Good point..we actually had this discussion in the shop, if that ugly log were elm or some other stringy wood he probably would have not accepted it [/QUOTE]
The splitter on the skid loader just cuts them right up I was away this weekend I am going to try to get a video of it working this weekend I have not noodled in years JB
I have not run out of power with the splitter yet and I have only put the machine in High flow just to try it out and normally I only run the skid loader @1900 rpm when splitting JB
I don't know if you have also used stand alone splitters with small gas engines, but my experience is that having a tractor or skid steer providing the hydraulics adds significant power to splitters. Or at least on-demand power. It's just a different splitting experience. When I run a splitter off my tractor I only get a one speed pump instead of a two speed (sounds like your skid steer has a high flow setting), but full power is available immediately and backed up by a powerful diesel engine, whereas a stand alone gas splitters take a few seconds to get up to full power. On a stand alone gas splitter, first the gas engine has to respond to the greater load, then the pump has to kick down into the low flow / high pressure speed. On a big, knotted round, it can take a long time for a gas splitter to basically cut through the round when the pump is running on the second speed, since the flow rate is super low. With my tractor (and your skid steer, I'm sure) if it has the power to get through the round, it never slows down. I use both a high speed 30 ton gas splitter, and a 22 ton 3-point tractor splitter. I enjoy both, and actually use the gas splitter more. But there is nothing like having a powerful pump and a diesel engine with 100+ ft/lbs of torque powering things.
I also have a gas splitter it is a wolf ridge 28 ton and it has no trouble pushing through the 4 way wedge and I rarely put anything bigger than 12 -14 inch diameter on it I pre split anything bigger with the skid loader down to that size with 2 of us it takes 11-13 minutes to fill one of the 1/3 cord bags JB
Well in that case, everything I said does not apply. That's one beast of a machine! I was talking about the consumer model gas splitters, like my Countyline 30 ton.
I work on a lot of splitters like yours at my shop they all work good if you are not doing a whole lot of wood in a hurry I have limited time to get all I need cut and split so I have to split a lot when I get the chance . My outdoor furnace for the house is great it uses so little wood to do its job the problem is the hot air wood furnace in my shop is a wood eliminator I use @3 wheelbarrows full in 24 hrs in it so I need a lot of wood every year . I have been doing wood for a lot of years and I have a pretty good system but every time I go to a show there is always a new toy (I mean tool) to make it more productive I am really liking the Eastonmade boxwood splitter I just saw at the Boonville logging show maybe I will have to get a christmas list in JB
