Looking for a log splitter

[Chris616]

I have a history of buying better tools than I really need, but I enjoy working with quality stuff. We lost enough trees in a big wind last year that my wife convinced me that I needed to get a splitter instead of doing it by hand, which is what I’d done until then. I looked at renting, but that wasn’t going to be cost-effective compared to buying. I looked at a lot of really nice splitters online, but this time I bought a tool just good enough to do the job. It was a Champion 27 ton from a big box store. It’s not the greatest quality, but it has a Honda engine, so that part will last a long time.

I could see that stuff would be falling on the engine, and there isn’t enough space for handling material. I looked at some fancy add-on tables that people had made, but in the end I just located a 2’x 6’ folding plastic table on the engine side of the unit. It’s more than strong enough, it protects the engine, and it gives me a space to deal with a round after splitting it the first time.

I haven’t had to use the splitter for over a year now, so every time I see it in the shop it reminds me that I made the right choice of not buying a tool that would be more appropriate for a commercial user.

I did an audit after last summer’s work of cutting, splitting and stacking and there are 27 cords scattered around the property. Please, no more wind storms for a few years.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I've had a decent "homeowner" grade splitter for about 5 years now. I think it's got a Briggs engine on it, rated for 25 tons, and it does well enough for me. It can be used vertically, but I've never done it. It's got a small "table" on it, but it works. Most of our wood is soft wood, and I've split a ton of box elder (horrible stuff-wet, stringy, but burns hot when dried) on it. I don't heat the house with wood, but just augment our heat (we have a wood stove, but also electric furnace). The boss lady likes to sit out back at our fire pit when the evenings are nice. So our wood use is pretty minimal. Less than a cord a year, really.

I haven't even started it up this year, but probably start putting wood up again next summer.

Nothing special, but it's been reliable.

 

[Fclary]

TW-2 Log Splitter | Small Log Splitter

This is what I use to split 3 cords a year.

 

[Thereisagod]

Don't know what your budget is, but this is the one in my signature: RuggedSplit 737-30-RE Log Splitter: 37-Ton, Raven 420cc, Log Lift, 30" Stroke

Other than putting it together (Which was a bit of a pain, but easy enough with a buddy and a couple of nights after work)
It's more expensive than a box store splitter, but runs circles around them. I have the interchangeable 4 way and 6 way wedge for it. The log lift has saved my back numerous times and I've yet to find something it won't go through.

Good luck!

It's over $5 grand!

 

[charlessenf]

I’d like to split the wood where the tree falls.

Wow, interesting objective. Why is that?

I cut down fifty foot trees, trim the branches off, cut the trunk into 10-12' lengths and drag them with my 4x4 ATV to a nice flat area near the firewood crib (for 3 cords you'll need a crib about 26' x 4.5' x 4.5' with access round the ends and front and rear).

I can usually lay out three logs or four and cut halfway through at appropriate intervals (I use 16-17" wood) then roll the log and finish the cuts. I can get about thirty 16" chunks out of three logs - but I might pull another log or two into the area and cut them up.

Then I hitch the Dirty Hands Splitter (LOWES - Vertical/Horizontal 27-ton Log Splitter) to the ATV and take it out of the basement to the wood. I set a Gorilla 4 wheel Cart on the other side and begin splitting wood (well, the wife does a lot of that as she can sit in a chair and do it). As the wood is split, it is placed in the Gorilla Cart/Wagon until it is filled. They I pull the filled one off, replace it with an empty cart and pull the loaded cart to the crib and stack the contents while the wife fills the other cart. After a few carts, we may pull the splitter up a ways rather than move the chunks to it.

Now, I can harvest some trees close to the house/crib, but most are up the mountain or down in the hollow. My ATV can't pull an 18" caliper log up from the hollow - I use a tractor for those. Not sure it can pull one down the mountain either! (it, a 2004 Bombardier Outlander 330, has handled lots of lesser trees!) If I can't move a ten or twelve foot log to the splitting area, I'll cut that tree into lengths I can haul out because it is far easier to drag the log to the splitter than it is to move that splitter OPERATION up the mountain and haul the split wood back down to the CRIB a small wagon load at a time. I have used the FEL to move such 24" diameter chunks to the splitting area.

As to the splitter, I like the one I bought but can't recommend it 'cause they ain't made no mo no mo!

