Buying a log splitter? My opinions

[Pilot]

Been using a log splitter for about 20 years. My splitter was a rental unit before I bought it and is now probably 30-40 years old, but it works well.

I split Douglas-fir which splits pretty easily if there are no knots and if the wood is dry. Wet or with knots are another matter. But my splitter has split thru 4 knots in pieces that were so large I set them in place with my loader?5?.

I致e learned a few things and before you buy, consider what I have learned洋y own opinion, of course.

Here are some things to consider:

Where do you need to stand in relation to where you place the logs? Some of them require you to be offset, always setting the logs to one side in relation to your body. Probably not good for your back.

How high is it? You don稚 want to bend over to set the log. Should be at a good working height.

Where is the valve? Some are off center, requiring you to work from one side only. I like to have a choice, so the valve should be easily reached from either side.

Is there a 田radle of some sort to catch the split pieces? Otherwise you are picking up most of the pieces off the ground.

The end plate shouldn稚 be smooth擁t needs lugs of some sort welded on it to keep the end of the log from slipping off. Mine is smooth and I have learned that under pressure a log can jump off violently. I have a welding project to fix that.

Horizontal and vertical options are a necessity. Some logs are just way too heavy to safely lift.

And can you shift orientation easily? To change from horizontal to vertical or vice versa, make it easier by extending the ram to change the center of gravity. Some splitters have the engine mounted ahead of the axle, which is good because it adds weight to that side, which helps when changing from horizontal to vertical and back. On mine, the engine is over the axle and as I change orientation, the front end flips up unless I weigh it down with about 50 lbs.

The wedge should be on the ram, not fixed. If it is fixed, when you use it in the vertical position, I expect you would have to hold it to balance it.

Power: For Douglas fir and other conifers 22-24 tons is probably plenty, but everyone always wants more power. More power= higher price, use more gas. Mine calculates out to 24 tons and if it can稚 split it, I just split it with a chainsaw, which I have rarely had to do. And if the log is that big, you can稚 pick it up anyway & it will be hard to wrestle it into position with the splitter orientated vertically. Mine has a 5 horse engine. OTOH, hardwoods may require more power幼heck around and see what others think.

I wouldn稚 touch on one with an off brand engine.

I prefer not to use a 3 point splitter. I don稚 want to hook up the splitter to the tractor every time I want to split wood. My style is to split wood as I stack it, but not all the pieces get split to the size I need for the woodstove, and I may need to split some into kindling as I use it. I never know how much kindling to split when I stack the wood.

I wouldn稚 waste a dime on an electric powered splitter. If the electric unit can split it, you could split it easily with a maul.

Around here, the only brands that meet all of my criteria are SpeeCo and Ariens. I see other brands online that may be fine, but they aren稚 sold here.

Other opinions?

 

[2458n]

I along with many others have a homemade one. It is horizontal but uses a fixed wedge on the end of the beam The fixed wedge allows the use of a four way splitter. The beam end has the trailer hitch on it so this is on the ground. I have rolled some pretty large pieces of oak onto this splitter using the single edge to split. Other is homemade upside down splitter for the bobcat. Same setup wedge on the end. My advice is buy one when your young. They will last a lifetime with simple repairs.

 

[dmccarty]

Maybe five years ago, I bought a Speedco hydraulic wood splitter from TSC. I built a table around the wood splitter so that the tractor did not need to be connected to the splitter. I just park the tractor near the splitter and connect the hoses. The table is the right height for me so the only bending over I do is to pick up the rounds and put them on the table. The table is large enough so that I can stockpile quite a few rounds on the table and I can easily roll the round on to the splitter. After splitting, I through the firewood into a big wheel barrow and when it is full, I go stack the wood.

When I was building the table, I reached a point I did not like the stability of the table when the splitter was moved into the vertical position. I ended up making the table more stable but I lost the ability to move the splitter vertical. To get heavy rounds on the table, I put two T posts against the table so that I can slide/push heavy rounds from the ground to the table top. Works pretty well. Worse case, I would split the round into halves or quarters by hand.

For some reason, I started splitting by hand. I think I just had a few hours to split and did not want to start up the tractor for some reason so I started splitting with the maul. Found out I could split most wood faster by hand than with the splitter. I know use the Fiskar and I figure with straight grain wood like Red Oak, I can split a cord in 9 hours. The hydraulic splitter takes about 12 hours. I have not used the hydraulic splitter in a few years. Go figure. :confused3:

The slowness of the hydraulic splitter is because of the cycle time. A faster cycle time would be obviously faster but I don't think it would be very safe. It used to be that I could only split by hand for 2-3 hours but I have gone as long as almost six hours. I think the longest I have worked on the hydraulic splitter was eight hours. The hydraulic splitter is less work but you get less work done.

Later,
Dan

 

[Piston]

. My advice is buy one when your young. They will last a lifetime with simple repairs.

Absolutely excellent advice.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

What would you recommend for white oak and madrone? Doug fir splits so easy I just use a maul, but the oak and madrone wear me out now that I am retired and getting older. I figure I'll be splitting wood into my 80s before I am done, so I need something that will last 15 or 20 years. I can store it in the barn off season.

 

[caver]

I bought a 22 ton Swisher and it splits Oak fine. Sweetgum too and that stuff is just nasty. My property is predominately Oak and Shortleaf Pine so it sees lots of Oak. A pump disengage clutch makes it easier to start in cold weather. I had my buddy weld an extension to the tongue so it doesn't jackknife so easy towing behind the ATV. This also makes it easier to lift the tongue with more leverage.

 

[txdon]

I wouldn稚 waste a dime on an electric powered splitter. If the electric unit can split it, you could split it easily with a maul.

Other opinions?

Sure, I'll give you my opinion.

All wood can be split easily with a maul if you hit it enough times. The reason to go hydraulics is speed and to save you back and shoulders.

That said, I just bought the smallest (5 ton) cheapest electric wood splitter from Harbor Freight and it split 95% of the wood I threw at it. At the end of the season I'll have thousand $ left over, a couple of un-split logs that will split next year and wasted about 10 minutes of time due to seconds difference in splitting each log. What I will not have is sore back and shoulders, and a big unit to store. I don't have another engine to maintain -or- I don't have to change out tractor implements like you also dislike.

The only situation I see to use a more expensive one is to split very green snarly/curvey wood worse than Texas Post Oak.

You asked for opinions.

(wood splitter review here - http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/parts-repairs/114176-harbor-freight-tools-dont-suck-388.html )

 

[90cummins]

I built my splitter 35 years ago as a tow behind with a 10hp cast iron Tecumseh, 22 gpm pump and 4x24 cylinder for a fast 7 second cycle time. I can easily split a cord an hour.
I made it using heavy steel for durability and it has been trouble free.
Moving it required a vehicle or older gear driven garden tractor.
I recently modified it so I can back into it with my Ford 1720 tractor forks and carry it on the 3pt hitch.
That has taken a great deal of effort out of the splitting process.
Prior to this mod the working height was fixed, sometimes a bit low and at other times too high.
As I split I needed pick up and carry chunks farther & farther as I split the closest wood first. I then needed to move the split wood so I could reposition the splitter closer to the pile.
With it on the 3pt hitch I can set it close to the pile and at any height.
When I've split the wood within easy reach I raise the splitter out of the pile and reposition which saves my back and a lot of time.
As I get older those things I once enjoyed are becoming more & more work and I've adapted to stay in the game.

90cummins