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

I just ordered a American CLS 25 HH with the table grates and hydraulic lift....should be ready in 2 weeks. I am still struggling with the cost, but I split at least 10 real cords. For the standard homeowner, I suggest buying the local Tractor Supply, or Home Depot units. Aside from the back savings with the horizontal.vertical, you can work the price down in many ways. Buy it after winter, huge reduction. Use the coupons that come in the mail...10%. Also, if you sign up for the credit card in store, its another 10% off. That is how I got my first 27 ton splitter, and after all of the sales, coupons and credit card app it was just over $800. Two weeks later i paid off the card and cancelled it. I have just sold that splitter for $100 less than I bought it for after splitting a few hundred cord.....

 

So I picked up the 'work tray' for the splitter today and was a bit surprised that it actually mounts to the side of the hydraulic cylinder rather than directly to the side of the splitting area. No complaint on my part- it is a very heavy gauge setup and no doubt worth the $60 not to have to fabricate one but the position was surprising. Will test it out this weekend and see if it works OK.

Brian

 

That is kinda strange , I looked at the instructions , I had assumed that you would remove the back cradle and mount it there but that's not the case

 

any chance you could post a picture ?

 

the instructions, pdf, from home depot

 

Yep, tomorrow (Sat., 10 Oct). I plan on splitting some more wood anyway so I will post a photo and my impression of how it works too.

Brian

 

thanks, so the cradle stays and the table is forward of it ,wood like to see a real photo of one in place ,may be worth getting one.

 

thank's looking forward to it

 

I split with a work table on my dht. Not sure I'd want to split with out one.

 

Split some wood, took some photos, did not damage hands (mine or my wife's), but I did ding the brand new splitter table edge with the just- sharpened chain on the chainsaw :-( Not really concerned with the splitter shelf but that chain is going to need another tweak and raker set.....

This is what the table looks like and where it mounts:

Funny thing but notice how the wedge strippers have a slight angle outward? Both started off dead straight- we noticed the one on the left took on a slight angle the first day we used the splitter. Today, we noticed the other one exactly matches the first one- looks like they were factory made like that.

It actually works pretty well; split a decent sized log and slide 1/2 onto the shelf and continue to split the other half.



My crew:

She can actually lift those onto the splitter!

This is what we got done this afternoon, the raw pile in front of the third holz hausen:



Nobody I know can lift these though. We set the splitter vertical, then jostle the wood onto the lower plate and try to split it into 1/3's or 1/4's, after that, the two of us can lift each piece. No idea what they weigh but they are silver maple, so wet that sap oozes out when the wedge touches the wood, about 28 - 32 inches in diameter.


Two weeks ago, I had a little argument with the buck- block on that splitter and my right hand. Today, the splitter buck teeth look perfect while my hang is not quite back to normal....



Brian

 

I have a DHT 28 ton. Basically had the same problems as you. One of the high pressure lines burst and the love joy shredded itself. The hydraulic lines are not what I would consider the best quality. The love joy I beleive wasn't tightened correctly from the factory.

The 4 way wedge also has a design flaw. In its topmost setting if you get a piece of wood jammed under it upon return the wedge will hit the log shedders. Metal on metal + 28 tons of force makes a mess quick.

I do have to say DHT warranty service was great. Just call and they send whatever you broke. No runaround.
I also mentioned the ram was leaking slightly while stored. I inquired about having the seals replaced under warranty. They said they don't mess around with seals. Sent me a new ram instead.

Like you its a pain these things broke. It sure was nice the warranty folks aren't in a phone booth in India though.

 

Well, if the table keeps the wood from falling on the ground , it's worth it .
Nice pile of splits there

 

thanks for the pictures ,i thought the table replaced one of the cradles ,that looks good i think i'll get one and thats a great pile of splits ,love the hh's in the background.

 

Yeah, that is what I thought too- in fact, I kept trying to fit the mounting brackets to the same place as one of the cradles was but it just did not go. Finally resorted to reading the instructions and to my surprise, the table mounts behind the splitting area. It works out OK though because when a big piece is split, it is really quite easy to have the piece on the table side sort of ride back on the splitting surface with the wedge and then just let it fall onto the shelf.

My wife actually put all those HH's together. She is going to start another one but we actually have more wood than will fit in a single one so before we are done, we'll end with another chained on the end.

Brian

 

Another day of splitting and a little noodling. A fourth HH about 1/3 of the way up and the wood split today is more than will fit in that one. Looks like there will be a fifth HH before the end of fall....

This is the splitter with a pretty large split on the table and a piece of it about to be split:


The end of the wood pile, a bunch of split wood and still quite a few rounds left from three maple trees:


Brian

 

Nice work there BDF