I have had both the MTD/Troybilt/Yardman/whatevernameyouwanttostickonthem, and the Speeco. Hands down, the speeco is a far sturdier machine.
I went big when I bought my Speeco and bought the 35 ton model, but the quality of build is the same no matter what unit you buy. The 22 ton model at TSC is a bargain for what you are getting, and I know plenty of guys that use theirs in a commercial type of operation, and they are more than satisfied with it. the MTD model that seems to be plaguing the big box stores may have more "advertised" tonnage, but with the $1700 price tag that goes along with it I would shy away from it and stick to the 22 ton Speeco. After all, even if its bigger it aint going to get more work done if its sitting in pieces in your garage waiting for MTD to tell you to pound sand on the warranty. And the sad fact is, no matter what happens to that splitter or when it happens, they will tell you to pound sand.Been there, done that.
If you want to read some threads on the fallacy of the MTD type splitters, here you go. Bear in mind that its a rare occasion when this type of failure happens, but when it does the machine is toast. There is little economical repairs for this kind of failure, hence the reason whey I sold it off and got the speeco.
http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/174531.htm?highlight=Troy+bilt
http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/174880.htm?highlight=Troy+bilt
http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/175209.htm?highlight=Troy+bilt
http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/173407.htm
The biggest problem, and what is discussed in the threads above, is the weak trunnion type mount. While in most cases it will hold up fine, if you get one that was improperly welded in the factory, or split a lot of twisted and knarly wood that has a tendency to make the wedge wallow and wobble around and therefore putting stress on one trunnion over the other, the trunnion itself shears right off the cylinder. And when it goes under a high stress push, expect it to go not only with a bang, but a faceful of hydralic fluid as well. I figure it took me three days to get my eyebrows back down out from under my hat when mine went.
The red arrow shows the weak point. when it shears off, it looks like the picture below. This is an actual picture of mine after I managed to crawl to the house, down three pitchers of beer, and got my knees to stop stomping out the theme song from "Hi Ho Silver"
View attachment 239172
There are several other design flaws I am going to go ahead and point out. The log cradle is a joke. I have never seen a MTD splitter with any use on it what so ever where the original log cradle doesnt resemble a taco. The problem is, the horizontal pieces that hold up the log cradle are virtually at the same level as the flat beam, and when a chunk splits it spreads out, catches the log cradle, and bends the snot out of it. I got tired of always having to smack it back into shape with a sledge hammer, but luckily the four weak bolts that hold it on to the beam gave way before I got disgusted and broke off, and the log cradle went into the scrap heap.
The wedge that travels along the beam is held in place by a series of wedges under the arms that hold the wedge to the beam, and they have to be adjusted for wear frequently. forget to to adjust them, and the wedges fall out and you get to either make some new ones out of cold rolled steel, or buy new ones from MTD at the cost of $26 plus freight for a set of four. The bolts that allow for adjustment are very prone to catch on rounds when the wedge is splitting through and break off, and its lots of fun trying to drill them out and install new ones. If you have a limited swear vocabulary, plan on learning some new ones if you call me up and ask me how get them out. I even invented some new words when three broke off in one day, and spent an hour drilling them out, just to repeat the process again the next weekend. When a friend called me to ask about fixing his, he hung up on me by the second time I stopped to catch my breath.
These machines are fine for the occasional user, a user that does not often encounter knarled pieces of wood, or someone who just likes the paint colors. But if you are looking for a splitter that will be around for the next 50 years, keep looking.MTD is not the answer.
