Been hand splitting for a while and then occasionally borrow a splitter to catch up. I am too far behind and thinking about making the purchase for my own. Looking at 30 ton units, but if anyone has thoughts about that, please chime in! My mower dealer now carries Oregon splitters and that product has Kohler motor. $1700. Northern Tool also has a 30ton Northstar which is Northstar engine and seems to be quality. Apparently all made by Northern tool, USA company made in USA. Any experience or thoughts on either of these products? Also have TSC and HD by me that carry some other brands, but I find those stores annoying at times. Thanks!!
Why a 30 ton? Anything over 15-20 will do the job just fine. Buying a "larger" splitter just means more $, a heavier machine to move, a larger engine using fuel...usually slower too. I have a lil 5 ton electric that I'll use inside occasionally, it'll split most of what you throw at it. My big splitter is a "22 ton" with a 4" cylinder...I have a pressure gauge on it and it rarely needs more than 500 PSI to split most wood...an exceptionally gnarly piece might drive it up to 1000 PSI...(500 psi = 3.1 tons force, 1000 PSI is 6.2 tons on a machine with a 4" cylinder) Oh, and almost every splitter manufacturer lies on their specs...if you do the math almost none of them can actually make the tonnage that they claim...heck, half the time the hydraulic lines aren't even rated for the pressure that they claim the pump makes, of which they'd need all of and more, to make the power that they claim.
Interesting. thanks for the response. I don't have a lot of experience, tend to go as big as possible .... my only reason for the 30 is that is what my neighbor had that i borrowed. It was a countyline and i have some big oak, in the 24-38 diameter range it was straining but got right through. I guess i could look at smaller and save some cash.
I'd really doubt that Northern splitter is really "made in the USA"...more like a lil final assembly of mostly offshore sourced parts...by green card holders (maybe) True USA made splitters run more like $5-6k and up.
Read about, and use these calculators to "fact check" any splitters you are looking at...you'll find that most splitters specs don't add up, but in the end I guess they all do it, and it doesn't really matter, they still do the job, but it still doesn't hurt to be an educated consumer. Log Splitter Hydraulic Cylinder Force Calculator (logsplitterplans.com)
IMO and anyone can correct me all BBS store splitter are 95% same (only 2 companies for cheap ones) then they by pumps and engines from same companies. Sales are great on Black Friday usually See if any father day sales if you can.. So price is all your shopping Get full beam if you can stand next to one and see how it works for you..
Yup, most of the log splitters you see any more are made by YTL, and if you really look at them, vary only a little...paint color, engine options/pump size, "specs"...
I've got a Northstar 37T splitter. I have 98% oak and hickory that I split. I got the 37T because it was on sale for the same price as the 30T. It's never failed to split anything I've thrown at it, including some 30" oak rounds that I really doubted it could handle. Commercial Honda engine with auto idle down. It is one heavy SOB, but that's what my garden tractor is for. It easily converts to vertical if needed. Loading up the Lopi Mike in Okla
Interesting. So no opinions about these brands in particular. They all are the same and specs aren’t even accurate!!??
I have a 22 t Huskee and it has handled anything I have asked of it for many years now. If it ever fails to split something it needs the chainsaw then. .
I can only comment on what I have and I have a champion 27 ton i bought at Home Depot 1299 It has the 2 stage pump It has split all wood I get The splitter can be used vertical or horizontal
Its a lil slow around here in the summer...and those brands aren't the most common, so probably not going to get huge feedback on those models, at least not real quick...
Oh sorry. Hope it didn’t come off as rude or impatient, that wasn’t the intention. Any thoughts welcome, it was surprising that people weren’t really brand specific or concerned which is much different than other things like saws or trucks, which was interesting!
My main splitter is a 5 HP powered 21 ton MTD. Never any issue with anything. Most times it can split anything at half throttle. The solution I've used a lot is a 12-14 ton old Didier horizontal only splitter and it goes though anything. It's true that the bigger tonnage units are slower. Sure those heavier ton units will do it all too, just slower and heavier which sucks for moving them around.
A few things I looks for in a splitter: 1. the top of the beam where the log sits while splitting needs to be flat. The oak I split makes such a mess that the kind with a channel on top traps too much junk and I'm constantly trying to clean it out. 2. Splitter has to be at somewhat comfortable height. Some are really low. 3. decently fast cycle time. I have used some larger splitters tonnage-wise that were just too slow. 4. operator location needs to be easy to reach. My current YardMax has the tire/wheel kinda in the way. I can work around it but sometimes it is annoying. 5. being able to set it horizontal or vertical is nice. For me, things like this are more important than name brand. Just some things to think about, they may not all apply in your case.
Pay attention to Dok440 's comments. Make sure it is a comfortable height for you. My experience is that is you go into the $5K+ splitter category, yes, the bigger splitters are slower. Some people think my 37T is slow. But so am I. It fits the bill for me. But it is hard to move without help. It weighs about 600#. Loading up the Lopi Mike in Okla
