My daughter and her husband have 40 acres of maple and oak and will soon be building a home on it. Wood will be the primary heat source and she wants to purchase a heavy duty, gas operated wood splitter. I told her I’d pose the question on Breaktime. What are your thoughts?
Randy
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Replies
I was going to build one a few years ago and then added up the cost of all the parts and figured I could buy one just as cheap and save all the hassle.
I bought one from Northern Tool for $2300 with a big pump, cylinder, and 13 hp Honda engine. It will split anything!! I added a few improvements such as a longer , heavier duty handle, some side platforms, etc. The new ones have a lot of that stuff on them from the factory.
Don't know what you want to spend, but their splitters are very well made.
1-800-556-7885 NorthernTool.com
Is bigger better? I see in Northern's 2005 catalog that they also have a 5.5 HP rated at 27 tons. Is there any way to rate these units, such as: 27 tons will split oak up to 16" diameter with no problem?
Randy
Reg,
The bigger units have more power which helps when you hit the knots and twists commonly found in firewood.
I wouldn't go anyplace near some oak or any elm with a little 5.5 hp unit. Too often I've seen the wedge hopelessly jammed into a piece of wood and the operator/owner swinging away with a sledge hammer and a few wedges trying to free it..
We all would like to spend as little as possible but common sense says that if they didn't need more power they couldn't sell the more expensive units..
PS Northern does have a great reputation for log splitters, it's basically how they got their start..
Bigger is always better??!!... The pumps on these units are two stage. This allows the ram to travel faster when a lower pressure is required and to step up the pressure when you hit a really tough piece of wood.
I used to use a friends 5 hp splitter and it was basically useless as far as I was concerned. It would go into the slow speed mode on almost every log and could not handle any tough grain or knots.
The one I have has gone into the high pressure mode one time in all of the wood I split and that was basically carving through some really snarly,twisted oak.
I would look for a splitter with a 16 gpm pump and a 5" cylinder if I were you.
I see they have a nice looking 9 hp unit for $1700. Log splitters are so popular around where I live that you can pretty much get your money back if you decide to sell.
Just something to keep in mind: my local rental place rents a log splitter for around $50-60/day. If I was organized and had a friend or two helping, I could split a whole lotta wood in a day.
As far as features, a couple folks already mentioned ooomph. Another thing I hear mentioned is the tip down feature. So that you can just stand a log up into the splitter and split it vertically instead of having to pick it up and split it horizontally.
jt8
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
this is definitely the first time i have ever heard the words "she" and "heavy duty gas powered log splitter" used in the same sentence.
carpenter in transition
Timkline: Granted "she" and "woodsplitter" not often seen in the same sentence. You'll probably be more surprised to hear that for a wedding gift my daughter had me buy her a Stihl chain saw. Some were taken aback by that big orange container on the gift table, with only a bow attached. By the end of the reception many were commenting "This is the first wedding reception we've been too where the men were congregating around the gifts."
My daughter and her husband both grew up around wood heat (though all my splitting was by hand). For past 5 years wood has been their primary heat source (with HW boiler as backup).
To All: Sure appreciate the feedback.
Randy
I don't have anything against wood splitters but is there anyone else who actually PREFERS splitting by hand?
My justification is that at least half the work of putting up wood is moving it around, and that part of the work is the same, whether you just use a maul and the occasional wedge...or a hydraulic splitter.
True, you do need to leave some big old nasty forked chunks in the woods or relegate to the bonfire pile..the ones that at my age you don't even try to split by hand.
But I find that most oak, especially red oak when it's green, just about flies apart when tapped in the right place with an 8 lb maul. Ash is another nice splitter, as are red elm and cherry, but I do stay away from white elm and maple, except for the 4 - 6" branches. Also, with the new high efficiency wood stoves with the tiny EPA fireboxes, the wood needs to be pretty short to start with...like about 12" or less, and that length splits alot easier than the old standard 16 - 18".
Probably the best thing about hand splitting is that it is satisfying. Quiet, smells good, set up right next to the woodpile or wood shed.... no gas, oil, or hydraulic fluid. Get some exercise and accomplish something at the same time.
