Log splitters

I put about 20 cord through a black diamond 30 ton. Only issue I ever had was the internal hydraulic filter in the tank had spun off and fell off its mount. It was a great splitter.

I bought a new speeco 28 ton earlier this year, never split wood with it though. Its currently for sale.

I bought several of the forest king splitters from menards on black Friday a couple years ago. One of them ran non stop for 6 days. Literally never shut it off. I cant remember how much wood we ran through it, it was something crazy though between 9 people running it.
Zero issues with it.


I started with a forest king 22 ton. Thing never missed a beat! I bet I put 10 cord through it, I bought it used.

I've never had any serious issues at all with any splitters I've owned.

 

Hand splitter. But I do have a 5 ton Earthquake electric splitter as well. Someday I would like a 15-20 ton.

 

We have a 25 ton Yard Machine with 6 hp B & S on it. When tires got bad and tongue got bent, built this steel frame and bolted it on. Bought it from FIL after he split one big oak tree. It is about 20 yrs old, original engine.

 

That mine right there! Thanks stuckinthemuck , now I don't have to post a pic of mine. I know Ashwatcher has the same one and if I'm not mistaken ,so does Shawn Curry . I'm very happy with it to say the least.

 

My Dad bought a Brave 20 ton in 1984. He has passed on, but the Brave is still running like a top and I am thankful to have it. It's a basic machine, speed is good on the Ram. Trying to find a 4 way to slip over the wedge...no luck yet.

 

You can post a pic of a milk crate.

 

Huskee 22 ton here, with a Honda engine. Got it over 10 yrs ago from TSC.
I really love looking at all the different splitters and would love to try them all out!

Must have split close to 200 cord with the splitter. The only problem we have a had with the splitter was the Lovejoy went last year and I had to replace it.


I used to rent a splitter and kill myself for the whole weekend trying to get my moneys worth. No stacking while renting and the could barely move for a few days. Of course I still had to stack all the wood and that is even more bending and lifting than splitting.


Finally broke down and bought this at tractor supply for around $800

 

I went out to find one, I don't know where they all went. Somebody wandering around in the NH woods probably grabbed em'

 

28 ton Dirty Hand tools. Not impressed at all. Right out of the box the ram started leaking. Not when using just when sitting. Then the love joy exploded. My guess is it was loose and backed apart. It’s like the only part installed from the factory you don’t need to assemble yourself. Blew a high pressure hose. Dangerous and messy. Seems the internal pressure worked its way under the male fitting and crumpled it inwards, imploded. Not sure if the fitting was damaged during assembly or just couldn’t handle the load. I was pushing it quite hard at the time. 2nd ram is leaking just like the first now. Warranty is up so I live with it.
Engine is good except for the one metal fuel line fitting entering the carburetor. Not sure what type of metal it is but gasoline doesn’t seem to like it much. Clogs anytime you let it sit for a long period of time. A whitish corrosion that builds up from reacting to gasoline. Sitting empty of full doesn’t seem to make any difference. I’ll take it apart and it’s just that piece of integral but different type of metal on the carb.
Only good thing was the warranty and folks who service the warranty. They just kept sending me parts, no questions asked. Neither I or they could find anyone in the area willing to do warranty work on it so I did it myself which was my preference anyway.

Oh yeah I should add, if using the four way wedge in the highest position they can come in contact with the wood stripper guard upon return if a split or two is jammed under the horizontal wedges. The engineers did not leave enough cutout for this eventuality. And it is an eventuality shears the guard bolts and bends the wedge backwards. No doubt it has just as much power retracting as splitting LOL

 

22 ton Ariens. Bought it 'by mistake' on a trip to Home Depot; they had a few splitters outside, including this Ariens that was clearly used. Someone bought it and then returned it, and the store was using it as a demo but actually selling new ones still in the crate. The price was $1,200 but I asked about buying the demo model and the store manager offered it up for $800. Subaru engine, very nice, I would say about 1/2 way between a B&S and Honda- not as nice as a Honda but better than B&S. Pretty quiet. The splitter is taller than most which is great 'cause I do not have to bend over to use it. And the engine is well forward so access to the splitting section is wide open. A very easy machine to use.

