Log Splitter-What do we NEED?

[Hoping4Heat]

My husband says we don't need one. I think he's going to splitting wood all winter if we don't get one. Rentals here are $100 per day and we don't have a hitch on our cars, so then there's getting it here. I'm not sure about going in with people on one either, but am sure that if we have it, everyone will borrow it...

 

[Dok]

I went through the same argument a couple months ago. It finally came down to the time saved means more to me than the money it cost for a splitter. I borrowed my neighbors splitter first and realized I can split the wood much faster than by hand. You know what really surprised me? I came home from work last week and my wife had split a cord of wood on her own. We can split the wood quickly and the two of us can concentrate on stacking it. We almost have next years wood cut and stacked already, last year I was still cutting in January.
Dok

 

[Mike Van]

http://nwct.craigslist.org/grd/895476148.htmlHere's a used one right up in Winsted Ct - The Didier splitter I bought in 1979 is still getting it done. 625.00 for this one.

 

[Ole Farmerbuck]

I'm old so I like my Swisher brand splitter. It has a clutch disengagement lever for cold days so you aren't trying to spin the pump and motor at the same time. About $1100 for the 22 ton.

 

[wannabe2]

Electric ?

Although they are probably considered toys by the 20ton guys, I was surprised when the wife brought home a Ryobi 4T electric splitter to help me with a tendonitis type elbow problem from spitting big stuff lately. I used it to split a few normal 16-18" long 12" diameter chunks of sugar maple and it did it no prob, both dry and green. After some breakin runs I threw in some knarly dry pieces (from near the base of the tree or at a crotch) that I've been using as chopping blocks as my maul would just bounce off them. It split those without a strain too. I've managed to split even bigger stuff and only had it stall a couple times, but, after popping the log off the splitter and repositioning it, I haven't had anything that it would not split after retrying. Even 24" long and 20" in diameter. Of course the only holdback would be the availability of electricity, but if you only need a household unit, are not in the business, its a good buy for around $250-300. I changed the hydraulic oil in it after an hr of use to flush out any machining debris and the probably cheapo asian oil, but it was clean. (just a habit I do with any new mechanical thing) I tried to use it with my 4800watt generator but it would trip the 15amp breakers.

 

[Engineeredlawns]

Rentals here are right at $100, add insurance and tax and you are at $120 for a day. They are 20 ton units that are not that good. So for 10 rentals, you can purchase a splitter from Northern or TSC. Having your own, you can split at your own pace.

 

[Zodiac45]

Yep. It just makes NO sense to buy MTD junk when you can have a Speeco for the same kind of price. It's 10 times the machine MTD puts out.


BTW, MTD now makes Troy stuff. Another good name ruined!

Don't know why you've got such a H-on for MTD Mark? Lot's of guys have them and I've yet too see one of them (on this board) complain about the machines capabilities or it breaking down? I'm sure it happens but you're the only guy (regularly) trashing them and you don't even own one. If I'm not mistaken didn't you just have have to have your splitter replaced because you bent the beam/anvil? I rest my case.

 

[beerman6]

My first year heating with wood,we would just pile up the chunks and then rent a splitter(@90 bucks a day) and work our arses off to get it done,Now that I own one I can split at my leisure and life (and our backs) are much better off.

 

[onenut]

Why spend all that money on those splitters when you can have one of these baby's...:jawdrop:

6 Ton Compact Log Splitter - $50 (Chesterfield)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: [email protected] [?]
Date: 2008-10-28, 3:43PM EDT



Compact machine applies 6 tons of pressure to split logs over 2 ft. long. Affordable price makes it ideal for the homeowner.


Maximum log capacity: 27'' long x 8'' diameter

Brand new never used.

 

[Hoping4Heat]

I saw the youtube videos of that thing. Does it really work that well? I suppose I could drag it back to Home Depot for a refund if it doesn't for that price! How seasoned is the wood you are splitting. I was wondering if it would stand a chance against unseasoned oak.

Although they are probably considered toys by the 20ton guys, I was surprised when the wife brought home a Ryobi 4T electric splitter to help me with a tendonitis type elbow problem from spitting big stuff lately. I used it to split a few normal 16-18" long 12" diameter chunks of sugar maple and it did it no prob, both dry and green. After some breakin runs I threw in some knarly dry pieces (from near the base of the tree or at a crotch) that I've been using as chopping blocks as my maul would just bounce off them. It split those without a strain too. I've managed to split even bigger stuff and only had it stall a couple times, but, after popping the log off the splitter and repositioning it, I haven't had anything that it would not split after retrying. Even 24" long and 20" in diameter. Of course the only holdback would be the availability of electricity, but if you only need a household unit, are not in the business, its a good buy for around $250-300. I changed the hydraulic oil in it after an hr of use to flush out any machining debris and the probably cheapo asian oil, but it was clean. (just a habit I do with any new mechanical thing) I tried to use it with my 4800watt generator but it would trip the 15amp breakers.

