PTO log splitter?

[Kenneth in Texas]

on a L2800? anyone have one or used one? Just wondering if this size tractor is up for one? Pros/cons? thanks!

[MikeInEburg]

L2800 should have ample power for a PTO splitter. However you'll have the same experience as splitters run from tractor hydraulics - that being that you can't use the tractor for anything else while splitting. For me (as I age not so gracefully), it works great to put "to be split" wood in loader and park at splitter height. This allows me to simply swing logs from bucket to splitter without much "from the ground" lifting.

Mike

[Ace3]

I agree. I also use the loader to move the logs to and from the splitter. If you have a PTO splitter you can't do anything else with the tractor while splitting. Also, why would you want to put all of the hours on the tractor while using the splitter? Just my 2 cents.

[Firefighter Kubota]

I love my 3 pt splitter, can't say enouth. You can raise or lower the splitter for large logs and a comfortable splitting height.. I would never go back to a gas powered trailer model.

There is a whole lot more I could say but the above sums it up...

Good luck..

[Couple of Achers]

I am currently in the market for a splitter and this is the age old argument. Stand alone or 3pt? Everybody's situation is different. I guess I am on the other side of the coin. I'll just put the splitter on a different tractor and I can still use my loader to haul the wood over to it it I want. As far as hours go. Hours are hours. Whether you put them on plowing, disc'ing or splitting wood. I bought them to use. Plus I really don't want yet another small engine to maintain. I guess it boils down to how are you going to use it, where you are going to need it, and how much equipment do you want to maintain. I am sure there are other issues that sways one's decision, but these are the ones that I have been debating in my own head.

[sixgun]

I've got one with a pto pump, too. And though I can see the down side of tying up the tractor with the splitter for some, it doesn't really apply to me. I don't mow with mine so when the splitter goes on it stays on (usually) until the pile of logs has become several piles of firewood.

I attack the log pile pretty aggressively so as I make enough rounds for about a day's worth of splitting I'll park in a spot and make a pile of firewood. Then I'll move to another spot in the log pile, cut rounds and split some more. When I'm done with the logs I end up with a big circle of firewood. Off comes the splitter and I put the bucket to work collecting and stacking.

I'm a relative newbie to wood processing, but after 9 or so cords, me and my back have determined that we need to work on developing a more ergonomically correct process. I need to find a splitter height that allows me to stand up a bit taller. I got some pretty big logs last time around and without a hoist system to get them onto the splitter I had to make a ramp to roll the mothers (yes, many of the rounds easily qualified as "mothers") onto the beam...so the splitter was essentially sitting on the ground. I'd work for hours hunched over like Quasimoto and pay for it the next few days.

Ideas:
1. Buy my log supplier a bottle of his favorite whiskey and ask nicely for trees that are a wee bit smaller.
2. Find that magic splitting height that keeps me smiling longer.
3. Fashion a bench/table to catch the rounds that fall off the opposite side after splitting to minimize unnecessary squat thrusting maneuvers.
4. Work on my social skills to secure a wider circle of friends/helpers.

I'm also against having more engines to deal with, and as far as having the tractor running at between 1500 and 2000 rpms for the many hours that it takes to do the splitting...well, I bought the tractor to use it. Again, I don't mow but I do play in the snow, grade my gravel drive, pick up leaves, mess with the chickens and run the wood from the pile to the basement. Heck, I've had the thing for just over 3 years and only have about 170 hours on the darn thing. Anyone interested in swapping a snow plow set up for a 60" LandPride finish mower with only a few hours on it?

What was the question again....?

[oakwoods]

I have been splitting firewood for 30 years. When I was young and foolish I used a splitting maul. As I got older and wiser I bought a second hand gas powered hydraulic splitter that required working all day with my back bent. I think the maul was easier on my back than that splitter. Three years ago I bought a Huskee splitter from TSC that is a at a perfect height to use while standing without bending. The bucket on my BX24 is positioned directly behind the splitter. When the bucket is full, I drive to the woodpile and unload. For the big "mothers" it tilts to the vertical position.
In the fifteen or so years I have been using the splitters, I doubt that I have spent more than a hour changing oil in the engines. No other maintenance has been required.

[jambx]

I am not sure there is any correct answer here - it all comes down to what you are trying to do and how you do it.

Just this week I bought the Harbor Freight 3 PT splitter (there are a number of folks on this site running this model with great success).

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

For me my decision drivers to go with a 3 PT Splitter were;

1) My infrequent use (2 cords max / year) which in my mind does not justify a stand alone unit.

2) With two Kubotas, a leave blower, cyclone rake, pressure washer, home power generator, Dodge Truck, Ducati M900, Triumph TR6 and a 24 foot boat I love the idea of not having another engine to maintain.

3) I put ~100 hours on my B2920 / year so for 2 cord (~maybe 5-10 hours max/year) I am not concern about excessive hours due to this attachment (then again a Kubota engine should go 5000 - 10,000 hours w/o a major overhaul so I think I have a larger margin to work with.

4) I have used (rented) Stand-Alone units in the past. I never was fond of the scream of a Briggs and Stratton.

5) Harbor Freight has a 20% discount coupon this month - so the price for the Splitter was discounted to a mere $399!

Good Luck

~jim

[kubotafan]

A stand could easily be made to set the 3 point splitter on and have longer hoses to connect it to the tractor hydraulics. That way all you would need to do was disconnect two hoses if you need the tractor for something else.

I have a Splitfire 3 point splitter and I made an A frame out of wood to attach to the splitters 3 point connectors and have a large eye on the other side. I drive up to it and hook the eye with the hook on the middle of my bucket. I have long hoses that go back to my rear hydraulics. I can have it on and off the tractor in a few minutes without removing my rear implement (usually my snow blower when I am splitting wood for the next winter).