Dirty Hand Tools half beam splitter.

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Jmick

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Hi all, new to this forum.

I have about an acre’s worth of cut trees that I need to cut up and split. I’d like to get my self a splitter so I can get this done a little quicker than doing it by hand, like I have been. I’ve been eyeballing this little splitter by Dirty Hand Tools. Does anyone have this one that would care to comment on how it is? I can’t seem to find many reviews/videos on this one, like I can on the full beam splitter.
I have a snow blower by them with the Loncin engine and it runs great. Thanks.
 

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Hi all, new to this forum.

I have about an acre’s worth of cut trees that I need to cut up and split. I’d like to get my self a splitter so I can get this done a little quicker than doing it by hand, like I have been. I’ve been eyeballing this little splitter by Dirty Hand Tools. Does anyone have this one that would care to comment on how it is? I can’t seem to find many reviews/videos on this one, like I can on the full beam splitter.
I have a snow blower by them with the Loncin engine and it runs great. Thanks.
Welcome to AS @Jmick . To be honest i never saw the DHT half beam like that. I was able to run a DHT 25 ton 2 years ago and it ran great. @DHT is the sponer of the firewood forum and maybe can give you some input. Good luck.
 
I have seen half beam splitters in use, and they seem to perform fine. The main issue I have with them, is when it is time to replace the cylinder, there wont be as many options and the cylinder will cost more than a standard full beam splitter.
I have seen the DHT full beam splitters at Lowes and they look pretty well designed and built well. Not a commercial quality splitter but would last a homeowner many years.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk
 
My dad just bought one of these mostly because of the price. It was like 600 something plus tax. I might have done some research on the half beam first. He has yet to use it and I'm sure I'll try it out next spring. I'm just happy he bought it and not that pile from harbor freight. We were borrowing one of those for a bit and it worked good but I've read that they need work after a couple years.
 
DH has a pretty good reputation and many manufacturers seem to be utilizing this design to reduce and avoid shipping weights, I guess. Seems pretty practical to me even though it looks odd.
 
That's what I told my dad when he said he was going to buy it and that by I say I'm glad he bought that over the harbor freight splitter. We split mostly ash and I do 90 percent with my fiskars so I'm sure it will be a fine splitter for our needs. Thay being said I'll be on the look out for a used splitter for myself so I dont have to borrow my dads.
 
Hi all, new to this forum.

I have about an acre’s worth of cut trees that I need to cut up and split. I’d like to get my self a splitter so I can get this done a little quicker than doing it by hand, like I have been. I’ve been eyeballing this little splitter by Dirty Hand Tools. Does anyone have this one that would care to comment on how it is? I can’t seem to find many reviews/videos on this one, like I can on the full beam splitter.
I have a snow blower by them with the Loncin engine and it runs great. Thanks.
I just purchased that same one through e-bay one week ago. It quit after using it once. No spark. DHT had me take it to a small engine shop in my town and the guy said he had never heard of DHT. He told me it would be a long time before he could look at it? I'm thinking I might of made a bad decision? I'm hoping not!
 
Search DHT splitters here on this site and you will find many threads about them having issues of one kind or another. To be fare they also report that DHT does very well in replacing or fixing any issues. In my opinion because of all the complaints I steered clear of that brand because yes they do have a good warranty, my thing is they should be doing more to prevent those issues from happening in the first place. Also to be fare, most of the time the only time someone post about that brand is when they are having issues. You don't hear about the ones that have no issues at all.
 
SB has some good points. A splitter is a very simple device and should not have any issues in the first place. I bought a splitter from Northern tool which was not Northern tool then some thirty five years ago. I told them what I wanted and they gave me a price. I ordered it with out an engine, but they gave me one any way. I spent a week welding and making modifications. I ran the Tecumseh engine that was provided and blew it up immediately. Then replaced the engine with a much larger industrial engine and have not touched it since. The Carburetor got water into it because the fuel tank rusted through because I left it out side with out covering it up. I mark that as not the equipment, but my fault. Then the muffler rusted through and replaced it with a automotive unit. The slide needed to be welded and reground after at least 500 cords. So I would say a splitter that does not process 400 cords a year should never have any issues for 20 years. Thanks
 
SB has some good points. A splitter is a very simple device and should not have any issues in the first place. I bought a splitter from Northern tool which was not Northern tool then some thirty five years ago. I told them what I wanted and they gave me a price. I ordered it with out an engine, but they gave me one any way. I spent a week welding and making modifications. I ran the Tecumseh engine that was provided and blew it up immediately. Then replaced the engine with a much larger industrial engine and have not touched it since. The Carburetor got water into it because the fuel tank rusted through because I left it out side with out covering it up. I mark that as not the equipment, but my fault. Then the muffler rusted through and replaced it with a automotive unit. The slide needed to be welded and reground after at least 500 cords. So I would say a splitter that does not process 400 cords a year should never have any issues for 20 years. Thanks


Yep. It's not a complicated machine. One motor, one pomp, one cylinder and one hand valve. Can't get much simpler then that. My guess is they use cheap imported parts and hope for the best and if something breaks they replace it with another cheap part.
 
. My guess is they use cheap imported parts and hope for the best and if something breaks they replace it with another cheap part.

