Log Splitter Recommendations?

[JRHAWK9]

Ther vent is just a small hole drilled in the fill plug (pipe plug) in your reservoir. It's right in the top of the axle. I highly, highly doubt you got much water in there.

I don't. The hole on the fill plug on these is parallel to the ground. First thing I did was extend mine with a 45° and put the hole facing down. There's also another guy who also got water in his after it sat out in the rain and had to modify his as well.


https://www.arboristsite.com/commun...-from-tsc-owner-feedback.346798/#post-7403677

 

[JRHAWK9]

This is what I did to my CL 40ton. I tow on inclines, and if I don't extend it I end up with hydraulic fluid running out the breather hole. I didn't have to go as tall as I did, but I did anyway.

The breather hole is pointing down and to the right on purpose. To help keep dust/water out.

 

[wood4heat]

Yup, there is a hole in the side of the fill plug. Probably didn’t get a significant amount of water in there but the fluid in that tube sure looks like it had water in it. Think I’ll call TSC tomorrow and see what they suggest.
This one will be under cover when not in use so I’m not too worried about getting water in it in the future. Just don’t like the idea that’s it’s had water in it. Wonder how many times I’d have to change the fluid to get all of that flushed out.

 

[wood4heat]

TSC offered me a few gallons of fluid so I could change it out. I’m going to ask for a filter as well. I was thinking about how to get as much of the old fluid out as possible. I think I after draining and refilling the reservoir I will disconnect the return line from the filter head and run the cylinder back and forth with the engine idling until I have clear fluid coming out. Then plug it back in and top off the reservoir. Anybody see any concerns with trying this?

 

[Big_Eddy]

Problem- yes
16gpm!

If you really want to drain the cylinder, just disconnect the hoses at either end and cycle the cylinder manually once. With hoses off, you can do by hand easily.


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[wood4heat]

Problem- yes
16gpm!

If you really want to drain the cylinder, just disconnect the hoses at either end and cycle the cylinder manually once. With hoses off, you can do by hand easily.


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I imagined 16gpm was at full throttle. At idle I thought it would be manageable.

 

[Big_Eddy]

At idle you may be closer to 5 gpm, but that is still a quart/litre every 3 seconds.


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[wood4heat]

So I’m guessing if I disconnect the return line from the filter but leave the high pressure line attached to the pump I would not be able pull fluid through the pump cycling the cylinder by hand? I’ll just have to disconnect and drain both lines. Then prime the pump after reconnecting everything?

planning to do this Saturday morning and maybe finally get some splitting done!

 

[sb47]

I’ve considered that. I’ve got a 20’ flatbed. If Tractor Supply could get it on there I could get it off. Maybe lay a couple 2X6’s over the ladder ramps. They work great for the tractor or a car but would probably swallow the little tires on those splitters!
Are the county line splitters a lot different than the others?

When I bought my countyline 40 ton from TS they loaded it with there forklift on my trailer. Most of these little splitters axles are simply welded to the thin sheet metal oil tank and will break if you hit a pothole of any size. I wouldn't try towing one down the road unless your going a very short distance and go slow and avoid any potholes. What did you decide to get? If our going to get a 35 ton I would look at the 40 ton before making a decision. I love my 40 from countyline. Everything on it is beefed up and bigger then any of the 35's and below.

 

[JRHAWK9]

When I bought my countyline 40 ton from TS they loaded it with there forklift on my trailer. Most of these little splitters axles are simply welded to the thin sheet metal oil tank and will break if you hit a pothole of any size. I wouldn't try towing one down the road unless your going a very short distance and go slow and avoid any potholes. What did you decide to get? If our going to get a 35 ton I would look at the 40 ton before making a decision. I love my 40 from countyline. Everything on it is beefed up and bigger then any of the 35's and below.

You pretty much solidfied my choice to go with the CL 40ton. I don't know if you saw my post on it, but I ended up getting one, brand new in the crate, for $800 + tax!

Like you said, they used a forklift to load the crate into my trailer.

This bit of damage I noticed the next day after I put it together and is why they ended up giving it to me for that price.

 

[wood4heat]

When I bought my countyline 40 ton from TS they loaded it with there forklift on my trailer. Most of these little splitters axles are simply welded to the thin sheet metal oil tank and will break if you hit a pothole of any size. I wouldn't try towing one down the road unless your going a very short distance and go slow and avoid any potholes. What did you decide to get? If our going to get a 35 ton I would look at the 40 ton before making a decision. I love my 40 from countyline. Everything on it is beefed up and bigger then any of the 35's and below.

I got the 25t from TSC. They loaded it in the back of the truck for me and I unloaded it at home with the tractor.

 

[sb47]

You pretty much solidfied my choice to go with the CL 40ton. I don't know if you saw my post on it, but I ended up getting one, brand new in the crate, for $800 + tax!

Like you said, they used a forklift to load the crate into my trailer.

This bit of damage I noticed the next day after I put it together and is why they ended up giving it to me for that For 1200 bucks you'll never notice the dents. I would jump on a deal like that.

