Good Morning Everybody!


Ok, I am well on the far side of half way to a hundred and the good old 16 pound and 20 pound splitting mauls are knocking the crud outa me.

Thinking about getting a gas log splitter but I know very little about them.

The local rental place has them for $40.00/4 hours or $60.00/day which seams steep and I need a little more versatility then a rental.

I see them rated at 16 tons, 22 tons, 28 tons, and 35 tons.

Single action and double action.

Horizontal or convertibles, both horizontal and vertical.

Options include Log rack and quad splitter heads.

I also see some very cheap electric powered ones. Not sure about those.

I have used a couple of gas log splitters before, but not too often.

I split primarily white oak, some red oak, some ash, walnut, some cherry, and some hickory. Mostly White Oak though.


I burn about 6 to 8 face cords a year. My largest fireplace accepts 18 inch logs although a couple of my wood stoves I need to cut them in 12 inch to 14 inch lengths.


Any advice or experience you could provide would be appreciated!

What size (tonnage) do I need?

Is the electric worth considering? (to be run off a 4000 watt generator).

I see the used ones on the market but they appear to be about 75% of the new price and appear to be heavily used, does not look like a good option. Comments?

Thank you,
Cranky


p.s. I have also posted this question on couple other forums so please understand if you see my question elsewhere.




www.ccrcpistolteam.weebly.com
www.ccrcrifleteam.weebly.com

use electric one at home


gas one at the cabin


also use a 21 year old splitter at home, love to watch that guy work

and still do some handsplittin myself.

gas ones are faster, but have been surprised at what a lil workhorse the lil electric jig has turned out to be.


pard was giving me chit about it, that splitting by hand is faster


hmmm he declined to have a 6 hour race him splittin by hand me with electric and winner take all split wood

he ain't as dumb as he looks

I think the ideal splitter would be a 22ton horizontal/vertical model with a Honda engine.

I had a 22ton years ago and now own a 30ton. Generally, the bigger the cylinder the longer the cycle time. Seems like I'm waiting more on my newer 30ton model to start another cycle. My current splitter has the Honda engine and is much smoother running and starts easier compared to the Briggs I had on my last. I love being able to split vertically and do 85-90% of it that way.

Good Luck!

I've had a 7 ton electric for 4 or 5 years. It's served me well, but all i get is pine/poplar/cottonwood and a little willow. Not sure how it would do on oak. When i do get into something it won't split I just leave those ones out until they're frozen. Not sure why but frozen wood splits much easier.

The 22 ton horizontal / vertical units from one of the big box stores are probably the best value. They run close to $1k and will handle anything but the worst crotches and gnarly stuff. Don't bother looking for a 4 way unless you are going to start selling wood. The double action units are nice as long as you limit the size of logs you are working with.

Lots of information on this forum, but a lot of it is from firewood sellers so they have a bias towards big and fast:

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/forums/firewood-heating-and-wood-burning-equipment.55/

Jerry

I have a Husky 27-ton horizontal/vertical splitter with a Honda engine that I bought at Tractor Supply about 12 years ago. The long cylinder is a bit slow, but you can stop the return stroke to leave just enough space for the next log to speed things up. I mostly use the horizontal mode to save my 66-year old back from having to bend over too much, but the vertical mode is very useful for large, heavy pieces.

I have never encountererd a piece of wood that it would not split. It doesn't matter how gnarly it is, that Husky splitter will conquer it.

I bought the splitter after wrecking my shoulder swinging a splitting maul. It was the best money I ever spent.

I'm farther along than the 50 yard mark, and I don't mind the return stroke wait one bit. Keeps you at a pace that isn't too fast. There is a lot to be said for a model that will tilt verticle, let's you roll bigger pieces in place and not have to pick them up.

I posted some stuff about this a while back. I work for a guy who is in the arbor business. We cut a lot of trees down. The best wood we get is from mesquite and eucalyptus. We bought a very expensive Barretto splitter. It can operate either vertical or horizontal. Vertical is nice with heavier logs because you don't have to lift them. You do have to move the pieces out of the way each time. The Barretto is reasonably fast on reasonable wood. It really struggles with mesquite and yuke though. We took it back, had it turned up from 2700 psi to 3000 psi and it is just not strong enough with the fast wedge design to pop through a yuke in one stroke. We tried the other rental ones they had and they were not much better.

The wood you are describing would be no problem for a 22 ton splitter. A 9 hp Honda is a perfect motor. I am going to build a much bigger splitter with a 20 hp Honda on it. I am going to use a 6" cylinder. A splitter like this is $7000 on the commercial firewood market. A decent consumer model is probably going to cost you $1500.

Buy this one and you'll never have to worry about back problems again.





L.W.

If you haven't tried a good (grandfos bruk, ketterling, stihl/Husquvarna branded) lighter weight maul do yourself a favor and try one. 6-8 pound range mauls with good wood handles will split as good as the heavier ones and are less taxing on the body. DR makes some good splitters both hydraulic and inertia.

Start with a good tractor like a Deere!! You can thank me later!

i've used a bunch of borrowed mid range splitters. i do almost all white and red oak. the 27 seems to be the best size. the 22 is a little light for my stuff at times. as others said, get a honda engine. Tractor supply sells a nice one for around 1500. i plan on getting one next year so i don't have to borrow anymore. the one i have been borrowing lately is a 27 ton husky with the honda and it hasn't choked on anything yet and i do white oak that is 24-30 inches across.

This with electric start, add a 2 wheel cart to load the big ones

Awesome Information Everybody!

I appreciate the advice and suggestions, although I am sure that bobcat splitter is a bit beyond the budget. Keep the recommendations coming because this is invaluable information.

Regards,
Cranky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oteG_9rj4ls

If I had the bucks, I'd have one of these.