Woodsplitter tractor one or tow behind?

[wawajake]

I heat both my house and garage about 80% by wood and get my wood from my land using the tractor , But getting tired AND want a woodsplitter.
My dealer has a used three point hitch that would still need to be plumbed to my BX2660 and he wants a thousand for it and I think I would need to weld up a better cradle and how many tons it is is vague looks like 10 or 15 ton.

Meanwhile TSC has tow behind 10 ton Speeco woodsplitters for $750 new.
15 ton is $900.

My question is if I typically I am splitting 16 inch long blocks 10 to 12 inch diameter birch and aspen and spruce with the odd Maple blocks for night logs ...........will a 10 ton splitter work for me ? I really need to keep the cost under $1000 for the better half who controls the budget !

 

[VA MTN MAN]

I heat my house and shop also and go through alot of wood. I started with a 3 point but bought a tow behind and havnt used the 3 point since. Ten ton is plenty and faster.Also with the tow behind I unhook and split the wood and throw it right in the bucket saving a step. The only downside to a tow behind I can think of is the extra engine to maintain but to me it is far worth the chnage.

 

[beenthere]

I'd have a talk with the better half who controls the budget. Add up some costs of the other fuel and then talk some more.
The light weight splitters will work for a lot of wood, but they take a beating doing it (IMO). I'd not tie up my tractor with the splitter, but that may just be me wanting to use the tractor to lift larger log sections in the bucket to avoid lifting them. Then I use the tractor forks to move the pallets of split wood off to the drying area.
Some trial and maybe error, and time finding a used splitter may be in store for you, so you can find what works best for you. I've found that over the years, my methods continue to change.
I'm seriously looking at this new handy-looking splitter rig from LogRite.
YouTube - ‪firewoodinator‬‏

 

[roger4400]

Hi. I own a "tow behind" my atv and think it is ideal FOR ME. I can take it where the tree falls. Instead of having a 3 or 4 cylinders engine ( Tractor is a Massey 1643 4 cylinders) the wood splitter is a small 5.5 hp 22tons capacity that use almost no gas to work. I own this cub cadet splitter for almost 15 years no problems to now and some years I was splitting up to 100 cords.....I can take it where I want and his small engine cost nothing to run ( not even a liter of oil at oil change, a lot more on my tractor.....I can move it on my other land very easily......for me it is perfect, YOUR NEEDS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT. Analyse your needs but be shure it is strong enough, some hard wood are tricky to split but mine did everything I asked it. Have a good day. Roger.

 

[KennyG]

This has been debated a number of times and there is no "right" answer. I like my 3 point (PowerHorse 13 ton) because it's easy to move, store and maintain. However, if you like to split "in the woods" and stack into the tractor loader, it's a lot of walking. I cut logs to length and dump them next to my firewood pile. Then I park the tractor in between and split from the log pile to the firewood pile.

Your dealers price on the used 3 point is no good. On your tractor, you can use the Northern Tool PowerHorse 20 ton which is only about $700 or so (plus shipping and hoses). It's a two way splitter so it's very fast working. If you want a 3 point splitter, I'd suggest looking at it. The 13 ton is about $550 and would also work well for you if you can live with a maximum log length of about 19 inches.

 

[art]

At one time I took a lot of three points in trade for tow behinds. Now I don't take them!

 

[avc8130]

I debated this quite a bit and wound up with a $1000 22-ton from TSC.

In the end I couldn't justify piling the hours on a 3 cyl diesel engine in a $25k+ tractor when I could put them on a $200 "lawnmower" motor.

So far I am happy with my decision. The tractor is free to move logs around for bucking while the splitter can be running through the bucked wood. Splits are put on pallets and then the pallet is relocated with the tractor.

Storage is a wash. Most 3-points are about the size of a towed.

Maintaining the splitter is cake. Fresh oil and filter once annually. $20 or less. In the 3 months I have owned my splitter I have probably put about 25 hours on it. I am much happier than seeing those on my tractor's hour meter.

ac

 

[belah]

I think you made a wise choice. Now your tractor is free to do other things like lifting trees and hauling wood in the bucket. Plus you don't get the extra wear and tear on your tractor's hydraulics using a pull behind. Good Job !!:thumbsup:

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I heat both my house and garage about 80% by wood and get my wood from my land using the tractor , But getting tired AND want a woodsplitter.
My dealer has a used three point hitch that would still need to be plumbed to my BX2660 and he wants a thousand for it and I think I would need to weld up a better cradle and how many tons it is is vague looks like 10 or 15 ton.

Meanwhile TSC has tow behind 10 ton Speeco woodsplitters for $750 new.
15 ton is $900.

My question is if I typically I am splitting 16 inch long blocks 10 to 12 inch diameter birch and aspen and spruce with the odd Maple blocks for night logs ...........will a 10 ton splitter work for me ? I really need to keep the cost under $1000 for the better half who controls the budget !

I bought a 3pt hitch Speeco Splitmaster from TSC with 2 8 foot hoses and everything to plumb it with quick connectors and all for 763.00 and as some have already said it is not as fast as a stand alone but it splits as fast as I want to work and I have 8 gallons of flow for my remotes from the pump and that determines how many tons of force you have, I split live oak and water oak both grainy and knotty and it hasn't backed up yet on anything I've wanted it to split. Everybody is different and has different opinions but I bought my tractor to hook implements to and use and I don't view a woodsplitter any different, both 3 pt hitch and stand alone have pro's and con's bottom line they will both split your wood, it's just a matter of personal preference. One last thing if you buy a 3pt hitch splitter everybody and their brother probably won't be borrowing it like they will your stand alone.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

For ages I went without a log splitter. (kids and college tuition.... ) I spent a lot of years mulling over the possibilities. When the opportunity FINALLY made itself available, I bought a Wallenstein 3-point model. Used it with a giant smile on my face for 2 years. Then I took a Troy Bilt 22-ton "trailer type" splitter in on a bad debt. (typically what is sold around here @ Lowes stores...) It WAS going to get sold, until I used it one afternoon to split a truck load of wood.

Sold the 3-point model 2 weeks later.

YMMV