For 1200 bucks you will never notice the dents. Nice score.

 

[gumneck]

You pretty much solidfied my choice to go with the CL 40ton. I don't know if you saw my post on it, but I ended up getting one, brand new in the crate, for $800 + tax!

Like you said, they used a forklift to load the crate into my trailer.

This bit of damage I noticed the next day after I put it together and is why they ended up giving it to me for that price.

Nice job on the 40T for that price !!!
Dang it....I thought I was getting a deal. I got the 25Ton from TSC on sale $999, then the lady said If I apply for their credit card they'll give me 10% off that, so $953 total with the sales tax then I just picked up a Chase credit card with a $200 bonus if I spent $500 in 90 days(I can do that in 90minutes), so my final price will be $753. They didn't even have a 40T where I am, I think the 30T was about $1400. I've used mine a few minutes on some really large dogwood. Dogwood is tough and it did struggle a bit but did go through it. The smaller 8-10" diameter pieces no problem. I have some Hickory to try it out hopefully this weekend

 

[wood4heat]

Nice job on the 40T for that price !!!
Dang it....I thought I was getting a deal. I got the 25Ton from TSC on sale $999, then the lady said If I apply for their credit card they'll give me 10% off that, so $953 total with the sales tax then I just picked up a Chase credit card with a $200 bonus if I spent $500 in 90 days(I can do that in 90minutes), so my final price will be $753. They didn't even have a 40T where I am, I think the 30T was about $1400. I've used mine a few minutes on some really large dogwood. Dogwood is tough and it did struggle a bit but did go through it. The smaller 8-10" diameter pieces no problem. I have some Hickory to try it out hopefully this weekend

Let me know how it does.
I mostly cut and split Doug fir with a bit of occasional Maple thrown in. It splits pretty easily, I’m sure my largest rounds (26”) will be no problem for the 25t.

 

[Marine5068]

I’m happy with my tsc 30 ton. Used ones here were too expensive so I just bought new.

it’s a lot heavier than my buddies 27 ton Troy built. His is a half beam vs mine is full. His is light enough to move by hand, Mine isn’t so fun doing that.

Yep.
I've got the TSC Forest King 30 ton and its a heavy beast.
Kohler engine that works great and it's good for me as I too am a one man team.
Goes vertical for extra large rounds.
I'll do all the extra large diameters first to make them easy to lift to the horizontal position.
Then do all the splitting horizontally.
Yes it would be nice to have a log lift, but most of us can't afford to get a machine with one or don't consistently have lots of large rounds to deal with so the the machines with the vertical option are great.
I still do some splitting with my old axes too.

 

[wood4heat]

Man I didn’t want to ask this here but I can’t find the answer anywhere so here it goes...
Do you guys do anything special during break in on these little Koehler engines?
I see other manufacturers have various recommendations but nothing from Koehler. Only an initial oil change at 5 hours. Does that mean I should just pull the rope, crank the throttle, and go to work?
My feeling is the machining, tolerances, and materials are not at the level of a saw so maybe a little more care should be taken initially.

 

[sb47]

Man I didn’t want to ask this here but I can’t find the answer anywhere so here it goes...
Do you guys do anything special during break in on these little Koehler engines?
I see other manufacturers have various recommendations but nothing from Koehler. Only an initial oil change at 5 hours. Does that mean I should just pull the rope, crank the throttle, and go to work?
My feeling is the machining, tolerances, and materials are not at the level of a saw so maybe a little more care should be taken initially.

I did an oil change at 5 hours, then again at 10 hours. Then at 50 and then every 100 hours. My Koehler has over 1030 hours last I checked. So far so good.

 

[wood4heat]

I did an oil change at 5 hours, then again at 10 hours. Then at 50 and then every 100 hours. My Koehler has over 1030 hours last I checked. So far so good.

So you fired it up and ran it wide open from the start? Just changed the oil a few extra times?

 

[Big_Eddy]

So I’m guessing if I disconnect the return line from the filter but leave the high pressure line attached to the pump I would not be able pull fluid through the pump cycling the cylinder by hand? I’ll just have to disconnect and drain both lines. Then prime the pump after reconnecting everything?

planning to do this Saturday morning and maybe finally get some splitting done!

If it was me, I would extend the cylinder then shut down the engine. Pull the filter off. Pull the plug and drain the tank. Then disconnect the valve end of the hose to the base of the cylinder and with the valve in EXTEND position, force the cylinder back, essentially emptying it out the hose. What’s left in the suction pipe, pump and line to the valve is negligible. Reconnect, refill, replace filter and split wood. (Using Extend position allows the cylinder to draw air into the front through the open filter)

As long as the pump is below the upper level of the oil, it will not need special priming.


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[JRHAWK9]

So you fired it up and ran it wide open from the start? Just changed the oil a few extra times?

FWIW, I always start my small engines at a bit over idle to let them warm up before going WOT. I also idle them down a bit before shutting them off.