logsplitter question

[Hamlin6]

Long time lurker here.
I grew up splitting wood and have most of my adult life. I've used both standalone and 3 point hitch. My preference is 3 point hitch as I like to use the same tool as many ways as I can. Having said, there are valid reasons to go with a standalone. For me, I'd rather not have another engine to maintain. But again, that is just my opinion. The biggest thing that I think, and others have mentioned, is get something that is vertical. The major reason for a wood splitter is to turn the manual task into a quicker, easier job. Lifting or rolling a round onto a horizontal splitter will wear you out. Having one that is vertical will save your back and make the job much easier after a long day.

 

[oldpilot]

I bought a Sears (!) log splitter some forty years ago for a couple hundred dollars including the cost of hydraulic hoses and connectors to power it off my then-International Harvester 284. Though we no longer heat the house with wood (too much dust for Susan Wife), we still go through a cord of wood a year for the fireplace in fall and spring. Of course it cost me more than I paid for the splitter to add rear hydraulic lines to Mahindra 1526, but that splitter is still doing good service. I'll be splitting a cord this fall from the past year's blowdowns. I recommend it. I can have the log splitter hooked up while towing my farm trailer, so all the mess stays in the woods where it is an actual benefit. I split the wood on site and stack it in the trailer and come home like a triumphant Spartan with my shield. Hoo ha!

Wasn't it great when we could get EVERYTHING from Sears? Amazon just isn't the same.

 

[fishdrivel]

I am wondering about whether I should rent a log splitter or buy one to run off my tractor hydraulics. I have one large tree down that has been cut up and usually have 1-2 trees per year that need to be cut up and split that I have taken down or fell on its own in a storm, so not a lot of use but fairly constant.

Is it generally better to have a self powered splitter or to use your tractor? Which is more reliable/durable? Do these require much maintenance? Is the operation pretty simple? I can rent from Home depot here for ~$100/ day and have seen ads on this site or others for hydraulic run for about $1200-1400

Appreciate any advice for a relative novice at this

I can buy a lot of used self-powered splitters here for around $500. Very little care and careful with gas.
I don't recommend the electric ones. Won't save you any real money, don't like splitting around extension cords or damp conditions and I have seen too many broken units for sale.

With your usage, you'll never wera out a splitter. Save your tractor.

 

[jacric2005]

We have a self powered splitter that lives at our house since my 96 year old dad got a ductless heat pump. Just too old to bring logs in with the tractor and turn them into fire wood. We used it some for some peeler log rounds. Now we buy our wood from a local guy and it fits our wood stove just fine. But a splitter is amazing as you watch that maul(?) split the wood. The splitter is run dry if we use it and we use clear premium. We also keep it tarped. It sits a lot but I would not loan it out as a family or neighborhood splitter. Once my dad did that, the person did not keep it tarped and something rusted (flywheel?). That said, it's probably something a country property should have around. Never know what you will get gifted.

 

[DB_Alimere]

Rental probably does make more sense in your case, but if you wanted to buy, I would definitely suggest a 3pt unit that runs off your tractor hydraulics. As dictcg mentioned, it's smaller, virtually no maintenance, and it's more powerful than an electric model. I've had a Wallenstein unit for 10 years, splitting about 3 bush cord a year, and I've been very happy with it.

 

[Robert walker]

I am wondering about whether I should rent a log splitter or buy one to run off my tractor hydraulics. I have one large tree down that has been cut up and usually have 1-2 trees per year that need to be cut up and split that I have taken down or fell on its own in a storm, so not a lot of use but fairly constant.

Is it generally better to have a self powered splitter or to use your tractor? Which is more reliable/durable? Do these require much maintenance? Is the operation pretty simple? I can rent from Home depot here for ~$100/ day and have seen ads on this site or others for hydraulic run for about $1200-1400

Appreciate any advice for a relative novice at this

I have a self powered unit from lowes, I have split a lot of logs with it, it’s about 15 years old. The reason I went with it instead of one that works off tractor is if you need to use it remotely you have to haul your tractor with you.

