log splitters

[Battis]

I've been heating with wood for 40 years. Delivered cut and split, and I do the stacking. I just finished stacking 6 cords. But, I came into some free maple wood from a huge cut-down tree. I cut the logs with a chainsaw and now I have to split the rounds. I've been working away at it, but the idea of a log splitter has some appeal.
So, I've been looking at the small electric splitters - $300 or so. They seem good and might be enough for me.
Any ideas on these small electric log splitters?

[country gent]

Always used hydraulic splitters here. Made a wedge for the big hydraulic press in the first shop so we didnt have to go outside to split. The electrics should be fine and will beat a axe or maul. We cut and split in the woods so electric was an issue. If your close to power it should be fine. One thing where an electric may be better is on the hydraulics, the return strokes is a full power slow return. the electrics may have a low power faster return stroke saving time.

[cwtebay]

I bought one for my brother for his birthday. It's the Super Handy model that was supposed to be awesome. It is junk. Absolute junk. Any knots or twisted timber it's essentially a 9 year old swinging a dull axe. Hopefully there are better models! I split mine with a maul - I probably should actually go to a 12 step program. It's my: fitness coach, therapist, punching dummy all wrapped into one!

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[JonB_in_Glencoe]

funny this comes up today.
I've always wanted a small electric wood splitter for when my large gas/hydraulic splitter is in storage. Yerterday, I found one on FB marketplace for $50, it's a 5 ton...but it's a long drive, trying to figure when I can go get it. The seller says it's only good for logs up to 10" But those of use that have split wood will know which logs will split easy and which won't. I have no doubt that a large straight maple log will split with a 5 ton splitter...add some knots, then probably not. That's my educated guess ;)

[Battis]

I've been splitting with a maul and an axe, and it is good therapy, and good exercise. I don't have alot to do - maybe a few days with the maul, but, the older I get, the more I like toys and power tools. I'll work at it again tomorrow.
The tree (maple) has been down and cut into logs for over a year (bark still on) and the moisture still measures in the 50s on my little meter. So, I definitely have to split them.

[dverna]

My advice is to buy tge best one your Home Depot has try it on the worst rounds you have. If you are not happy with it, it is easy to return.

I have jammed up hydraulic splitters that generate over 15 tons. YMMV

[cwtebay]

I've been splitting with a maul and an axe, and it is good therapy, and good exercise. I don't have alot to do - maybe a few days with the maul, but, the older I get, the more I like toys and power tools. I'll work at it again tomorrow.
The tree (maple) has been down and cut into logs for over a year (bark still on) and the moisture still measures in the 50s on my little meter. So, I definitely have to split them.Something fun I'll do is set aside the hardest rounds to split - I currently have around 100 45ish inch rounds that are truly gnarly. I either leave those for after a bad day at work, or to help entertain guests with the challenge. However, burying my maul, then driving wooden wedges (salvaged from my kindling operation) alongside of the maul. Do that in a few spots and leave them. The wood will split either easily or already be split in about 2 months. It's my take on feathers and wedges used on wood rather than stone.

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[white eagle]

I have a 27 ton Home Depot bought log splitter(Hurricane?) any way
have yet to meet a round, chunk of wood it would not split
Split mostly oak and some real twisted up chunks to boot
Just cut down 3 oak tree's yesterday that I need to buck up and split
I know it's not what you asked but it does give you some perspective

Mine also can be used either vertically or horizontally
I did burn out a 8 hp motor and put a 13 hp replacement back on it
but that is after years and years of hard work, no problems, just now like a timex

[steve urquell]

From what I gathered from researching electric splitters awhile back anything they were able to split wouldn't be a problem for me to hit with my single-bit axe and split. 27-ton hydraulic for me all the way because most of my wood is rough to split.

[gc45]

Ok, I have 2 hydro gas engine splitters and one electric; the electric cuts most any diameter up to 18 inches long and is my go to splitter cutting fir, hemlock and maple; it is an animal!

[steve urquell]

Ok, I have 2 hydro gas engine splitters and one electric; the electric cuts most any diameter up to 18 inches long and is my go to splitter cutting fir, hemlock and maple; it is an animal!

What brand and power is it?

[Mk42gunner]

I was offered my cousin's husband's (she is a widow) electric splitter. Lisa told me that it didn't do big pieces very well, since I had a bunch of elm to split I never did get it.

Earlier this winter I did buy a new 27 ton gas powered unit made by Black Diamond. It was on sale and cheaper than the 37 ton unit. So far it has split everything I have thrown at it and asked for more. Elm that laughs at an ax or maul get split easily.

I bought a brand new one because every used one that I have seen sell for the last few years has went for 3/4 new price and I figured I couldn't come out ahead if I had to replace anything major like the pump or the engine.

