Which Electric Log Splitter?

[Gary Farmall]

Yes I like everything about the Huskee except the 13 second cycle time, you would think for that kind of money they could do better, I am in no hurry and still shopping. Found a used Huskee on CL for $700.00 but his price is a little high for the picture condition.

 

[Scooby074]

I dont know about the newer speeco/huskees, but the older ones (ours is about 8 years old now) uses a barns pump and a prince valve. Top quality stuff. And the briggs and stratton is a USA motor as well. (unlike hondas).

Dont know it their is any truth to it, but I have heard that they dont use the barnes/prince stuff anymore. But even so, you'd be hard pressed to find ANY splitter that is 100% made in USA with 100% made in USA parts. And even if you did find one that "claimed" that, it would be hard to prove. Things like hydraulic fittings, even from the likes of parker and gates et. al. are getting outsourced. Where was the i-beam made? Sheet metal to make the tank? Are the bearings in the wheels SKF or timken? or are they made in china??

IMO, huskee is as USA made as any of them. And they are a really good splitter for the money and get pretty good reviews too.

Fair enough.. But the OP mentioned wanting to spend more to get "USA made".. There is a bit of discussion over on Arborist and hearth that they have a bunch of chinese parts now, including engine, valve and cyl... which are the most important parts. Speeco doesnt have a reputation of building the absolute highest quality gear... although the Huskee splitters seem to have an excellent rep.

About the only splitter im that im sure is mostly "domestic" is the one i built... About 95% non-china :thumbsup: with most, probably 80% being Canadian and USA including the steel. All hyd fittings, regardless of brand are China though.. Hoses are Italian.

 

[LD1]

Yes I like everything about the Huskee except the 13 second cycle time, you would think for that kind of money they could do better, I am in no hurry and still shopping. Found a used Huskee on CL for $700.00 but his price is a little high for the picture condition.

You can spend about 6 times more money and arent going to get a better cycle time than that. 12-16 seconds is about the norm. Unless you get a "fast-cycle" splitter. But most companies, even ones that sell $5-$6k splitters, their standard splitters are 12-16 seconds. And most of the ones they call "fast cycle" splitters only gain a few seconds.

 

[clemsonfor]

I thought briggs now were sometimes made in other countries, mex or china? Im sure the parts are made there!

 

[petersp22]

Here's an option that's a bit different than what the OP started with but still electric, made in US of A (Rockford, IL), powerful, with quick cycle time. It's a traditional splitter with an electric motor. He'll build it the way you want it. I've got one that runs a 3hp/3400 rpm electric motor rpm turning an 11 gpm pump on a 16 ton cylinder. My cycle times are as quick as I can handle and it's quiet. My wood is generally oak or maple up to about 18" diameter and I haven't run into anything it won't split. I'm very pleased.

The toughest Log Splitter available

 

[zkurtb]

Fair enough.. But the OP mentioned wanting to spend more to get "USA made"..

Actually that wasn't the OP, that was Gary Farmall (New Member). Easy to confuse since the way his post (#15) starts it sounds like it could have been from the OP.

I (the OP) am still thinking electric. Budget is an issue, so there is a big difference between $300 and $1000.

Go to Hearth.com and read in the Equiptment/gear section. there are a ton of members that have electric splitters.

Thanks for the reference, I found "The Gear" forum, it does have great info. Posts #14 and #21 here are a comparison of the Harbor Freight and Task Force by people who have owned both.

Speaking from experience from splitting large pine blocks as well as hardwoods, A large block of yellow pine for example with a big knot in it, or one growth twisted splits harder than a similar straight grained block of red oak.

Red oak is one of the easiest splitting woods IMO. So it really isnt an accurate comparison. And pine all splits hard. Because I have never seen pine that wasnt "knotty". Just the way the limbs grow. And it is so soft, unless it is dry, you can burry a wedge or maul without even a hint of it beginning to split.

The wood will come from leftover tops from some logging/thinning I'm doing on our acerage. Maybe when I buck the logs to rounds I'll just cut out the knot whorls. Or, maybe I'll do the "chainsaw" split for those. Most of the wood is straight, and will be well seasoned and dry before splitting. And 95% will be 10" dia. or less.

 

[crazyal]

MTD could be made in the USA. Well assembled in the US.

 

[Tig]

I have a PrincessAuto 5 ton(ish) electric splitter. It's HF type quality. I paid around $130, it's a cheapie.
I've split 8 cord of frozen hardwood (beech, oak, maple, ash) My sister spilt a few and my brother in law split 5 of ash. There were very few frozen blocks that it could not deal with. You do have pay attention to the block shape and the grain to make the easy split first if the block is big (+20") or has knots.
I have a few cords of hickory laying in the yard right now. I'm waiting for it to freeze. Wish me luck.

 

[Grateful11]

We have the Homelite electric and no complaints here. I think the Homelite and the Ryobi are the same units.
Ryobi
Electric Log Splitter from Ryobi | The Home Depot - Model#: RY49701
Homelite
5-Ton Electric Log Splitter-UT49102 at The Home Depot

 

[clemsonfor]

Here's an option that's a bit different than what the OP started with but still electric, made in US of A (Rockford, IL), powerful, with quick cycle time. It's a traditional splitter with an electric motor. He'll build it the way you want it. I've got one that runs a 3hp/3400 rpm electric motor rpm turning an 11 gpm pump on a 16 ton cylinder. My cycle times are as quick as I can handle and it's quiet. My wood is generally oak or maple up to about 18" diameter and I haven't run into anything it won't split. I'm very pleased.

The toughest Log Splitter available

Interesting, but it amazes me how many first posts are advertising a product or company. Not saying that your not really a satisfied customer of his but these type first posts with a link, even to the product are just suspect to me.

Thanks for the post sounds like a cool machine though.

 

[petersp22]

I'm just a guy. No connection. When I saw the way that link showed up I half expected skepticism. Now I'll go back to lurking.

 

[Splitter Mike]

Actually Honda's are build here in the USA but it is a Japanese Corporation. Most of the splitters talked about in this thread are a Chinese product one way or another. Either partially imported and assembled here or just imported and branded with there own name. Swishers are built in the USA in MO and actually have the best warranty on the market, even better then the Iron & Oak's which are the best splitters on the market in my opinion (that's why they are used by most rental companies as rentals in the USA). But the Iron Oaks do have a bigger price tag as well.

 

[knotweed]

I have had the Power House for 3 years. Works well.