New saw owner

[Johndeere3720]

Enjoy.

It is super addictive. You will see.....

After having a bad day, there is nothing better than giving a tree what for with a chainsaw.

You are right about adictive. There is a gravel road that goes along the side of our land and the brush is slowly creeping into the road. Next spring or even sooner (depending on weather) I will clear all of that out so all i have to do is brush hog it onece every two weeks in the summer. i have the Neighbors BX TLB as an added hand so i can get it all cleaned out. Oh, i really want the chaps, I may have to order some. Definatly will make it a lot safer.

 

[newbury]

Definitely get the full-wrap chaps but don't forget the several other items of PPE.

Brain - Anyone involved in getting the trees and wood from any height above their head should have some sort of helmet.
Eyes - VERY EXPENSIVE to fix, get either safety glasses or a mesh visor or both.
Ears - Often ignored, a good pair of muffs AND a pair of plugs will let you keep your ears good enough so you can hear you grandchildren eventually.
Toes - Steel toed boots are highly recommended.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Definitely get the full-wrap chaps but don't forget the several other items of PPE.

Brain - Anyone involved in getting the trees and wood from any height above their head should have some sort of helmet.
Eyes - VERY EXPENSIVE to fix, get either safety glasses or a mesh visor or both.
Ears - Often ignored, a good pair of muffs AND a pair of plugs will let you keep your ears good enough so you can hear you grandchildren eventually.
Toes - Steel toed boots are highly recommended.

I dont plan to do much of any sawin' above my head, thats where the scissor lift comes in. I do have a nice set of goggles, i may use those, i have a new pair of Stihl ear muffs which i use for all loud machinery (tractor, chipper, saw, splitter, compactor, scissor lift, brush hoggin', etc.)
I need to get some steel toed boots, my last ones i out grew within a few months.

 

[crazyal]

I have the same splitter, I've had it for 7 years now. For the cost of it you're not going to get a better splitter. Just remember to change the oil and that Honda will run for a very long time. I've probably split 50 cords with it now.

Here's a few things I've learned along the way. Those fenders though are useless. There's a metal braket under it that sooner or later a log will fall on and push it down into the tire. If you're not going to pull it down the road you might as well pull them off now. Secondly those two slack adjustment bolts on the side of the wedge tend to loosen up. If they do the wedge will tend to twist sideways and bind a little. The manual tells you how much slack, an easy thing to adjust.

The last thing is more of an operator thing than the splitter. The spool valve handle tends to get pushed down by people use it. That loosens up the two cap screws that hold the valve toether. I put lock tite on both screws and also mounted a piece of teflon under the handle to take the weight.

 

[Johndeere3720]

I have the same splitter, I've had it for 7 years now. For the cost of it you're not going to get a better splitter. Just remember to change the oil and that Honda will run for a very long time. I've probably split 50 cords with it now.

Here's a few things I've learned along the way. Those fenders though are useless. There's a metal braket under it that sooner or later a log will fall on and push it down into the tire. If you're not going to pull it down the road you might as well pull them off now. Secondly those two slack adjustment bolts on the side of the wedge tend to loosen up. If they do the wedge will tend to twist sideways and bind a little. The manual tells you how much slack, an easy thing to adjust.

The last thing is more of an operator thing than the splitter. The spool valve handle tends to get pushed down by people use it. That loosens up the two cap screws that hold the valve toether. I put lock tite on both screws and also mounted a piece of teflon under the handle to take the weight.

Thanks crazyal, i will be keeping this in mind. I do know that those fenders are flimsy and i probably will remove them. Tomarrow i got 5 cord to cut but i plan to run all vertical since some of the rounds are pretty big. Since i dont have a ball yet for it, i will move it by hand to where i want it and i will take the chains and wrap them around some of my tractor weights to prevent the "scissor" effect from tilting the splitter to transport mode. The manual says that i should put engine oil on the splitter where the wedge slides. Is it a good idea? Or will i get stuff fro mthe wood all over and get a mess on my splitter?

 

[crazyal]

I've never once put oil on the slide portion of the splitter and I doubt you could see any wear. Mine has a rod, maybe 1/2" in diameter bent into the shape of a J. It's spring loaded, to tilt it you pull on the rod and it releases. I remember being able to lock that rod in a way to keep it upright.

I rarely tilt mine up. I usually just load the larger stuff into the FEL and then put the bucket above the motor so i can roll them out one at a time onto the splitter. Once I split them I push one half back into the bucket and continue splitting the other half.

The times I have used it upright I have found if it wants to go back into the horizontal position the splitter kind of needs to roll forward. Put a couple of small blocks under the wheels if it's not connected to a tractor or truck.