On the other hand, if the store you buy from has a decent return policy go ahead and try the electric one; it may be all you need.

Robert

[truckerdave397]

My 12 pound splitting ax always starts and run just fine even in below O weather here in Michigan. Just sayin.

[dverna]

One thing about electric splitters, besides low splitting force, is the slow cycle times.

[Thom_44]

from what ive ever heard, if you are splitting pine 2x4 from the local lumber yard, electrics are fine.

Real trees use hydraulic splitters. Gas operated. They can still split, have a pine tree cut into chunks for splitting, rotting away for 20 years now. Cant split it at all. Had to stop trying when i notice a weld starting to crak

[rbuck351]

I have two electric splitters. A 5 ton and a 7 ton. I don't have hard wood here just pine, spruce and fir. The 5 ton splits everything fine but is slow. The 7 ton has two speeds and splits most stuff on high speed but if it stalls on a knot I just pull the lever farther and it slows down and increases power. I don't have access to any really tough wood so I don't know how they would work on that.

[John Wayne]

For that small amount of Maple you could rent a splitter.
JW

[steve urquell]

I'd like to see an electric try to tackle a piece of AR Blackjack oak. This stuff is like iron and the grain corkscrews thru the trunk. You can drive a wedge all the way thru the piece and still have to rip it apart with your hands. I've thrown sparks off my saw chain cutting dead dried up limbs off one I felled after it had been standing dead for years.

325218

[farmbif]

battis, from what you write this large maple is a one time thing. maybe renting a gas powered splitter would be a good option.
my splitter is probably 30 years old, 20 ton, 5hp Blackhawk . hit splits everything I put under the wedge. but with large rounds or real tough hickory, or knotted oaks, els, gum trees it takes a bit of work to split around the edges first. the past few days ive been doing battle with very large red oaks and the splitter wedge is dwarfed by the size of the rounds.good thing red oak splits easy and straight.

[Rickf1985]

I have a Tractor Supply 27 ton and it has never met a log it can't split. I get some really nasty wood once in a while that is all knots and corkscrews but if it doesn't split it then it cuts through the bad stuff. If I remember correctly it was under a thousand bucks. BUT, I just got 25 tons of oak and 3 tons of cherry logs. I am still in the process of bucking them to length but then I am on to splitting. At 70 years old the swinging a maul is not in the playbook anymore. But I agree that if this is just a one time deal then rent a gas powered splitter and when you are done it is not taking up space somewhere.

[Battis]

I'd rent one but neither of my vehicles has a trailer hitch.
I split quite a bit yesterday and paid for it last night. Splitting wood is like shoveling - there's no exercise that can prepare you for it, other than doing it. I looked out at what has to be split (not much left) and most people would laugh at me for even thinking of buying a splitter. Gotta put my Big Boy pants on and just work at it. I can use the chainsaw on the pieces that are too big to split.

[jmorris]

I built mine years ago with a 4"x 24 cylinder, 8hp BS engine, H beam and 1" plate I had, used a 13 gpm pump. I generally use it with the engine running around half speed.

For one tree, renting or burning it all in a pile would make more sense to me. I don't fight wood though, we have 100's off acres of woods, no shortage of "seasoned" wood to pick from.

Next one I built is going on a QD plate for my front end loader, so I can pick up the big ones with it and at least split them in half to a dump trailer before I have to handle them

[Battis]

I went out to split some more, took a few whacks with the maul, then said out loud, "Screw this." So much for the Big Boy pants. There's more wood than I thought, the logs are bigger than I thought, and I'm hurting from yesterday more than I thought. I've had 4 back surgeries and I need at least one more. Don't want to hurry that along. So, some more research, and I ended up at Harbor Freight (or Harbah Freight as they say around here). I bought a 5 ton electric splitter that should do the trick. My son just got back from a year in Texas, and he said he'd split it when he gets back from Oklahoma. but I'm not waiting until late summer. That wood's going down.

[steve urquell]

I went out to split some more, took a few whacks with the maul, then said out loud, "Screw this." So much for the Big Boy pants. There's more wood than I thought, the logs are bigger than I thought, and I'm hurting from yesterday more than I thought. I've had 4 back surgeries and I need at least one more. Don't want to hurry that along. So, some more research, and I ended up at Harbor Freight (or Harbah Freight as they say around here). I bought a 5 ton electric splitter that should do the trick. My son just got back from a year in Texas, and he said he'd split it when he gets back from Oklahoma. but I'm not waiting until late summer. That wood's going down.

Looking forward to your results with it.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

YAY. I always love buying a new tool.

[gc45]

What brand and power is it?

5hp i think, will have to go lood at the brand and get back. Bought it from a splitter shop in Oregon, it came ups. $400. when new but likley more now. Our neighboring farm has the same unit and likes it. It splits wood into kindling easy as pie..

