Which splitter, or what to look for and what to avoid?

Yep, I did. But then my luck ran down a bit and .... wait for it.... I caught my right hand index and middle fingers between a piece of wood and the steel buck- block of the splitter. This one ain't pretty. I do not think there are any broken bones but the flesh on the second finger and the nail bed on the first finger took a beating. A bunch of tape and bad words later and I have the bleeding slowed way down and all the original pieces and flaps are mostly back into place. I think this one might leave a mark though....

Normally I am not a klutz nor do I have idiotic things occur but today was decidedly not- good. And entirely my own fault of course. I skipped dinner 'cause frankly I was wary of using a steak knife (and I shave with a straight- razor!).

Back to the splitter: the hydraulic filter loosened up about two turns and it was leaking hydraulic fluid pretty badly; I tightened it by hand but will pick up a new filter and check the hydraulic oil level. The valve mounting check nut also loosened which allowed the valve to rotate- a quick snug on that and all was well. Ran the machine about 4 hours today and it seems to be quite nice. The engine runs well and sounds like a Honda- quiet and mellow. The splitter has nice features regarding the tongue stand (spring loaded, it sits in detents when either up or down- no tools or pins needed) and the splitter area is very open and easy to use as the wheels are well- forward. The downside to that is when a big piece of wood is loaded onto the splitter, it tends to sink in the back while lifting the tongue stand up in the air. It works well in the vertical mode too but as the buck plate is so small (every single splitter I have seen has a small buck or stop plate), it can be tough to get a really big round up onto that plate to split it. Otherwise the machine seems great- pretty fast and enough power to punch through all the knots and crotches I threw against it- silver maple, cut down a few days ago and the stuff is horrible to split; as often as not, the wedge acts like a chisel rather than a splitting wedge. But while it loaded down pretty far, nothing stopped it including some nasty wood and both of my hands.

Brian

 

I hope you figure out what you're doing wrong there man
I don't want to read hear that you lost some fingers
I hope it all heals up and goes back to normal for you and fast

probably need to go over that whole splitter and check everything for tightness

 

Having a small buck plate is a safety thing - if it were larger it could split wood that's not loaded straight and it would shoot free.

 

that's a great explanation hadn't thought of that thanks!

 

Thanks for the kind thoughts.

I know what I was doing wrong, not showing the machine the proper respect (not being careful enough- way to casual in operating the thing), trying to go faster than I probably should and certainly not least, sheer stupidity.

I did actually go back out yesterday and use the splitter for maybe another two hours. My wife and I, using the left hand only, split a bunch more wood but with new care and rules: no hands touching anything once the wedge touched the wood (as someone already mentioned- great idea). We slowed down and became more methodical in our movements. Split some more wood, damaged no more hands

Brian

 

Yep, makes perfect sense.

Brian

 

Good to here

 

So here we are, a week after I bought that [previously returned] Ariens 22 ton splitter from H.D., watching hand heal and splitting wood WHEN SUDDENLY (ever notice you can get those two words in any sentence in English?) the wedge stopped moving while retracting. ?? No noises, nothing odd at all, it just stopped moving. Tried moving the ram forward and again, no movement and no load on the hydraulics. Checked the hyd. tank and it was right in the middle of the fill line. Tinkered around and decided to check the engine to pump connection- maybe it just spit a belt or similar? Took off the cover and found the spider connection was spinning on the engine shaft but not the pump. AHA! Now off to H.D. to see what we do about this as it is under the store's return period.

If it was just the spider ears that broke, all is well but if it sheared a key in either the pump or the engine shaft, that is going to be a bit more work and expense. Not sure how Home Depot deals with these things but I guess I will find out....

So this week, hands good, splitter bad and I gotta' say, I like it this way much better.

Brian

 

That's great your hands are healing, not good your splitter is screwed up.
Home Depot is pretty good about returns I hope you don't have any trouble with that

 

My BIL was using the DHT splitter a few weekends ago and the lovejoy coupling broke on him too on the return stroke. DHT sent a replacement right away, I'm sure Ariens will do the same if HD doesn't offer any help.

 

i have had great results with ariens service ,your splitter should have a warranty , i have more faith in ariens than hd.

 

I ended up buying a urethane 'spider' from a local Ariens dealer along with a new set screw for the pump half of the drive- the original one fell out and caused the problem in the first place. So for $4, the machine is all spiffed up and I did not have to deal with any warranty issue(s) with anyone.

I like this splitter a lot and it seems to work very well. The Subaru engine reminds me very much of a Honda engine- an easy, almost lazy pull gets it started on the second pull and it runs / behaves like a Honda with minimal vibration and noise for the power output.

The only change I can see being useful at this time would be a larger log holder or even a small table on at least one side of the splitter; as it is now, once a large piece is split, about the only thing to do with the one not being split is to drop it on the ground until the first half- split is finished. I would rather have something at splitter height so I did not have to pick up the same piece of wood twice. Otherwise, a great splitter IMO.

Brian

 

Ariens Log Splitter Work Table-717029 - The Home Depot

 

Out- Freakin'- Standing! Exactly what I need! I will check with the local Ariens dealer (hey, they had the spider and pump drive in stock) and then buy it online if I have to.

Thanks a lot for that one.

Brian

 

Yep, I have a work table on my Huskee and wouldn't be without it

 

HDRock, .... he asked and you deliver! way to be!

 

Happy to help

 

Confusion reigns king.... So I looked at the one from Home Depot you posted: Ariens Log Splitter Work Table-717029 - The Home Depot

But then found this one from Zoro: more expensive and perforated but otherwise, what is the difference?
Ariens Log Splitter Work Table 71701200 | Zoro.com

??

Brian

 

don't really know the difference they're both 10 gauge steel

Ariens 71702900 Log Splitter Work Table

 

I love my Swisher 28-Ton Gas Log Splitter. I bought it Lowe's $1700