Which splitter would you go with

I've put lots of cords through my Huskee 22 ton and my neighbor's,
Get the log catcher table!!

 

Evans , what part of Pa are you from?

 

I’m from Spring Grove. It’s about an hour south of Harrisburg if your not familiar.

 

DHT splitters are built like a brick outhouse. My current splitter is a DHT 22 ton halfbeam model with the Honda clone engine.
My last splitter was the predator 20 ton from Harbor freight tools. Also with a Honda clone engine.
Personally, the engine wouldn't be my biggest concern, I look for a manual choke , which some don't have, after that the build and set up ( not blowing exhaust in my face, work tables on both sides, horizontal and vertical splitting) are the important things.

The Honda clone engines can take parts from any Honda dealer to get back in business , and harbor freight engines are an easy swap into almost any splitter for easy money

 

I too have a Countyline 25 ton spliter from TSC and while I only have about 6 hours on it, it's been great. Get their TCS card and you can get 10% off and have a year to pay for it interest free. Spend the extra $50 and get one of the log cradles for it when you purchase. Well worth the money and really saves on the back.

 

I don't even attempt it, I just pull the truck up close, unhook and pull it by hand where I need it.
I'll back it up with the mower though.

 

I'm going to get a front hitch receiver for the side by side to eliminate any backing up challenges....of the splitter or the boat for that matter! I'm tired of getting all twisted and ginking up my neck even worse. It'll be one of those "Aunt Jemima moments" ………. what took you so long?

 

Happy owner of a champion 27 ton here. Bought it from Home Depot was $999 plus tax. It comes with a log cradle and splits fast! Have done about 3 cord through it so far and I have zero complaints usually starts first pull.

 

more familiar with Gettysburg

 

Welcome to the club Evans . As you can see, ask a question, get a ton of answers...we have a Yard Machine 25 ton, almost identical to Backwoods Savage splitter. It's about 21 years old, orginal 6 hp Briggs still on it. Just a slower cycle time. Did some frame mods after tires went bad and tongue got bent, move it with the FEL on tractor. No problems over the years.
In Sept '18 we caught the 30 ton County Line with 9.5 hp Kohler on sale. Fast cycle..10-11 sec time. It is a beast. Only found a couple pieces that slowed it down for a minute. Love the wedge design on the new splitter...seems to slice knots open better...I like bit because it has a throttle so you can idle down when needed and it blows exhaust completely away from you. My hunny even likes running it.

 

More like a jack knife contest.

Unless you've got one like campinspecter or Kevin in Ohio all of these short normal splitters suck to back up.

 

My splitter came with a driveway marker, like you put out in the winter for plowing snow on the back of it. I have never had it on the road. I usually move it by hand.

 

Only time my splitter is moved backwards is with the atv or pushed with the front of the tractor(I usually hook a chain to the axle and lift it up).

 

I have a splitter I got from my brother 7 or 8 years ago and he had it for many years before that. It wasn't very expensive and has the Chinese Honda OHV clone engine. All the stickers are worn off so I have no idea what brand it is, but I agree with the "who cares" attitude on the engine. Starts first pull almost every time even in the dead of winter. It has split hundreds of cords of wood (my brother split 30-40 cord per year and since I've owned it my neighbor and I split 20 cord a year). It has the vertical / horizontal feature which is handy when I'm splitting some BIG stuff that I don't want to risk picking up.

Keep good clean engine oil in it (mine gets changed 3 or 4 times a year) and change the hydraulic oil if there is any sign of condensation getting in it (I changed it once right after I got it and I'm pretty sure that's the only time it was ever changed). Look the lovejoy over every once and a while to make sure it's not metal to metal. The only engine problem I have ever had with it was the muffler guard got bent once and I didn't notice that it was rubbing / cutting into the spark plug wire till it started missing. Pliers to bend the cover and some tape on the wire and I was back to splitting in 5 minutes plus the time to walk to the workshop to get the pliers and tape...

I put a hitch ball on the front bumper of the tractor to do the backing. I jack-knifed it once backing up on the truck and bent a rim and had to kinda straighten it back out. I don't take it far on the road, but it still tracks well enough that I'm not afraid to.

Some regular maintenance and a good looking over to make sure nothing is coming apart will keep most of them running for many, many years.

Good luck with whichever one you choose and welcome to the world of hydraulic splitting. It's way less work than a maul (I did that for a few years when we first started heating with wood 25 years ago), but can still be hard on the back... Lift safely.