Electric splitter worth it?

[Tjcole50]

I'm sure this is a topic discussed before, but I'm curious if it is worth my money. I will be splitting a lot of rounds for awhile but 75% of splitting is done at my brother in laws house. Where we currently cut is much closer to his house so we just load and dump at his place. I always take atleast one full load back to my house. Never go home empty handed! But anyway I have I nice wood storage lean to off the back of my garage . I am just curious how any if you have done with one of these as far as holding up. I still need to buy a trailer and a 70cc so I figure a couple hundred $ for a 5-7 ton electric may pay for itself in short order. Here are some examples of what it will see. Thanks!

 

[XSKIER]

X27 + a little sweat is greater than an electric splitter.

 

[Tjcole50]

I have an x27 , the x whatever 23" , fiskars hatchet, 8lb maul, 2 old wedges , grenade wedge, and sledge. Electric would be great on backside of garage and my woman can run one without being intimidated . Just wanna see if they are holding up.

 

[Jakers]

this is an old post that i remember from a few years back

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/i-made-a-video-of-my-splitter.191891/

the link in the post to the video doesnt work so here is that too

 

[Tjcole50]

this is an old post that i remember from a few years back

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/i-made-a-video-of-my-splitter.191891/

the link in the post to the video doesnt work so here is that too

I think he Is spot on for homeowner use we tend to go overkill haha! But when it is a hobby/fun/heat it is worth the money to step it up a notch. But these little electrics look grea and I can always noodle the gnarly crotch knot pieces. I think for the light splitting I do at my house it will do. But the amount we are collecting at the bil house no way! May give one of these a shot soon. Any recommended brands and are there any that require one hand operation? Two hand operation sounds annoying.

 

[3000 FPS]

I have a 5 ton electric splitter. It does ok, but like what was already mentioned you will have to noodle the tougher pieces. I also cut my logs into shorter pieces so that they split easier. I only paid 225.00 dollars for mine on sale. I have not had any problems with it yet but I have only used it now for one year. I am going to buy a bigger splitter only because I get a lot of big rounds that need to be split and it should cut down on the amount of noodling I do now.

From the looks of your wood you could get by with one. It will also depend on the type of wood you are splitting too. After while you get a feel for what the splitter will handle and you just noodle down the wood.

 

[ttyR2]

Most of those electric ones seem the same. The Dirty Hand Tools one looks just like the other brands.

 

[Poindexter]

I am very happy with my five ton electric splitter. I burn about seven cords a year. I cut on Saturdays, and then go out to the woods after work on weekdays to bring out rounds I cut over the weekend. Some evenings I go out and split a little while.

For the same price as my bought and paid for electric (with a two year warranty on it) I could have rented a gas powered splitter from Home Depot for I think two eight hour days. Maybe three days at eight hours each. Much easier on my back to do 30 minutes a day.

At 25 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity, splitting a cord costs me about 6 to 8 bucks max, and that is assuming 100% duty cycle on the motor. Real world, probably 3 or 4 bucks actual electrons sucked through the meter.

Yes I noodle stuff in the field bigger splitters could probably get through. Yes, the ram isn't very fast - but I am talking 7-10 cords per year, not per week.

OTOH clear rounds with no knots, or just a couple small knots, mine can pop a 20" diameter round without blowing the circuit breaker.

I had three brands to choose from in town, they all sure looked "the same" except for paint color. For me the Homelite one from Home-Depot was the least expensive one, I think I got the two year extended warranty (four years total) for about an extra $15.

If I can split 40 cords with the thing in the next four years I'll be out about $150-160 for electricity, have no payments on the splitter, and only have the one trip to Home-Depot to have bought the thing in the first place.

Not for everyone, but certainly worth a look if you have mostly pretty clear wood to split and are only splitting for yourself.

 

[blades]

Small electrics- 5-7ton recommend 7 ton, you can modify to get to one handed operation, but the components are not particularly designed for continuous running like a gas splitter. There are electric versions of 15-20 ton units course the cost is about the same as a gas unit.
Swinging an axe or mall for some of us just isn't in the cards any more at least not on an extended basis.

