Here are my thoughts for what it's worth. First if it's a small engine I have no brand loyalty anymore they are made very well from China and most manufactures may assemble them in the USA but the parts come from China. My lawn mower has a Briggs and it says proudly made in the USA However the manual states sourced globally. Just food for thought. My DHT 22 ton is very good and by 22 ton standards fast. Fast should be the last thing to look at. You don't need the full stroke on this style splitter usually about half or less and it's split. Focusing on engine brand is not a real worry anymore.. I have installed China motors such as the Predator and CPM off eBay and they run amazing year after year. The Kohler on my splitter is very nice too. 22 ton is A LOT of force 44000 lbs at the point of the wedge and I have yet to have my 22 ton get stuck on a round. You'll find that most brands Country line, speeco, DHT, Black Diamond, Troy built, Husqvarna, Echo, Ariens and so on are all good. In terms of accessories they are all different as to what they come with so that's a selling point for sure... There is a host of cheaper models too such as the Forest king ( good splitters ) Menards has them on sale a few times a year for $600 to $700 on a 34 ton. I saw a 22 ton a few weeks ago. I've used them and they are also good and use common interchangable parts.
Found this one $798 it loads old decently compact. I think this would fall in the cheaper catagory but you don’t know till ya look.
My son and I were just looking (for fun) at this splitter last night at Lowes it was $1499.00 at my local lowes, so that $999 looks like a nice deal. Was a nice looking splitter in person.........
Already split some ash no problem at all. Was supposed to have somebody that was cutting a tree down today dump it in my driveway. It was rain on and off today so I’m guessing they never cut the tree down, probably a good thing went to the dr and found out I have bronchitis and I probably would be lifting logs. But the splitter is hungry.
Not sure if you do or not, but we always wear ear plugs when splitting. Gets hard on the ears when sitting and splitting for a couple of hours. I've lost a fair amount of hearing over the years, trying to protect what's left. Nice splitter.
Nice purchase Wolves. I did the same in April, purchased the 25T DHT from Lowes. Tried to bargain the store manager, if you look on the rear there is a manufacture sticker. He had one on the lot that was 8/2016 for the 29T model. I told him he was sitting on that unit now for over 2 years with no sale, make me a deal. Nope. So I got the 25T for $999 less the 10% military discount. I have only run about 1/2 cord through the machine, and it had trouble on one 28" round of hard maple that by turning I worked it through. Funny story though, and props to the DHT peeps. (This is my first splitter so the below is purely operator error). I ran the ram through a split, hit the control back and let it retract. Moved the split and turned off the machine at the engine stop so I could unload the wheelbarrow. Return to split some more and no go...... machine wont start. Hmmm.... check the gas, plugs, hit the retract lever and yes machine is not in forward mode. Being old and forgetful... I wheel the machine into garage and pull the plug to check for a spark. Nope. This was Sunday, Monday is a holiday. Get to work on Tue and call DHT. Speak to Sam in Customer support. She says the non-start is typically one of three things 1) Control lever not being in neutral 2) Engine oil level too low 3) Hydraulic fluid too low. I get home that night and check. Not #2 and not #3. I check #1 and of course the engage lever is not in the NEUTRAL position. What happened was the ram had not fully retracted when I shut the machine off. You see the lever automatically pops back into neutral when the ram reaches its full return point. It wasn't in the neutral position. A simple tap on the lever.... Boom..... back in neutral.... fully functioning machine. DHT support was quick, super nice and when I called back to tell them it was operator error... we both had a nice laugh. Reminder... you have 30 days to register the machine on-line for warranty support, include a scanned copy of your receipt. Otherwise you have to mail the documents in.
Welcome spudman99. Great and informative first post.... when you get a chance, post some pics of your setup and introduce yourself. Maybe Eric VW can post a link to the introduction thread... pull up a chair, grab your favorite cocktail and enjoy the company here!!!!!