The bad thing about an eight or ten pound maul is getting it up there in the first place! I use a 1-1/2 and a 2# splitting maul. The force is in the mental swing and technique as much as the weight. Occasionally have to get a wedge in the chunk, but most of it goes by hand.I do enjoy it. Good excercise and way top work off frustrations.
Last year, I went at it heavy and hard just before my shoulder surgery and ended up with a couple cords left over. With this years harvest, I have a couple more cords to split piled up and my shoulder is just getting back to be ready for it.But I'm sure I'll buy a splitter some day.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
That's a good idea, but where do you get such a small maul?
Actually, as you know, when you get the timing and strike placement just right, there's alot of wasted force that only goes to projecting the split pieces farther away from the block. So a lighter maul is probably more efficient.
Some of the prettier results of splitting and stacking
Dang, Johnny, Your sapwood is growing more mold than mine! Another good reason for keeping the wood outsdie untill time to burn, those spores are not healthy to have floating around the house
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Don't you waste a lot of heat, trying to heat your house with that woodstove sitting all the way out there ???
Get over it....... The angry going eat you up. ~Brownbagg '06
You want it? Come and get it!The stove I mean, not the heat.;)
I thought you were gonna comment on the AC
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Back at the beginning of summer, I got one about that size for free off of craigslist.Mine is a lincoln.I may even hook it up someday. LOL
Get over it....... The angry going eat you up. ~Brownbagg '06
That is one of three I have sitting out someplace around here in various sizes and conditions. All given to me or salvaged. I have another going out soon that I have been using for ten years that I rescued from the dump. I finally got a brand spankin' new one. Just delivered yesterday and still in the crate.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Oh man, brand new !!!What is the emoticon for green with envy ?=0)You going to give it a special load for the virgin burn ? Maybe cook a big old steak on top ? Yow ! now I'm getting hungry.
Get over it....... The angry going eat you up. ~Brownbagg '06
"...a special load for the virgin ..."maybe some righteous cedaar! I hadn't thunk about that aspect of it.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Now be gentle with it.;o)
Get over it....... The angry going eat you up. ~Brownbagg '06
Well, cedaar is a soft wood
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Either of you ever used a spiral wedge? I was thinking about getting one of these, sounds interesting, would be nice to see how it performs.http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=41142&cat=1,41131
Piffin- I have to agree (but I live in Maine as well so that would happen anyway) I have the same 3# maul given to me for my tenth birthday, been splitting wood with it for 27 years. Been looking to find a suitible one for my boy in a few years, he turns 3 tomorow so I guess I have a couple years to search. Maybe a trip up to Liberty tool is in order!
Fun place to shop! They used to close during th ewinter, so call first. How far is it for you?
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It takes me an hour or so to wind my way up there. I live in Egecomb and there isnt really a direct route to Liberty
I'm with you there. Five to six cords a year. I stack it green in the shed and split it one wagon load at a time as needed over Winter. Provides a nice excuse to head outside after dinner for a bit of exercise and solitude.
Scott.
View Image
Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Edited 11/1/2006 2:22 pm by Scott
Another woodsplitter here, anywhere from 3-6 cords per year of green wood I buy cut to length. I use a 6- or 8-lb. maul and a wedge when necessary. It's a good late winter project. I like to work no more than 2 hrs at a time, usually less, and often before work. Can't say I've done any chainsawing, but I do wield a mean bowsaw on smaller stuff.
WOW! That's a beautiful woodshed. I was thinking of making one this fall, but now that I see yours, I may change my plans a little!
Well, if you're going to go to the work here's a couple of tips...
- don't use log rafters unless you have really straight, uniform trees; or unless you like spending a few hours crawling around with a power plane.
- use rough sawn 2X for the side slats. I made the mistake of using nominal 1X and they bow outward like crazy. Besides, the rough sawn would look more in character.
BTW, the slatted design works very well. It holds the wood but lets lots of air through to dry the wood.
Good luck,
Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
Hand splitting....uh, I'll pass....roto cuffs are both in bad shape. Plus, you guys are splitting a different breed than I.
That is a beautiful dump trailer. What brand is that. I can't quite read the label.
