renting or buying a splitter

I'm trying to decide if I should just buy, or rent a splitter. I've never used one before and always split by hand. I have a mountain of wood waiting to be split and watched my brother in law use one this week. He made very quick work of his wood.
Any opinions and what splitter would be a good investment for a non professional who splits 6 or so chords a year.
Thanks

TSC if you have one.

Home Depot or Lowes, sell the same splitter under different names. You will be looking to spend at least $800 for a 18-22 ton splitter, at a mininum.

If you only need one for 1 or 2 afternoons a year just rent one. Otherwise buy one. If you buy one you won't regret it. It is convenient to be able to get it out for a few hours now and then when you have time. I have the 22 ton from tractor supply for just under $1000 and it is the best and cheapest of the full size splitters. It will split anything you can maneuver under it.

A little OT, but has anybody removed the gas engine and substituted an electric motor? No, not those little cheesy ones that look like toys, I mean replacing a 8 or 11 hp gas engine with a 5 or 7.5 hp electric motor.
Thanks,
Andy

Andy1234 said:

A little OT, but has anybody removed the gas engine and substituted an electric motor? No, not those little cheesy ones that look like toys, I mean replacing a 8 or 11 hp gas engine with a 5 or 7.5 hp electric motor.
Thanks,
Andy

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The main problem I can see with that, is being able to supply an engine of that size with electricity. Most motors of that size are going to be pulling lots of amps, and running higher voltage than 115. Most people don't have the wiring to supply one in their home, let alone if they take it out to the woods with them. I don't see much point in hauling a generator, to drive an electric motor on a splitter, if I could have had a lighter, smaller gas motor driving the splitter directly.

My thoughts are: if you have a 30A 220V plug for an arc welder or stove, then you can run a 5 hp elec. motor.

My house is wired a little different then most folks, I have 400A worth of service, and I USE it. To me, a 5 hp elec motor with a 100 ft 6 gauge extension cord would really be nice.

My thinking on electric motors vs. gas engines, is that when you plug an electric motor in, and flip the switch, it WORKS!

Thanks,
Andy

I mean replacing a 8 or 11 hp gas engine with a 5 or 7.5 hp electric motor

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Thats really a dumb idea.

Banjoec said:

I'm trying to decide if I should just buy, or rent a splitter. I've never used one before and always split by hand. I have a mountain of wood waiting to be split and watched my brother in law use one this week. He made very quick work of his wood.
Any opinions and what splitter would be a good investment for a non professional who splits 6 or so chords a year.
Thanks

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If ya decide to get one make sure you get one that flips straight up. The ones that lay flat are fine but you have to pick up the blocks and sit it on the beam to split. The ones that flip up you can rock the biggest blocks to it and split them without having to pick them up off the ground................

Not really..
I'm unsure of the specific details, but the technical basis can be found in a Northern Hydraulics catalog.
An example that I saw was a pressure washer set-up. The place took off a 8 hp gas engine and substituted a 5 hp elec motor and it ran like a striped ape..

In other word, hp ratings between gas engines and electric motors are not equal, something to do with the torque they produce. Similar, I guess, to an electric chainsaw vs. a gas saw.

That's what I'm using as a baseline for the questions.
Thanks,
Andy

I think you'll find that an electric motor is much more of a pain in the butt than you think. Not only is it vastly less portable, you have to fight with cords (wrestling with a 100 ft 6 ga extension cord isn't much fun), you can't use it in the rain.

The reason an electric motor seems like it gives better performance with lower horsepower, is because they produce a constant level of torque at any RPM. A gas engine produces low torque at low RPM's, then climbs and peaks, and then begins to trail off at high RPM's. Horsepower is simply as measurement of the rate at which torque can be delivered. 5 hp out of both is the same, although the toque output may be different, because the RPM's may vary. You need more information to truly conclude that the electric motor is better. In this case, the only way I can see it working out to your advantage, is if you left the extension cord laid out, and left the splitter in one place in your yard and never intended to use it anywhere else. Otherwise, the greater portability, lower complexity, and not having to deal with cords, outweigh the slightly higher torque at low RPM's of an electric motor.

Good reply, TimberPig. That is one of the better descriptions of the difference between gas & electric that I have heard recently.

As for rain issues, I try to work when the sun is shining..

As for the extension cord issue, I currently use 100 ft extension cord with some of the welders that I have, and they are not that bad... Coil them up on a pallet, and lift it with a pallet jack, and just roll it along and it unrolls itself...the opposite is not true, however.


Thanks,
Andy

Borrow the brother-in-laws! Not really, only 6 cords a year would be great excerise to split by hand depending on the wood. You have to consider the source though, since I built my splitter I've split more by hand than with the splitter. Nice to have for the rough stuff though.

I mean replacing a 8 or 11 hp gas engine with a 5 or 7.5 hp electric motor

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Didn't Wiley Coyote do this on one of the Road Runner Cartoons?

I did a lot of research last fall and ended up with a 22 ton splitter from my local TSC on sale. I got one with a Honda engine which was a plus for me. So far, works great and is easy to start. Splits wood both horizontally and vertically.

Timberwolf splitters interested me, but they are very pricey.

http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/splitters/product_line.htm

I think the electric is a fine idea. Why would you drag a splitter around to split wood anyway? All of my splitting was always done at the house. I just hate the reverberating drone of those rambunctious little engines. The pleasing hum of an electric is much better, more reliable, and overall just as effective.

spacemule said:

I think the electric is a fine idea. Why would you drag a splitter around to split wood anyway? All of my splitting was always done at the house. I just hate the reverberating drone of those rambunctious little engines. The pleasing hum of an electric is much better, more reliable, and overall just as effective.

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It depends on the size of the wood you cut. Some stuff is too big to easily haul back to the house. It's easier to set the splitter in its vertical position and split some of the big stuff in the field.

Banjoec said:

I'm trying to decide if I should just buy, or rent a splitter. I've never used one before and always split by hand. I have a mountain of wood waiting to be split and watched my brother in law use one this week. He made very quick work of his wood.
Any opinions and what splitter would be a good investment for a non professional who splits 6 or so chords a year.
Thanks

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BANJOEC..........we have talked a while back. if u need a day of splitting help, lemme know, i will bring mine over. i got mine about 4 years ago, paid 799 delivered...22 ton 5 1/2HP Briggs, horizontal/vertical, Brand is Central Hydraulics, works fine. got it from Harbor Freight (AKA Horrible Fright...LOL).

splitter

two options, no comment on electric but it has been done. Watch for a used one in a buy sell paper. Many are just used by home owners like your self. 2. Around here the supersplit (non hydraulic) ones are popular but very pricey. The chief complaint is that many of the hydraulic ones are to slow. :yoyo:

If you are going to stay with it year after year...buy. I got a Brave (20 ton--just horizontal) from TSC many years ago for about $750. I have never regretted it. If we get a piesce too big to lift, we just make a miniature ramp out of the split pieces and roll the big boy up there. I had worked with a 10 ton unit before, but knew I needed something a bit bigger. It has handled all the knotty oak, maple, locust, hickory, etc. I have thrown at it and I have never stuck a piece. By the way, we originally had one of those old unicorn splitters on a Ford 8N. It worked but, stay away from them---dangerous!! I'm sure they aren't made anymore, but there may be one lurking in someone's shed somewhere.

It's not a bad idea to put an electric motor on a splitter. This guy did it.