Electric Log Splitter

[Tractor Seabee]

I use a HF electric 5 ton splitter. The big splitters are over rated and the little ones under rated. Knotty wood it won't handle goes on the burn pile. We have cut and split 3' logs by hand into 6 pieces and finish on the electric. Takes a 10-12 inch log with straight grain no problem, so why do I need a 35 ton splitter. Yes, it is not made for high production. My wife and I can split and stack faster than the young guys can buck and move to the splitter. Two tries with the electric and over to the burn pile. That doesn't happen often. I store split wood in a tent type green house and the splitter sets there next to the power panel.

Ron

 

[4570Man]

My wife and I can split and stack faster than the young guys can buck and move to the splitter.

I'd have to see that to believe it. Maybe if they are hauling 3 miles in a wheel burrow. I can single handily cut and move wood a short distance faster than anyone I have ever seen can split using a single wedge splitter.

 

[JRobyn]

My wife (not me) has a Swisher 22 ton electric and likes it a lot. Quiet and no carb to foul up. It has a 120vac motor (can be wired 240 if desired) and requires a 20A circuit and little or no extension cord to run up to spec. Factory cord is about 20 ft. It can be used with a heavy 12g extension, but may occasionally trip its breaker on thick victims. Cycles fast. Frame and operation is identical to the typical 22 ton gasoline splitter.

LS22E Timber Brute Eco Split - 22 Ton 12 Volt Electric Full Frame Log Splitter - Swisher

Street prices are about $1,500.

 

[moeh1]

I had a large gas splitter, no longer use much wood I need to split, so I gave it to my nephew. THEN I ended up getting an electric one to split very small pieces for our new wood fired oven. If you wood source is consistently small 10-12" max dia, the electric would work well. I don't think mine would handle huge stuff I used to split with my gas one.

 

[LD1]

The old B&S on dads TSC huskee 27t started having issues with a valve sticking open. Put a 3HP - 3phase electric motor on it running off a VFD.

Thats said.....3HP really aint big enough for the 11gpm 2-stage pump. If you dead head the cylinder...(max pressure)....it pulls 10.5-11 amps. Motor is only rated for 9 amps.

Which is one thing to be cautious of if deciding to build or convert a splitter. If you try to overload a gas motor....it just stalls. Overload an electric motor.....it just keeps drawing current until it gets to locked rotor state (which can be double or triple the current its rated for). Over time, thats what burns up an electric motor. A 10 or 13gpm 2-stage pumps should really be paired with a true 5HP motor, and a 16gpm should have a 7.5. You aint gonna find any of them in a 120v.

Some take their chances with 120v and get away with it......because its not often, if ever you are running peak pressure on a logsplitter. And duty cycle is extremely low.

I would avoid the little 5-ton 110v jobs. Get a full sized splitter and run 240v off a range or dryer plug.

There are some nice advantages to electric. No gas, no fumes, no fusing with a small engine to start it. And you can split inside the garage/shop in the winter time where it is nice. And no one asks to borrow it:thumbsup:

 

[roadhunter]

No one asks to borrow it may be the biggest benefit of all.

 

[Garandman]

IF you go to the dedicated splitter sites, you will find guys with all kinds of problems with the DR kinetics... Same with all the other Chinese "copy" kinetics...

SR

Haven't had any problems and don't know anyone who has.

SuperSplit would have had the order if they ever picked up the phone! Business must be very good.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Haven't had any problems and don't know anyone who has.

SuperSplit would have had the order if they ever picked up the phone! Business must be very good.

Like I said, go to "dedicated firewood sites", ask about them there... (like the Arborist site) They blow racks, pinion teeth and bearings, many get fixed under warr. and keep on breaking after warr...

Depends on if you actually use it, or it sits around a lot...

SR

 

[Deere Dude]

Had a neighbor who had a cord or two split in bigger chunks but he used an electrics to split smaller pieces for his smallish wood-burner. He just puttered away splitting and storing in a dog kennel type storage area.

I wouldn't have the patience for it but it would be better than swinging a maul.

 

[Garandman]

Like I said, go to "dedicated firewood sites", ask about them there... (like the Arborist site) They blow racks, pinion teeth and bearings, many get fixed under warr. and keep on breaking after warr...

Depends on if you actually use it, or it sits around a lot...

Here's the mega thread. Introduced in 2011: bought ours in 2014. Not sure what changes were made over time, my model has been discontinued.

Seems to have become a religious argument between the SS and DR owners. Here's a summary:

It's obvious that we've got some SS owners out there that love their machines and there are others, like me, who love their DR machines. We're all biased by our experience and investments. However, these recent posts seem false or misleading to me, so thought I should speak up again, even though this thread is now pretty boring from all this type of noise:

Mine has worked great, only split 5-6 cords of wood. I called SS and left messages twice and no one called me back, so instead of driving down to their shop I drove to the DR store in NH.

Pertinent to this thread SS also makes an electric.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Here's the mega thread. Introduced in 2011: bought ours in 2014. Not sure what changes were made over time, my model has been discontinued.

Mine has worked great, only split 5-6 cords of wood.

