Countyline 25 ton or 30 ton
- Thread starter NCPT
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
I bought the countyline 40 ton unit from TS last January and I love it.
Don't buy till you look at the 40 ton unit.
Don't buy till you look at the 40 ton unit.
I looked at it too but it's $2000 and not carried in stores. Are bigger units faster with cycle times or faster when busting gnarly chunks? Or are they just more robust and will hold up longer? I used the 22T Dirty Hands splitter earlier this year for a day, and it was nice with fast cycle time. I also used a Troybilt 27T for a few days, it had good power put kinda slow with cycle times. Thanks.I bought the countyline 40 ton unit from TS last January and I love it.
Don't buy till you look at the 40 ton unit.
Mine was in store and ready to pick up the day I called. They only had 1 out of the 5 stores I called, so I did have to drive a little bit farther, but well worth it. They had a selection of DHT's and Countyline in stock so I had a chance to see them side by side. When you see them side by side there is no comparison. DHT 35 next to a countyline 40. The countyline is hands down better. in every way. Yes there 2 grand but well worth it. I have a little over 80 hours on it since January and I love it.
I was using a Husky 22 ton, but this 40 ton unit works circles around my old one. They advertise it to have 9.5 sec cycle times, and man they weren't kidding. The extra tall wedge is great, That extra few inches helps get through the stringy stuff where I use to have to pull them apart. I wouldn't have thought a few sec per stroke would make much difference. Boy was I wrong. My production times almost doubled over my old 22 ton unit that had cycle times of about 15 sec. Spend the extra 500 bucks, you wont regret it. As for the big gnarly chunks, not a problem. If it wont split, it will crush it or simply cut right through it.
I'm not going to bash DHT but you can find lots of threads about DHT owners having issues with there units. To be fair DHT always steps up and replaces parts without question. However my countyline unit has worked flawlessly with no issues at all. My old 22 ton husky would just stop on live oak, the 40 just rips right through it with no problem. If you can wait till you can find a 40 you can look at, it will be well worth the wait. I'd call around and see if they might have one coming in that you can go look at, or when they will get one in stock. Even if you have to order one and wait, I think it would be worth it. Good luck!
I was searching earlier this year for a splitter was looking at the countryline yard max. And dht. Spoke with Dan from dht and he hooked me up with a great deal on a 30 ton I couldn’t turn down and for an extra 100 I added a Honda motor. Yes about 8-10 hrs the seal on the cylinder around the ram started a very small leak from the dirt getting on the ram but dht customer service sent me a brand new cylinder no questions asked and had it to my door in 3 days. That’s a customer service I would want with any product you bought. But anyways I’ve used my 30 ton for about 20-25 hrs right now and couldn’t be happier with it. Best of luck with whatever you decide on I’m sure Dan will chime in at some point and may be able to help you like he did for me
philoshop
Addicted to ArboristSite
I've had a 22 ton Huskee from TSC for about 7 years now. I got it at the $900 sale point and added the bolt-on shelf (necessary), and it's been the best money I've spent on firewood gear next to my 260 Pro. I've never seen anything it wouldn't split and I cut some pretty gnarly Black and Honey locust among other things. It's not super fast or anything, but just about right for the three full cord I split and burn every year. It does get 'loaned out' quite often to friends who I know will take care of it, so it probably runs through 6 to 8 cord a year in reality.
Before I even started it I replaced the spark plug with a non-generic, put a fuel shutoff in the line for towing, and filled the crankcase with a high-end synthetic oil. It has the Briggs engine without a choke and can be a pain to start when it's really cold out, but other than that, not a hiccup so far. It probably wouldn't fare well in a commercial or other heavy-use operation, but it's a tough little SOB.
Just my thoughts on the matter. Best of luck to you.
Before I even started it I replaced the spark plug with a non-generic, put a fuel shutoff in the line for towing, and filled the crankcase with a high-end synthetic oil. It has the Briggs engine without a choke and can be a pain to start when it's really cold out, but other than that, not a hiccup so far. It probably wouldn't fare well in a commercial or other heavy-use operation, but it's a tough little SOB.
