I kid you not, that's what the wife said to me last night. I looked at her and said, "Hon, a decent one is three grand. A 'cheapy' at Tractor Supply is still $1700. Why do you think we NEED a log splitter?". She says she's seen me outside 'struggling' to put up firewood for the house and thinks I need something to make my life easier.
So - background. I'm 39 years old, 6', almost 290 lb, pretty darn good shape for a fat guy, I play rugby and do a lot of outdoor activities with my Scout troop so this firewood biz ain't killin' me. I have never, not once, used a hydraulic or mechanical log splitter. We have an outdoor wood boiler and it is our only source of heat and hot water, so it runs year-round. I calculate I burn 10-12 cords a year. Most of what I cut is less than 12" dbh but occasionally I will get into something big (to me, big is 30"+). I have a small chainsaw and a larger chainsaw, neither one "pro saws" (see sig). If I split larger pieces into halves or blocks with a chainsaw, I can easily split them with hand tools. If it's really gnarly, I will make multiple cuts.
I am trying to justify the purchase. Just having my wife support the purchase is not enough. I am sorely tempted to talk her into letting me find a used 80-90 cc saw that will pull a 24" bar with ease and skipping the splitter. The big saw will allow me to split the big rounds so they are more manageable by hand.
On the other hand, my Dad just turned 70 and he still cuts and splits 6 cords a year by hand. He's getting to the point where it's too painful to do it anymore, owing to arthritis, and I have a feeling I'll be cutting 15-17 cords a year rather than 10-12 before too long. A splitter can help there. I also can RENT one for $50 a day, and one day a year should take care of everything I can't do easily by hand. That's 40 years to pay for a $2000 splitter.
I also need to think about the fact that the wood boiler will take some pretty big stuff. If I had a small indoor woodstove or gasification boiler, I'd have already bought a hydraulic splitter by now. But, with an OWB, I can just take the belligerent chunks and chuck 'em in whole.
OK, what would YOU do? Let's assume, for the sake of argument, you've got the $3000 for a splitter.
So - background. I'm 39 years old, 6', almost 290 lb, pretty darn good shape for a fat guy, I play rugby and do a lot of outdoor activities with my Scout troop so this firewood biz ain't killin' me. I have never, not once, used a hydraulic or mechanical log splitter. We have an outdoor wood boiler and it is our only source of heat and hot water, so it runs year-round. I calculate I burn 10-12 cords a year. Most of what I cut is less than 12" dbh but occasionally I will get into something big (to me, big is 30"+). I have a small chainsaw and a larger chainsaw, neither one "pro saws" (see sig). If I split larger pieces into halves or blocks with a chainsaw, I can easily split them with hand tools. If it's really gnarly, I will make multiple cuts.
I am trying to justify the purchase. Just having my wife support the purchase is not enough. I am sorely tempted to talk her into letting me find a used 80-90 cc saw that will pull a 24" bar with ease and skipping the splitter. The big saw will allow me to split the big rounds so they are more manageable by hand.
On the other hand, my Dad just turned 70 and he still cuts and splits 6 cords a year by hand. He's getting to the point where it's too painful to do it anymore, owing to arthritis, and I have a feeling I'll be cutting 15-17 cords a year rather than 10-12 before too long. A splitter can help there. I also can RENT one for $50 a day, and one day a year should take care of everything I can't do easily by hand. That's 40 years to pay for a $2000 splitter.
I also need to think about the fact that the wood boiler will take some pretty big stuff. If I had a small indoor woodstove or gasification boiler, I'd have already bought a hydraulic splitter by now. But, with an OWB, I can just take the belligerent chunks and chuck 'em in whole.
OK, what would YOU do? Let's assume, for the sake of argument, you've got the $3000 for a splitter.
I would suggest looking at Brave splitters if you have an outlet near you, they are the cheap line of iron and oak splitters but the speeco line at TSC look good, especially the 27 ton model. Have fun and be careful.
