# Ariens splitter wedge broke (only 5 months)



## BucksCounty (Sep 20, 2014)

Bought the Ariens 27 ton splitter in April. It's been great and have split +/-5 cord.  Splitting piece of maple today and on the return the wood wouldn't release from the bottom of the splitter and the pin holding wedge just bent, in turn breaking the rounded part attached to wedge.  Looks like the piece is caught in the bottom plate of the splitter. 

So, what are my options?  I bought it at home depot.  Should I try there first?  Or contact Ariens directly?  I'm pretty frustrated.  I tried searching online to find the cost of a replacement wedge and I can't find one.

Thanks for help.


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## BasaltCoast (Sep 20, 2014)

That pin must be made of pretty soft metal. 

If you didn't already register it for your warranty, I'd do that now (should be good from the date of purchase, not the date of registration). Wait a couple of days, then report it to Ariens; they should replace it. Normally I'd say go to Home Depot, but they won't have a part or be able to fix this.


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## BucksCounty (Sep 20, 2014)

Done. Thanks. Yes, pin must be soft metal but the pin was pulled through the wedge holes so it couldn't be too soft. right???


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## BasaltCoast (Sep 20, 2014)

I thought that was what happened at first, but wasn't too sure from the pics. That's a metal defect for sure. If that is the case, they'll need to replace the entire piece, not just the pin. And ya, I guess that pin was pretty strong! For a 27 ton splitter you'd expect a heavier grade metal.


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## BEConklin (Sep 20, 2014)

That's some tough maple! How did it get stuck to the base?


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## BucksCounty (Sep 20, 2014)

There are raised metal squares on the base of the splitter to prevent wood from slipping when being split.  After splitting pieces of wood, you can see the square indentations on the pieces of wood from the pressure of being split.  It appears the wood somehow is wedged into those squares because the pin bent when I was retrieving the wedge.


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## Studdlygoof (Sep 20, 2014)

If they end up not helping you out with a replacement that doesn't look like a hard fix. You could beef up those pin ears and buy a replacement pin at you local hardware store


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## BucksCounty (Sep 20, 2014)

How do I fix the replacement ears?  I don't have welding equipment or would even know how to go about fixing them.


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## STIHLY DAN (Sep 20, 2014)

Send it back. Then buy an American splitter.


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## lazeedan (Sep 20, 2014)

Find a local Fab shop to repair wedge. Looks like pretty flimsy material. I'd prob use 3/8 plate to make the ears. Unless warranty covers this. Next may do same thing eventually.


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## BrotherBart (Sep 20, 2014)

Wasn't a splitter, but I had a problem with an appliance recently and the manager at HD busted ass to take care of it. Go talk to'em and take the pics with you.

Just leave your credit and debit cards in the car...


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## BrotherBart (Sep 20, 2014)

PS: Don't mention splitting five cords. We know that is just normal but would scream "commercial use" to the un-initiated.


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## 1kzwoman (Sep 20, 2014)

http://www.jackssmallengines.com/Jacks-Parts-Lookup/Model-Diagram/ARIENS/4894/11


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## mikey517 (Sep 21, 2014)

STIHLY DAN said:


> Send it back. Then buy an American splitter.


Ariens & Gravely splitters are made in Wisconsin.

I bought a 27t at Home Depot 2 years ago. 6 months after purchase, the valve started leaking. Ariens sent me to a local dealer who replaced the valve, checked out the machine, and returned it in less than a week. No problems since then.

EDIT to add - The dealer also stated that as far as they were concerned there was no problem for them servicing a unit purchased somewhere else, specifically Home Depot. The quality of the units is the same.


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## fabsroman (Sep 21, 2014)

This does not instill any confidence in me as far as Ariens splitters are concerned. Just hard to believe that the pin bent like that and the holes in the wedge elongated like that. Either a bad batch of steel for both the wedge and pin, or they are using some cheap steel in the hopes that the wedge and pin are never pushed to the machine's hydraulic limits. End of the day, that is some serious crap.


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## fabsroman (Sep 21, 2014)

Once it is out of warranty, make sure you know where the Ariens parts store is:

http://www.arienspartstore.com/?gclid=CMqEjcec88ACFQQT7AodK2cASg

We have had a MTD Yard Machines 25 ton splitter for 18 years now, split a couple hundred cords with it, and only recently have we needed parts for it. The hydraulic fluid filter sprung a hole a couple years ago and last summer I noticed that some of the grade 8 bolts holding the wedge to the beam were elongating and that the two gibs were missing. Got the gibs from MTD for $20 and the bolts from Ace Hardware for $5.

