I've had my 27-ton Huskee/SpeeCo splitter for a few years and have some advice and worthwhile notes for new owners.
First - read the manual. There's a lot of CYA safety stuff in there, but there's also some pretty important stuff (not that safety isn't important, but "remove the spark plug wire before performing any service or repair"? - Yeah, I'll get right on that...)
Change your hydraulic filter often! The manual calls for an initial change after 35 hours of operation. In my typical usage, that would have been after only a month or a month and a half - It would not (and did not) occur to me to perform any service to such a new machine. Are these splitters really built that "dirty" or is it the nature of the beast to have junk in the system? I duuno, but go ahead and fork out the 8 and a half bucks and do it. I can kick my splitter on it's tail and swap out the filter without losing hydraulic oil BUT...
Gasoline spills out of the engine (fuel cap? Dunno) when it's resting tongue-up, foot down. It balances well that way, but I lose gas and the engine smokes heavily after leaving it this way for any length of time. My buddy's 22-ton model with the Briggs & Stratton does neither, but the "superior" Honda does, go figure.
Keep a spare Lovejoy handy. http://www.lovejoy-inc.com/ The coupler between the engine and pump has let go on my unit after about 5 years and my buddy's after 2. TSC doesn't seem to carry the 3-piece "kit" but you can generally piece one together with off-the-shelf parts for extra cost. Just get one and keep it in your saw box, along with the appropriate Allen wrench. You'll need one with a 7/8" bore on one side and 1/2" on the other.As a side note, I thought for the longest time that my Lovejoy took different sizes for the driving side and driven side - drove me nuckin FUTS!! Turns out that one of them had just split, making me use an over-size wrench that never seemed to fit very well. Guess I know why now...
When you do have to change you Lovejoy, be sure to leave an adequate end gap between the two halves so that as the mechanicals heat up and sell you don't develop a thrust load on the $200 pump's high-volume/low-pressure drive gear and hog it into the pump housing rendering said $200 two-stage pump into a slow-only one. Trust me on this one, I did the autopsy myself.
If you get a replacememnt pump from Northern Tools (FKA Northern Hydraulics), it is a Haldex unit, albeit one with substandard exterior finish. Mine appears to function just fine, but it's not as pretty as the original and I did have to change out the press-fit suction-side nipple for the original (the original had a necked-down hose barb whereas the new one had a straight 7/8 diameter) It's an easy change and cheaper than dinking around with adapters.
More about filters: Wal Mart does not carry the filter you need -they have one that looks like it, but the thread pitch is different. The manual calls for, among others, Fram P1653A, but my TSC guy and some of the cross-over charts call for P1654A - TSC carries both. I went with the 1563
The paint on these splitters S-U-C-K-S! Pretty early in it's existence, my paint started coming off in sheets. It looks like perhaps there was a breech in the surface, then the paint was undercut in big chunks before I knew it. Soon, I was losing paint all the way down to rusted metal. A sever case of boredom, some rusty metal primer, a half-case of Aervoe camouflage paint and a 30-pack of Busch took care of that. It's now hides pretty well in plain sight when it has to stay outside. I guess that IS the point of camouflage paint, though, ain't it?
Don't forget you have a splitter in tow when you have a splitter in tow. Trust me on this,too. Long story, but in my haste to aid a wood-cuttin' buddy in distress, I backed over the thing, putting it on it's top (guess
I'm the only guy on the block with a wood splitter engine shroud and gas cap with road-rash). Popped a bead on one of the tires, ginked up the rear quarter panel of my truck and generally looked every bit of a dumbass that I have been referred to in various settings.
This one is great. I got one of those reflective fiberglass driveway markers from Lowe's and I poke it in the void right behind the wedge (look, you'll see it). A quick glance in my rear-view mirror and I can see that I still have the splitter with me when I'm tooling to and fro. I broke it off when I put the splitter on it's top, I need a new one.
When I did turn turtle with the splitter, I broke the plastic choke plate bellcrank. Bad news? This part's not a serviced part, gotta replace teh whole carburetor. Good news? the carb's REAL cheap ($12 if memory serves) and isn't too big of a hassle to change.
The Honda engine will run on 50:1 saw mix. Really.
Get a ball bungee and wrap it around the tongue just rearward of where the stand nests into the tongue. Snap the bungee over the foot to hold it in place while fiddle with the pin. About that stand... Someone's gonna lose a finger on that thing one day. Using the ball bungee trick should help make it happen to some other guy and not you.
Keep your body parts out of pinch areas. My left thumb is still notably wider and flatter than its right-side counterpart and the nail still doesn't grow right. Sure, the manual says to not have one guy run the lever and another work the log, and just as soon as I find that three-armed man that can bench-press a Buick and works for beer I get right on that, too!
The wedge base should be tougher. I warped mine into an arch and it peels wood off logs and gets stuck between the rail and wedge. I put the thing in a 30-ton press and got some bow out, but it's still not right.
Using the splitter in a vertical orientation makes no sense to me. I'd rather grunt a big log up or cut it down to size than work on my knees trying to "oof" a big round onto that itty-bitty foot. That said, the splitter may benefit from a second "kick stand" under the foot, I've had several instance where the weight of a log makes the whole thing rock rearward. Freaky experience, that.
Get a Fiskars hatchet. It will nest between the hydraulic hard-line and the hydro cylinder and be REAL handy when splitting elm or other stringy logs.
