"We need a log splitter"

[CharlieG]

Get a 30 Ton Iron and Oak. Got it for about $2100 on the internet with free delivery. Probably more now, with demand, but a heavy duty machine-has the Honda GX motor on it. Last year I did about 10 cords and it was not overly difficult.

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

Wife sponsored tools are a good thing!

I'd get the splitter. You will not look back! You do have a good wife there. She sees the value in: you, burning wood,..........

You're doing good asking questions here and have gotten some good advice from others! I'll try to add to it.

Be sure to look at cycle time. Watching the ram move is like watching paint dry. Does your wife help with the wood? Maybe she can run the splitter esp. with the next suggestion.

Either get a log lift or one with the option to tilt and run vertically to help with those large hunks. There are advantages to both. If you get the tilt option, the wedge will be on the ram and the split wood will stay with the splitter and you don't have to pick up the larger chunks to split again. Having the wedge on the beam allows the split wood to be pushed away for someone else to pick up and stack. You'll open up your options to get the larger wood by not turning down the "unsplittable" stuff.

Another good option is to be able to raise it up to a comfortable working height. My FIL is a big tall man who doesn't like to bend down. When he does bend down he looks for other things to do when he's down there. Anyway, what we've found that works well for lifting the splitter to a better working height is to use auto ramps to run the splitter up on. Then we just leave it connected to the pulling vehicle.

How far does your dad live from you? If there is some distance, you also might want to consider larger tires and a wider axle so you can transport it without it flipping all over the place.

Do you have a place to store it inside?

Make sure the stroke length will cover the length of wood you want to put in your OWB.

A drop on four way wedge is nice too. It cuts down on the number of times the ram has to move.

Another thing to consider is an electric one which are quieter. If you're going to be splitting where you have access to power that is. However, make sure if you do get an electric one make sure it will do the job and not stopping on the tougher ones.

If you go with gas, consider getting one with an engine that has: low oil shut down, pressure lube, idle down between splits, ........

A large engine with a high volume pump is fast and powerful. However, that adds $$s and takes more fuel and adds weight to the machine.

Just remembered SpeeCo splitters who have an add at the top of this page. I believe that they have a "power" stage that will go through just about anything but give you the faster cycle times on the easier stuff.

Regards

Dan

 

[computeruser]

The nice thing about splitters is that they hold their value. Buy one on sale at TSC, use it for a year, decide you don't really need/want it anymore, and get damned near everything you paid back out of it...

I'm with you on the splitting is fun, chasing splits around is not. I also like being able to process whatever I get, since I get my wood for free and take what I can find. A couple winters ago another AS member brought me a trailer load of hickory. Knotty, some was > 20" diameter, with metal in it...I ended up giving that stuff away. It just wouldn't split by hand with any reasonable amount of force I could apply to it, and I couldn't rip it with the saw because of all the fence metal. Now that I've got the splitter, the only challenge with stuff like that is getting it up on the splitter beam...the rest is easy! I'm also now able to split pieces that are cut 20-24" long, instead of the 12-16" long pieces I was cutting/splitting before.

I'd suggest you get a reasonably priced splitter and give it a shot. If it isn't what you want/need, you'll not be out much when you re-sell it in the fall.

 

[ASEMASTER]

good wife

get the splitter . the old saying of over the hill at forty applies and the splitter will help you in the fact of arthritis in your hands .this is a given for everyone just a matter of when.

 

[woodbooga]

A bit machievellian but...

Wouldn't work in our family, which is really small. But if you're a larger family, suggest that you get dad a splitter for his next birthday. Take up a collection, everyone pitching in what they can.

Dad gets some help, you'll have access if you need one, and, after your contribution, you'll have enough left over for that saw that'll handle a 24" bar.

 

[Basso]

Hey Jon E. ,
Why beat yourself up....spend some bucks and get a splitter....you will NEVER regret it. I also don't think that you would have to spend 3 grand either....buy one in the 1200-1800 hundred range !! Just my two cents worth !!!


