recommend me a log splitter

[sb47]

I have probably about 15 cords through my DHT 25 bought from Lowe's and have not ran into a piece it won't split. I've had some crappy box elder or elm and even those didn't give me an issue. I'm into about a 10 cord red oak patch that was cut last spring and it doesn't even hiccup. Can't be happier with a unit that has worked great for under $1000 with tax.

They also have been very helpful to many owners here on AS. Was a big reason I bought it after researching here.

Red oak is one of the easiest oaks to split. Just get the wedge started and it will jump apart.
Run some live oak through it and get back to me on how powerful it is.

 

[panolo]

Red oak is one of the easiest oaks to split. Just get the wedge started and it will jump apart.
Run some live oak through it and get back to me on how powerful it is.

Don't think I have any live oak round my parts however box elder and elm can be pretty nasty. Couldn't tell you the difference between the species only that it's worked flawless going through it.

 

[Husky Man]

I'm another DHT Splitter fan, we have the 27 Ton model, it has been very reliable for us. I will add to the list of DHT customers that have been treated above and beyond Expectations. We got one of the last DHT's that had some Bum thread paste, and had some leaking connections, DHT arranged with our local John Deere dealership to have ALL the connections did-assembled cleaned, resealed and reassembled.

While talking to Brad at DHT's CS, about getting the leaks fixed, I mentioned that the only thing that I didn't like about our unit, and ALL the brands in that class, is the Damned hub mounted wheels, rather than a decent lug mounted wheel, I asked him "Where do I even get one of those for a spare, as we transport ours a LOT( it piggybacks in the 6x12 tandem trailer outbound, rolls home on it's own wheels after a good day of cutting, often 50 miles one way), Brad said "I can take care of that" and sent me a complete tire/wheel loaded with bearings, as a "Warranty Issue" even covered shipping. My experience with DHT will keep me as a customer, if I ever need to replace ours, or recommend one to someone else.

I Like the ram mounted wedge, myself, and I WOULDN'T buy a splitter that wouldn't go vertical, you don't have to use it, but we sure use it a lot, my Wife Prefers splitting vertically, even on some smaller stuff that I would split horizontal myself. We often are splitting wood in the 30" range to vertical is a godsend. we actually prefer logs 20"+, stuff that many others avoid, lots more for us.

I have thought about the 4 way wedges, but with the big wood we target, I don't think they wood work very well, on smaller stuff, that isn't a lot taller than the wedge, I can see quartering rounds would speed things up, but on larger rounds, I suspect that I would end up with a bunch of funky pieces.

I like my 27 ton DHT, it is about as heavy as I would want to pull up the ramp gate into the big trailer, but I can still manage it okay, and the 196cc Koehler engine has been very reliable, starts on the first pull, even cold almost every time.

I would recommend or buy another DHT without hesitation,

Doug

 

[OnTheRoad]

Seems to me all of the under $2,000 splitters made with chinese parts are about on par with each other in terms of the splitters themselves. Sounds like DHT has great customer service which would sway me that way.

I have a Huskee "37 ton" and it's ok. It originally had a cheap landing gear which failed, so I replaced it with a heavy duty clamp on unit. That was apparently too much for the cheap, c-channel sheetmetal tongue as it twisted so badly it would barely stand. Then I dropped the beam on the bolted-on locating pin, which caused the tongue to fold. It was lots of fun moving it around at that point. Also, those chinese engines are junk. If you can get one from Northern Tool, I think they have a GX series Honda engine which is a HUGE improvement.

I replaced the flimsy tongue on mine with 3" .125 square steel, added a foot to it, sleeved the holes, installed a quality hitch, replaced the POS chinese briggs with an old school electric start Tecumseh, added wiring and battery and I don't hate it any more.

Now that I typed that out, check out Northern Tool. I think theres are probably better than most. And if you buy a Huskee or rebranded variant, be prepared to do some improvements.

 

[sb47]

Seems to me all of the under $2,000 splitters made with chinese parts are about on par with each other in terms of the splitters themselves. Sounds like DHT has great customer service which would sway me that way.

I have a Huskee "37 ton" and it's ok. It originally had a cheap landing gear which failed, so I replaced it with a heavy duty clamp on unit. That was apparently too much for the cheap, c-channel sheetmetal tongue as it twisted so badly it would barely stand. Then I dropped the beam on the bolted-on locating pin, which caused the tongue to fold. It was lots of fun moving it around at that point. Also, those chinese engines are junk. If you can get one from Northern Tool, I think they have a GX series Honda engine which is a HUGE improvement.

I replaced the flimsy tongue on mine with 3" .125 square steel, added a foot to it, sleeved the holes, installed a quality hitch, replaced the POS chinese briggs with an old school electric start Tecumseh, added wiring and battery and I don't hate it any more.

Now that I typed that out, check out Northern Tool. I think theres are probably better than most. And if you buy a Huskee or rebranded variant, be prepared to do some improvements.

My Husky has the B&S motor. She's still running after 15 years of hard service. Yeah the pull starter rusted out because it gets left outside year round. I replaced that one with a used one only to have it do the same thing. I took it off and just hand wind the rope like in the old days. She still starts on the first pull but she smokes a bit, but it still splits wood just the same. I put an hour meter on it last year and this year alone I have put over 500 hours on it.

All those hydrolic beam type spliters all seem to be constructed about the same way. They all come with about the same features as well.

 

[OnTheRoad]

My Husky has the B&S motor. She's still running after 15 years of hard service. Yeah the pull starter rusted out because it gets left outside year round. I replaced that one with a used one only to have it do the same thing. I took it off and just hand wind the rope like in the old days. She still starts on the first pull but she smokes a bit, but it still splits wood just the same. I put an hour meter on it last year and this year alone I have put over 500 hours on it.

All those hydraulic beam type spliters seem to be constructed about the same way. They all come with about the same features as well.

Interesting how similar your experience is to mine. My original Chicom Briggs started to kick back when starting so I bought a monster pull handle so it wouldn't rip my shoulder off. That engine was such a POS i'd fight it every time I had to start it and then leave it running all day so I didn't have to start it again. The cheap China engine also failed on mine when the flimsy plastic pawls broke out, spitting the recoil assembly out onto the grass. At some point the cheap Chinese junk motor kicked back and the starter cover ripped the cheap third world boss from the block leaving the horrible engine useless. I tried to start it old school wrapping the cord but it wouldn't work. The engine was junk at this point and I replaced it with a real engine.

I'm not friendly to junk equipment and I'm too old to deal with it. This splitter is highly flawed in my view and I'm dying to buy or build something better but I haven't decided exactly what I want in a splitter. I would love to build a real splitter but I'm not sure what year I'd have time for that so for now i continue fighting this chinese pos

 

[Whitbread]

Here's my recommendation for a splitter https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/diesel-super-split.303723/

Just finished 15 cords on 1.8 gallons of diesel.