4 way 5"x24" cylinder and mounts Northern Tool $349.00

[tla100]

If you are in the market to build a splitter. This is a hen of a deal. $150 off. Ship to a store and save shipping.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200328165_200328165

 

[cus_deluxe]

wow that is a deal!

 

[the GOAT]

wow that is a deal!

It's a crappy design.

 

[tla100]

It's a crappy design.

splitter head is crappy? if i got it i would sharpen wedge. Have not heard anything bad on the 4 way/wings.

 

[Hddnis]

It's a crappy design.

Not the style I'd build, but reviews like it a lot.

Mr. HE

 

[flehunseos]

splitter head is crappy? if i got it i would sharpen wedge

 

[the GOAT]

I had a northstar 30 ton for about 5 years. The wedge design works fine. But there is very little room around the wedge when it's retracted into the "log stripper." Bits of wood gets compacted inside and the cylinder can't retract all the way which puts pressure on the bolt connecting the wedge to the ram. It breaks often. Getting the compacted wood out was not easy and often meant having to unbolt the "log stripper" every few cord to clean it.

You can't use a regular hex head bolt because there is no room. You have to use a 7/16" socket head cap screw as the bolt is recessed inside the collar of the splitting head. Eventually the hole in end of the ram gets elongated and the bolt breaks more often since there is more play in the connection.

I'm sure it works fine for someone doing a few cord a year. But I was using it for 15+ and it wasn't holding up. I see that the new splitters have a redesigned setup with more space around the wedge when it's retracted.

 

[tla100]

Yeah I can see that small bolt could give trouble. I guess I assumed there would be a 1" or bigger pin to fit, like my cylinder. Log stripper is not a deal breaker for me. I never put one back on after I revamped my wedge.

 

[Hddnis]

I had a northstar 30 ton for about 5 years. The wedge design works fine. But there is very little room around the wedge when it's retracted into the "log stripper." Bits of wood gets compacted inside and the cylinder can't retract all the way which puts pressure on the bolt connecting the wedge to the ram. It breaks often. Getting the compacted wood out was not easy and often meant having to unbolt the "log stripper" every few cord to clean it.

You can't use a regular hex head bolt because there is no room. You have to use a 7/16" socket head cap screw as the bolt is recessed inside the collar of the splitting head. Eventually the hole in end of the ram gets elongated and the bolt breaks more often since there is more play in the connection.

I'm sure it works fine for someone doing a few cord a year. But I was using it for 15+ and it wasn't holding up. I see that the new splitters have a redesigned setup with more space around the wedge when it's retracted.

That makes sense, thanks for explaining.


Mr. HE

 

[shamusturbo]

the GOAT hit the nail on the head! Great explanation! I had the biggest model for quite a few years and probably put 15 or so hex cap bolts in there and had a 15mm wrench attached to the machine and the socket hardly left the head of the cordless impact. We abused it to say the least. 100 cords easily in 4 or 5 years. I have built a few and much prefer welding a push plate to a very inexpensive cylinder from Bailey's and welding a wedge to the i-beam. The wood moves more but you don't need to retract fully to get the wedge out of the wood if it doesn't split totally open.

 

[onnianfage]

You can't use a regular hex head bolt because there is no room.

 

[blades]

8-10# sledge is my log stripper, mostly takes a 1/2hour to remember where I put it last- in other words its use is infrequent on my Harbor Frankinsteined unit.

 

[tla100]

They dropped price to $319.00 now. Looking more tempting.

Could the bolt be removed, and drill the hole out bigger and replace with a pin?

Log stripper would probably be revamped and leave all open around wedge. Split probably 3 cord last few days and didn't need stripper once.

 

[the GOAT]

If you use the log stripper there is really no way to use a bigger pin. There is about a 1/4" of clearance for the collar.

The design of the wedge is different then most box store 'triangle wedges'... It is thinner and slices into the rounds more and doesn't tend to pop them apart. I'd say at least half of logs I split with it needed the log stripper. I always kept the 4 way wings on though.

Compared to a triangle wedge splitter with the same size cylinder the North Star will feel like it has more power at the expense of needing a log stripper more often. So if you want to re do the stripper so it has more room so wood won't compact inside and break the bolt it is not a bad price.