At 72 and heating with wood for almost 50 years now splitting everything by hand, I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Huskee 20 ton splitter yesterday. I’m not giving up on the mauls as I like hand splitting, but the hydro will come in handy for those nasty rounds that about killed me busting open with the monster maul. Have a couple big dead White oaks on the property I’m anxious to try it out on.
Smart move. Congrats on the purchase! If I didn't sell wood id've never use a hydro. Busting up gnarly pieces by hand is not fun. Be sure to post some pics/videos of it in action JDU
Absolutely no shame in pushing a lever back and forth to get it done. I’ve been heating w/ wood for nearly 15 years and one of my stipulations to start was hydros. I watched my dad hand split everything growing up and I saw some of the effects to his body. Didn’t want to go there. Post up some pics and show us the beast.
I am thinking this will certainly earn its keep as time goes by. After I finally purchased a splitter I found I use it more than I thought I ever would. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Don’t feel bad. I just bought a splitter this past winter too. Having split wood by hand for our home all my adult life (and as a teen too), I finally decided I’d like to keep my shoulders healthy without surgery if possible. We burn about 8 cords a year usually, and while I’ve always been proud of doing it manually I decided it was time to spend a little money. I really enjoy using the splitter as part of the process now. I move it right to where I’m stacking, so the splits go from splitter to stack with no bending over to pick up the splits. I swear, that’s the best part of the whole deal. LOL Another tool I invested in is a Timber Tuff “Timber Claw”. I’d used a hookaroon with firewood for years, but the Timber Claw is faster because it releases immediately. I can quickly slap that thing on as big a chunk as I can lift and set it on the splitter, again without having to bend all the way down to pick up the round. I don’t see them mentioned often, but I like mine. It’s a real time and back saver. Good luck with your new tool! Edited to add link. They come in 16" and 24" models. The 24" works really well on my 20" lengths. : Timber Tuff Tools | Tough Tools for the Forest Industry! | 24" Timber Claw
I bought my splitter a couple years ago. I loved hand splitting. In fact it was my favorite part of the whole process. I found myself staring at about a 2 cord pile of elm rounds and decided it was time.
That Husky is basically the same as the older MTD. I bought the 20 to MYD back in the late 80's and have enjoyed it since. It will do the job nicely at a decent speed.
Sounds like wisdom here, starting with splitting right where you will stack. I use the pickeroon for reaching some wood but for log tongs I don't think you can beat the Husqvarna log tongs. One thing is you don't have to bend as much to pick up the logs, which my back really appreciates.
I looked at a lot of reviews and videos on that splitter, all of which were favorable except for a few minor things, reliability and easy starting were all good. It was one of the least expensive and figure prices are certainly not going down. I liked the fact that it was "only" 400 pounds and I can wheel it around pretty easily. I don't process a lot of wood every year, so hoping it will be perfect for my needs. I'm sure my son will want to borrow it too. He does not heat with wood but his wife has a serious campfire wood burning problem.
Funny thing about it is specs/dimensions on that splitter are the same as what they market as being a 22-25 ton machine now, and honestly that 20 may even have a bit more power than some of the new ones. All the "cheap" splitter manufacturers (china built now) lie about their specs. A calipers, pressure gauge, calculator, and stop watch proves them as liars on most of the "cheap" machines. And I don't think there's a USA built equivalent for less than $4k now...
Some folks belittle the “little” 20-22 ton splitters. Truth is, their cycle time is usually faster than the big ones, they use less fuel, and they’ll split anything you need done if you use a little judgement - on big gnarly guys you attack the weak spots, split crotches through the middle of the branch instead of across, etc., just like you would if you were hand splitting. I enjoy this, like doing a puzzle but with tangible end results. If you’re doing production firewood for sales or multiple families that would be different, but for a single home the little ones will get the job done. My dad had a PTO-driven three-point splitter for his tractor that we used for his problem splits, and I swear my “little” 22-ton Dirty Hands splitter is faster and stronger. I think the wedge shape helps too though - it has a fine, thin cutter that penetrates a couple of inches before the wide, blunt angle starts. It’s more effective than the one-angle blunt wedge. I think your Huskee has the same setup. Enjoy!
A lot of the commercial splitters have gone to using a thin more knife like cutter instead of the "wedge" setup of old...I've used both enough to know old wide wedge type is not better, or needed. And I totally agree that the big tonnage splitters are way overkill, and often (not always though) slower
I’ve noticed here with the easy splitting Alder, the wide wedge pops it open almost as soon as the wedge makes contact. On tougher wood the thinner wedge would slice into it better.
You made it longer than me. I never thought I needed a splitter. Then at 44 I developed a slap tear in my shoulder from splitting wood and bought a 6.5 ton electric. One of the best purchases I've made.
Used my splitter for the first time. Cut a serviceberry down to daylight my food plot, cut a couple rounds out of it for an excuse to fire up the new machine. I don't know how long it was sitting outside at TS, quite a while I believe. It came full of hydraulic fluid and engine oil. I put fuel in it and it started on second pull, ran like a top.
That's a good looking splitter. Sure glad you got it. I grew up hand splitting, for the house and Dad's store. He finally bought a Yard Machine 25 ton splitter from my FIL in the late '90's. Looks just like Backwoods Savage splitter. We used it full time until 2018, when we got a County Line 30 ton with a lot faster cycle time. Happy splitting...
My family has burned wood in fireplaces, stoves, boilers or furnaces my entire life. I probably didn't make any firewood until 10 yrs old but we never had a hydro splitter until I was in college. Since then it's been 30 years or so and that's pretty much all I use to split wood. I have a maul that I'll break out if camping or for the heck of it. Now as I get older, I want a log lift on a splitter, but I've got no issues moving large rounds around. Firewood is tough enough to make, might as well make it easy as you can. My buddy has an old Didier horizontal push plate 12-14 ton, it's so old they didn't rate them back then, and it does great, especially after putting the predator 6.5 hp on it when the old Briggs 5 hp died. That thing rips right through elm no issues.
