My Wife Picked Out This Sorry Log Splitter

[tommu56]

switch to a splitting maul

After seeing your other picture put the log on another one to raise it up so the top of the log being split is about waste height to save your back.
And so it is sitting on something more solid.

tom

 

[bruceha2000]

Typically you would put those rounds on a short stout round for a solid base, as is you are losing much of your energy into the soft ground.

+1 about 10 times on that.

I expect I'll have to pick out a more machine driven model myself. My shoulders and elbows aren't going to deal with splitting much wood any more. Certainly not enough to heat the house for even a month let alone a season.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I don't know about red oak, but if you let the white oak around here dry it turns into concrete. Fall it, cut it, split it in one operation or you will be sorry. Madrone is the opposite. It checks so much as it dries it almost splits itself. I use a good 6 lb. maul and rarely have to take a second whack at anything.

 

[MossRoad]

We tried out this log splitter yesterday. It was much too slow. It was a terrible choice. And the durability is questionable. I doubt it would split more than a few cords of wood without completely dying. I'm trying to convince my wife to let us get a good one. You can see pictures of the splitter here.

I think we all have one of those in our future. They call it the evolution model. Many options are available for it, and it comes with some standard from the factory, too. Some good, some not so good.

 

[blueriver]

I have a splitter like that ... Where is the pull cord? Mine won't start.

 

[joemd11]

We tried out this log splitter yesterday. It was much too slow. It was a terrible choice. And the durability is questionable. I doubt it would split more than a few cords of wood without completely dying. I'm trying to convince my wife to let us get a good one. You can see pictures of the splitter here.

Had to laugh at your post. For Christmas one year the wife got me a "log splitter". It had a bottle jack that you pumped to drive the wedge and split the log. Average cycle time was 5-7minutes per log. She saw me using it and told me to go buy a real log splitter. We still get a chuckle out of that one.

 

[dmccarty]

+1 about 10 times on that.

...

+100.

Put a bigger round under the round being split. It really helps.

I have two splitting mauls. One I bought years ago and is perfect. Then there is the one I bought recently because the maul on the older one is loose.

The good maul has a longer handle and it has a bit of a bump at the bottom of the handle. That little bump is very useful. If you hand is resting on the end of the handle, over the bump, you can flick your wrist just before the maul hits the wood for more power. That little bump makes a big difference.

Splitting by hand is mostly technique. Strength is needed getting the maul over your head and moving forward. Gravity and that wrist flick is what splits the wood.

Because I wanted too, , I went and split about two weeks of firewood by hand. Took about an hour. I can split firewood faster with the maul than I can with the hydraulic splitter. The problem is that after, at most two hours, with the maul, I am finished. :laughing: I can last 6-8 hours with the hydraulic wood splitter. 6-8 hours gives me a cord.

Later,
Dan

 

[studor]

I borrowed a hydraulic log splitter from my friend, taught my wife how to operate it while I put the rounds on it and then had no problem convincing her that it was a necessary purchase :thumbsup::thumbsup:
I still have various ones like yours -- splitting cedar for kindling is about all they get used for now.

 

[IXLR8]

My grandfather had an old 15 lb rock splitting maul that I think was his fathers. I put an edge on it and have been using it for the last 40 years splitting my firewood. As long as I can lift it, I can pretty much split anything first swing. I will admit I can't lift it as long as I could in the past.

 

[RoyJackson]

We tried out this log splitter yesterday. It was much too slow. It was a terrible choice. And the durability is questionable. I doubt it would split more than a few cords of wood without completely dying. I'm trying to convince my wife to let us get a good one. You can see pictures of the splitter here.

Actually, I think your wife picked an excellent splitter...but like all tools...wear and tear tires them out eventually...