Yup bought the 22 ton Dirt Hand Tools couple weeks ago and finished my birch with it. Im slowly working with it but a bad cold and allergies has me still in limbo so Im finding it hard to continue working outside for more than an hour. The good weather returns tomorrow, by next tuesday it's be slated to be 85*. Anyways I have split some extremely hard maple knots with this. Hopefully still have my pictures.. anything good log size splits like a dream most of the time. Apart from saving your arms, the ground here is super soft. Mostly ground vegetation that is all root. So my hits get absorbed fast into the ground and I'll get a round thats been banged in like 3 inches deep. Here's some of that knotted stuff. It'll slow down for sure but its working. I don't think anyone has a freaking PRAYER getting their maul through this. Not even He-Man. Anyways it is quite quick in terms of cycling, about 11 seconds. Not a hurry but you're getting it done. I find that Im splitting faster than I can move logs away sometimes. Make sure you have a cradle for the log half you just split, I should order mine soon. Does work for sure good luck!
Another thing on the larger splitters is they are a little harder to move around by hand. I can move my 22t around flat ground with ease and two can put it about anywhere.
Another big thing about splitters is that I think too many get hung up on cycle time. If you learn to run the splitter right then cycle time is really a non-issue. For example, we cut our logs to 16" but our splitter will split somewhere around 23" (don't remember exactly). So, when raising the wedge, why raise it the entire height? Would it not save much time and wear and tear on the machine if you stopped it at, say, the 18-19" height rather than going all the way then waiting for the wedge to come back down that extra 5-6" or whatever before reaching the log? Many times when splitting certain types of wood you need not take the wedge all the way through the log as a couple inches will pop it right open. Then to raise the wedge say 5-6" does not take long at all and bringing it back down to the log again (2-3") really does not take long even on a machine that has a long cycle time. In addition, let us remember that most of us are splitting wood for ourselves; not a commercial business operation. So I say most times take the time factor out and don't hurry! Haste makes waste and can be a cause of accidents too. Moving the splitter can me made easier too by adding a wheel in front. The ones like on boat trailers work nicely.
Good point I found it's even easier to move by hand if you extend the ram out , it takes some weight off the front and balances it out .
Marking the beam also helps you see where to stop the wedge when returning it , but mostly it keeps you from splittin up a round that to long to fit your stove ,much easier to recut the round than recut a bunch of splits .
I like to lift the tongue up till the splitter is balanced then roll it around. I'll try your trick next time.
Mine balances better with the table I built. It is a bit heavier than the ones you buy, plus I mounted a vice so I can sharpen the saw. I will try and get pics when I get some time.
The pipes on the left hold a patio umbrella, one for vertical and the other for horizontal. The vice also serves as a stop so the splits wont roll off.