter but I have no idea which one. Anything specific I should look for?

Time to do some more maintenance to my equip.
Keith

[DanMan1]

I just posted my question under another thread. I didn't see this one.

Does anyone know if the 30 ton Harbor Freight splitter really has only a 1.5" diameter rod on it's 5" cylinder? That is what the online pdf file says. That is an unusually small rod for a 5" cylinder.

[DanMan1]

Anyone?
Yes?
No?
Maybe?

[Stoweski]

Originally Posted by DanMan1

I just posted my question under another thread. I didn't see this one.

Does anyone know if the 30 ton Harbor Freight splitter really has only a 1.5" diameter rod on it's 5" cylinder? That is what the online pdf file says. That is an unusually small rod for a 5" cylinder.

Hi DanMan.

I haven't been paying attention to this thread for a while but had to check it to see if someone had posted anything since I last wrote.

I'm not sure if the 30 ton has the 1.5" ram but I'm guessing from the manual that it's similar to the 24 ton that I have. The ram diameter is actually 1-3/4".

Unfortunately I had a setback a few months ago. I was splitting wood and noticed that I had hydraulic fluid pooling under the reservoir. Just this afternoon I took the rail assembly and the engine off the frame and will be taking the remainder of the unit to a welder friend I know. Hopefully he can seal the reservoir so I can get back to work.

The unit does have plenty of power and I've never had a problem with the ram unit itself.

Keith

[wvtechs]

Originally Posted by have_blue

Ditto on the B&S. I used to hate them, but lately I'm liking them a lot. They all start and run just great, and last just fine. They're a bit noisier, not as torquey, and don't last as long as the Robin and Honda engines. But,,, they're not as expensive either.

I agree. Almost everything I have (Riding Mower, 5kw Generator, etc...) has Briggs and Stratton engines and they have never failed. I even have a very old push mower that I converted to a tow behind for cutting some hard to reach areas with a 3.5hp B&S that I have tried to kill so I will have an excuse to buy one, but it just refuses to die.

[apfaff]

Not sure if anyone is still reading this thread, but can someone tell me if Harbor Freight ever has sales on these log splitters. I'm looking at the 24 ton Robins version and was hoping to catch it on sale. I checked the closest store to see if they have it in-stock so I could use the 20% off coupon they always have, but they were out. Cant use that coupon online or phone orders. Thanks!