Just my thoughts on the matter. Best of luck to you.
My first splitter was a Husky 22 ton. Paid around $900 if memory serves me. I split 40/50 cord a year with it for over 10 years and sold it for $550 just after I bought my new one. The only issues I had was a carb problem that took one carb rebuild (70 bucks) only to show up again the next year. Spent $35 on a new carb and she ran fine from then on. I also had to replace the hand valve about 5 years in. Other then that, it was a good unit.
I didn't realize how slow the old unit was until I got my new one. I'd say all in all it was a good splitter, just slow and not powerful enough to split stuff like pecan, hickory or live oak. It would split it but it was hard on the old girl. My old one wouldn't split live oak at all.
For most people a 22 ton is plenty good enough for home use. Mine served me well for years and even gave me a good return on the resale.
By the way, most are just speco units, re branded under a different name.
philoshop
Addicted to ArboristSite
Not much different than wood-working machinery. Table saws, planers, jointers, etc. Almost all of it is built in the same Chinese factory and directed towards different spray-paint booths before it's shipped. Lawn-n-garden stuff is much the same. Troy-Bilt put themselves out of business by building roto-tillers that would last a lifetime. Oops. Troybuilt today comes off the same line as every other brand, just with different paint.
When I hauled dirt it was the same way. #1/#2/#3 all came from the same pile of dirt.
philoshop
Addicted to ArboristSite
Laughing with you buddy, not at you.
I'll add my 2 cents. I had a Troybuilt for about 15 years. No problems. Just wore it out. Ran a borrowed 22 T for a winter until it went home. Split everything i threw at it. I was going to buy one until I stopped at TSC and they had a 25 T on special for $629. Probaly split close to 25 cords this winter. So far so good. For the OP i guess it would matter how much and what kind of wood you are splitting.
As mentioned we have some special deals for forum members so PM me if interested. Either way....best of luck!
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
I got mine at TSC and I think it's 23 ton. Never came across anything I couldn't split. (The pump automatically goes into a lower "gear" for the really hard to split stuff.)
I never even use it at full throttle (as the manual instructs) because it's not needed and I don't want to listen to it (or feed it).
I'd go for the cheaper unit. I see no benefit to the more expensive unit.
I never even use it at full throttle (as the manual instructs) because it's not needed and I don't want to listen to it (or feed it).
I'd go for the cheaper unit. I see no benefit to the more expensive unit.
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
Run some twisted live oak through it, then get back to me.
I have. Plenty of it, actually. It just slows down and makes funny noises.
Just saw you say pecan is hard to split? We must have some different pecan out here...I always found pecan easy to split.
Not all pecan is hard to split, you do get some strait grained pecan from time to time but even then the grain is usually intertwined and tends to be stringy.
Not all live oak is hard to split ether. If your cutting out of thick woods, the trees tend to grow tall and strait and are easy to split.
D
Deleted member 117362
Guest
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
I don't get why they are built with such slow cycle times. Something in the area of 3-5 secs is the slowest I'd consider.
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
The most miserable wood to split that I've encountered is sweet gum. If you try to split it by hand, no matter how hard you hit it, your maul will bounce right off. Somewhere around the 40-45th whack, the maul will start to stick in. Then it becomes about like trying to sledgehammer ROPE.
It's about 10,000 times worse than the worst live oak log I ever saw. The grain of sweet gum is so interlocked, braided, twisted and intertwined with tyloses or whatever, it's like fiberglass-reinforced plastic or Damascus tungsten or 3-dimensional Tyvek...I usually leave it in the woods nowadays.
It's about 10,000 times worse than the worst live oak log I ever saw. The grain of sweet gum is so interlocked, braided, twisted and intertwined with tyloses or whatever, it's like fiberglass-reinforced plastic or Damascus tungsten or 3-dimensional Tyvek...I usually leave it in the woods nowadays.
Similar threads
