Well, I'm sure I'll take some razzin' for this cuz I'm always talkin' bout how much I love to split by hand, but.... I found a deal on a splitter that I couldn't turn down. I don't plan on using it for everything, but for Devil's Wood (elm), it is just the ticket. Tested it out on some elm rounds today that I was saving for hydraulics. It did not disappoint.
Frank, you very well might find you use that splitter more than you thought you would. Surely makes the work go faster and easier. You just need to learn how to use it correctly.
Yea Hydraulic splitting grow on you pretty fast. Faster, easier getting the sizes & shapes you want. & when you get some twisted gnarlies that the maul would bounce back at you , that 26 ton won't even slow down Bet it didn't even groan splitting the elm Nice addition to the wood processing tool shed !
I split by hand for years,then 2 years ago I got a splitter and there is no going back! I'm just too busy to spend a month of my free time to hand split when I can do it with the splitter in less than a week. My shoulders like the splitter too.
I knew that was coming, Backwoods! I really was comfortable splitting horizontal, but I promise I will try it your way sometime It is my stress reliever. I know I wont be able to do it forever, so I've been keeping my eye open for a deal. There will be times when it will be handy, for sure, but I'm not gonna retire the Fiskars just yet.
nice splitter, did you buy it new? see it has the optional dislodger on it. wish my I&O had it I may order one for mine
[ Thanks, I bought it used. It cleaned up pretty well. Just needs a little of blue touch-up paint and I should be all set.
Congrats on the splitter, maybe after my one daughters wedding and the other ones first child I'll start looking for a splitter.
I borrowed into the splitter club and I'm not sure how I'll ever go back. I like hand splitting but even with straight grain the hydraulics are just more accurate. I have to return it next Saturday
I was figuring you'd get a splitter at some point. Elm or not, a splitter is the only way to go, even if you only burn a cord a year. I zoomed in, it looks pretty darn clean. I split some elm today with the old didier splitter. It groaned on a few, but split through it all. I have no idea how many tons it is, probably between 15-20.
It's just another tool in the woodhoarding arsenal. The older I get, the more I will use it. But to be honest, there's a silver maple on the ground just inside the woodline that I'm dying to swing at with the Fiskars.
I had to use the splitter on a few big ash limb rounds that would make my 6lb sledge just bounce off. The old splitter my buddy has groaned worse than on the elm. That explains why they wouldn't succumb to the maul.
Nothing wrong with hydraulics nor the hand tools. I enjoy hand splitting. Desk job so the exercise is enjoyable when swinging the maul or Fiskars. Definitely awesome for some stress relief. Anything that wants too much of a fight goes in the hydraulics pile. When that pile gets too big or I get backed up, I fire up the splitter. I use it so seldom now that I split mostly at night. There's another benefit of hand tools - much quieter. In any case, its a good investment. I bought mine used as well, and they hold their value.
Work smarter, not harder I always say Congrats on the new splitter. Very nice shape and Subaru engine