[Battis]

Well, it works and does what they say it should, and won't do the things they say it won't, like cut unround, larger pieces. If I stick to splitting round logs under 10' in diameter, it's great, though a maul would be much faster. If it was a handgun, it'd be a Nagant revolver. I'll probably keep it, and use it for what it was made for.

[MOshooter]

I can't remember the brand, but I use a 28ton horizontal/vertical log splitter that sure makes life easier. I have it mounted to a 3 point frame so I can hook it up behind a tractor and take the splitter to the wood chunks and split them in the vertical position, I can back right up to those oak chunks.

I also have a horizontal only log splitter that Dad and I built years ago, it's stout as all get up, but I need a faster hydraulic pump to keep up with the 28ton splitter.

[steve urquell]

Well, it works and does what they say it should, and won't do the things they say it won't, like cut unround, larger pieces. If I stick to splitting round logs under 10' in diameter, it's great, though a maul would be much faster. If it was a handgun, it'd be a Nagant revolver. I'll probably keep it, and use it for what it was made for.

Seems like it'd be pretty good to split kindling with in the garage. I did a lot of research on electrics awhile back and decided one wouldn't serve me on our AR hardwood.
325234

[muskeg13]

The 5T/15A splitter I got at Lowes a few years ago is the second best $350 purchase I've ever made. Only the $350 spent to buy the Husqvarna 455 Rancher to cut wood to split tops that. After splitting wood for decades with an axe, sledgehammer, steel wedges and a splitting maul, I pretty much retired them all and solely use the electric splitter to supply wood stove fuel to get me through long Alaskan winters.

[Battis]

I gave it another try and I gotta say, it's not bad once you figure out its quirks. First off, I put it on a yard cart/wagon to raise it up which makes it much easier to use. It split some pretty big logs, though I had to turn the bigger pieces and split them again. Occasionally, it launches the split pieces forward about 10'-15' feet - do not let anyone stand in front of it. It's fairly quiet - I wish it was louder to annoy the neighbors.

One thing that it does which is good - it debarks the logs.

[Rickf1985]

As a teenager all the way up into my 50's I was exceptionally strong and lifting 300 lb. logs up on the splitter was no problem. I actually enjoyed the workouts. Now I am in my 70's the big boy pants have turned into old mans pants!! I can still pick up a log around a hundred lbs. or a little more but I certainly shouldn't. And my back tells me that. I have also had multiple surgeries and the diagnosis is that I will be in a wheelchair soon due to degenerative disc disease. But they have been saying that for 20 years now. It is getting closer, I can feel it. The splitter I got will do horizontal and vertical. Which is nice for the BIG logs. Don't have to pick them up, just roll it in and flip it on end on the splitter and done. BUT, You have to be down there with it which is also hard on the back.

[Battis]

When I first started heating with wood (1984) I used to buy logs cut into 4 foot lengths, then I'd cut them and split them. I was using a Sears electric chainsaw to cut, which was really a joke, and I'd split with a maul. Then the wood seller told me that for an extra $5 per cord, he'd cut and split the wood. DUH. And I probably hemmed and hawed over that $5 for awhile.
When we're young, exercise is good but, at a certain age, that same exercise is destructive to aging bodies. Good for the brain, though.

[timboslice]

I have heard the electric splitters have very little torque and will get caught in knots and won't be able to split anything but straight grain wood. It would be better to invest in a hydraulic splitter that can get through knots and twists. I have a home made 30 ton splitter that can get through most anything I throw at it.

[Adam Helmer]

Battis,

I retired at age 51 in 1996 and came home to my 60-acre farm in Northcentral PA. I put a nice woodstove in my living room and cut trees in my 30-acre woods. I burn 2-4 cords per year. I used to use the maul for the exercise. I now have a Tractor Supply hydraulic splitter that cost $1,000 in 1999. It splits anything I "feed" it very well. I never used a maul since except to make kindling from nice split firewood.

Be well.

Adam

[Battis]

The power company took down a large maple tree next to my house in Nov. 2022. I said to leave the wood. We started cutting it up, then I had a pesky heart attack in Dec 2022. A few months later I cut it up with a chainsaw and hauled the logs to my back yard, where it has sat stacked until now. Probably a half cord. That little Harbor Freight splitter did a pretty good job the past few days. There's maybe 3 logs that are too big for it.
If I had 60 acres and did more splitting, I'd definitely get a larger one.
60 acres...sounds good.

