Thoughts on 3pt log splitters?

[shooterdon]

I have a 60HP tractor with rear remotes. The flow is enough to run a serious wood chipper. I am basically looking to split a lot of wood from a 2-3 acre lot. After that it might be the occassional log unless we clear some more land. Predominantly hardwood although I have a large amount of pine too which I am still debating about. As for moving it around I have a small UTV but I would really like to get some IBC cages and use my forks. I just need to find some inexpensive IBC cages.

If you are not going to get into firewood, does it make sense to own something for occasional use?

Before I bought my splitter, I rented one from Home Depot. If you have stuff organized and a person helping, you can split a lot of wood in one day. For $100 once a year, is it worth having something that takes up space, has to be maintained and ties up capital?

If you have a friend or neighbor that has a stand-alone splitter you can pump out a lot of wood in a couple of days and give him a $50 gift certificate. Just return it with a full tank of fuel...LOL

Edited to add:
The cheapest 3 pt log splitter is going to cost about $1500 and have 16 tons of force. The HD rental unit for $100 has 20T and can be run horizontally or vertically. In the last 15 years I have averaged over 10% on my investments, but even at 8%, on $1500 you earn $120/year, so the rental cost is "free".

But I am a numbers guy and not much into having lots of "toys" that accumulate until I need to build another storage building.

 

[WranglerX]

In my case this would be hooked up to a 60hp tractor and I would use my UTV to move the cut wood around. Might even get a little trailer for it. As for amount of wood, I cleared a few acres and have a lot of hard wood to split but I don't see doing much more than that going forward. Maybe if we clear more of the land.

But does it have winch and boom to lift rounds that are too big to manhandle onto splitter? Or from log deck to cutting area.... I bring my logs down in 4 foot lengths, some are so heavy I need to use FEL with forks to move them from log deck to cut area to make them 16 inches or so..... I think you misunderstand peoples statements for moving logs/rounds with tractor

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have a 3 point splitter and will NEVER go back to a standalone splitter.

SR

 

[scootr]

There seems to be 2 schools of thought here. Those that need a loader to bring rounds to the splitter. And those that are content to bring the splitter to the rounds.
Then there are those who have 2 tractors.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

There seems to be 2 schools of thought here. Those that need a loader to bring rounds to the splitter. And those that are content to bring the splitter to the rounds.
Then there are those who have 2 tractors.

Don't forget about those that are smart enough to cut over a trailer or wagon, so they don't need a tractor to bring the rounds to the splitter!

SR

 

[scootr]

 

[Sportsman762]

I have a 60HP tractor with rear remotes. The flow is enough to run a serious wood chipper.

A woodchipper and a log splitter have significantly different horsepower and hydraulic requirements. The Woodmaxx chippers use a self contained hydraulic system and are driven from the pto. In this case your 60hp will make all the difference compared to a smaller tractor such as 45hp. However the Kioti DK6010 has a 9.6 gpm pump when running at 2600 rpm so hydraulic flow is your struggle.

Kioti DK6010 Owner's Manual (Page 55 of 242) | ManualsLib

www.manualslib.com

The cycle time for my splitter according to the manual is as follows:
5GPM-28.3 seconds
10GPM-14.2 seconds
15GPM-9.4 seconds
20GPM-7.1 seconds
25GPM-5.7 seconds

A stand along log splitter with a two stage pump is 9.4 seconds compared to your tractor's 14.8 second cycle with the same splitter.

My tractor Massey 20C has a 20 GPM pump on it, its only 45hp however it has a large pump on the front of the engine since it is an industrial tractor. My limit is Pioneer quick couplers limit it to 12 GPM so I am running about the same speed you will be. I have contemplated putting flush face couplers on the loader and the splitter so I can run it at the full flow, but I do not do enough splitting to justify it, and running at 1000rpm is nice and quiet.

I am basically looking to split a lot of wood from a 2-3 acre lot. After that it might be the occassional log unless we clear some more land.

A three point splitter makes sense as your usage sounds limited once the immediate need is addressed. A gas engine if not used will most likely fight you when you needed to use it if left unattended for extended periods of time. @shooterdon has some interesting points as well.

 

[fishheadbob]

I've had a 3 point splitter for 40+ years. You need enough hydraulic flow to work quickly; my 3930 put out around 12 gpm and worked quickly at idle. As I get older I can't work as quickly as the iron horse does so I've gone down to an 8 gpm tractor which still works faster than I can. Fuel use with either tractor is negligible.
Rounds and big chunks are no big deal. The splitter lowers to ground level so a big piece rolls on easily. I like being able to split a cord or two when I'm ready as opposed to renting/borrowing a splitter and having to go furiously for a day or two. Used to do 22 face cords per year mostly hickory and hard maple; went geothermal and maybe 3 or 4 cords now.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I split once or twice a year, depending on how many trees the bugs get, and have been fooling around with wood splitters for many years.

I started with a 3pt that was powered by a rear remote. WAY too slow. I switched to a PTO pump and got better speed but it still tied up the tractor for other work.

Gas powered rentals are available around here for $110/day but I usually need it for 3 or 4 days, since I work alone. $440 x 2 = $880 on average per year plus 3+ hours of my time to transport. Then there's the problem of getting stuck with a rental that hasn't been maintained properly and having to either work on it or return for another.

The best approach for me anyway is to buy a new splitter every year, use it, and resell on FB Marketplace. I take care of my equipment and usually get most, if not all of what I paid on the resale. Yes, there is a capital outlay but it's short term. There is also no long term equipment storage to worry about.

May not be the best approach for everyone but it works for me.

 

[ak9]

 

[oldpilot]

I have been considering getting a log splitter when I heard somewhere about a log splitter as a tractor attachment. Don't know why I didn't think of looking for that earlier. My question is this. Are they worth it? Some of the prices I've seen are on par with a stand alone splitter. I'm wondering if it is worth getting an attachment over a stand alone. Thoughts?

 

[oldpilot]

I bought a log splitter during the Great Arab Oil Embargo of the 1970s when just about everyone in New Hampshire added or refurbished a wood stove. It came from Sears by mail order. That was on my father-in-law's 1952 Allis Chalmers. Not too long after, he bought an International Harvester tractor (actually a Japanese Bison with an American overcoat) which I ran for about forty years before it died and there was no one within fifty miles who'd work on it. So now I have a Mahindra, and (probably for the last time; I'm 93) on November 1 I plan to take the brush hog off and put the log splitter on. So the longevity of the thing is amazing.

The other great advantage is that I can use the log splitter in the woods with the trailer attached, so the mess stays in the woods while the firewood piles up in the trailer, ready to be stacked in the garage.

In all that fifty years the only expense has been adding a rear hydraulic outlet to the Mahindra.

 

[Tr3kker]

I have been considering getting a log splitter when I heard somewhere about a log splitter as a tractor attachment. Don't know why I didn't think of looking for that earlier. My question is this. Are they worth it? Some of the prices I've seen are on par with a stand alone splitter. I'm wondering if it is worth getting an attachment over a stand alone. Thoughts?

I briefly thought about going this route, just to reduce the number of small engines I have to maintain, but why put the hours on my tractor’s engine and hydraulic system. And with the 3pt units I was finding, I wasn’t seeing a cost savings.

 

[CoyPatton]

I have never ran a 3ph log splitter so no reference fir how they work, but the splitting I have done is with a stand alone splitter, often having splits dump from splitter into loader bucket. I don’t really want my tractor tied down to the splitter.

 

[tjandrews]

I have been considering getting a log splitter when I heard somewhere about a log splitter as a tractor attachment. Don't know why I didn't think of looking for that earlier. My question is this. Are they worth it? Some of the prices I've seen are on par with a stand alone splitter. I'm wondering if it is worth getting an attachment over a stand alone. Thoughts?

I had been considering a 3 pt. splitter, but while I was vacillating my sister in law won big at a casino, and bought a stand-alone from Tractor Supply. We store it for them and have free use of it in return.
Good thing she did. I didn't know it at the time, but our only tractor with enough flow has a snowblower on the back in the winter, and doesn't have remote hydraulics, anyway. It would be too much hassle to pull the blower, work with the splitter, then go back again. This way, we can use one of the smaller tractors to take the splitter to the woodpile near the barn, do the job, stack the wood or load it into the bucket on the bigger tractor, put splitter and tractors away when finished. Easy-peasy.
Plus, the splitter uses less fuel than running one of the small tractors fast enough to do the work. It's been years now, and the only maintenance has been putting tubes into the tires and replacing one hose that flexed when you flip the splitter from horizontal to vertical and back.

 

[akadave]

No chance I'm running up hours and maintenance on my tractor for duties a cheap splitter can handle just fine.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Pretty funny, how many hours a year do you guys think you would put on your tractor running a splitter??

50 hours a year would be one heck of a lot of wood splitting, are you guys saying you bought tractors that can't run 50+ hours a YEAR splitting wood?? What kind of junk did you buy??

I split more wood than most folks, and I bet you I average 50 or less hours a year on my tractor splitting wood.

SR

 

[sandman2234]

I am on the opposite side of the spectrum from Sawyer Rob. I live in Florida, don't own a fireplace or stove, but enjoy the exercise I get when i have time to split wood. I used to supply several relatives wood, not so much anymore. My brother had a job at a local yard splitting wood, and when they would wear out a spliter, he would grab it. I ended up with a few parts, and put a 3pt splitter together, and since it isn't used much, I don't have to worry about maintaining an engine. If I get wood then I just hook it up and go to work.
My tractors won't be bothered by a few hours of mid range running. The Jd2555 I usually use for this has plenty of flow to run a 3pt splitter. (over 18gpm)
David from jax

 

[kneedeep]

I picked up a 3 pt homemade splitter few years ago for $150, basically a bh lift cylinder mounted on a I beam with hoses for a tractor remote.
It is slow but powerful enough to split the toughest wood. I need to mount it on a SS plate to move around as the 3pt is rinky dinked for a subcompact machine.
I don’t burn wood for heat, just the hunting camp fire pit which burns most of the season.

 

[ZiggyD]

Why put wear and tear on an expensive tractor engine and get inferior performance to boot?