And they're considered a good company to do business with. Too bad about what happened to the quality manufacturing that used to be part of the backbone of this country.
 
And they're considered a good company to do business with. Too bad about what happened to the quality manufacturing that used to be part of the backbone of this country.

The only splitters I have owned is a Husky 22 ton with a B&S motor and the one I have now, a Countyline 40 ton unit. Both were bought at TC.The husky lasted me 15 years and the only issues I had were mostly my fault. I left it out side most of the time so rust took out the starter rope spring assembly and the carb witch may have been caused by bad gas, The carb I replaced for 30 bucks and the starter rope assembly I replaced with an old scrap motor part that I robed off an old motor. I did have to replace the hand valve as well.
The Countyline I have now as worked perfectly so far but I keep that one covered at all times and I use it almost everyday so It doesn't sit much. I sold the Husky when I bought the Countyline.
 
For 600ish you can have a DHT half beam splitter. You cant touch a harbor freight one for that price. But I looked at my dads and it doesn't look to bad. It's a bit more compact and looks like it wont split as long of logs. I'm hoping that's where the price difference is. Half the beam and smaller should make it cheaper than the lowes model. I'm a bit nervous to borrow it though. Lol
 
For 600ish you can have a DHT half beam splitter. You cant touch a harbor freight one for that price. But I looked at my dads and it doesn't look to bad. It's a bit more compact and looks like it wont split as long of logs. I'm hoping that's where the price difference is. Half the beam and smaller should make it cheaper than the lowes model. I'm a bit nervous to borrow it though. Lol
I paid almost $700 with taxes. Ran it once and died, didn't start back up, not getting any spark. DHT had me take it into a repair shop. Still waiting to get back! I might never know how the thing splits wood. Shame I bought it brand new and am still not able to use it!
 
I paid almost $700 with taxes. Ran it once and died, didn't start back up, not getting any spark. DHT had me take it into a repair shop. Still waiting to get back! I might never know how the thing splits wood. Shame I bought it brand new and am still not able to use it!


I still say that shop is part of the problem. But its like everything tool related theres home owner grade and professional grade. Then theres crap from China. Home owner grade stuff should do fine for the guy splitting wood for their own heat. Use it a few times a year and you will be fine with cheaper stuff use it every day and you should buy more expensive stuff. I try to not waste money on Chinese crap. I'd think this splitter fits into the home owner grade stuff for the people who dont use it every day to make money. But I'm always very cautious about buying the cheap one.. In my mind if I could spend 700 on the cheap one then I could spend 1000 on a "better" one but whose to say ones better than the other at that price point.
 
I paid almost $700 with taxes. Ran it once and died, didn't start back up, not getting any spark. DHT had me take it into a repair shop. Still waiting to get back! I might never know how the thing splits wood. Shame I bought it brand new and am still not able to use it!
Imo, if I had problems in the first 30 days, I would bring it back to the dealer for an exchange or refund and let them worry about the shop repair.
 
I have seen half beam splitters in use, and they seem to perform fine. The main issue I have with them, is when it is time to replace the cylinder, there wont be as many options and the cylinder will cost more than a standard full beam splitter.
I have seen the DHT full beam splitters at Lowes and they look pretty well designed and built well. Not a commercial quality splitter but would last a homeowner many years.

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

For $600, toss it and buy another splitter. I've never seen a decent splitter for that cheap.

Heck I was pricing an engine for my splitter (it burnt in a fire this spring) and that was in the $500-700 area.

I ended finding a Kohler 15hp off a lawn tractor for $100.

I prices a few after mine burnt and a decent one was in the $1300-1500 area.
 
Imo, if I had problems in the first 30 days, I would bring it back to the dealer for an exchange or refund and let them worry about the shop repair.

But I'm reading this correctly there isn't a dealer to take it "back" to; it was bought online? Dealers can have some justified hesitation to be quick to jump on repairs where people bought stuff online and now seek a dealer's help Some won't take it in at all, and others will work on them but naturally with a lower priority than for their own brands and regular customers. As stated splitters are pretty simple and easy to work on, so we rarely turn them away regardless of brand. The exception is usually due to the brand of the engine, not the splitter. Nearly any shop should be set up to service and often warranty Briggs, Kohler, and Honda engines. We'll turn away splitters with oddball motors because we're simply too busy to chase parts for this stuff. It's mostly a matter of it being impossible to accomodate everyone's need. It shouldn't necessarily be viewed as a "spite" thing.

Regardless of engine, the rest of the splitter must be warrantied by the manufacturer. Most dealers that will work on these units are probably NOT set up for warranty service on these brands, so it's up to the OEM to help the customer from the other end of that 800 number you are calling. A company may be happy to send you a pump or valve free of charge, but not every customer is happy, or capable, of doing the repair.

We did pretty good with the Ariens 22 ton splitter til they stopped making them. We can get Oregon splitters but they are essentially the same splitters that are down at TSC for $200-$300 less. We're sitting tight right now and actually recommending that folks run down and buy splitters from TSC. And if there's one of those rare 30 day problems that got through quality control, you still have a store you can take it back to. Not the case with shipping something back to an online seller.

But again I'll stress, whatever you buy, I strongly suggest you get something with a familiar name brand motor, not some random knockoff engine.
 
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