Moritz...Mansfield, Ohio...That log was #8000 lifted it with no problem. Empty weight is #3400 so it's a little on the heavy side...but worth every penny...5K.
I am going to get a dump trailer soon. Does Moritz sell them direct or did you buy it from a local dealer?
Any suggestions as to what to look for in options, size, whatever. If you own one, you know a lot more about them than I do and I want to get this right the first time!
Biggest things I looked for the second time around was scissor lift, torsion axles, two way gate(barn doors and metering gate) battery that charges off the truck when hooked up and the thickest steel I could find. It came down to Moritz and Corn Pro.... Corn Pro was another $1300 for only 200#more weight....so I went Moritz. I bought thru a dealer, not sure if they sell direct, but the factory is only 50 miles away, so if I ever have any issues, I know where to go.
We cut a lot of red oak when clearing lots for homesites. I have a friend who loves hand splitting wood with a special maul.
I can start cutting off the lengths of wood and he follows right behind me with the maul, quartering the lengths as fast and sometimes faster than I can cut them. He never lifts anything..just whacks them as they lay on the ground as I cut them.
When I am to the top of the tree, he has the whole tree quartered up a few minutes later. People always watch in amazement! One reason they are amazed is that he is 69 years old and works like a 30 year old.
Hello all, I have been avidly soaking up all info on splitters posted here, appreciate it!! I am the "She" in the original posting looking for a good splitter, thanks for posting, Dad. I am glad to see Northern Tool mentioned as that is where I have been receiving my education on splitters. What is the average ton I should get for splitting wood for an outside wood furnace?
P.S. I handle my Stihl chainsaw wedding gift pretty well, but stink at splitting wood by hand-- hence the splitter question.
We've found with the outside wood boilers that the more split up the wood is the more you use needlessly. More surface area catches quicker and burns up faster when you don't need it to.
My unit with the fan draft door only burns quick when the fan is on(unit calling for heat to get the water temp up ....on at 160 off at 170 degrees) so the rest of the time it is just smoldering. So the smaller the wood, the more quickly I go through it. The unit is 44" deep so I cut lengths 24" and anything below 12" diameter does not get split. I only split to make pieces liftable and small enough to get through the door (24" x 24") limbs and such can be 44" long....as long as I can hoist it through the door.
I have two buddies(friends since high school) that are both in the tree trimming business, and since I can take the undesireable stuff, I get lots of it and often. Keith
Thanks for the info, just started researching outdoor wood furnaces before we build on our land, have 45 acres of oak and maple, seems silly to use gas /propane as main fuel source with all that hanginag around.
We like the Woodmaster brand. http://www.woodmaster.com
If yer not going to be splitting wood like BKGBuilder Roar!View Image
then I can say it might be worthwhile looking into a more economical smaller 'Yardmaster' splitter.
I've been using one of late not had a problem as most woods are in a standard 18" to 20" length.
Goes thru some pretty gnarly knotted oak trouble free.
Cheers
when in doubt add garlic
Edited 11/1/2006 7:19 pm ET by rez
I'd hae troubel splitting THAT with my 2# maul!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Now I know why some splitters cost a few grand.
be ain't it grand?when in doubt add garlic
I bought one at cosco 7 years ago for 900 bucks, While there is no oak here it splits spruce knots or anything i put in it, I think it has a 5hp motor, I just took out the woodstove and went gas and gave the splitter to my boy that heats with wood, The plus with owning a splitter is people give us wood they can not split, you do not need it with alder but on big rounds its nice.
Thanks for the pic and the laugh! Nope, can't say I'll need something to split that big of a piece!!
I'm thinking something along the size of this 'Yard Machines' unit will be all you need. Esay to use and plenty of omphf for around $1200 I believe.
View Imagewhen in doubt add garlic
Hi kruby! I'll chime in with my .02 for a more northerly perspective for you to consider.
Just finished splitting my wood for the season with the rental unit from town. It is a 20 ton with a 4" X 24"cylinder. Although it stalled the odd time in the tougher pieces, I was working on 24" long maple, birch, elm, and the odd oak pieces. A goodly number of the blocks were 30" dia X 24" long (My stove takes a 26" stick) and twisty as well.
