Just scored a new splitter!!

Threaded bolts were a little hard to get started on mine too.
You will like it , much better than having pieces falling on the ground and ya have to bend over and pick em back up.
One of these on it makes it nice to level out the splitter Swing-Back Trailer Jack and helps get the foot flat on the ground while in vertical
Handle hangs low so ya gotta hook it up for transport

 

Instead of stainless steel, would you consider grade 8 bolts and a healthy slathering of anti-sieze ?? Tensile on grade 8 is 150,000 psi and shear is 55% or 60 % of tensile. When they get rusted in place, a fellow doesn't hafta worry about twisting them off with an air/electric impact wrench 20 years down the road....usually anyway. I use anti seize on just about anything with wrinkles...except wood screws.

You just have to figure the area of your bolt(s) and see what percentage of 1 sq in it is. Then use the 150,000 lbs per square inch to figure...well, you know....