 

[Wife'nHubby]

Although they are probably considered toys by the 20ton guys, I was surprised when the wife brought home a Ryobi 4T electric splitter to help me with a tendonitis type elbow problem from spitting big stuff lately. I used it to split a few normal 16-18" long 12" diameter chunks of sugar maple and it did it no prob, both dry and green. After some breakin runs I threw in some knarly dry pieces (from near the base of the tree or at a crotch) that I've been using as chopping blocks as my maul would just bounce off them. It split those without a strain too. I've managed to split even bigger stuff and only had it stall a couple times, but, after popping the log off the splitter and repositioning it, I haven't had anything that it would not split after retrying. Even 24" long and 20" in diameter. Of course the only holdback would be the availability of electricity, but if you only need a household unit, are not in the business, its a good buy for around $250-300. I changed the hydraulic oil in it after an hr of use to flush out any machining debris and the probably cheapo asian oil, but it was clean. (just a habit I do with any new mechanical thing) I tried to use it with my 4800watt generator but it would trip the 15amp breakers.

Here's another vote for this little splitter! We bought this ago 2 weeks ago and have used it for three settings so far. Our gas splitter is down the tubes right now and, of course, now is when we need to split. So, wifey (me) reads all the reviews on this, sounds good, go buy it. Hubby, doubtful one, says "It's a toy! It can't possibly work." Well, he is now a believer. What I really like about it is you could always just set it up inside a heated garage and split away, no working in the cold. It is really quiet and storage space is minimal because you can stand it up vertically. It only has about a 12" footprint when stored. When in use it is too low to the ground so we bought a small painting scaffold like this: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200328399_200328399 and hubby (who is ill) can sit in his lawn chair, run the controls while I load the cut pieces and remove the split wood. Works for us! Yes we have cut large rounds of 24" x 20" long with no problems. We have had a few crotch pieces that weren't too compatible but those we just cut with the chainsaw. We have worked with dry wood and semi green wood. Just yesterday hubby, son and I went to the site of a downed apple tree. We cut it up (with our electric chainsaw), split the wood on site and loaded it all on our trailer. The homeowner obliged us by letting us use their electric power for all our electric 'toys'. Worked perfect and we got about face cord of apple wood cut, split and loaded in a short amount of time!

Shari

 

[Hoping4Heat]

Ok, so you've used gas and electric. You think electric is worth a try? I'm wondering. We don't have the $$ for gas right now unless we rent. I bought a Home Depot gift card for $400 on ebay for $350 and will be getting $87.50 cash back through live.com. That makes the splitter only $135 after coupons if I use a 15% Harbor Freight coupon...Seems worth a try rather than renting or having my husband splitting by hand all winter. I suppose I can always return it.

 

[Wife'nHubby]

Ok, so you've used gas and electric. You think electric is worth a try? I'm wondering. We don't have the $$ for gas right now unless we rent. I bought a Home Depot gift card for $400 on ebay for $350 and will be getting $87.50 cash back through live.com. That makes the splitter only $135 after coupons if I use a 15% Harbor Freight coupon...Seems worth a try rather than renting or having my husband splitting by hand all winter. I suppose I can always return it.

If you are addressing my posting, we are small potatoes when it comes to splitting but the electric, for now, fits our lifestyle. I do want you to know that we are also getting the gas splitter fixed just in case we do go to larger volumes of wood for a wood insert or fireplace mounted stove.

Right now, maybe we would are using 2 cords +/- per year. I look at it from the storage space requirements of the equipment. The Ryobi stands up in the corner of the garage like an old style upright vacuum cleaner (love that!) and we have an 18" Craftsman electric chain saw to cut the lengths we need )($92 for the saw 2 weeks ago +$15 for add'l. 2yr. warranty with complete new product replacement for a total of 3 yr. on the chainsaw - thought that was a decent deal too!).

The only minor drawback on the Ryobi is the ram does not go all the way to the splitter (OSHA probably did that for 'our' safety) - easy fix with a small block of wood backing if you have stringy wood you are splitting.

I also like the Ryobi because even though it weights around 90 lbs. I can lift it (barely) and carry it in the back end of my small SUV for transport. No trailering! The wheels have a counterbalance system that is not activated until the handles are lifted up at approximately 45 degrees therefore it does not roll around inside my SUV during transport.

Did I mention it is also quiet? Hubby and I can actually carry on a conversation in normal tones when we are working together. None of our neighbors have complained about excess noise either with the electric chainsaw nor the electric splitter. (Trying to be nice neighbors here!)

Also - bought it at Home Depot. Our local store only got 8 and we got the last one.

Shari

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Don't know why you've got such a H-on for MTD Mark? Lot's of guys have them and I've yet too see one of them (on this board) complain about the machines capabilities or it breaking down? I'm sure it happens but you're the only guy (regularly) trashing them and you don't even own one. If I'm not mistaken didn't you just have have to have your splitter replaced because you bent the beam/anvil? I rest my case.

I don't have to own one to know what MTD has done to many formerly good names in the equipment business. Troybilt, Bolens, White, Cub Cadet, all used to be good names, now they are junk.

That's reason enough.


Secondly, I don't have to own one to see how they are built. There's an old one at my local hardware store for rent and I've looked it over (bent toe plate and all) and it's 5 times the machine that the new one over at the farm coop is. Mind you, the older one is not GOOD, it's just far better than the new one. The toe plate on that one is HOLLOW. It's just a box welded out of 5/15 plate.

In other words, CRAP.

MTD might have made some decent splitters at one time, and no doubt such machines would still be around giving good service. That doesn't mean the current crop is any good, and anyone with any mechanical sense can look at them and see they are junk.