A number of the "split" pieces could more accurately be called "sheared", the grain was that bad. These pieces would be virtually unsplittable by hand (which explains why I got them in the 1st place!) I save up the most gnarly pieces throughout the year until I have enough to justify the splitter rental, then go at it pretty steady. This year, 14 hrs. of machine splitting over 2 days did me for a year (about 6 bush cords). I would suggest that a vertical splitter is the way to go if you have heavy pieces; I wouldn't have lasted the 1st morning if I had to lift each piece up to split it.
The straight grained, easy stuff gets split by hand.
As to the speed issue, the thing that slows me down the most is dealing with the finished wood. You can quickly "choke" on the pile that accumulates around the machine if you don't clear it away fast enough. Since I work solo, I find it best to "windrow" the wood to be split & then haul the splitter from point to point along the row to create smaller piles of split wood that I pick up after all the splitting is done.
I've looked at a company called SPLITEZ, you might want to GOOGLE their website. I'm impressed by their design but have never seen one working in flesh so can't comment on more than what their website has to say. I do think the anti-jam design of their machine looks good, every time you retract the ram any stuck wood gets pushed off the wedge. Even if you stall the ram in a round you should never need to drive the jammed piece off the wedge by hand. (I normally have a selection of different length pieces that I save to be used as spacer blocks to push any jammed pieces off the rental unit I work with.) Just as in splitting by hand , it helps to "read" the grain with a hydraulic unit, your output improves if you can avoid stalling out the cylinder.
The 1 drawback to a vertical machine if you are splitting smaller stovewood pieces & want the fastest production seems to be the single wedge design you seem to be stuck with. A horizontal machine can have multiple wedges ( I've seen a machine on the net that can produce 6 pieces per stroke but have never found a rental shop that carries such an animal like that).
I'm in the process of building my own splitter; as I get older the splitting marathons with a rental machine get harder to recover from. Since I cut my wood all year long, (whenever a windfall or good luck brings a few trees my way) my wood would season much quicker the faster I can get it split after cutting to length. I would feel a lot better about splitting the odd tree now and then if I had my own splitter rather than running back & forth to the rental shop in town, which I have refused to do so far!
Hope this post proves helpful.
bush cord - new one on me, what is a bush cord?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
My apologies for the delay, DW is away for 3 days & I'm Mr. Mom for the duration.
"Bush cord " must be a local parlance, generally considered around here to be 4' long sticks stacked in a pile 4' high by 8' long, (perhaps what you might cut & stack when you're out working in the bush?)
A long cord is anything longer than 4' piled the same way.
A face cord is usually somewhere between 1' & 2' long sticks piled 4' high in a stack 8' long.
I know, I know, its not the most precise way of measurement, but hey! we're cutting firewood up here, not building Swiss Watches.
Take it easy.
(I take it any way I can get it, thanks.)
Actuall, a true full cord is measured the same way. A cord is a cord is a cord. The bush part makes sense since it is full lengths, but if it were cut into 24" or 16" lengths it would still be a cord, just not bush lengths. it's those face cords that get me - 4' hich and 8" long butcould be 8" deep and still a face cordThanks for the reply
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Much experience here. Heating with wood also, shop, house, and hot water tank. Woodmaster outside wood boiler.
I bought a Rayco splitter, 13 HP Honda, 4 way hydralic wedge, 600# hydralic log lift....heavy duty. I don't split anything below 12" because that easily fits in the burner, so you get the idea, most of the stuff I get and split is the stuff nobody else wants or can handle because of it's size.
This unit cost me $4800 last year and is more I know this year. Timberwolf makes a comparible splitter also.
2 guys can split a cord in a half hour easily.
I can post pics if needed.
Keith
I will second the timeberwolf. A buddy of mine that does wood for a living swears by his. It splits 2' wood and has a removable 4-way wedge so when you get the big stuff you can split in half and not 1/4s. Also the hyd oil tank is mounted low which lowers the center of gravity when you have to tow it.
