Gas or Electric Log Splitter?

[pajoube]

Have not been on this forum for some time.
I need a log splitter but have some questions.
In reading and talking with others it was mentioned that one should get a 20 ton or higher
log splitter. I was looking at electric log splitters which would fit my needs very well but noticed that 20 ton splitters or higher cost about the same as gas. I would like to take the splitter into my basement which is why I was looking at the electric ones.
Any one have any thoughts between gas and electric log splitters?
I have purchased items from DR prior so looked at their site and found they have an electric log splitter but rated at only 5 ton. I like the heavy duty from DR but feel this may be light for my needs.
I need to split wood that is larger than 10 inches (can split twice) and no longer than 20 inches.
PJ

 

[Craig Clayton]

I thought I would never see a posting about an electric wood splitter. The reason being is I built one almost 25 years ago when wood splitters were just coming on the market and were as rare as hens teeth. Mine is stored at the moment in the barn in 2 seperate pieces, I removed the motor and pump to protect them.
It runs on 220 V AC and is powered by a 2 HP 1800 RPM motor direct coupled to a Williams HI LOw pump in the metel can with the oil contained inside. The cylinder is 24" stroke and 5" diameter, the pump makes 2000 PSI which equals 20 tons.
I had made a gasolne one before from parts?? and it had problems.
The electric splitter will plug into any stove outlet and has a 30' cord on it. The splitter is quiet and strokes at the same speed as a gasoline engine driven on. I reasoned at the time of the building all the wood I was splitting was being done at my side door so why do I need a screaming engine under the kitchen window.
Because I designed it It could be easily changed to be run by a gas engine and a adapter plate for each power unit. I have not yet seen a tree with a power outlet.
Craig Clayton

 

[LD1]

I thought I would never see a posting about an electric wood splitter. The reason being is I built one almost 25 years ago when wood splitters were just coming on the market and were as rare as hens teeth. Mine is stored at the moment in the barn in 2 seperate pieces, I removed the motor and pump to protect them.
It runs on 220 V AC and is powered by a 2 HP 1800 RPM motor direct coupled to a Williams HI LOw pump in the metel can with the oil contained inside. The cylinder is 24" stroke and 5" diameter, the pump makes 2000 PSI which equals 20 tons.
I had made a gasolne one before from parts?? and it had problems.
The electric splitter will plug into any stove outlet and has a 30' cord on it. The splitter is quiet and strokes at the same speed as a gasoline engine driven on. I reasoned at the time of the building all the wood I was splitting was being done at my side door so why do I need a screaming engine under the kitchen window.
Because I designed it It could be easily changed to be run by a gas engine and a adapter plate for each power unit. I have not yet seen a tree with a power outlet.
Craig Clayton

How many GPM are you running through your pump.

With only a 2HP motor, and a big 5" cylinder, I find it hard to believe that it isnt VERY SLOOOOWWWWW.

 

[DennisArrow]

What kind of wood are you splitting? I see you are in Montana so I assume pine????

How much are you planning on splitting at a time and for what purpose. Roasting marshmallows, heating the house for the winter, or just for the fun of it?????

You store your wood in the basement?

God bless......Dennis

 

[beenthere]

I've looked at the available electric splitters on the market, and don't see any (??) larger than the small, slow 5 ton splitters. I think one would work for me as I just want it to resplit firewood during the winter for in-garage use to make kindling-size wood to start a fire.
However, they are sold to split up to 10" wood. What nixed it for me was how slow the splitter ran, and that the user had to hold two buttons down at the same time to accomplish a "safe" split while unable to put a steadying hand on the wood.

Also, I was at our local Menards store the other day when a fellow was bringing his electric splitter back for a refund. It looked quite used and there was some intense discussion going on about its return. The guy was saying it wouldn't split anything near 10 inches in diam that was claimed.

However, I know there are some people who think they are just great. Different expectations from different folks.

I'll stick to the 8 hp gas B&S with 24" ram that has been splitting faithfully since Jan '85. Will remain interested in an electric that will do what it will do if one exists.

 

[Craig Clayton]

To LD1
All the specs were off the top off my head the pump is a Williams HI LOW piston pump. So as you are aware the conservation of energy formula must equal. At 2000 PSIG at 2HP I am putting out X GPM and at low pressure 400 -600 PSIG at 2 HP I am putting out X GPM. That is why I used a HI LOW pump. I am aware you have been studying the impact moment of wood splitting so the ram is fast until it loads up .Then it drops to 2000 PSIG until the wood shears then it goes to the higher volume and or to the return stroke.
Like all machines More HP = more work in a given time.
The 2 HP motor will work all day if I wanted a wood processor then I would jump to X??HP
Craig Clayton

 

[Tig]

I have a 6 ton electric. I split 8 chords of hardwood last winter. Mostly beech and maple, up to 22" rounds. Very few pieces that it could not handle.
Benefit of electric is that they are quiet, cheap to operate and they fit under a shelf in the garage. Turn it on, split, turn it off, repeat as long as you like and then put it away out of sight.
I fill the saw and buck wood till I run out of gas. Split and stack and that's an evenings' work.

 

[Craig Clayton]

To LD1
I have to make a retraction on my off the top of my head specs. To be exact the cylinder is 4" x 18''. Most people do not read the numbers very close or understand the effect a size change can make. In my orginal post I had actually typed 4" but when I did the math I could not achieve 20 tons. I reverse engineered the formula because I was sure it was 20 tons. I know I have 20 ton bottle jacks because it says so on the label.
I went out to measure on my 4th snow blowing of my drive and the 2nd of the farm lane across the road. Lets put my slip of memory down to Sudden Ground Hog Fever.
Craig Clayton

 

[pajoube]

I have a 6 ton electric. I split 8 chords of hardwood last winter. Mostly beech and maple, up to 22" rounds. Very few pieces that it could not handle.
Benefit of electric is that they are quiet, cheap to operate and they fit under a shelf in the garage. Turn it on, split, turn it off, repeat as long as you like and then put it away out of sight.
I fill the saw and buck wood till I run out of gas. Split and stack and that's an evenings' work.

What brand are you using?

 

[pajoube]

What kind of wood are you splitting? I see you are in Montana so I assume pine????

How much are you planning on splitting at a time and for what purpose. Roasting marshmallows, heating the house for the winter, or just for the fun of it?????

You store your wood in the basement?

God bless......Dennis

Have wood delivered with about 1/5 needs to be split as it is over 10 inches.

 

[Chilly807]

I've got a Ryobi electric that's been a good machine for the past couple of years. It won't split big ugly stuff, but it does fine on medium sized wood up to about 10-12 inches. Above that and you need straight grain to split easily.

We made a few modifications to enable one handed operation, and a few others to allow it to completely split a piece, instead of stopping 5 inches from the knife.

I think the same splitter is now sold under the Homelite brand.

Sean

 

[Tig]

What brand are you using?

It's a "Power Fist". The Equivalent US product would be re-branded and sold by Harbor Freight. It's pretty generic. It looks suspiciously like this one which is now branded as a 5 ton. Go figure. I got it on clearance for something like $130

Also note worthy is that they say it can only split a 4" round of hardwood. I've split much larger (frozen) hardwood. I'm pretty sure frozen wood is easier to split. I also look at the wood the same way I would if I were swinging an axe and try to determine the easiest way to split. On a bigger splitter this wouldn't be much of a concern.

 

[hr3]

Have not been on this forum for some time.
I need a log splitter but have some questions.
In reading and talking with others it was mentioned that one should get a 20 ton or higher
log splitter. I was looking at electric log splitters which would fit my needs very well but noticed that 20 ton splitters or higher cost about the same as gas. I would like to take the splitter into my basement which is why I was looking at the electric ones.
Any one have any thoughts between gas and electric log splitters?
I have purchased items from DR prior so looked at their site and found they have an electric log splitter but rated at only 5 ton. I like the heavy duty from DR but feel this may be light for my needs.
I need to split wood that is larger than 10 inches (can split twice) and no longer than 20 inches.