[Nines&Twos]

I realize everyone's budget cannot accommodate this saying ...but...cry now or cry later. I use a 35 ton gas powered splitter. For 99% of what I bust, I run the engine at 30-40% throttle. Ram movement is a bit slower but fuel savings is enormous (for me). About the only time I will throttle it up to governor speed is seasoned oddities like locust, ash and bodock.
A model that allows the ram to be used parallel or perpendicular to the ground will make your back happy. I leave it flat and work standing for small stuff....stand it up for anything too large to lift easily.
A good one ain't cheap but keep it covered and don't loan it...it'll last. I've had this Huskee for almost a decade.

[Rapier]

Our cutters showed up last week, to cut 160 acres, 80 clear and 80 thinned. Had to pull off was too wet. Burn crew showed up today, have a prescription for two days, are supposed to control burn 80. We will see.

Anymore the pine tree cutters do not like to cut hardwoods as they are cutting pines, dulls the cutters too fast.

Working trees is like working live sewer, nothing lasts long, so you get cheap and toss it as it breaks or buy the best and easiest to repair then fix it.

I went from wood burning to Propane gas. Been years since I split a log now. Wood burning comes with hidden costs over the years and they do add up, there ain't no free lunch.
This is how I pick up, stack, break and cut logs today. Is a slightly modified 4x4 Kubota 45 hp, standard trans, low center of gravity, wide track, 6,000# hydraulic lift system, tines on the grapple are 1" thick with double hydraulic rams. If you own acreage of timber, best to have the equipment that is easy on the back, you never get younger with heavy lifting. The 6 Ps.

[Thundarstick]

If I where in the market for a wood splitter today, it'd be a kinetic ram splitter!

[Rickf1985]

I ran a Super Splitter kinetic splitter in the 70's when they first cam out and I will say they are fast. You REALLY need to watch what you are doing or you will be loading logs with less fingers. Once you pull that lever you have a half second to move your hand if you realize it could be in the way. On a hydraulic you will have much more time to think about what is in the way of the blade. On the kinetic you have to be aware of both ends of the log since that ram will smash you fingers to pulp. I still have all my digits and I enjoyed running that machine but I would not have one at my age, I am not as fast as I used to be and I do not need to split wood that fast, I have nothing else to do so I take my time. And then, there is the price! You really have to split a lot of wood to justify the price, even that of the Chinese knockoffs.

[Adam Helmer]

My 20 Ton, or whatever, Tractor Supply splitter can be either Horizonal or Vertical. I use the Vertical ONLY. The cheaper horizonal-only splitters will kill the user after lifting ALL logs onto the bed for splitting. Some logs I wiggle under the ram could not be lifted onto a horizonal splitter by Samson!

Be well.

Adam

[Battis]

I regretted buying the HF splitter, but, like I said, I decided to give it another try. I split all the wood I had in less than an hour, and I didn't beat myself up like the maul would have done. I like using the maul, but the splitter is easier on me. I have more that I could split but I'm done for now.

[steve urquell]

I regretted buying the HF splitter, but, like I said, I decided to give it another try. I split all the wood I had in less than an hour, and I didn't beat myself up like the maul would have done. I like using the maul, but the splitter is easier on me. I have more that I could split but I'm done for now.

Have you done any hardwood with it? Knotty or a crotch?

[Battis]

It was mostly maple, but I tried it on some oak (I don't burn any softwood). It worked fine. Out of the half cord that I split, there's three pieces that are way too big for the splitter.

[.429&H110]

I did a lot of service calls in VT.
VT has always been open carry.
Something to remember in strange dooryards.

Anyways, I watched an old Vermonter that had a six pound maul
Old boy had a five foot handle, so his swing started twelve feet up
He had his roundwood all on end with three turns of clothes line around a dozen or so.
He walked around the circle, splitting the outer ring, no wood flying about all sticks standing sturdy.
Then he sat down and his boy untied the lot finished a few with a hatchet loading his cart.
The kid rolled another batch over and tied them tight, went away to stack his cartfull in the shed.
The old man finished his cigarette, showed me my scope o work, and went back to his maul.

I tried this system and it worked fine especially the kid stackin wood part.
A longer maul handle suits me fine. My dad and daughter ran our splitter, I was faster.
As a helpful hint, sharpen the maul, and keep it oiled slippery and shiny.

[Ed K]

Been harvesting firewood for heating since 1976 and done it all sorts of ways. Have a real heavy duty shop made hydraulic splitter but now only use it for the bigger and/or gnarly stuff. Discovered the Fiskars spitting axe and have come to love it for ash/maple/oak up to 16" diameter. Find it faster than using a splitter and not nearly as fatiguing as swinging a maul. Something to look into.

[Battis]

I have a Fiskars splitting axe, and it is really good - I use it daily to cut kindling pieces and to split logs that are still too big for the stove. I'm done splitting and stacking for now. I probably have enough for 1 1/2 winters.

[gc45]

What brand and power is it?

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