Another 3 pt. splitter

[tree farmer]

Here's an option for those shopping for a splitter. I've been torn between a stand-alone or a 3 pt. for a couple years. A stand-alone would be ok, but with 40 acres of hillside timberland, it would have to be towed (dragged) around a lot. I settled on this one on ebay, and picked it up at the sellers location near Eugene, Oregon last month. It's 18 ton, which works as fast as I want with my 2740 Montana (5.8 gal./min). I use it mostly on blowdown, which can range from 40" down to 3" diameter. Vertical position for big blocks (no lifting), & horizontal position for smaller stuff. I built 3 woodsheds in various locations to minimize travel time and ground compaction in wet weather. With the network of trails I have, I can get pretty close to the downed timber with one of the tractors or dozer. I cut everything into 14-18" rounds, transport them with the FEL and split and stack in the shed at the same time. My 62 year-old body feels better already, not having to swing a maul and dealing with stuck wedges anymore...Dan

 

[GIJOE]

Nice splitter. What brand is it?

Joe

 

[J_J]

The cylinder looks to small for an 18 ton, but it might be the picture. How big is the cyl, and shaft, and the psi on your hydraulics?

 

[Thumper & Buttercup]

Hey tree farmer,

We've been looking at those on e-bay, how do the welds and such look on it? We can't decide between that one and a upside down quick attach skid steer type. It' looks like yours don't take up much shop space with it being sideways.

 

[jinman]

Dan, that looks like a fine unit you have there that does all you need it to do. That's all that really counts in a splitter. I've been spoiled with mine and our Kawasaki Mule. I split over the tailgate of the Mule and the rounds don't fall all the way to the ground. When the bed gets full, I transport it to the stack and come back for more. It gives my 62 yr old body a break fairly often from splitting and breaks up the routine. You sure have a lot of nice lookin' wood in your stack in the picture.

 

[Thumper & Buttercup]

Hey jinman,

Have you posted a picture of your setup??

 

[tree farmer]

I'll try to answer some questions here. The brand is "Value Leader", from China, imported directly by Betstco. I had some reservations about quality of a chinese machine, but other than being a little rough around the edges, so to speak, it seems plenty stout. The welds are a little rough, but strong, and certainly better than I could do, and the price was certainly right. I'm not sure about the pressure the little 27 horse Montana puts out, but probably around 2200 psi. @5.8 gal/min. I hooked this splitter up to the remotes on my IH 3414 industrial loader/backhoe, and it was just too fast, but the IH puts out 19 gal/min. at 2350psi on the backhoe circuit. The cylinder on the splitter is 4" with a 2" rod. The only thing that has stopped it so far is hitting a 3" Sitka spruce knot crosswise. Those will burn the teeth off a chainsaw too. A few things that sold me on this model were: It is free standing and very easy to hook up without help, hoses were included and only had to buy one male QC, as they were the same as the factory connectors from Montana & it only eats up about a 2'x7' floor area in my barn. Some of the features I liked the most are that it has a very wide (12") wedge that travels all the way to the butt block. My neighbor has a 3 pt. splitter that the wedge stops about 8 or 10" from the block, which is a real pain on the fiberous conifers we have around here. I have about 8 hours on this thing now, and so far, have no regrets about my choice. The seller has an excellent reputation on ebay, and a fairly large percentage of his sales to repeat customers. Nice guy and he has lots of different implements in stock. Gonna go see him again after tax time......Dan.

 

[J_J]

tree farmer,

With the pressure and GPM you have, your splitter has a tonnage rating of 13.8 T

Cycle time to extend should be 13 sec, and retract is 10 sec, with a total cycle time of 23 sec.

If you had 3000 psi, you could develop about 18.4 tons of force.

 

[MDM]

I watched one of those splitters on ebay thinking I might get a deal. It ended up going for $800+ with free shipping. Of course, you are always going to pay for shipping one way or the other unless you are local and can pick it up. The TSC Speeco splitter ends up being much cheaper in the end if you have to pay for the shipping.

 

[jinman]

Hey jinman,

Have you posted a picture of your setup??

Thumper, I'm not sure this is what you mean, but here is a link to my thread about buying the splitter. I haven't taken pictures of splitting into the bed of the Kawasaki Mule, but the next time I am out, I'll try to remember the camera or at least take a few cell phone pictures.

 

[Thumper & Buttercup]

Hey Jinman,

I like that one, I like the framework to hold the wood in place.