 

[turnkey4099]

Thanks crazyal, i will be keeping this in mind. I do know that those fenders are flimsy and i probably will remove them. Tomarrow i got 5 cord to cut but i plan to run all vertical since some of the rounds are pretty big. Since i dont have a ball yet for it, i will move it by hand to where i want it and i will take the chains and wrap them around some of my tractor weights to prevent the "scissor" effect from tilting the splitter to transport mode. The manual says that i should put engine oil on the splitter where the wedge slides. Is it a good idea? Or will i get stuff fro mthe wood all over and get a mess on my splitter?

I have the same splitter (2 years). Yes, oil it as recommended. It will not build up and does not make a mess on the wood. Keeps the slide area nice an shiny. I attached a baling wire hoop and hang a squirt can of oil in it. Fire up, squirt a couple times, run ram out and back and go to work.

Some warnings:

1. The 'log cradles' are poorly designed. logs catch on them when splitting and either bend them or break the bolts. I replaced the self threading bolts that came with it with real bolts. Lot easier to do before they break and you are left trying to extract a stub - ask me how I know . I attached a couple pieces of plywood to mine and they soon rat out the bolt holes and do the sliding instead of the iron ones trying to move.

2. The motor is in a poor position. The air filter box hangs out and is very easy to hook on stuff while you are moving it. I found that out by wiping the cover off twice. Currently bailign wired on as the clips are broken off (very flimsy).

Other than that, it is a great splitter.

What would one due without baling wire .

Harry K

Harry K

 

[crazyal]

I have the same splitter (2 years). Yes, oil it as recommended. It will not build up and does not make a mess on the wood. Keeps the slide area nice an shiny. I attached a baling wire hoop and hang a squirt can of oil in it. Fire up, squirt a couple times, run ram out and back and go to work.

Some warnings:

1. The 'log cradles' are poorly designed. logs catch on them when splitting and either bend them or break the bolts. I replaced the self threading bolts that came with it with real bolts. Lot easier to do before they break and you are left trying to extract a stub - ask me how I know . I attached a couple pieces of plywood to mine and they soon rat out the bolt holes and do the sliding instead of the iron ones trying to move.

2. The motor is in a poor position. The air filter box hangs out and is very easy to hook on stuff while you are moving it. I found that out by wiping the cover off twice. Currently bailign wired on as the clips are broken off (very flimsy).

Other than that, it is a great splitter.

What would one due without baling wire .

Harry K

Harry K

Are you talking about the cradles on the sides of the I-beam? If so I've never had a problem with them. Can you post a picture of your fix?

I really don't move mine very far or in places where something could hit the filter but I could see it happening. I have had small pieces of bark fall into the flywheel and make a tinging noice as it bounces around. I guess that's the price you pay for using a verticle shafted engine. I do like the pump being as low as it is, virtually no chance of it not sucking up oil and locking up.

I've toyed with the idea of making a table that also protects the engine. It would be removeable in case you want to tilt the splitter. When splitting large logs it's nice to have a place to put the half of the log where you don't have to bend over to put it back on the splitter after you have finished splitting the other half.

I did tie the hydraulic line up so it wouldn't drag while towing. It doesn't seam to hit when going down the road but a if on rough dirt it could get caught on a root. It just has to have enough slack to tilt the splitter.

 

[Johndeere3720]

Well, i have already split 3 cord of wood with the splitter and i loved it. i ran it vertically the whole time since the rounds varried from 8 inches to about 2 feet in diameter. I split each round and stacked it into the trailer and hauled it next door (sold it to my aunt). I had a pretty big pile there so i had to borrow my neighbor's BX24 to push the small piles into one big mound. All in all, I still have a lot more to split, the wood in the picture is only part of it, i have a few small piles left and several trees still layin out in the woods to drag out and cut up. My dad has a fireplace store so I plan to stack wood on pallets and use industrial shrink wrap to hold the wood together so i can sell whole pallets as units. Also, i plan to bundle up the wood and wrap that in the shrink wrap so I can sell bundles there as well. I definatly got the wood, and since i have 2 3 day weekends and a 4 day weekend starting this week through the next 2 weeks, i will be working hard to get this wood all cleaned up so we can have more trees cut down. This splitter has a lot more work to do! :thumbsup: The pictures only show the wood after i had taken out 2 cord.

 

[nunyabinis]

After a quarter-century of cutting wood with cheap saws and splitting logs by hand with a maul, I finally broke down last year and got the EXACT same splitter you have and stopped by my local Deere Dealer and picked up two Stihl chainsaws. A MS290 Farm Boss with a 20" bar for the heavy work and a MS192 for limbing.


The MS290 cuts faster than any saw I've ever used. The MS192 is so small and light it's a cinch to use with one hand. The splitter hasn't so much as burped no matter what I've thrown at it.

Now cutting wood is a pleasure, not a chore.