Gripe about tiny tires on hydraulic splitters

[svk]

A little rant.

What's up with the tiny tires and non high speed axles on most new splitters???? I'd gladly pay a little more to have more ground clearance and the ability to pull the thing down the freeway. 45 mph limit on these things isn't cool.

 

[stihly dan]

Me too. But most people it's about the price and only the price. We see it here all the time, cheapest wins.

 

[fordf150]

Cheapest wins is probably accurate. They figure most people don't know and of those that do understand a majority would buy based on price

 

[sawjunky23]

My splitter has 5.30-12 tires on it but it is too low to the ground and has no suspension so even at 55 it bounces so hard you swear its going to tip over, I agree with you that it would be nice to have decent size tires but it seems it's almost a better option to just put the darn things on a trailer. If I ever built one, I would try to put a torsion axle under it and larger tires so you could pull it down the road decent.

 

[CaseyForrest]

Ive never roaded a splitter. Always been put onto a trailer.

For the reasons stated.

 

[svk]

The rental splitters in my area are on 14" car rims and pull along very nicely. It's just nuts that something with tires and a hitch should be forced to be loaded onto another trailer. Which isn't an easy feat if you don't have an atv or helper.

 

[cantoo]

Money talks and bullcrap walks. Same reason why they don't come Standard with an auto cycle valve. Same reason why they don't come Standard with a log lift. Same reason why they don't have expensive tail lights. Just another one of those items that sometimes you get what you pay for. I could have bought a splitter the way I wanted it but I was too cheap to buy it so I bought a cheap one and cut it up and made what I wanted. I would bet that the mass majority of splitters never leave the property until they are sold and even then they likely get trailered to the new place.

 

[NSMaple1]

I don't care about the highway towing thing, but sure would like bigger wheels and more ground clearance. Thought about looking around for bigger wheels but never got round to it.

 

[VW Splitter]

 

[VW Splitter]

I have a home built splitter with real live road tires on it, but I put it on a trailer if I am traveling out of town. For me, I need the trailer when I get to where I am going. posting pics has me outsmarted. I am better with a chainsaw than a computer.

 

[USMC615]

Option A- trailer...Option B- trailer...Option C-...don't exist. Lol

 

[sawjunky23]

View attachment 444175

Very nice setup

 

[svk]

That is a very nice looking splitter, VW.

 

[VW Splitter]

That is a very nice looking splitter, VW.

It makes the whole process a lot easier.

 

[zogger]

I was thinking about this the other day. Guys have snowplows on the front of decent enough trucks, could a gas splitter be mounted there for transport?

 

[Guswhit]

I was thinking about this the other day. Guys have snowplows on the front of decent enough trucks, could a gas splitter be mounted there for transport?

I think too much weight on the front end. Especially when you consider how much farther out it would hang than a plow. I tried to find the weight of my Boss plow, but it has all of the undercarriage added in so I couldn't get a true figure for just the plow. Didn't did real hard though either. I mounted large farm wagon floatation tires on my homemade splitter, and then put high speed bearings in them. Its great when you get into a little mud or the farm field is a little frozen in the winter with the flotation tires.

 

[Philbert]

As noted, highway towable axles, wheels, and lights are available from many log splitter manufacturers. Usually seen on the larger, heavier, and much more expensive models, such as rental units, since you essentially have to add the cost of a trailer.

Think of these smaller models as being designed to 'tow' around a property, in and out of a garage, etc. Same thing with medium-sized, homeowner-grade chippers, generators, etc.

Philbert

 

[svk]

I really don't need a hydro as I normally process easy to split species in manageable quantities but probably most feasible to buy a Black Friday DHT and upgrade the undercarriage myself if I wanted a splitter.

 

[sawjunky23]

I really don't need a hydro as I normally process easy to split species in manageable quantities but probably most feasible to buy a Black Friday DHT and upgrade the undercarriage myself if I wanted a splitter.

I think that is what I am going to do this fall!

 

[NorthernOntario]

I built a splitter last year. The first requirement was that it be road towable... Since it's first journey would be a 500+km tow.

14" car tires and an old rear axle off a parts car. Adapted to leaf springs.

The hydraulic reservoir is almost as wide as the inside width between the tires. Holds about 12 gallons, made with a big chunk of 8x8 HSS. Some pieces of 2x2 HSS sticking out as stubs provide spring shackle mounts.

Beam is welded to the reservoir. Engine and pump hang off the back. Tongue sticks out the front of the beam.

Tows like a dream. I would have used torsion axles but I had the car axle and tires... And the load doesn't necessitate trailer tires.

Of course since towing it home it hasn't left the yard.