Wood Splitter Suggestions?

I thought I posted this yesterday but maybe I messed it up. Anyway. I am in the market for a gas powered wood splitter. Looking at Orchelens Tuff Country brand. Anyone have any good suggestions in what to look for and price range of a good splitter. And any splitters to avoid. I split wood once every 2 years in a marathon event by cutting up several trees and then renting a splitter but splitting wood for 48 hours over one weekend is taking its toll on me as I get older. Looking to split littler batches more frequently than the marathon events I have been doing, so buying a splitter is in order (I think). Look forward to your suggestions.
 
I would suggest getting one that rotates so you can split vertical with it,much easier than lifting the chucks up on a horizontal platform.
 
Speaking of that, and this won't help you, Menards had a sale on one of their best ones- I think it was 30 tons- at year's end for a few hours. It was half price, from $1,500 down to $750 and had a battery & starter. I thought if I didn't already own one that would have been worth pursuing. They probably only had one at that price as a store promotion.
 
Good point I had already planned for that. I have split a lot of the big ones on my knees because they are easier to roll into the splitter than to lift them up.
 
Have you considered a new 3-pt splitter? Seem to be a few out there for about $750 -- pretty good bang for the buck. Thinking about getting the 22-ton from Northern Tool that has the veritcal/horizontal flip myself. I've had good experiences with them as far problems go with what I've purchased, they have good friendly tech support people. NT seems to sell good quality equipment.
 
Yes I have but since I have a jd 60, running an old
gas tractor with 320 something cubic Inch engine
seems like an overkill. Plus my hydraulics are low
pressure compared to today's tractor s and I don't
think the cycle time would be fast enough
 
Well, I bought a 25 ton MTD unit from Home Depot probably 15 years ago and it has never stalled on a piece of wood, most of which is almond. The splitter is good, but I had to buy a new gas tank and head for the B/S engine. The tank started leaking and the spark plug hole stripped the threads. Got them both from Ebay for 30 bucks total. BTW, I would suspect the majority of splitters are MTD manufactured.
 
My neighbor bought his the year before they came out with that rack on the side. As you split the rack catches the odd piece and you don't squish your toes! Make sure you get one. My neighbor sure wishes he did.
 
I bought a 26 ton yard machine log splitter from Walmart about 10 years ago and it's easy to start and runs great. Has never needed any repairs, only maintenance.
 
Northern Tool makes a good splitter the hoses & Hydraulic cylinders are made in...wait for it USA!
 
I prefer Honda engines to Briggs. With Stabil in the gas mine starts first pull every time, no matter how long it sets.
 
I have a 35 ton splitter that was sold by TSC and you can split with wood laying down or tip it up and slide wood in on ground level. The new one they handle now isn't built as heavy.
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I have a North Star 20 ton from Nothern Tool. It has split a lot of wood, with no issues at all. It splits both vertical and horizontal, cost was $750 on clearance about 6 years ago. I'd guess about $1200 or so for a comparable machine today.
 
That's a Speeco with the Huskee label, not sure why but they re-branded the same 3 they (TSC) has carried to County Line, and now I see the Huskee brand back again. They look exactly the same now as they did all the way through. I'll have to take a look at the current models and see what they look like, that would be disappointing if they "cheapened" them.

The 28 ton model in Huskee is a good one too, reason I say it is the Honda GC 190 is a decent and easy start motor, good on fuel too. Not a GX series motor, but for the use intended and described above, it'll work well.

I've had a '07 vintage (2nd hand) 28 ton model 4 years now, and its performed quite well for my firewood splitting needs. 4 1/2" cylinder, 2 stage pump at 11 GPM's 6 gallon reservoir, I added the bolt on cradle, the 4 way wedge, cleaned the open center valve, kept the oil changed and wheel bearings lubed. Also got the cover for it. It takes some pulling when cold and its sat for weeks, but it always starts and it's done 4-5 cord annually maybe a bit more, but that's average.

For Fred from MO.;

I looked at every splitter in this range of homeowner type models like these, its a pretty decent value for what you pay. I've managed to keep my work off the ground by using gardenway carts and Jackson M-11 wheelbarrows that I set stakes in to help load more in them. The split wood either goes to the small shed, the single stack areas between the posts or by the cart or wheelbarrow load into the garage where I draw from it to load the stove. I'm sure this work will get easier for me as I improve on my methods, but I have to say amongst all the similar ones out there, its well built, I like the wedge on the cylinder as it works for every kind of wood I process, the stops push off stuck pieces, its not too fast,(next up would be 16 GPM, 5" cylinder I believe, little quicker cycle time is all). The price is decent and if you look back to what a Didier of the early 80's would cost new, these are darned close to the same price they asked then and they are a much better design given the heavy beam, foot and features. I'm not pushing the brand, they'll all work in a similar fashion, but Speeco's design is a good one for the homeowner or seasonal firewood processing.

Once you get past these types, the prices double and triple, but you seemingly get quicker processing time. For me it would not really be worth the upgrade, the darned thing only works a week in total a year or so, I'm not processing to sell, so it makes sense.
Speeco Log Splitter
 
Our TSC has that County Line and the 35 ton is not built as heavy as this one. Mine has the 12.5 HP Briggs and it starts good but hard to pull through. I wish it was a horizontal instead of the vertical engine.
 
That's interesting, I had wondered what the change was about when I saw the yellow countyline brand out front. Maybe it's some short lived corporate decision or fad, cheap it up, charge the same.... LOL ! TSC is across the road from me, I'll have to look again, a lot of these Huskee's have sold locally, lot more of them available used since '12 or so. Prior to that you rarely saw a splitter for sale on CL, now they are common, many are Huskee too.
 
the 3 point units intrigued me until someone on here reminded me of the gph of the internal 3400 (ford) pump and the fact that if a 5hp briggs worked, why run 3cyls and waste the extra 25 horses?
 
Hi, Ihave a Speeco 15Ton. Quite happy with it. My neighbor has the 3pt PTO model very slow compared to mine. ED Will.
 
Nephew has a SuperSplit that is not hydraulic but uses two flywheels and a rack and pinion drive. It is 2 or 3 times faster than a hydraulic splitter. It has a 6 HP engine from HF and will split almost anything. Check the website. This design is now used by DR.
 
It might be like it is around here . A lot people have stopped burning wood or have got so old that they now buy what they need.
 
I don't have a splitter. But I would want one on a loader or some such version as then the splitter can be set over the block instead of pushing the block to the splitter. When they are 3 ft across and 2-3 ft long they are in the 3-500 pound range. It could also be split into a wagon already loaded as it came off the splitter. No lifting.
As for you guys saying the pressure is not very high on your tractor. The bigger the cylinder the less it takes for pressure as it is made up for in square inches in the ram face.
I split some with a friends splitter a week or so ago learned a lot about that and he claimed his was about 40 ton. It stopped on several blocks if it hit a crotch or knot.
 

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