That's "one" of the threads, there are others, one just a couple ? months ago...

Looks like yours sits around a lot, so it should last a long time for you, but those of us that split much more firewood than that, need a splitter that will take it long term...and NO I don't have a Super Split...

SR

 

[Garandman]

That's "one" of the threads, there are others, one just a couple ? months ago...

Looks like yours sits around a lot, so it should last a long time for you, but those of us that split much more firewood than that, need a splitter that will take it long term...and NO I don't have a Super Split...

What is your recommendation to the OP for an electric splitter for occasional home owner use?

Because that's what he asked for.

 

[Weedy Fields]

Thanks all for replies.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to go electric.
I'm going to heat my house with wood pretty much exclusively.
I'm only going to be splitting for my self.
So something that can split the 2-3 cords I need to heat my house is all I'll need.
I also cut all my own trees out of the woods around my house so I can pick and choose trees that I cut.
I generally cut trees to thin or release trees that I want to encourage. I don't cut the bigger stuff, I cut alot of stuff 16" or less in dia.
I think that an electric splitter would be a good match for me, especially cause I get my summer electricity for free.

I looked at the kentic splitters and to me I see several spots of problems, the gear rack especially. Unless I can find any info that they are more bullit proof than a hydraulic I'll go hydraulic.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I answered that in my FIRST post...

Again, the best way to get a "full size" electric splitter is buy a SS, at least they have a track record for being fairly reliable...

There is NO cheap electric solution for a decent build splitter....

SR

 

[Tig]

We have heated primarily with wood for eight years now. I use a "5 ton" electric to split 8 bush chord every two years or so. As well as splitting all the random wood that I come into in between loads. We burn about four cord a year.
What I like:
The electric splitter doesn't take up much room in the shed or garage when not is use.
It's virtually maintenance free. No gummed up carb because it sat for a year or so.
Quiet operation. Buzz when it's on, then quiet.
I can take my time. I'll split a couple years supply at my leisure over a month in late winter. At most I have one helper when I split.

How I like to work:
Typically I run a tank of gas through the saw bucking up wood. I block smaller if it's knotty, or just plain large and heavy.
Then the wife and I split and stack. Makes for a nice winter evening.
I can usually figure out how to pick apart a block. You have to look for the checks and grain int he block. Find the easy split. If it's too ugly and time consuming, it gets set aside.
Typically much less than a truckload of uglies are left over, so I load up and take them to a bigger splitter as required. Or I may burn some in the camp fire pit in summer.

Mods:
My splitter was a two hand operation. It has a Run button for the motor and a valve lever for the hydraulics. That stock button was hard on the thumb and it was awkward to steady a block. To free up a hand I plug the splitter into a shop foot pedal to control the motor on/off. A slice of inner tube holds the stock motor switch on.
I also mounted the splitter wheel barrow style on a wooden frame with dual 10" wheels to raise it a bit and make it easier to move around.

I toyed with the idea of building a larger electric, but then getting power to it would complicate things and it would be that much less convenient to store and move.

 

[check]

I answered that in my FIRST post... Again, the best way to get a "full size" electric splitter is buy a SS, at least they have a track record for being fairly reliable... There is NO cheap electric solution for a decent build splitter.... SR

I bought a cheap little 4 ton electric splitter from Canadian Tire several years ago, and it has done the job quite nicely for me. A big advantage is it I can split stuff inside, down in my basement, for kindling and the like during the dead of winter.

(Edit: The only thing that happened was that the plastic cooling fan eventually became brittle and cracked, but it was easily replaced for less than $20.)

More recently, we got a 6.5 ton electric for another property, and it has a great feature whereby you can move the ram at 2 different speeds. So, you can lever the ram to "fast" when you have short round, and then move the lever to slow just as the ram contacts the round. (Saves a lot of time.) As well, when you have a long round (it handles up to 20"), you start slow until that initial "snap", and then speed up until you get to the end. (This is very useful if you have s "stringy" round that won't just fly apart right away, such as, for example, with Yellow Birch.)

 

[JRobyn]

Weedy, did you look at the Swisher?

 

[Weedy Fields]

Weedy, did you look at the Swisher?

Yes I did, thanks for the link.
I think for the price ($1700ish) it seems like it might work out.

 

[JRobyn]

Not sure exactly how I did it but I'm pretty sure hers was $1599 from HomeDepot.com with free freight. Must have been a sale and/or we used a 10% off HD coupon (usually available on e-bay).

 

[Tractor Seabee]

The biggest problem I have with the 5 ton electrics is hired help. They are not as careful and tend to forget to open the hydraulic tank vent. Not opening the vent when splitting is guaranteed to ruin the pump on the more difficult splits. I have gone through 3 of them in 5 years. Reason I buy the cheap ones as they are then throw aways when you do 8 cords a year. The last one I have used myself exclusively and it has now split 16 cords.

I still recommend the 5 ton electric for this OP fro HF, Home Depot, or Lowes. i swear they all come from the same factory. I wait till a sale is on. The HF I use now I had a 25% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket. military discount at Lowes and HD saves 10% on top of mark down.

Ron