My dad bought an Ariens snow blower from Home Depot last week. Hopefully, it holds up better than your splitter did. Ironically, he also bought the MTD Yard Machines splitter from Home Depot too.


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## ironspider (Sep 21, 2014)

fabsroman said:


> This does not instill any confidence in me as far as Ariens splitters are concerned. Just hard to believe that the pin bent like that and the holes in the wedge elongated like that. Either a bad batch of steel for both the wedge and pin, or they are using some cheap steel in the hopes that the wedge and pin are never pushed to the machine's hydraulic limits. End of the day, that is some serious crap.


Don't be discouraged,  I have the 22 ton,  run about 5 cords as well.   When I got it home the valve was leaking,  local JD dealer (they picked up ariens right after I got it) fixed it under warranty with no questions asked. 

Anything can happen and usually does, don't fret.   Even the JD guys said they loved this splitter,  said "it's a well made machine"


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## ironspider (Sep 21, 2014)

Coming from die hard JD guys means a lot.


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## Paulywalnut (Sep 21, 2014)

STIHLY DAN said:


> Send it back. Then buy an American splitter.


Although my Gravely says made in USA some is probably foreign. Looks exactly like the Ariens only RED.


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## BrotherBart (Sep 21, 2014)

mikey517 said:


> EDIT to add - The dealer also stated that as far as they were concerned there was no problem for them servicing a unit purchased somewhere else, specifically Home Depot. The quality of the units is the same.



Same thing the Husqvarna dealer here told me about Husky stuff bought at HD.


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## Paulywalnut (Sep 21, 2014)

ironspider said:


> Coming from die hard JD guys means a lot.


Some JD dealers are selling Stihl, Ariens and Simplicity also. But we're talking about Gear


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## ironspider (Sep 21, 2014)

Ariens is made in USA!


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## ironspider (Sep 21, 2014)

Paulywalnut said:


> Some JD dealers are selling Stihl, Ariens and Simplicity also. But we're talking about Gear


About what?  "gear"  huh"


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## Paulywalnut (Sep 21, 2014)

Oh 


ironspider said:


> Ariens is made in USA!


good. I got something American made. besides my tractor.


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## BrotherBart (Sep 21, 2014)

Take it back and get one from China.


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## Charlie2 (Sep 21, 2014)

It breaking like that must a figment of your imagination. I've been told just recently not to question engineers and their designs, they have spent countless hours developing their product.      And you can see that design is definitely superior to a rubber band return.


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## ironspider (Sep 21, 2014)

chit happens


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## fabsroman (Sep 21, 2014)

ironspider said:


> chit happens



But that is some serious chit.


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## BucksCounty (Sep 21, 2014)

Called HD this morning. They said bring it back to their tool rental portion of the store and they will fix it. So, I brought it back, still with the wood wedged in the splitter and the guy took one look at it and said this is "abuse" and we are not fixing this. I asked why it was abuse.  He said I put a piece of wood into the splitter that was too large (it was 20").  I told him to get the manager. As I was waiting, I asked the guy how big was too big to place into the splitter. He said this 27 ton splitter could only handle logs up to 14".  As my Irish blood began to boil, I told him to show where it says that in the manual. He was useless. The manager was a little more receptive. He said they would need to send it out to be repaired and have new parts installed.  After more discussion with him and asking questions he couldn't answer about the process of getting it fixed, he finally said he would replace it with a new splitter. I was obviously happy with outcome but really pissed off when he told me that if I continue to try and split 20"+ pieces of wood, it will break again.  I asked him why the vertical feature of the splitter, marketed specifically for larger rounds that can't be lifted to the horizontal splitter?  No answer. In the end, they made it right and replaced the splitter, but I had to be pretty forceful.


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## ironspider (Sep 21, 2014)

Why are you taking it to HD,  they are not a service center. Take it to a real service center provided on the ariens website. 

We all know the people at HD make 15 an hour and don't know squat!


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## BrotherBart (Sep 21, 2014)

ironspider said:


> We all know the people at HD make 15 an hour and don't know squat!



They know how to load the new one in the truck.  No waiting weeks for parts and the repair.


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## ironspider (Sep 21, 2014)

BrotherBart said:


> They know how to load the new one in the truck.  No waiting weeks for parts and the repair.