 

[flotek]

The tonnage on these is deceptive it's not that they don't work well it's that a 4 ton and a 7 ton use the same motor and cylinder it's just a marketing ploy most all of these are made in the same factory somewhere in china . That bring said I owned one for several years before I got a big gas powered unit mine was a homelite . It is surprising how well it works and what it splits . Sometimes on nasty nasty stuff you gotta edge it and make a few attempts but to me it's better than swinging a fiskars x27 which in my opinion is nothing special . Fiskars is overrated but decent on small straight rounds . I have split many cords with mine before selling it . I can safely say I would much rather set a big round on a electric splitter than smack it with an axe all day . Let's face it once your tired from swings your not going to get much else done as efficiently .they need elevated off the ground and the cycle time is pretty slow . The pros are they are cheap require little effort no no loud noise or fuel ..But don't be fooled by their size they are no toy and can split big rock hard rounds it just takes a while . If you can't afford a grand or more for a gas unit I'd consider one. I know some will disagree but I'll put it this way : I'd rather spend. 250$ on a electric splitter than 50$ on a fiskars x27

 

[blades]

I have a little 4t? HF ( least wise that's the way it was marketed 10 years ago) electric unit. Its only 14" but at the time was more than enough for the stove I had. ok on fairly straight stuff not much help on crotches or other uglies. I haven't used it in quite a while as with the NC 30 17-18" is what i use. looks pretty much like most of them out there now.

 

[TeeMan]

Do you plan on doing this very often? With a 70cc you will be getting into some larger rounds, so you may want to save up for a larger splitter.

 

[Tjcole50]

Yea we will be splitting a lot but most will be done at bil house. I have quite a few rounds in my storage ,stacked outback and off to the side of my garage. Renting a splitter around me is 80-100$ that's why I was thinking of an electric for now

 

[3000 FPS]

The electric splitter I have I use on the tail gate of my truck. I just back the truck up to where I want to split and run a good extension cord.

 

[ss~zoso~ss]

^Thats what my parents do, we have a splitter like the one in the vid posted above. We've used it for 3 years now, much easier to use than a gas job, easier to store, no fumes and much less maintenance. You have to know how to split with it, i.e. putting logs on at an upwards angle sometimes if they're hard to split, or positioning them in such a way aligned with the checks (Just as if you were splitting with an axe).

If you don't like it, you can return it! As also mentioned above they seem to all be made from the same components, we found the cheapest one at 250$ and bought it, we love it!

 

[flotek]

Dollar for dollar they are a good value. I sold mine after several years use and still got over half what I paid for it and it was even dented on the rails . It didn't owe me a thing

 

[Jeremy102579]

I live in the city and burn about 4 facecords of wood a season so I can justify spending $1000+ for a gas splitter. I "Love" splitting wood with my x27. Always told myself If I could find an electric splitter for cheap, Id go for it.

So 2 years ago I found one of the Ryobi ones like in the video above on craigslist used for $100 locally. A little beat up but I don't care. Well worth it for the size rounds I normally find around here. Still works fine to this day. Best $100 I ever spent on firewood tools. When it goes, would I spend $300+ for a new one ????? I'm not sure.....

 

[Tjcole50]

I live in the city and burn about 4 facecords of wood a season so I can justify spending $1000+ for a gas splitter. I "Love" splitting wood with my x27. Always told myself If I could find an electric splitter for cheap, Id go for it.

So 2 years ago I found one of the Ryobi ones like in the video above on craigslist used for $100 locally. A little beat up but I don't care. Well worth it for the size rounds I normally find around here. Still works fine to this day. Best $100 I ever spent on firewood tools. When it goes, would I spend $300+ for a new one ????? I'm not sure.....

What in the world you burning 4 cords in the city for??? No natural gas?

 

[dave_376]

I was on a really tight budget a few years ago when I started burning wood. I was splitting by hand and picked up a fiskars because of all the hype. I'm going to say it doesn't split wood but I will agree with what flotec said I would rather spend money on an electric than a fiskars!! I got by with a cheap maul, sledge and wedges just fine, I got the fiskars and felt like I wasted $50. Fifty dollars that would have been better spent on a tool that I could get more use out of, saw chain, chaps, or a splitter. After watching the video about the ryobi splitter I considered buying it. I ended up borrowing a MTD 25ton splitter for a few weeks and split 7 cord with it. I had enough wood to make it through 2 winters split and stacked, 11 cord total. I watched craigslist and eventually found a great deal on a nearly new yard machine splitter ($350) same as the mtd. Its not the best or the fastest splitter on the market but it has split every piece I tried to. I still sometimes think it would be nice to have a small electric splitter to split stuff smaller while loading the stove, I hate having a gap in the stove and pieces just too big to fit but if I had an electric I could make use of the space.

I don't have any reason to say no to an electric splitter, they have been proven to do a good job. They are relatively quiet, can be used indoors, they don't have gas that will go bad, they are light and portable, and they are fairly cheap.

I want to buy an electric supersplit!!!!

 

[3000 FPS]

I agree with you Dave, especially about having the option of splitting wood in your garage during winter if you want.