That does seem like a decent price, but I am curious if anyone here has had any experiences with this product. I am hit and miss with Harbor Freight.
A couple FHC allstars run them and they seem like a pretty good machine: I finally got a Wood splitter | Firewood Hoarders Club
the only think that i dont want generally in splitters is that are very slow until they move ................ the night is here
This one is faster than most traditional hydraulic units because the knife splits on both the forward and reverse stroke of the ram. The only non human powered splitter I can see being faster is the super split style kinetic splitters.
Yup and perfectly suited for straight grained 12" long rounds. However, here in my neck o the woods the rounds are sometimes 24" plus diameter and typically at least 16" long. Usually with gnarly twisted grain. A machine like that would take ages to get through the stuff.
Don't get me wrong I have a fascination for human powered machines. Doubly in this case because it looks like cool a home brewed tool, but I don't see being able to use it on hardwood.
Agreed. I've wondered about this very contraption for over a year....but when I emailed my Pops this video link, first thing he said over the phone was, "That's awfully straight grained wood." Dreams shattered.
Mine is on the second season, and still going strong. The only issue I've had was a shorted out kill switch when it sat in the rain.
I was wondering about this as well. I was thinking of using it for my upside-down Wallenstein woodsplitter build but was afraid it was too good to be true. I say that for several reasons. The Positive (1) Its condensed in size and would balanced, perfect for an upside down woodsplitter. (2) The engine exactly matches my Wallenstein Powerpack so I would just use the engine as a spare for that. (3) It is such a minimal machine that there would be less stuff to cut off that I do not need The Negative (1) It does not look powerful enough to operate a 4 way splitting wedge and that is what would make an upside down woodsplitter efficient Am I missing anything? I would just buy a big 35 ton woodsplitter and put a 4 way on that, but it seems rather silly when I would cut most of it off because it would not be needed.
I will talk to my buddy and see if I can get a video. He bought one a few weeks ago and I must say its a very nice compact unit. We used it for about 2 hours together and let me tell ya it doesn't jam at all and you can really move with it.... The downside is that you have to lift rounds onto it but its really a great deal for the price. To answer the 4 way wedge debate in my opinion you really dont need it. The two way wedge makes it much faster as you can split on both strokes. It isn't designed to be a log processor this splitter design has been around a long time. It tends to use a smaller pump, motor and cylinder because the wedge acts as more of a knife than a wedge when splitting. By design it is able to split very large rounds with minimal effort ( and it does ) Overall I am really impressed with the splitter. The motor well... I have 2 on a push mower and a splitter that I built and both run better than a briggs or kohler no joke. I sold the splitter to a gentleman that has over 60 full cord on that engine and it just keeps going one pull starts. The predator engines are very good solid design.
The two way wedge for an upside down woodsplitter would be good in some respects as you would not need to return the cylinder back to zero before starting on the next round; just grab, lift over your trailer, split and then repeat. But the time loss from an upside down woodsplitter is maneuvering the woodsplitter into place. It is not an issue on smaller rounds you just need halved, but on the bigger ones you need to quarter, it would be. That is because you would have to split the round into two; reposition your woodsplitter over a half-round split, split it again, then maneuver over the other half-round split, and split that again in order to get quartered pieces. That is positioning three times to get quarters instead of once with a four way. But gosh darn it; its $679 dollars for a woodsplitter already made and the engine could be used as a back up, a $109 item unto its own, so it is tempting. I am really glad you guys spoke up and said these things are worth the money. It really has got me thinking.
I understand that what I am getting at is its not a log processor and having a 4 way wedge on this design is not really a good idea. It's not made for it. ( doesn't mean I wouldn't try it though ) I have been known to do things like that. I'll tell ya we went through WAY MORE wood with his HF splitter in two hours than I could dream of with my dirty hand 20 ton and mine is fast. That two way design is sweet. It really does go faster.
Well that is just it; do you spend all kinds of money fabricating the "perfect" upside down woodsplitter, or do you take a cheap one and modify it? What I like is for $679 bucks and just a few modifications you got a working upside down woodsplitter! Its great to know its testimonials are great! As I said, it REALLY has got me to consider one. I mean if you are going to be so lazy as to sit on your rump running levers all day, what is the issue with it taking a wee bit longer to do it???