It's 5 months,  HD is only a retailer and can't do anything at that point.


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## BrotherBart (Sep 21, 2014)

They just did. They gave him a new splitter.


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## ironspider (Sep 21, 2014)

Damn,  missed that.  That is a score! Not in my wildest dreams would I expect HD to do that.


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## BrotherBart (Sep 21, 2014)

A little footnote. Last October I bought a new fridge from HD. A month ago I noticed that where the door handle was screwed to the door it was cracked. Called GE and they told me to go pound sand, handles are cosmetic and not covered by warranty. Called HD and they had a new handle delivered to my house from a vendor in California in three days.


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## TMonter (Sep 22, 2014)

BrotherBart said:


> A little footnote. Last October I bought a new fridge from HD. A month ago I noticed that where the door handle was screwed to the door it was cracked. Called GE and they told me to go pound sand, handles are cosmetic and not covered by warranty. Called HD and they had a new handle delivered to my house from a vendor in California in three days.



I'm not a big fan of appliance manufacturers myself BB. Something has happened to most of the US appliance manufactures the past 20 years and the service/quality they supply has gone way downhill.

That being said I'm betting if you had sent those pictures to Ariens they would do something for you. That pin should have never bent like that, it should be made out of case hardened metal that can hold up to heavy service. Generally Ariens equipment is very good which makes me curious as to what happened.


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## Jags (Sep 22, 2014)

That pin and those ears are not designed for heavy pressure.  They are there to simple pull the shuttle back into place after the stroke (there is no "push" pressure there).  Something stopped the shuttle (bind or whatever) and the ram kept pulling.  Disfiguring the pin and ears.

The OP got the best deal to be had.  A replacement.

Personally - I would have asked them why the heck I need 27 tons of pressure if I am only going through a 14" round.


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## TMonter (Sep 22, 2014)

Jags said:


> That pin and those ears are not designed for heavy pressure.  They are there to simple pull the shuttle back into place after the stroke (there is no "push" pressure there).  Something stopped the shuttle (bind or whatever) and the ram kept pulling.  Disfiguring the pin and ears.
> 
> The OP got the best deal to be had.  A replacement.
> 
> Personally - I would have asked them why the heck I need 27 tons of pressure if I am only going through a 14" round.



Well the store employee certainly didn't know what the hell he was talking about on maximum log size. I've put 30" rounds on my 20 ton with no issue. A larger round doesn't necessarily mean more force required for splitting.


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## Charlie2 (Sep 22, 2014)

Is it not designed to remove a stuck log? If it took 27 tons to get the wedge stuck, it's going take at some tonnage to get it unstuck.


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## BCC_Burner (Sep 22, 2014)

ironspider said:


> We all know the people at HD make 15 an hour and don't know squat!



I make less than that to orchestrate the shipping logistics, billing and collections on ~$6 million of sales annually.


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## Jags (Sep 22, 2014)

Charlie2 said:


> Is it not designed to remove a stuck log? If it took 27 tons to get the wedge stuck, it's going take at some tonnage to get it unstuck.



Correct - but no where near 27 tons.  If you swing a maul at a stump it generates thousands of pound of force.  When a swing gets stuck it doesn't take thousands of pounds of force to remove it.


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## Charlie2 (Sep 22, 2014)

Apparently it takes enough force to shred that rinky dink setup. Here you have theory meeting reality, I've seen your builds, you don't build crap like that. So is this an advertiser?


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## Charlie2 (Sep 22, 2014)

Also, there's a difference between using a lever over a short fulcrum , ie- an axe handle worked back and forth and a straight pull out.


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## Jags (Sep 23, 2014)

Charlie2 said:


> Apparently it takes enough force to shred that rinky dink setup.



My point was - there was a catastrophic failure outside of normal that caused this.  It could have been one of a couple of issues.  There could have been a bind on the shuttle (which I am sure there was on this unit), BUT there is also a fail safe that should have occurred.  The relief pressure for the detente return should have kicked out prior to this thing tearing itself apart.  It kinda looks like the perfect storm came to town.

But in the end - the OP got the best deal.  Replacement.


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## HeatsTwice (Oct 11, 2014)

Had a similar problem with a very old splitter I bought used. 

Fixed it this way for $300-$400. It ain't never going to bust again.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/speeco-wedges-gone-kaput.128777/page-2#post-1740811


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