# Got a new/used Huskee 28 Ton Splitter



## golfandwoodnut (Jul 9, 2012)

I have been searching Craigslist for probably a year trying to find a good deal on a splitter. I finally scored a 28 ton Huskee with a Honda 190 gc engine. The owner is going through a divorce and selling a monster house (6,200 sq ft) and 21 acres for a fraction of the value. He had this 28 ton sitting outside for a couple of years (not covered), it is supposedly only 2 years old. I am pleased that the exhaust is in the rear as I have heard some of the 28 tons blow exhaust in your face when splitting vertical. It had some surface rust but started up on the first pull. I brought it home and changed the Oil and Hydraulic filter. It split the biggest/knarliest stuff that I could not split by hand with ease. I did notice the Hydraulic fluid looks a little yellow/cloudy. Is that anything to worry about? I got it for $800 and considering the new ones are over $1,600 I am very happy. I scrapped off the rust spots and put some Rustoleum on it, it almost looks new now.

Below are the images of the way it was in the field.


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## Ashful (Jul 9, 2012)

Nice score! If the hydro fluid is milky, it may be from moisture in the fluid. Many hydro fluids are hydrophillic... they soak up water with age.

Like brake fluid in a car, there's probably a recommended change schedule, which few will follow.


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## DexterDay (Jul 9, 2012)

Defia Nice Score.... $800 for a Great Splitter. Even if you have $100 in Filters and Oil, thats still about 50% of new and it doesnt appear to have many hours on it.

Plus it has a Honda on it. Good to go   Good deal


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## bogydave (Jul 9, 2012)

Good deal.
Your patience paid off 
If the hyd fluid isn't milky, your most likely OK. A little cloudy shouldn't hurt a thing. 
I bet it was fun to bust up the "Un-splitables" with ease


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## weatherguy (Jul 9, 2012)

Nice! Ive been looking every day too but no luck, anyone that has one wants way too much for a used splitter. Id like to find one like yours with a Honda, if not Ill pull the trigger on the 20 ton at TSC.


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 10, 2012)

Thanks guys, the owner claimed he only used it twice, and I believe it. The oil was a messy chocalate color (It almost looked like it had water in it), so I am glad I changed it right away. The Honda engine is sweet how easy it is to start, however there is no throttle control which may be a good or bad thing. I guess I will just wait on the Hydro Oil since it does not seem to be an issue. A good tip I read about on the Arborsite is to stand the splitter up on its toe when changing the filter and you get very little loss of fluids.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 10, 2012)

Looks like you got a good deal. Congratulations. Always remember: oil is cheaper than metal.

I hate the motors with no throttle....


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## richg (Jul 12, 2012)

I have that exact same splitter and made a few mods to it:

-watch your fingers around that tongue jack. I removed it and replaced it with a bolt-on swivel jack.  ($40.00)
-the coupler on mine was cr@p, and I replaced it ($25.00)
-The hydraulic return hose is held on with hose clamps. Not trusting it, I replaced it with with real hydraulic hose and fittings ($60.00)
-Bain's farm and fleet sells the splitting table for a lot less than everywhere else. It's very useful for when you're splitting horizontally.  ($50.00)
-The wedge is too damn short in my opinion. Speeco has come out with a new wedge system that consists of a "base" and two heavy-duty wedges that bolt on to the base; one is a taller single wedge, and the other is a 4-way wedge. The 4-way has wings that look alittle short, as they designed the wings to fit between the log extractor prongs. The system supposedly weighs 70lbs, goes for $200 shipped and will be available next month.
-You are correct, this model has the exhaust that shoots away from you when you split vertically. I don't know what Speeco was thinking when they designed the latest model to have exhaust blasting in your face, even though they did come up with an exhaust elbow to alleviate the problem.
-As for the comment Dennis made about "all or nothing" engine speed, he's right. This model uses a 190cc Honda GC engine which is their light-duty consumer engine. There is a 200 CC GX engine which goes for about $400.00 That will fit.
-The pump is slow which affects cycle times. Haldex makes a a 16 gpm model that looks like it will fit.

The hypothetical mods would run about $750.00. I got mine last year for $1000.00, and it was in abolute pristine condition as it had been used twice and stored inside. Given all the above, I should just shut my mouth, be thankful that I have a hydraulic splitter, get off my lazy @$$ and go deal with the mountain of rounds sitting in my back yard.


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## velvetfoot (Jul 12, 2012)

Getting divorced sucks.


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 12, 2012)

richg said:


> I have that exact same splitter and made a few mods to it:
> 
> -watch your fingers around that tongue jack. I removed it and replaced it with a bolt-on swivel jack. ($40.00)
> -the coupler on mine was cr@p, and I replaced it ($25.00)
> ...


That would be a lot of mods, I am just happy to have a splitter right now. I do agree those hose clamps look pretty weak and a splitting table would be sweet. I noticed how I have to watch my toes when splitting horizontal.


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## DexterDay (Jul 12, 2012)

You can buy the tables.... Or if you can get some plate steel, you can male your own. I had some steel lying around, so I built mine for next to nothing. 

I just added a piece of steel about .090 (1055) and drilled 2 holes, added 2 bolts, and a coat of paint (or three)..  Its big enough to hold a large round (or half, while you work on the other half) and small enough to still not hinder vertical operation.

