Picked it up at TSC during the snowstorm last week. Putting it together was a snap. Mating up the trailer and main beam was just a matter of standing the beam on its end and backing up the trailer until the holes lined up and insert the pin. No heavy lifting or help required. The ram however was another matter. That's one heavy MOFO!
It took about two seconds to figure out what the black cup was for Hooked up the lines, filled the gas and oil and hydraulic tank and fired her up. Shut it down and added more to the hydraulic tank after it filled the lines and ram. Then tried it out on a couple of small pieces just to make sure it works okay. Backwoods Savage says this last picture is the right way to use a splitter and that's good enough for me. . Overall it seems like a decent buy and I won't know until this fall when I get my load of logs and will report back then.
I'll be using it mostly in the vertical position so it doesn't matter. I would definitely get one or make one otherwise.
I didn't know TSC carried the Forest King brand, maybe a Canada thing ? Menards carry them around here. Keep us posted on your overall opinions.
Thanks for all the kind words guys. I generally hate the crap that comes out of China but I must say this looks pretty good. Every single bolt, nut and washer was accounted for and nicely packaged in a bubble pack that even came in its own zippered pouch. I'll have to find a use for that. The welds look even, good and strong and the finish is thick, almost like the ceramic on a roasting pan. It won't chip easily. The tires have air in them and appear to be the same psi just by eye. The wheel bearings had lots of thick grease on them, almost like hard honey though that might have been because of the low temperature when I put that part of it together. The castle nuts and cotter pins were already on the axle shaft and wrapped in a waterproof type paper. All the hydraulic hoses and inlets had plastic plugs in them to keep dirt out. Judging by this product they've really upped their game. I also have two Champion generators made in China and they've been good so far too. A bigger one for the 240 volts the water pump needs and a smaller one for shorter term outages.
Chris F, I run a Chapion 22 Ton splittah(4 years)- except for a little bubbly pizzing last summer- runs like a .........Champion.
The funny thing is the day I bought this splitter I originally went to Canadian Tire because they had the Champion 20 ton on sale for a couple of hundred less that the Forest King but they wouldn't sell it to me because they didn't have any put together yet, other than the display model. I told them that was fine, I wanted to put it together myself and it would be easier to get it home in the truck unassembled. No dice, even after talking to the superviser, so I told them I would go and buy the one at TSC and walked out. When I told the guy at TSC what just went on at Canadian Tire he was perplexed they would do that. He said the only ones they put together are the ones on display. Suited me fine.
My son plays guitar. Has a Les Paul and several others and is pretty damm good with his fingers. My daughter dabbled in drums for a short time and doesn't bother now. I used to play many years ago but wasn't very good and forgot it all.
Nice splitter. My brother in law runs a tree service and they use a champion splitter and they are very happy with it. We have a 4500 watt champion generator that keeps our small farm and house running during the frequent power outages we seem to have. My wife can start it without a problem if I'm not home. We got it for $300 with only 14 hours on it from a neighbour that upgraded to a bigger one. Best money we have spent