Great splitter
Well, I built one many years ago for about $500. But, I scrounged about everything. The engine was a new Onan cast iron block 18 hp that I found still in the box at a junk yard for $300. I got a cylinder off an old garbage truck that was a 5 incher x 24" with a 2" ram. I rebuilt it myself. Also got the hoses and control off the garbage truck. Those, and the cylinder, were freebies. The rail was a 6" I beam that was 3/8" thick. The fluid reservoir was a length of 6" steel pipe that also served as the axle. The pump I bought was a single stage that would go up to something like 3000 psi at, I think, 15 GPM at the rated speed and power of the Onan engine.
Anyway, that thing was a doozie. It wouldn't slow down for nothing! Split hundred of cords of wood with that thing between me and all my friends. I sold it to one of my friends for $500 when I transferred down to Houston.
Down here, by the way, a "Face Cord" of wood (4'x8'x20" long) brings $100+ if you can find it in that large a quantity. Most people here buy it a stick at a time at about $1 a stick.
But, it ain't froze here in many years so not much call for firewood.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Face cord, eh. Now there is an official unit of measure for sure. I was in the firewood business one winter about 30 years ago when broke and hungry. We sold by cords and ricks (1/2 cord), and of course, byyt stacks that people picked up themselves at our barn. We were always amused at "face cords" which could be anywhere from a rick to well less. In some cases, the face was pretty much a veneer. However, if stacker properly, it concered a lot of soeonw's garge wall and looked substantial.
here you take a small nissan pickup and throw wood in loosely till it reach the bedrails. Thats $85. about a third of a cord
Buy a small tractor, used, to tow a trailer and have a 3 point splitter to run offin the tractor hydraulics. Pick up a pto generator to supply house with emergency power.
Contract with an Amish logger to harvest approximately 10 trees a year. Make the deal specific on which trees. You will net the limb and branches. The Amish know how to harvest with least damage to the wood lot.
What is the proportion of dead/dying trees to mature and immature stock?
When I was a teenager I helped cut and split by hand a face cord a week for our sears combination wood coal furnace. When it got really cold Dad would buy a semi load of coal from the mine. Got to make big ones into small ones to feed the furnace. Our only chain saw was a McCulloch 440 with a 30" blade, still got it. Cut some maple trunk where you cut one side and then the other side to get the block out.
Now am thank ful to walk to the thermostat and make the adjustment. Getting up in the middle of the night to put more fuel in the furnace was no fun either.
Contract with an Amish logger to harvest approximately 10 trees a year.
Or permit them to cut a prearranged minimum diameter limit so the can cut down several in a multi trunk grouping.
Then later when a good windstorm blows thru it will knock down the rest of the remaining multi trunk grouping because all their close neighboring cousins and brothers they grew up with permitting them to grow a shallower root system are no longer there helping to hold them up as they use to when they would sway together in the winds.
be is it 'longwinded' or 'everyone knows it's windy.'when in doubt add garlic
When you select a splitter, consider the ability to add a "Table" level with the rail on the other side from the operator. That way you do not need to bend over and pick up the chunks that need resplitting. This was not my idea, but after seeing one I went home and broke out the welder.
Yes, It's a must to have a table on the other side of the splitter. I park my backhoe there with the front bucket in the right position. When the bucket is full, I dump it in the dump truck.
When the dump truck is full, I dump it in a place that is convenient for my wife to pile all of it! I have to get her involved so she appreciates how warm the house and shops are in the winter.
don't worry about the gas-powered, just get her a heavy hammer, an axe, and 4 good wedges and she'll live to a ripe old age
Hello Reg,
I have two efficient wood stoves. One upstairs and one in the basement. I burn about 3 to 4 cords a year depending on how bad of winter. I have used my 5.5 hp splitter for about 20 years. It is now on its second motor but still going strong.
I cut fire wood year round. What I mean by that is whenever a tree falls or I am working somewhere that trees are dropped, I try to pick-up good hard wood of a size I can handle. Not to big to haul or to big to split.
So far I have been lucky , I always seem to have enough to keep from using the big $$ heat.
The splitter will not bust the giants and sometimes (not often) will hang in a knot, but has served me well. I will still pull out the splitting maul on a small pile because its quicker than gassing up the splitter.
Wood heat is great!
Take care when using a splitter of any capacity.
Guy I know had a large chunk of hardwood pop when splitting, flying out and hitting him in the jaw, dislodging and breaking lots of bone.