Except for large rounds when the machine is vertical. The buck- block on the splitter is quite thick and the rounds sit at such an angle that the wedge usually pushes the rounds out rather than splitting them. I almost never end up using the machine in vertical mode anyway- it is just easier to use it horizontally for me.

Brian

 

I bought a 28 ton Yardmax from HD this spring. It’s had about 7 or 8 cord put through it so far. I like the design and the way it splits, but I’ve had some trouble with it so time will tell how it holds up. After 4 or 5 cord I fired it up one day and once it warmed up it started spitting hydraulic oil out the vent. It would be ok for a few minutes after cooling down, then start spitting again. It kept up until the level was below the dipstick so I shut her down. It was still splitting just fine though. After a few conversations with Yardmax I convinced them to send me some oil and a new filter. They kept telling me I overfilled the hydraulic tank but it came filled to the full mark on the dipstick and didn’t act up until several cord went through it and I only checked the level before using each time. A new filter and fresh oil did the trick I believe, for now at least, but it hasn’t been used much since. Once the weather cools I’ll give it another workout.
The filter is inside the tank, and it’s a fine mesh screen. I believe the issue is from filings left from manufacturing so I expect it may take another change to flush it all out.
On top of that when I changed the engine oil it had more filings in it than I’ve ever seen come out of an engine. It runs great, but I won’t be waiting long to change it again and it’s getting synthetic.
Unless you want to spend thousands the splitters on the market today appear to be all made of the same Chinese components, so features are what I looked for considering they’re all about the same price as well.
I guess I got one built on a Monday or a Friday, but so far they’ve stood behind it and it’s got enough warranty so I’m sure I’ll get to the end of it, but it’s a hassle to deal with. It sucks having to work on brand new equipment. Once I get the crap flushed out I think I’ll get years out of it.

 

I beleive I would try to add an external screw on filter if its not too hard to plum...

 

I just might do that if I continue to have trouble. It would take some plumbing because the return line is right beside the pump, not much room. An external spin on filter would be a lot easier to change, especially without having to drain all the hydraulic oil. I’m sure it would do a better job of filtering too.

 

Champion 23 ton here...black Friday special at Rural King...$699 after sale and rebate...couldn't pass it up, it came assembled and running! I was gonna use it for a year or two until I had time to build a kinetic splitter...but it works good enough for me, never did build that kinetic...
I don't think I have any pics of the Champion...
It's been a reliable machine...had to reroute some of the hoses due to 16 YO kids doing the assembly...and I had to weld up the log catchers a time or two, but that was as much my fault as theirs...they are made of thin metal, but I set more than a couple "too big" rounds on 'em too...

 

Earthquake Electric. It's quiet, small, never needs maintenance, splits nearly anything. Sure, you can trip it up knotty elms, but I have split stiff way bigger than it was designed for, and more than a few in 18 inch diameter sizes. You gotta pick your splits and often the round weighs more than the splitter. Sometimes a little water on the wedge helps grease the big ones open. Laugh if you will, but I am going on my fourth year with this thing splitting everything.

 

Brian,
keep a 2-3" round in front of the foot while splitting in vertical mode. About 12" from the foot or so.
I roll the big rounds up to the foot keeping the round far enough away that when I tip the round over toward the beam that it just touches the beam when it falls and lands on the foot and the small round at the same time. This holds the big round up and gives you a roller to balance and roll the big round on.

 

I've also done this and it works great.
Have used a short 2x12 and have even split a 2x 10 or 12 out of a log and used it

 

Yep. and when the first split is done I leave the wedge down and use it to hold one half while I pull the other half apart... you can still get your fingers under the pieces easy to move them around.
I only quarter the big ones, then go back to the right way...horizontal...

 

I built my own..finished it in December of 2016
8hp Motor (Honda clone)
16 gallon a minute pump 2 stage
3 1/2 dia.ram.
15 gallon oil reservoir filtered return and suction
Log lift
Was tired of bending over and handling big rounds on to my old wood splitter.