Splitter Thoughts

[England14]

Had hopes of finding a used splitter. After a year of looking I thought I would just make one. I have a welder, lathe, milling machine, and all the tools necessary to make one. Have a twin cylinder B&S engine, thought all I would need would be a few dollars worth of parts and some time. :jawdrop: After looking around a bit I realized that the parts involved (cylinder, pump, valve, well you know) were going to be almost or more expensive than buying a new one from TSC. I thought I wanted one with the push block on the ram and the wedge on the tongue, for speed, but after unloading some rather large rounds of white oak the other day I am thinking the V/H ideal isn't so bad. That way I could split the large rounds on the ground without lifting them. So I am thinking the 22 ton TCS for just over 1K would be the best way to go. All I need now is a spare 1K. Am I thinking right or not? Those of you that have built units from scratch, did you save any money over new or not?

 

[Baldman]

You will be money ahead to buy instead of build.

I chose to buy a homemade one and add my own touches to it... by the time I got done I could have had a really nice high dollar splitter with a warranty!

Hope that helps.

 

[husky455rancher]

well ive thought about building another just for the hell of it. it would prolly be a bit more expensive if i made my own. i have a bit over 1k in mine as it sits now. granted if i made my own right now it would smoke the crap outta my current one.

i think you could prolly make a smokin fast splitter if you got a good deal on a few parts chaeaper than you could buy a really fast model.

 

[dingeryote]

Had hopes of finding a used splitter. After a year of looking I thought I would just make one. I have a welder, lathe, milling machine, and all the tools necessary to make one. Have a twin cylinder B&S engine, thought all I would need would be a few dollars worth of parts and some time. :jawdrop: After looking around a bit I realized that the parts involved (cylinder, pump, valve, well you know) were going to be almost or more expensive than buying a new one from TSC. I thought I wanted one with the push block on the ram and the wedge on the tongue, for speed, but after unloading some rather large rounds of white oak the other day I am thinking the V/H ideal isn't so bad. That way I could split the large rounds on the ground without lifting them. So I am thinking the 22 ton TCS for just over 1K would be the best way to go. All I need now is a spare 1K. Am I thinking right or not? Those of you that have built units from scratch, did you save any money over new or not?

LOL!!

I went through the same mental cycles. I even had a donor beam/Frame available for free. Then the issue of time came into play.

I needed a splitter, not a project.

Don't forget to add your time into the equasion.
It is valuable even if it's used holding the couch down.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Heavyopp]

gotta make it big

I've been building one all winter now. I only get to work a couple of hours a week on it.

I've got 1,500 in parts into it. I had all the steel.

The way I figure it I have to make a big one to make it worth while. I also have a few "extras" added in.

15.5 horse briggs electric start with charging and light circuit
22 gpm haldex pump
5 inch bore 31 inch stroke 2 inch rod cylinder new
Prince autocycle valve
torquemaster hydraulic motors for mobility
prince 2 spool valve for forward,reverse and steering
prince 2 spool hydraulic valve for log lift -- 1 extra spool for whatever in the future
16 inch I beam 3/8th web, 1/2 inch flanges
25 gallon hydraulic tank
Push plate will be on ram -- I'm thinking I will try a box type wedge like timberwolf.

Thats about it for now. It's mostly assembled. Currently I'm working on the mount for the drive valve. Probably will put a drivers seat on it too.

Jer

 

[eric_271]

I ended up with $1500 or $1600 in mine. The splitez wood splitter I built mine after runs pretty close to $5000.

 

[Bl8tant]

I bought the 22ton Huskee from TSC and then modified it to make what I wanted. It was cheaper than starting from scratch, it's exactly what I want, and it was cheaper than a high dollar splitter.

 

[bighardwood]

I got about $3500.00 to $4000 it to my splitter I couldn't of have gone out and bought one like the one I built Plus I did it the way I wanted it. It is beefy and heavy. I didn't want to be on my knees every time I wanted to split a big log. bad for you knees and back. that's my two cents worth.

 

[Raymond]

Yeah a few years ago I didn't wanna spend the 350 bucks for an air compressor.
Had a pump from a small unit and a tall upright tank giving to me. Still spent 350 somehow on it.
Then never used it really. The tank turned out to be junk, the pump was basically shot.
Sold it for a hundred bucks and went and spent the 350 after all.
Had it painted up a nice yellow, looked nice but yeah it was junk. :dunno:

 

[aokpops]

you can buy one cheaper . sound.s like you have all the tool.s to build one . mine look like rat,s rear end .only seen one splitter that came close. would not trade it for a store bought splitter . the homemade one has lot more feature.s. it has more than one function. recycle compactor. . bead breaker . metal bender or make it strait.best of all it is great splitter. every year try to make it better.can,t do this with a close minded all about profit company .if you don,t like a challenge nothing wrong with it. buy one from a store . if you want one that fits your needs an comfort you are going to half to build it .

 

[triptester]

I have found after building four splitters that you can not build a splitter that you can buy at a store for $1000.00 at the same cost unless you have a lot of free parts. BUT with a little searching and effort for $2000.00 you can build a machine equal to the top of the line with the bells and whistles at half the cost.

 

[darren_nh]

I bought a gently used Northern about 10 years ago for $550. This past winter I upgraded the motor and the pump to reduce the cycle time and upgrade the engine. The upgrade was about $500.

Buy one and upgrade it as necessary.

 

[fubar2]

Heres how I did it and it cost about 250.00 in 1990. Find the steel at a scrap yard. Get the hydraulics at a surplus store and go through the scrap pile at a lawn mower repair shop for an engine. The thing that cost me most was the pump and cylinder. I think I got a lovejoy coupling at Tractor Supply.

 

[JAM]

Splitter

I bought a well used but heavy duty splitter with a 12 H.P.for $400, a little slow but gets the job done. I can see some upgrading in it's future but for now it works good.