Can't recall ever using it in HORIZONTAL mode. Makes no sense trying to lift a heavy chunk of wood 20+ inches off the ground when you can roll it over and tilt it up onto the foot even when it must weigh a hundred pounds! Then again, I'm an old man.

By the way, I think an 18" caliper log ten-twelve feet long will fill three or four (or maybe more) wagon loads of split wood, So better to make one trip down the mountain with a log than three or four with a wagon - good luck

 

[charlessenf]

30" Stroke ???

Wow! What size fireplace do you have?

 

[WranglerX]

Wow! What size fireplace do you have?

I cut to standard 16 inch fire place size so my 24 inch stroke splitter suffices...

 

[Bob64]

I've had a 27 ton Troy Bilt log splitter that I bought from Lowes for well over a decade now. In my opinion, the most important thing to look for in a log splitter is the engine. Honda makes the very best small engine, and all the other brands try to compare to how close they are to Honda, but none are as good. My log splitter starts every time I need to use it. It runs all day, and it's trouble free. Other brands work well when new, but quickly become difficult to start, or keep running.

27 tons has proven to be enough for anything I put on it. I can split anything I can pick up, but I try to keep my rounds in the 12 to 20 inch range. Some are bigger, but it's getting harder and harder to pick up that much oak as I get older. I only use the tilt function when I get a round that is just too heave to pick up. I hate splitting them that way, it's just a lot more work and effort.

I added plywood tables to either side of my splitter, so nothing falls off of it, and when I split a round in half, I can usually keep that half on the plywood, and work on the other half. The fewer times I have to bend over to pick something up, the better!!!

One tank of gas in the splitter will fill up the bed in my Kawasaki Mule. I like to run the engine until it runs out of gas. I normally only split one load per day. Then I still have plenty of energy to do other things. A full day of splitting and stacking wood will wear me out for the next day.

Lowes doesn't sell Troy Bilt splitters anymore. They have Craftsman, but I wouldn't spend any money on that brand. Used to be good, but now it's really bad. I think Northern Tool has some log splitters with Honda engines. I don't think the hydraulics or the rest of the splitter is that different from one brand to another. The only thing that matters is the Honda engine.

I have one also and it has split anything and everything I could throw at it including some very large gnarly maple pieces that I had to use a crowbar to move them into place.
Also before I tilt it up into vertical position I fully extend the ram which helps balance the unit. After so many years of use the Honda engine has started cycling and became hard to start so I put on a new carb. It helped the cycling but is still hard start. Haven't figured that cause yet.

 

[mdicken1]

I bought a Champion from HD last season. Got tired of looking for a used one as I really didn't want to spend that much money on a asian made machine. This is the 30Ton unit - a real beast - splits anything I stuff in it but it is insanely loud. the first time I tried to use it the hydraulic filter exploded. HD was really good to swap it out - which is another thing. No way did I want to fool with putting the thing together. The poster above is right about engines. I love Honda engines - period! However, no more than this thing will run for home use I feel pretty confident that the Champion engine will be fine. The only thing I don't like is debris from the splitting process falls down on the engine (others have commented that it's a fire hazard so I routinely blow that stuff off before it accumulates). This unit was by far the best price that I could find plus it was convenient to shop at HD.

 

[Timmy1957]

I bought one for $50 from a friend .. it was a three point hitch… I put an axle. a pump, tank and gas engine on it. I have less than $500 it it. Has a bulldozer cylinder on it . Will split anything. And I carry a spare tire.

 

[gsganzer]

One thing to consider.
I cut all my oak firewood at my deer lease (dry standing oak). I buck it up into 20" lengths and haul back 3-4 loads throughout the year (8' truck bed, mounded over the bed rails). I burn throughout late fall-winter-early spring in both a patio fireplace and a livingroom fireplace. We burn a lot in the livingroom, almost runs 24-7 through the winter.

After collecting all those loads through the year, on a weekend in early fall, employing the help of my wife and daughters, I rent a splitter from Home Depot and split all of it in an 8-hour day. We stack it, sweep/rake all the tailings (saving many for the smoker) and we're done for the year. I return the splitter to HD and I'm only out $80- $100 for the day of rental for the year. In reality, I could probably split 2X as much for the 1-day daily rental if we really wanted to bust out backsides.