Basso

 

[myzamboni]

I split everything by hand. That said, the opportunity came for a cord of oak and locust rounds with use of a splitter (so I wasn't lugging around 24-30" diameter green oak onto and off of a truck and then into my backyard) I was grateful.

I had as much fun running the splitter as I do splitting by hand. Watching a 4-way wedge slice through burly oak like a knife through butter just does not get old. With the amount of wood you will be splitting (yours plus Pop's) a splitter would be a great investment.

And hold onto your wife, she's a keeper!

 

[MJR]

Your dad will be able to run the controls of a splitter for a long time, you can feed the splitter, and your wife can stack. You will be amazed how much the three of you can get done and have some fun. I to like splitting some by hand to work off some work stress or winter weight but that is about it. I just bought a 22 ton Huskee for $998 and it works great. Good luck to you and your family.

 

[knot buster]

make one

split 8 cords with this old homemade one; 8.25 briggs,16 gpm 4 1/2 1nch cylinder. 610.00

 

[sbhooper]

Good looking home made, Knot Buster. I wish that I had one like it. My wife keeps saying that I need a splitter, but I am too cheap to buy one. I enjoy the splitting, but I use a lot of wood due to a hungry wood furnace and really should get a splitter.

I am seeing a lot of good feedback on the TSC Huskees, so maybe someday.

 

[dnf0929]

$3,000 + 15-17 cords = Super Split

 

[Wood Doctor]

$3,000 + 15-17 cords = Super Split

Let me clarify the equation:

$3,000 - (15 cords @ $200/cord) = $0

Cost of Super Split = $3,000; so, split 15 cords of big rounds with it and Super Split has paid for itself if you (1) could sell the wood for $200 a cord or (b) had to buy it instead for that amount. Make sense?

 

[dnf0929]

Let me clarify the equation:

$3,000 - (15 cords @ $200/cord) = $0

Cost of Super Split = $3,000; so, split 15 cords of big rounds with it and Super Split has paid for itself if you (1) could sell the wood for $200 a cord or (b) had to buy it instead for that amount. Make sense?

There's that Phd kicking in Doctor. You're right...even if you don't want to go into the firewood business split and sell an extra 5 cords a year at $200 a pop for a few years and it's paid for. Maybe I'm afraid of hard work or in a hurry but 15-17 cords of wood with a slow splitter is a lot. I had a Huskee 22ton and it was fun for about the first 5 but after I got hooked up with a local logger and started getting a couple of truck loads a year that thing seemed painfully slow. I've done about 30 cords since I got my SS in December and look forward to splitting.

 

[cmack]

your back might not be hurtin now, but even though you may not feel it, all that manual splittin is slowly creepin up on your joints and ligaments and cartilage and god knows what else! get the the huskee 22 ton, you will never regret it, and with the money you save you can get yourself i nice new 372xp! i got both, and life is a heck ofa alot easier, and funner!

 

[Wood Doctor]

... I've done about 30 cords since I got my SS in December and look forward to splitting.

That's incredible. 30 cords split since December? I am simply amazed at numbers like that. You are talking about 50 tons of processsed wood.

 

[Henry G.]

I looked around and found a brand new 22 ton splitter from Harbor Freight for $450. it had a dented muffler from a dropped pallet on top of it so they just blew it out no time for them to haggle. I realize I lucked out but if you look around you never know what you might find. It has a B&S 6.5 IC motor, 11 GPM Halex pump, its done over 7 cords so far no problem even with oak or eucalyptus. I would rather saw and load than split wood by hand, especially saw....I bought a husky saw, 4 chisel chains and misc parts, around $1050 total, the exact amount I made selling my extra wood this year, so basically my labor paid for my new toys.

 

[Jon E]

Lot of good suggestions, here, fellas; lot of support. I thank you.

I took a detour to TSC today to see if they had anything left. Only a pair of the 35 ton models. $2000 including the tax. I don't know how those things have the excellent reputation that they seem to have on this site and elsewhere. They looked like they were put together by a blind welder and a kindergarten class. The design looks like every scrap of wood and bark you produce will wind up getting jammed up in the ram channels on the beam. Does it not work that way? I really have doubts about the Speeco/Husky splitters, in spite of what I've read here, after seeing what appears to me to be junk. If I didn't have a site like this to get recommendations, I wouldn't give them a second glance.