I have both Electric and gas,, I use the gas out in the woods to split up the big stuff,,21 ton and have a 5ton Ryobi in the basement to make kindling with,, One thing I would like to warn you about electrics though,, respect them like the big one's,, they can "Bite" just as hard,, :ashamed:

 

[LD1]

To LD1
I have to make a retraction on my off the top of my head specs. To be exact the cylinder is 4" x 18''. Most people do not read the numbers very close or understand the effect a size change can make. In my orginal post I had actually typed 4" but when I did the math I could not achieve 20 tons. I reverse engineered the formula because I was sure it was 20 tons. I know I have 20 ton bottle jacks because it says so on the label.
I went out to measure on my 4th snow blowing of my drive and the 2nd of the farm lane across the road. Lets put my slip of memory down to Sudden Ground Hog Fever.
Craig Clayton

Definatally not 20 tons then. 4" and 2000psi = ~12.5 tons of force.

But the reasone I was questioning the pump GPM is because along with PSI, GPM is the other factor used to determine HP needed.

There have actually been ALOT of threads in the last year or so about guys wanting to take the 6 or 8 HP motor off their splitter and put on an electric 220v motor and wondering what size they need. Most of the time, it translates into a 5HP motor.

BUT their is a big difference in 5HP motors. There are the motors that only weigh ~40lbs and are a compressor duty that are listed @ 5HP. BUT they really aren't 5HP, especially when they list the FLA at 13 or 15.

And then there are the TRUE 5HP motors. Weigh ~ 130lbs, have a SF of 1.15, and have a FLA of ~21+. These are usually the ones that are needed.

Some people get lucky with the little compressor motors. But motors dont stall easy. They can draw double the FLA and sitll keep working. It just isnt a good Idea and shortens their life expectancy.

And since you initally said yours had a 5" cylinder, a 2HP motor, and was still FAST, something didnt add up.

Using the formula HP required = (gpm x psi) / (1714 x Efficency)

with your high wotking up to about 500PSI, that would give you 5GPM and the low at 2000, that would give you 1.5GPM. Any more than that, and you are probabally over drawing on the motor.

A true 5HP motor is a good match with an 11GPM 2-stage. (which is about 2 GPM on the low speed)

 

[Mike Costello]

I purchased an electric log splitter earlier last year but didn't use it til the fall. I got it mainly for 2 reasons: 1) I can't really justify a gas splitter at this time because of cost/use benefit. 2) My wife, who has low vision, needs something simple and easy to use in case of an emergency heat situation and I'm not home.
It has done a fine job. I used it to split 12" to 16" diameter oak cut to about 16" lengths. It plowed right through even the largest pieces, getting me about 4 splits on some logs. Our wood stove is on the small side, so I have to split the wood further than you would for a larger stove. So far, we've split about 2 cords. I only had trouble with 2 pieces because of multiple knots, so I'm saving those for outdoor pit fires.
It's a 4 ton splitter made by Earthquake and cost $248.00+shipping on sale. Shipping was reasonable considering the weight involved. It's quiet, easy to store, and gets the job done. Best of all, since my wife has gotten her hands on it, I have to fight her just to use it! Mike.

 

[kidr]

Check out the Super Split or wood wolf. Expensive but no hydraulics and you can use gas, water , electric , horse or just about any source of power. I think they're rated at about 20 ton.

 

[Craig Clayton]

This is the link for the Wood Wolf. In fairness the person operating the hydraulic splitter is a bad actor.
The Movie
Craig Clayton

 

[jbooth]

I have this to say about that. If an electric is fitted with tha same components as a gas splitter, they will do the same amount of work.

Electric Drawbacks:
The lack of portability away from electric power.
Probably limited to 5HP or less on household current. I have found 3HP electric to be adequate for my needs. I use a welding receptacle for my power source.


Electric Strong points:
Quiet
More effieciemt HP with the ratio beaing nearly 2 electric HP for every 1 gas HP.
Not as much noise.
No fumes
No flamable liquids.
Less maintenace. No gas to drain after splitting season.

I have both electric and gas splitters. Both have their places. If you are going to be working inside, I can't imagine anything better than some type of electric.

 

[okclumberjack]

9-5-2011 I ahve a 5hp(cheap) electric with a 11gallon pump 2 stage I 90% happy with it wish I would have spent a little extra & got a heaver grade motor, amazing to me that it strains sometimes split oak & black jack thinking going to make the blade a little more pointed might help but overall for a first build pretty happy with it can e-mail me @ okcst1300@hughes.net & can send some pics over my phone if you like .

 

[SpringHollow]

I converted my gas one so that i can run it either gas or electric - takes about 10 - 15 minutes to swap.

Ken