There ya have it. I hope someone can benefit from this post, even if its by me presenting myself as a bad example not to follow.
First - read the manual. There's a lot of CYA safety stuff in there, but there's also some pretty important stuff (not that safety isn't important, but "remove the spark plug wire before performing any service or repair"? - Yeah, I'll get right on that...)
Change your hydraulic filter often! The manual calls for an initial change after 35 hours of operation. In my typical usage, that would have been after only a month or a month and a half - It would not (and did not) occur to me to perform any service to such a new machine. Are these splitters really built that "dirty" or is it the nature of the beast to have junk in the system? I duuno, but go ahead and fork out the 8 and a half bucks and do it. I can kick my splitter on it's tail and swap out the filter without losing hydraulic oil BUT...
Gasoline spills out of the engine (fuel cap? Dunno) when it's resting tongue-up, foot down. It balances well that way, but I lose gas and the engine smokes heavily after leaving it this way for any length of time. My buddy's 22-ton model with the Briggs & Stratton does neither, but the "superior" Honda does, go figure.
Keep a spare Lovejoy handy. http://www.lovejoy-inc.com/ The coupler between the engine and pump has let go on my unit after about 5 years and my buddy's after 2. TSC doesn't seem to carry the 3-piece "kit" but you can generally piece one together with off-the-shelf parts for extra cost. Just get one and keep it in your saw box, along with the appropriate Allen wrench. You'll need one with a 7/8" bore on one side and 1/2" on the other.As a side note, I thought for the longest time that my Lovejoy took different sizes for the driving side and driven side - drove me nuckin FUTS!! Turns out that one of them had just split, making me use an over-size wrench that never seemed to fit very well. Guess I know why now...
When you do have to change you Lovejoy, be sure to leave an adequate end gap between the two halves so that as the mechanicals heat up and sell you don't develop a thrust load on the $200 pump's high-volume/low-pressure drive gear and hog it into the pump housing rendering said $200 two-stage pump into a slow-only one. Trust me on this one, I did the autopsy myself.
If you get a replacememnt pump from Northern Tools (FKA Northern Hydraulics), it is a Haldex unit, albeit one with substandard exterior finish. Mine appears to function just fine, but it's not as pretty as the original and I did have to change out the press-fit suction-side nipple for the original (the original had a necked-down hose barb whereas the new one had a straight 7/8 diameter) It's an easy change and cheaper than dinking around with adapters.
More about filters: Wal Mart does not carry the filter you need -they have one that looks like it, but the thread pitch is different. The manual calls for, among others, Fram P1653A, but my TSC guy and some of the cross-over charts call for P1654A - TSC carries both. I went with the 1563
The paint on these splitters S-U-C-K-S! Pretty early in it's existence, my paint started coming off in sheets. It looks like perhaps there was a breech in the surface, then the paint was undercut in big chunks before I knew it. Soon, I was losing paint all the way down to rusted metal. A sever case of boredom, some rusty metal primer, a half-case of Aervoe camouflage paint and a 30-pack of Busch took care of that. It's now hides pretty well in plain sight when it has to stay outside. I guess that IS the point of camouflage paint, though, ain't it?
Don't forget you have a splitter in tow when you have a splitter in tow. Trust me on this,too. Long story, but in my haste to aid a wood-cuttin' buddy in distress, I backed over the thing, putting it on it's top (guess
I'm the only guy on the block with a wood splitter engine shroud and gas cap with road-rash). Popped a bead on one of the tires, ginked up the rear quarter panel of my truck and generally looked every bit of a dumbass that I have been referred to in various settings.
This one is great. I got one of those reflective fiberglass driveway markers from Lowe's and I poke it in the void right behind the wedge (look, you'll see it). A quick glance in my rear-view mirror and I can see that I still have the splitter with me when I'm tooling to and fro. I broke it off when I put the splitter on it's top, I need a new one.
When I did turn turtle with the splitter, I broke the plastic choke plate bellcrank. Bad news? This part's not a serviced part, gotta replace teh whole carburetor. Good news? the carb's REAL cheap ($12 if memory serves) and isn't too big of a hassle to change.
The Honda engine will run on 50:1 saw mix. Really.
Get a ball bungee and wrap it around the tongue just rearward of where the stand nests into the tongue. Snap the bungee over the foot to hold it in place while fiddle with the pin. About that stand... Someone's gonna lose a finger on that thing one day. Using the ball bungee trick should help make it happen to some other guy and not you.
Keep your body parts out of pinch areas. My left thumb is still notably wider and flatter than its right-side counterpart and the nail still doesn't grow right. Sure, the manual says to not have one guy run the lever and another work the log, and just as soon as I find that three-armed man that can bench-press a Buick and works for beer I get right on that, too!
The wedge base should be tougher. I warped mine into an arch and it peels wood off logs and gets stuck between the rail and wedge. I put the thing in a 30-ton press and got some bow out, but it's still not right.
Using the splitter in a vertical orientation makes no sense to me. I'd rather grunt a big log up or cut it down to size than work on my knees trying to "oof" a big round onto that itty-bitty foot. That said, the splitter may benefit from a second "kick stand" under the foot, I've had several instance where the weight of a log makes the whole thing rock rearward. Freaky experience, that.
Get a Fiskars hatchet. It will nest between the hydraulic hard-line and the hydro cylinder and be REAL handy when splitting elm or other stringy logs.
There ya have it. I hope someone can benefit from this post, even if its by me presenting myself as a bad example not to follow.