 

[Williy]

After yesterday my tractor is full of dust, scratches
mud and when it rains it will be clean again!!!

what has 18 legs and catches flies? a baseball team

willy

why did the blonde take a bale of hay to bed????

 

[puzlrock]

Buy a self powered unit. Easier to set up and use. Splits blocks over 2 1/2' through with ease. If you use PRIG in the fuel you don't have to drain it for winter. I started using PRIG 15 years ago and I have never had a problem with saws, mowers or anything fuel wise. Everyone's needs are different. Good luck

 

[Cameron Smith]

The biggest deal is to have some HELP! Splitting goes an awful lot faster with one or two more bodies around. My wife sometimes sits at the lever and I can go a LOT faster with less wear and tear on myself with her doing that. My splitter is run with a PTO pump and does 4 foot lengths.

 

[Tony H]

I am wondering about whether I should rent a log splitter or buy one to run off my tractor hydraulics. I have one large tree down that has been cut up and usually have 1-2 trees per year that need to be cut up and split that I have taken down or fell on its own in a storm, so not a lot of use but fairly constant.

Is it generally better to have a self powered splitter or to use your tractor? Which is more reliable/durable? Do these require much maintenance? Is the operation pretty simple? I can rent from Home depot here for ~$100/ day and have seen ads on this site or others for hydraulic run for about $1200-1400

Appreciate any advice for a relative novice at this

I chose to run off my tractors hydraulics. One less engine to sit around let ethanol fuel beat it up. One less engine for the mice to get into AND my biggest find is my tractor idles quietly when splitting vs The on-board engine screaming as I split. See my avatar.. My splitter on front of tractor with homegrown bracket. My tractor has the additional hydraulics on it. A Detent to hold Tractor lever to let fluid circulate to Splitter. So my hookup was literally buying hoses and correct connectors.

 

[mgarner]

The biggest deal is to have some HELP! Splitting goes an awful lot faster with one or two more bodies around. My wife sometimes sits at the lever and I can go a LOT faster with less wear and tear on myself with her doing that. My splitter is run with a PTO pump and does 4 foot lengths.

Caution!! We had a fellow here that had someone else pulling the lever and had his hand that was still on the end of the round cut in half by the wedge. I always pulled my own after that.

 

[WranglerX]

The biggest deal is to have some HELP! Splitting goes an awful lot faster with one or two more bodies around. My wife sometimes sits at the lever and I can go a LOT faster with less wear and tear on myself with her doing that. My splitter is run with a PTO pump and does 4 foot lengths.

You must have a lot of trust....... One little mistake could cost someone a hand.... Most safety GURU's recommend only the person placing round in splitter be the one operating the control....

 

[Tony H]

More info.

Oregon Products | Homepage

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www.speeco.com

This company relabeled this exact unit for Tractor Supply Company County Line and the same unit (in red) for Husky. I have the County Line labeled on for 6 years now. No issues, splits great

 

[ning]

I considered a 3ph splitter and found the prices to be pretty high.

Looked high and low and couldn't find any standalone units that weren't within 10% of the new price until I found one being sold on CL for $600 and jumped on it.

It has a huge ram, can go vertical which is great for large rounds (roll them over to it and then split) or do the typical horizontal.
Turned out it came with an almost-new Echo CS590 chain saw along with it; that's what I call a deal!
I didn't have to have the chain saw, though it's a bit stronger than my Stihl 031...

Works great for the couple of cords of oak I split each year. Could be faster (3ph probably wouldn't be, with my tractor's flow rate), could be less noisy (3ph would be better), could be less stinky (3ph would be much better), could burn less gas (3ph would beat it by a mile), but for the small amount of time it's used and what I paid for it, can't beat it.

 

[Tony H]

Well... I tried to split some rounds, and I set the wedge, gave it a couple of whacks with 8 pound sledge, round spit out the wedge and wedge can looking for me.... Prefer a power splitter any time...

I used a Maul for years. At 60 yrs old, I decided to go splitter. Tractor hydraulic type.. Home grown needed up bracket allows for vertical or horizontal work.