Timberwolf's factory is an hour's drive north of me. I think that I would be a lot more comfortable with something like that, or a Supersplit. One of the things I discussed with my wife was the opportunity for my sons to earn money for Scout camp and personal things by splitting and stacking firewood for sale. Two cords apiece and they're good for the year, and I told them I'd donate the wood and cut it for them. I want something that I can rely on, which is why the $3k is the 'magic' number. I might wind up doing almost 20 cords a year.

 

[dnf0929]

That's incredible. 30 cords split since December? I am simply amazed at numbers like that. You are talking about 50 tons of processsed wood.

I work as a firefighter and our shifts are 24 on/72 off. My kids are both in school now and I have 6 hours a day to myself so I am like a man possesed. I spent the last 5 years with one or both of them on my days "off" - it was the most enjoyable, rewarding and exhausting experience of my life - you appreciate mom's a lot more. In addition my BIL has a construction company that does site work. They took on a job last fall that required clearing some woods. I live about a mile away from the site and he didn't have the time to get rid of it all so I offered to be a dumping area. Got about 12 cords. Bought another 12 from a local logger for $1000. Cut about 6 myself last fall on family land. Don't know if I'll do it every year but I'm havin' fun this year.

 

[Moss Man]

Go ahead and get the splitter and never look back. If you are feeling frisky, you can still split by hand from time to time. I built a splitter fifteen years ago and "wood" not part with it.....period.

Like one of the other gents said, get one with a lifter or one that rotates from horizontal to vertical....that way you have all future bases covered.

If you ever get in a pickle and need money, they hold their value very well........but once you have it you'll never let go.

 

[dingeryote]

Lot of good suggestions, here, fellas; lot of support. I thank you.

I took a detour to TSC today to see if they had anything left. Only a pair of the 35 ton models. $2000 including the tax. I don't know how those things have the excellent reputation that they seem to have on this site and elsewhere. They looked like they were put together by a blind welder and a kindergarten class. The design looks like every scrap of wood and bark you produce will wind up getting jammed up in the ram channels on the beam. Does it not work that way? I really have doubts about the Speeco/Husky splitters, in spite of what I've read here, after seeing what appears to me to be junk. If I didn't have a site like this to get recommendations, I wouldn't give them a second glance.

Timberwolf's factory is an hour's drive north of me. I think that I would be a lot more comfortable with something like that, or a Supersplit. One of the things I discussed with my wife was the opportunity for my sons to earn money for Scout camp and personal things by splitting and stacking firewood for sale. Two cords apiece and they're good for the year, and I told them I'd donate the wood and cut it for them. I want something that I can rely on, which is why the $3k is the 'magic' number. I might wind up doing almost 20 cords a year.

jon,

Wood chips and stuff will get into the channels on any design.
They either get busted up into dust or get pushed out by the ram.
Don't sweat it. Once operating, you'll see why things were done the way they were.

Ugly welds, are ugly welds. I assume you are referring to the foot welded to the frame? LOL!!
That's gonna be an ugly bead any way ya run it other than too shallow.
A beauty pass would be nice though.

I ran another cord through mine today. So far it's sitting at more than 20+ cords with only one problem, and that problem was a siezed pump that was replaced immediately by Speeco.
LOTS of Elm and Boxelder in that 20+ too, and plenty of 30" and bigger rounds split vertically instead of noodling.

May not look like a precision product because of the barnyard weld quality, and minimalist design but they hold up well if not abused too much.

The speed on the super split keeps calling to me too though, but I have the 27ton Huskee to handle the Elm and crotches that the super split might have issues with. I might have to get one myself.

LOL!!!
You're going from walking and considering a Bicycle, and now just getting a Corvette! LOL!!!

Go with it!
Keeping up(trying to) with the Super split can replace the aerobic exercise effect of the spliting maul, and you can turn your boys loose catching and stacking. LOL!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote