3 point log splitter questions

[Dargo]

It might be different for you, but I first wanted a 3 pt. splitter since I had a tractor and lots of implements. However, after borrowing the little self contained splitter that has it's own engine and pump etc., I believe that it is easier to use the stand alone splitter.

Besides the hassle of hooking up a 3 pt. splitter to the tractor, having to insure the proper line pressures and volumes etc. and tying up the tractor, it just seems easier for me to hook up the stand alone splitter to my RTV and split away. It works great and it cost me right around a thousand bucks. It is a 26 ton splitter. I've seen many larger splitters, but so far, I've never put anything in my splitter that it wouldn't split. I've come to the conclusion that if it is going to be too big for my splitter to split; it likely is too big for me to get it to my splitter. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

There again, I've not used a 3 pt. splitter, so my observations are admittedly one sided. Oh well, it works well and seems easy enough to use. Good luck with whatever you get!

 

[bczoom]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Ha, I just found a guide on splitting wood. It lists Oak as fairly easy to split, Hickory as easy to split, Ash as easy to split, Catalpa as "does not split". /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Figures! )</font>

Can you give us a link to this guide?
I'll agree on Oak but Ash??? Haven't split any in awhile but if I recall correctly, yea, it splits easy but it's so stringy you have to go all the way through the log.

 

[rambler]

Sounds like elm wood around here. There is a really bad elm, called Rock Elm I believe, has a nickname but maybe I best not say it here - guys do it standing - that is nothing but strings, it is _the_ test if you have a good splitter or not.

--->Paul

 

[PineRidge]

Dargo the splitter wasn't for me, and the old boy looking at it said he already had more than a few gasoline engines that he had to maintain. He was trying to squeeze by without adding more maintenance then he absolutely had to. I guess he figured the Kubota hydraulics could handle it and I'm betting that he was right. My whole point to this post was merely the fact that the sales literature on the splitter mentioned psi required and failed to mention the gpm needed. Just think it might have been spelled out a little clearer, and it made me start asking questions as a result.

 

[Jim_Fisher]

Pineridge,

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My whole point to this post was merely the fact that the sales literature on the splitter mentioned psi required and failed to mention the gpm needed. Just think it might have been spelled out a little clearer, and it made me start asking questions as a result. )</font>

I agree. The literature for stand alone splitters usually provides a cycle time along with the splitting force.

TSC is not the only supplier that is guilty of this. I purchased a three point splitter this summer and a chart listing cycle times at various GPM would have been useful.

Keep in mind, also, that the splitter valve has a built in relief to prevent damage to the splitter, so PSI in excess of the relief setting is not going to increase the splitting force.

Here is a link to the Surplus Center hydraulics calculator which takes the drudgery out of calculating cycle times.

 

[GEB]

I just went through this also, I wanted a 3pt spliter.
Thing is no one at TSC could tell anything about the one they had.
Like how fast,and force?
I to thought that doing away with another gas powerd
machine would be the way to go.
Anyway I eneded up just gettin the 22ton 6.5hp.
Been using my dads 20ton 5hp for a few years, and it has
never let us down, so my new one should do just fine.
And if I do spit somewhere other than home, it's not
a must to load my tractor up also.

 

[MarkV]

I have a 3pt Bush Hog splitter (Bush Hog no longer makes splitters) and my tractors hydraulic pump capacity is 8.5 gal/min. The splitter does a good job but is a bit slow on cycle times, which is OK because my cycle times slow a bit more each year also. This splitter is a horizontal model and required too much bending to be comfortable working off the tractor for me. I finally built a stand and added some longer hoses so I could pull the tractor up, plug in the hoses and split until I was tired of it. With a carry all on the back of the tractor for unsplit rounds it is an easy lift to the splitter. The split wood goes to a pallet that can be moved by the loader with forks for stacking.

PineRidge, I looked at my Bush Hog manual and they don’t really give any information about psi or flow and how it relates to power or cycle times either. Sure seems like something that should be included in the specs for a splitter.

MarkV