This pic is a bad one. But all I have on my phone currently. The Half round is blocking the view of the table.


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 12, 2012)

DexterDay said:


> You can buy the tables.... Or if you can get some plate steel, you can male your own. I had some steel lying around, so I built mine for next to nothing.
> 
> I just added a piece of steel about .090 (1055) and drilled 2 holes, added 2 bolts, and a coat of paint (or three).. Its big enough to hold a large round (or half, while you work on the other half) and small enough to still not hinder vertical operation.
> 
> ...


 Thanks dexter, I will have to try that, I must some metal around that will do the trick.


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## DexterDay (Jul 12, 2012)

The MTD's come with small cradles on each side. They already have 2 holes in them. So I just had to cut the plate and add bolts. But here are some better shots. (Click to enlarge)


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## Huntindog1 (Jul 13, 2012)

Nice deal!  I am jealous as my Huskee is only 22ton.

You will have to try one of those heads that make 4 pieces of firewood in one swipe. 28ton should be plenty of power for that.


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 13, 2012)

DexterDay said:


> The MTD's come with small cradles on each side. They already have 2 holes in them. So I just had to cut the plate and add bolts. But here are some better shots. (Click to enlarge)
> 
> View attachment 70148
> View attachment 70149
> View attachment 70150


 
Dexter, you inspired me, I found I had an old tail gate to a small trailer that wasn't being used so I drilled a couple of holes for the log cradle and painted it last night. It could be wider as I had to attach directly to the beam. I should get it mounted tonight as the paint was still drying. 

I do like how those MTDs have those build in cradles on each side. Someone is splitting logs on some property I have in New York and they have that exact splitter. Also I like how they put a protective spring over the hoses.


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 13, 2012)

Huntindog1 said:


> Nice deal! I am jealous as my Huskee is only 22ton.
> 
> You will have to try one of those heads that make 4 pieces of firewood in one swipe. 28ton should be plenty of power for that.


Huntingdog, how difficult is it to switch between heads?  I can see at times a 4 way would be good but at other times it would not.


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## Huntindog1 (Jul 13, 2012)

They have 2 kinds one slips over the top of the head you got and another you unbolt the old head and bolt the other one on, its one large bolt.






golfandwoodnut said:


> Huntingdog, how difficult is it to switch between heads? I can see at times a 4 way would be good but at other times it would not.


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## Ashful (Jul 13, 2012)

Huntindog1 said:


> You will have to try one of those heads that make 4 pieces of firewood in one swipe. 28ton should be plenty of power for that.


 
Don't you need a means to adjust the head height to make this practical?  Most I've seen with a 4-way wedge have a hydraulic means of adjusting the wedge position relative to the beam.


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## MasterMech (Jul 13, 2012)

Joful said:


> Don't you need a means to adjust the head height to make this practical? Most I've seen with a 4-way wedge have a hydraulic means of adjusting the wedge position relative to the beam.


 
That's the drawback of non-adjustable 4-ways.  They get impractical in big wood and rob the splitter of needed power for monster rounds.  Hydraulically adjustable 4-ways usually also retract fully so you can get back to single wedge splitting.  Couple that with a log lift and it make vertical machines look silly.


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## richg (Jul 13, 2012)

velvetfoot said:


> Getting divorced sucks.


 
Each situation is different. If I knew then what I know now, I would have offered the tnuC double what she wanted just to get her the flip out of my life. We only get one go-around in this world, and life is too short to be unhappy.


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## ScotO (Jul 13, 2012)

That's a great deal on that splitter, you did the right thing by buying it because it would not have lasted long on Craigslist!


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 16, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> That's a great deal on that splitter, you did the right thing by buying it because it would not have lasted long on Craigslist!


 You are right Scotty, he said he had 15 calls in just a couple of days.  He was surprised that this time of year he had that many calls.  He also wanted to sell a Polaris quad for $1000, but it was just a 2X4 and I was not that interested, but I am sure it was a good deal.


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## ScotO (Jul 16, 2012)

golfandwoodnut said:


> You are right Scotty, he said he had 15 calls in just a couple of days.  He was surprised that this time of year he had that many calls.  He also wanted to sell a Polaris quad for $1000, but it was just a 2X4 and I was not that interested, but I am sure it was a good deal.


Dammit I wouldn't mind having a quad.....I may have to look into that.  I doubt the boss would be real happy if I bought that, I just dropped 4 bills on a Husqvarna 372XP on Craigslist yesterday, she wasn't real thrilled about that either but I couldn't pass up the deal.  I'll wait on the quad for now!


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 16, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> Dammit I wouldn't mind having a quad.....I may have to look into that. I doubt the boss would be real happy if I bought that, I just dropped 4 bills on a Husqvarna 372XP on Craigslist yesterday, she wasn't real thrilled about that either but I couldn't pass up the deal. I'll wait on the quad for now!


 I think I still have the guys number if you need it.


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## ScotO (Jul 16, 2012)

golfandwoodnut said:


> I think I still have the guys number if you need it.


 Thanks, but I better not.  If I buy that quad, you can bet my nuggets would probably get cut off in the middle of the night while I am fast asleep......


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## firefighterjake (Jul 16, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> Thanks, but I better not. If I buy that quad, you can bet my nuggets would probably get cut off in the middle of the night while I am fast asleep......


 

. . . with a Husquvarna 372XP and a freshly sharpened chain.


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