I hope you took my post in the good nature it was intended. That being said......
Unless the oil has been contaminated from condensation in the tank, at 8 hours run time, even with 2 1/2 years behind it I think it would be unlikely that the oil would be the cause of a failure.
I have machines that have 30 to 50 gallon hydraulic tanks. The oil I use is about 18 bucks a gallon so I don't change the oil before 250 hours on the masticator's, and 500 hours on the other machines as long as it's not been contaminated. I know that heat is the biggest enemy of hydraulic systems (other than contamination), but I don't believe that the average person could pull the handle on a splitter fast enough to get the heat up to what a masticator will run on average, and that oil will last 250 hours. Maybe more if you had it annalized.
I had a guy working on one of my machines the other day and I had him look at my Huskee splitter. He said the same thing I told SpeeCo over a year ago...The pump isn't kicking down into low range the way it's supposed to. He said that pump wasn't worth messing with, get a Barns. So I guess I'll get me a new pump some time.
I rebuilt my 26 year old Duerr splitter from stem to stern and spent about $900 (upgraded to a 9 hp engine & 16 gpm pump
) So I guess if I put another $900 in my $900 Huskee, I might have a decent splitter.
Andy