Anyway, as much as I like having tools and gadgets, the 1 day rental still makes more sense.

 

[TIMMYDUCK]

I bought this County line 40 ton to replace a 15 year old Craftsman 27 ton

Talked them into 2500 deal .

One year in and 75 cord or so bucked up it has performed flawlessly.

 

[PeterV]

Love kinetic energy 4 Hp Subaru engine Super split. Made in West Bridgewater, Mass. 11 years old
Zero issues, Love the NO hydraulic fluid aspect. About 6 cords a year.

 

[caver]

I split mostly White and Red Oak. I picked up a Swisher new many years ago. Later I bought their 4 way wedge. Back then Orscheln sold them. Orscheln was bought out by Tractor Supply and Bomgaars. Now the prices are crazy high on those splitters and they only offer an electric model and a very pricey gas model.

 

[Smokeydog]

Use to use a Sotz monster maul and chainsaw for all splitting. Splurged and bought a Northern Hydraulics 27 ton V/H in 1986. Spilt for several families. Have replaced engine once, hoses and tires. New Buck model 91 wood stove installed with SS liner in 1991 really reduced the amount of wood needed but needed to be high quality split, dry wood.

2012 new minisplit heat pump can heat for about a $1/day and supplement with wood stove when it gets really cold, power outages or just want to watch the fire. Hard to beat warming up around a wood stove after working outside in the cold.

 

[Fields_mj]

I split by hand from the time I was old enough to swing a maul until about the time I was 45. My shoulders started giving me fits around that time. In the off season I found a 26 ton MTD splitter in great shape for $475 so I bought it. Wish I had bought one a decade earlier. It's not a great splitter, but it can handle anything I can lift. It will split vertical, but I don't like bending over, and I don't like trying to sit on my rear end while I'm trying to work. I welded up a couple of tables that bolt onto it. I split mostly hickory, with some oak and locust mixed in. I cut most of my firewood 20" to 22" long, and most of it splits by the time the wedge gets 6" into it so it goes pretty fast. If I can't lift the log onto the splitter, or I think it's going to be close, I use a 90cc chainsaw to noodle it into halves, quarters, or smaller if need be (still working on parts of a 72" oak).

The main point here is that if a person isn't splitting over 10 cord of hardwood per year, almost any splitter will probably work just fine.

 

[brutus54]

Just bought an Oregon 30 ton log splitter. We burn between 14 to 18 facecord of mostly oak and ash. I buy our firewood split but there are some large pieces and it's getting harder to swing a maul as I approach 70yrs old. Found some big knotted pieces and the splitter just popped through without a slowing down.

 

[Menagerie-Manor]

Grabbed a local Marketplace special last week for $100, kinda was a "what the hell buy". Turns out it's a vintage John Deere 52 with a tired engine so I hit HF for a 6.5 hp Predator engine for $147 that was a direct fit, fresh hyd oil and filter and she is really doing the job. Did about a cord and a half of Alder yesterday and today.

 

[Fields_mj]

Grabbed a local Marketplace special last week for $100, kinda was a "what the hell buy". Turns out it's a vintage John Deere 52 with a tired engine so I hit HF for a 6.5 hp Predator engine for $147 that was a direct fit, fresh hyd oil and filter and she is really doing the job. Did about a cord and a half of Alder yesterday and today.

View attachment 825243View attachment 825244

Looks like a Diddier. I have one out in the fence row that I need to put a new engine on. Decent little machines. People use to get them and modify them. Bascially lift them up to a comfortable work height and build a table around it. Should work for a long time.

 

[Fields_mj]

Just bought an Oregon 30 ton log splitter. We burn between 14 to 18 facecord of mostly oak and ash. I buy our firewood split but there are some large pieces and it's getting harder to swing a maul as I approach 70yrs old. Found some big knotted pieces and the splitter just popped through without a slowing down.

A friend of mine is a few years older than you, and has heated with firewood his entire life. He's on 120 acre farm that's roughly 3/4 woods. He has a splitter that mounts on the 3ph of his tractor and he uses that a lot. A couple of years ago, his son bought him one of those little electric splitters from harbor freight so he could use it indoors next to his wood furnace (Clayton). He absolutely loves the little thing. I've still got a couple of decades to go, but I kick around the idea of getting one every year. Would be nice in the basement since I don't really have room overhead to get a good swing going.