Opinion on Forest king 30 Ton Log Splitter.

You guys are taking this to far. I was a bit upset and made some comments. I did not flag his listing, and most likely will not. Unlike him, all I did was comment on a bit of frustration. There is certainly nothing illegal about what he did (well other than possible taxes). I don't see your analogy. I compete in sports all the time as does my son and we are good sports about it and loosing. I might however get upset if there was something of questionable morals going on. One thing I hate about capitalism is it often leads to greed. This guy is trying to make a buck for doing almost nothing, and in doing so he put others out of a good deal since this was a very limited quantity deal. Now maybe if he assembled it, put oil in it, or something else, then he can charge more. Flipping usually involves fixing something up, like a house, making a profit on something you've put some effort and your skills into.

Your right Clems though, I don't really know much about this fella or his intentions.Maybe he needs money for Christmas presents. I do to. But I doubt it. It was just an assumption. I've never sold a thing on craigslist or ebay for profit (the few things I have sold has been after I've had or used them and sell for less), and have never flipped anything so this concept isn't really in my nature I guess. I enjoy giving folks good deals on things I don't need anymore, it makes me happy knowing someone else is getting something for a good deal and I am recouping some of my money too. Maybe this is why I'll never be rich.

All the splitters could have been sold to folks that cut their own wood and result would have been the same - I would have lost out. And that is fine. It just tends to bother me when I loose out to someone who doesn't need it at all.

But lets move on, no sense in dwelling on this. But I still think he is a duck lol.

 

The ad says it takes 6.5 gallons of hydraulic fluid. Menards sells 5 gallon buckets of AW32 Hydraulic Fluid for $40. Do I really need to buy another 5 gallons or can I mix in different hydraulic fluid? They also sell more expensive $14 a gallon stuff. Can I mix the two? Is there a benefit of going with better hydraulic fluid? Any suggestions? I'm going to put mine together tomorrow. Thanks!

 

Mix it.

I would buy universal tractor hydro fluid . Out was $20 on black friday at TSC and $27 regular I think for 5 gals.

You could also probably use ATF bit that would cost more anyway

 

As long as they are the same weight/viscosity mixing them is fine.

 

They dont take 6.5 gallons of hydro oil.
They require 3.17 gallons.

 

That doesn't sound right my 22 ton takes every bit of 5 gallons

 

For some reason... Do i need to take a picture of what is left in my 5 gallon bucket also?

 

Is the cylinder already filled with fluid

 

I had 9 of these, you would think i would be just one of those people who would know how much fluid these things need.

 

You have a bad altitude , man

 

My altitude is fine.
No height adjustment needed.

 

How many you have left now?

 

Seems to me that if the cylinder wasn't pre filled, then that's a fairly small fluid amount/small reservoir.

 

i bought one of the 30 tons at menards on friday for $800 ($800 off). they had it sitting next to the 22 ton that was selling for $200 off at $799. the 30 ton made that 22 ton looked like a children's model. then, i had to buy a trailer to haul the damm thing home as we took the suburban out of town that weekend not expecting to be buying a log splitter. anyway, i got it put together last night. started right up, ran great, idled up and down nicely and split nice big 24 inch long X 20 inch oaks like tooth picks. cycling time was relatively quick too. the oak was plenty dry. but, it barely acted like it was working. 30 ton is probably overkill. but, i am extremely happy with the purchase.

anyway... the amount of fluid was asked about above and i have the same question. the ad clearly says 6.5 gallons. the manual clearly says 3.17 gallons. 3.17 gallons leaves quite a bit of room in the reservoir after cycling it through a few times. looks like plenty of fluid for it to operate correctly. but, its not nearly full. is there any good reason a guy can't get the reservoir close to full? i've never owned my own splitter before and have always borrowed one. but, best i can tell, the reservoir wouldn't be under any pressure. so, i can't think of a good reason not to get it to at least 75% full. any input on this?

the reservoir cap/plug also has a about half of its threads showing once its seated nice and snug. is this common? why have a plug and a bung with 1 1/2 inches of thread when the damm thing only seats 3/4 of an inch?

the manual called for 16 ounces of motor oil. that also seemed a bit on the low side to me. it looks like it barely registers on the dipstick. but, sometimes its hard to get a good read with new oil. anyone else feel that 16 ounces wasn't enough?

finally... there was a black plastic cap that is about 1 1/4 inches in diameter and 2-3 inches long that resembled a small coffee thermos cap in the crate with the splitter. i can't for the life of me figure out where the damm thing goes. it doesn't appear to fit anywhere and even though its mentions on the parts list, i can't find it in the diagrams anyplace. anyone know where it belongs other than in the garbage?

thanks.

great site by the way!

joe

 

The fluid will expand as it warms up...so if you fill it close to full when cold it might puke fluid after it gets up to temp.

The cap might be a cover for transport...either the carb or the fluid breather. Dunno.

 

The fluid will expand. The reservoir is not under pressure . There is a breather hole for reservoir and it will puke out any fluid that is overfull. There should be a line on the side or a fill hole I would think to tell you max fill?

As for the plug. It was probably just an off the shelf pipe thread plug and they used something off the shelf instead of custom making one . Or that factory had 200,000, two inch plugs and instead of buying 200k 1 inch plugs they used up what they had. Won't shirt anything. Auto makers do and have done this forever. If you work on cars you see this. Certain model years will have a certain alternator or brakes through say july and then later production have a different one as they use a new design part. They use up what they had from the previous year before they start use the new stock.

 

I just tossed those in the plastic tube that holds the manual. No idea what they are for either

 

Yes, you don't want to overfill the reservoir. You'll have a puddle of hydro fluid otherwise. The fluid will expand, but not a whole lot. The more you can fit in, without overflowing, the better. There should be a sight glass or level gauge on any hydro unit, but many splitters simply have a plug that you fill up to as a high level indicator.


As far as the cap and extra threads, as long as it seats, it's good.

 

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I made a special trip to Menards just to pick up another 5 gallons before I unboxed the splitter to find it only needed 3.17. Son of a ...! Oh well. The joy of getting the splitter up and going outweighed my frustration.