Log splitter buying ?

[TomSeller]

Here's a pic of my 37 ton splitter. We have a lot of dead hardwoods and they're hard as cement. They sure burn nice in the fireplace though.

What brand is yours? Looks nice

 

[TomSeller]

Somewhat surprised that no one mentioned the split fire splitter. I have a Split Fire 255 with the wedge on the cylinder and a bolster on each end allowing one to split in both directions, both out and back. .

I mentioned Splitfire as one if those often talked about on TBN. I have heard good things about them.

 

[JRL305]

I got it off of eBay over 5 years ago. It doesn't have a brand name on it but the 9hp motor is a Chinese knockoff of a Honda. It was all apart, on a pallet and I had it delivered to my workplace. I put it together enough to tow it home and then finished the assembly there. It came with a 4 way wedge but our hardwood kept getting stuck on it. I took it off and I don't miss it. I've split some pretty old hardwoods and it might slow down on the big ones, but it's never met a log it couldn't split.

 

[Dead Horse]

We had a stake body dump that held about 2.5 cords of splits. With as many as 3 guys on the landing, we did two of these in an 8 hr day as many as 6 times a week if we were cutting a big plot. There was very little money in making firewood as opposed to mill stems back then. A split cord went from $60-$75. We'd make trips to the Cape Cod where they were getting almost double for the stuff. (Can't cross state lines with wood anymore around here). Firewood making just beat stuff up and was rather labor intensive in comparison to other types of logging.

Still a hard way to make a buck...... some guys do it up here, they buy stems and either run them through a processor or buck and split using saw and splitter. Then you have to season it and deliver it....... HARD way to pay the bills! I do it for recreation, and get heat, exercise, "feel good" and property management benefits out of the effort.

No way I could afford to be set up right to sell wood commercially and actually make minimum wage! Mine is strictly a labor of love.

 

[Herkypilot]

I just tried to split some green Hickory today with my NH 30 ton splitter. It has a 4-way knife on it. It wasn't going to happen on the big rounds. Dang those are heavy too. This is the first time I've found something it won't split. It would probably work if I take the wings off the 4-way. You would think 30 tons of pressure would be enough. I guess not. I'll be waiting until next fall to split those when they get a little drier I suppose.

HP

 

[LouieJunior]

I mentioned Splitfire as one if those often talked about on TBN. I have heard good things about them.

I wonder if the two way Splitfire splitter sacrifices some of its power with the cylinder configuration - as opposed to direct force without the offset wedge?

 

[JRL305]

Yeah, you gotta take those wings off. Mine would split but the wood would get wedged in there. It has a guard that's supposed to strip the wood off the 4 way but it bent like a pretzel. My 37 ton has a huge cylinder and nothing stops it.

 

[arrow]

I just tried to split some green Hickory today with my NH 30 ton splitter. It has a 4-way knife on it. It wasn't going to happen on the big rounds. Dang those are heavy too. This is the first time I've found something it won't split. It would probably work if I take the wings off the 4-way. You would think 30 tons of pressure would be enough. I guess not. I'll be waiting until next fall to split those when they get a little drier I suppose.

HP

This is odd to me as well. I had a hickory log last season (kind of stinks or smells good depending on your nose when you cleave it) My splitter had little trouble with the 4way. This was on 14"-18" rounds so I don't know if we're comparing apples and oranges here. Could be the construction of the 4 way wings as opposed to just the 4 way wedge you toss onto a horizontal splitter such as i have. My splitter is only a 5 hp with a rating of 16 tons.

 

[FTG-05]

Best combination I have found is grapple plus a sawbuck.
After felling & limbing, cut trees into 9' lengths. Skid them out to trail.
Carry 9' log lengths with grapple. Pull grapple up to 6' long sawbuck divided into 18" compartments.
Roll logs one at at time off of grapple and onto sawbuck. Overhang evenly on both sides & cut 9' log into
six 18" fire log segments. Wash, rinse, repeat. The sawbuck really helps. Logs are well supported, no kickback.
Also dividing into 18" compartments helps to get relatively uniform fire log lengths without taking time to measure.

Grapple plus sawbuck works very well for us.

Pics of your sawbuck?

Thanks,

 

[sdef]

Some other brands I recall being mentioned on TBN are:

Wallenstein
Splitfire
Northstar

I have the 30 ton Northstar with the Red Honda GX engine on my list.

Me too. My local store has one assembled on display. I am waiting for it to come down in price below the current $1899 (plus a $100 gift card on top of it). I like the engine guard, the GX 200 cc Honda engine with auto. idle control, the 8.5 gallon oil reservoir, the strong log table and the tongue jack with large wheel.

Second choice is a Dirty Hand Tools 28 ton or 35 ton, but they will have to be quite a bit less expensive than the Northstar.