 

[Underdog57]

After yesterday my tractor is full of dust, scratches
mud and when it rains it will be clean again!!!

what has 18 legs and catches flies? a baseball team

willy

why did the blonde take a bale of hay to bed????

She thought it was Alfalfa? (our gang)

 

[CalG]

Just a random contribution to the perpetual wood splitter threads....

but....

I recently traded up from a Timber Wolf TW-1 to a TW-2.

The increased robustness, and rapid cycle time has made a WORLD of difference in splitting off the log pile. DAY AND NIGHT! for one or two person operation. (second person clears the splits away from the run off table.)

IF one were evaluating a splitter based on performance, Comparing the TW-2 specs would be a great starting off point.

It's not a processor by any means, but the unit is capable of working a young man to exhaustion (I'm not a young man)

I use the tractor and carry all to bring the rounds to convenient height when the logs are large. and a pulp hook for the lesser stuff.

The only thing I would add to the unit (besides a four way and the run off table) is a retraction length stop to trigger the kick off, and stop the push block at the cut length or the rounds. I've seen "videos" of efforts to this end that result in shearing off the cylinder threaded end, So, I just live with it until something comes up. Waiting for the retraction and stopping at the desired length might add 1 second to my cycle time. I often can use the rest ;-)

 

[WranglerX]

Just a random contribution to the perpetual wood splitter threads....

but....

I recently traded up from a Timber Wolf TW-1 to a TW-2.

The increased robustness, and rapid cycle time has made a WORLD of difference in splitting off the log pile. DAY AND NIGHT! for one or two person operation. (second person clears the splits away from the run off table.)

IF one were evaluating a splitter based on performance, Comparing the TW-2 specs would be a great starting off point.

It's not a processor by any means, but the unit is capable of working a young man to exhaustion (I'm not a young man)

I use the tractor and carry all to bring the rounds to convenient height when the logs are large. and a pulp hook for the lesser stuff.

The only thing I would add to the unit (besides a four way and the run off table) is a retraction length stop to trigger the kick off, and stop the push block at the cut length or the rounds. I've seen "videos" of efforts to this end that result in shearing off the cylinder threaded end, So, I just live with it until something comes up. Waiting for the retraction and stopping at the desired length might add 1 second to my cycle time. I often can use the rest ;-)

Was looking at what I remember as a DR 34 ton splitter at local hardware store a few days ago .... And it seemed to have a positive release mechanism to kick the control valve out of detent....

IT was simply a pivot arm ( with a adjustment screw) that when splitter head reached a certain point of retraction it just nudged the control lever ... THE splitter got my attending as it seemed to have control mounted in a way that the handle was in a vertical orientation instead of horizontal like mine, it also seemed to have better mount system to support the control valve than just using the nipple between cylinder and valve body...

 

[coaster]

I burn about 4 to 5 cord a year, so owning a stand-alone is better for me. I have a 31-ton splitter and it gets the job done for me. As with anything where renting or buying is a question, I guess it depends on how often you'll need it; once or twice occurrence? - rent, needed off and on over the course of years? buy.

 

[ericm979]

If you rent you need to work straight through for a day to get your money's worth. And then there's the time to pick up and drop off the unit. If you own a splitter you can go split for an hour or two whenever you have the time. So it depends on how you can structure your time. I can get a couple hours pretty easily but an entire day is harder. And you may get tired during that day.

Stand alone splitters usually have more hydraulic flow and can reach higher pressures than your tractor can. (for example my tractor does 10gpm at full engine rpm with a max of 2400 psi while my splitter does 16 gpm and can hit 3200 psi). As a result the stand alone's cycle time is shorter and it can push through gnarlier wood. I've used the full capacity many times. Add to that the fact that a new stand alone splitter costs only a few hundred $$ more than a new 3pt splitter, and in the summer dry season I can leave it out in the wood lot so I can just walk back there and get to work instead of pulling whatever is attached to my tractor off and hooking up the splitter each time, and for me it's no contest even with an additional engine to maintain. Your needs may vary however. That's why they make both kinds.