Wood splitter question?

MaineTWLSB · May 12, 2005

Hello All
Wanted to know if anyone uses a Northstar 3-Point Horizontal Log Splitter (Northern Tool and Equipment)? They run about $500. Is it a good unit? Do you like it?

Maybe PM me, don’t want to ruffle any feathers.

Thanks

John

Jim_Fisher · May 12, 2005

John,

( Wanted to know if anyone uses a Northstar 3-Point Horizontal Log Splitter (Northern Tool and Equipment)? They run about $500. Is it a good unit? Do you like it? )

I've had one for about a year. Two issues have come up.

1) The plates sandwiched in the slide both had a rough spot. Probably something wrong with the setup of a flame cutter. About a half hour's work with wrenches and a grinder fixed the problem.

2) The arms that connect to the toplink of the three point hitch started to bend during a six mile trip (on a typical rough Pennsylvania road) to my father in law's house. I had to jack the arms back into place and add a brace.

I like the ability to lower it to the ground, roll a large log onto the cradle, and lift it to a comfortable height to split it. I find it much easier to work upright rather than bent over.

My tractor hydraulic pump puts out 9 gpm which makes it cycle fast enough for me, but I would not want it to cycle any slower.

RichNJKubota · Aug 22, 2005

Looking at the Northen Tools description it appears that the valve is not the "auto return" type of valve that kicks off when the cylinder fully returns.
Does anyone have one that can confirm what type of valve it has?
Northen Tool splitter

Jim_Fisher · Aug 23, 2005

Rich,

( Looking at the Northen Tools description it appears that the valve is not the "auto return" type of valve that kicks off when the cylinder fully returns.
Does anyone have one that can confirm what type of valve it has? )

Mine is identical to the one shown in the link. It has the auto-return valve. I believe that the '4-way Prince control valve' refers to the auto-return feature (split, neutral, return, auto-return. The way mine works is that you move the valve past the return position to a detent and it returns to neutral at the end of the stroke.

It wouldn't hurt to call Northern and ask, though. Before ordering my splitter, I spent about a half hour on the phone with someone at Northern who was very knowledgeable about splitters and who was able to answer all of my questions.

RichNJKubota · Aug 24, 2005

Thanks Jim,
I called Northern and they told me to call NorthStar. Called them and the person only offerred to send me the owner's manual. Got the manual yesterday and it's about average as manuals go. In other words, no info in the manual for the most part.
Now that I know yours has the auto-return valve I'll order it and hope for the best. Too bad I can't do anything about the $95 shipping to NJ. But even with the shipping it's the lowest price splitter.
I don't really care for the sideways mounting of the TSC splitter. It sits behind the tractor running from left to right as opposed to sticking straight out from the tractor. I like having access to both sides of the splitter in case someone is helping me.

Rich

FaC · Aug 24, 2005

Rich,

I have used a similar setup for a bunch of wood and what I did was set the end of it on a chunk of wood that lifted it about a foot off the ground In my case I found that it was easier to lift the log rather than having to bend over all of the way to the ground. Having the end set also kept it from waving around when I tossed/heaved the log onto the beam.

I have since moved onto the Northern splitter that has the little Honda motor. My thought was that I would rather ran the little $500 engine all day rather than the tractor. I also liked the part where I could turn it vertical.

One other thing - make sure that you chock the tractor or set the bucket down so that there is no way that it can roll back onto you (If I am back there I don't trust the parking brake ;-).

FWIW - Frank

Jim_Fisher · Aug 24, 2005

Rich,

This looks like the valve that came on mine Prince Log Splitter Detent Valve.

I looked at the TSC (Speeco) splitter and came to the same conclusion that you did. Just not enough room between the splitter and the rear tire.

hayden · Sep 2, 2005

I bought one of these a few years ago:

http://www.split-fire.com/

There are two things about it that I think are simple, yet brilliant, and make all the difference in the world as a 3PH splitter.

The most unique and important thing is that it splits in both directions. This makes a HUGE difference on a 3PH because it counteracts the low hydraulic oil flow and correspondingly slow splitter cylinder movement. Instead of waiting around while the cylinder crawls back to get ready for another split, you just place a log on the other side and split on the back-stroke. It's brilliantly simple and effective. I don't know why all splitters aren't designed this way.

The next feature, which is not unique, but still quite useful, is the 4-way splitter attachment. Between splitting on both the forward and return strokes, and the 4-way splitter. you can crank thru wood. I don't even run my tractor at full throttle and there is enough speed, and it's only a 6-7 GPM tractor at full speed (Kubota 2910).

They are a bit more expensive than the Norther Tool splitter (I think I paid about $900 with shipping from our Northern neighbors), but worth every penny in hind site.

Peter