Difference in same/different splitters and engine choices...

[Intheswamp]

I'm still shopping for a splitter. (Surprised, eh?)

Speeco has both a 25-ton unit and a 28-ton. In both of these models there is a version where the only difference is the beam dimensions...the other primary parts are the same...the engine, pump, and cylinder. How is it that one is rated 25-ton and the other 28-ton?? Is there a different valve on the 28-ton that allows more pressure or ????

Ok, by now you've probably figured out that I'm looking at Speeco's this morning. I'm just looking...no harm in looking...

The two engine choices that I would consider are the 675 and the 1450...I don't see the need to go to the Honda from the B&S 675. But, it looks like the splitters with the upgraded jack stand/frame all have Honda engines or the B&S 1450. The splitters with the B&S 675 engine on it are Huskees that have Splitmaster stickers on them...or is that Splitmasters without Huskee stickers? Whatever.

Thus, if I wanted the upgraded frame I'd be forced into the B&S 1450 or the Honda engine.

My thoughts on the engine is that apparently the little 675 engine is a good engine...lots of them running. It is also a cheap engine that you could actually buy very reasonably and mothball for down the road should the original motor go out. I believe it might be easier finding an import engine to fit the vertically oriented motor mounting, too.

All the Speeco models with the B&S 1450 engine have the new jack stand/frame. The 1450 is more powerful and is paired up with a higher gpm pump and cylinder. Would I really notice a difference in 11 second versus 17 second cycle times?

The 25-ton/BS1450 and 28-ton Speeco are what I'm looking at (I'm just looking, ok? ) ...the larger beam is a plus on the 28-ton but that is the only difference that I can see and it raises the beam (for horizontal splitting) 2 inches...but again, how does that equate to those extra 3 tons of splitting power for the 28-tonner?

It seems the Speeco 22-tons are way out of line price-wise with the Huskees and they are apparently identical except for the stickers, but the larger splitters seem priced more closely. The 22-ton would do fine for me in regards to tonnage but if I went that route I'd have to suck it up and go visit a TSC....which I'm not chomping at the bits to do. Of course, I don't need a 25 or 28 ton for my 2-3 yearly cords, but...

Just rambling here...
Ed

 

[smokinj]

Say you have a great take on the whole gig......Flip a coin and roll with it! lol :lol:

 

[Thistle]

I bought a Speeco 20 ton H/V with 8HP Tecumseh new in April 1996,it took everything I threw at it from 24" gnarly American Elm,large Honey Locust & Mulberry stumps & forks,stringy Shagbark Hickory & everything in between. Great machine,only sold it to brother in Dec. 2005 when I needed cash because of a pre-Christmas layoff.

Sure wish I still had it,few more years my back & shoulders will be rebelling even more... lol.

 

[TreePointer]

Don't worry about beam size on the SpeeCo (Huskee, SplitMaster) models. Each beam meets the load requirements for the tonnage it puts out. Go with the best cycle time. I've used slow splitters, and they are annoying. A 15s cycle time is the slowest I like to use. 12s or faster is nice!

The 15s cycle time on my Huskee 35-ton is okay, but there are some times that I wish it were faster.

 

[triptester]

The main difference between the two splitters is the engine / pump combo. The larger combo will give a noticable increase in speed. At 6 seconds a cycle you could save 10 minutes or more an hour when splitting.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Do not get hung up on cycle time Comparing one to the other and one takes 6 seconds more is immaterial. The reason is that you rarely go the complete cycle! I have no idea what the cycle time is on our splitter but could almost guess it is slower than most guys splitters. It bothers me not, simply because I very, very rarely go the complete cycle. Especially right now where I cam splitting mostly white ash. If you timed the cycle I use it would be very few seconds. However, if I split elm it would be longer because of two things. The 2 stage pump and the fact that most times you have to take the wedge all the way down. Still, if you take the wedge all the way down that does not mean you have to take it all the way back up. If you are splitting 16" logs, take the wedge up 18" and not the whole way.

One other thing to take into consideration: Are you in the firewood business where you have to make every second count? Or are you splitting the wood you need split for your home? So, how fast do you need that splitter to run?

One more thing. In addition to not using the entire cycle, I also do not run the engine at full throttle. Yes, it makes the ram a bit slower but it does not bother me in the least. So if I split 6 or 8 cord of wood, it might take me an hour longer. Over 365 days, an hour doesn't seem like much. But then, some folks seem to have to drive their cars at 80 mph or more but that is not for me.

What really counts when you are buying a splitter is if it does what you need done and that is to split wood. I admit that I've seen some splitters super slow and I would not have one of those but they were old relics. I've not seen any real slow commercial splitters. So look for something that will do the job you need done.

 

[TreePointer]

In general, I don't get hung up on cycle times, but as I stated, really slow ones can be annoying.

Last autumn I ran a 25-ton SpeeCo rental from Home Depot, and it was annoyingly slow compared to the rated 15s cycle time on my 35-ton Huskee. Would I get hung up on a 13 vs. 15s cycle time? Probably not. I do know that for the amount of wood I split, I don't like cycle times much over 15s.

 

[smokinj]

Do not know what cycle time is on the 22 ton husky vs the troy built but I can say in no way shape or form is one faster at splitting rounds then the other. Unless there all very big tb wins hands down, all small and the husky wins. Throw a mix (Always if your felling) and there just not one faster yhan the other.

 

[TreePointer]

The way I judge the lower end splitters is if the splitter can go faster than I can load unsplit rounds (one man operation). In other words, I want to be the limiting factor--not the splitter.

That Home Depot 25-ton SpeeCo was a lot slower than the 14s 22-ton Huskees that have been very popular. To each his own, but splitters that are much closer to 20s than to 10s are not for me. Note that before this calendar year, SpeeCo had at least 4 different 25-ton models ranging from 12s to at least 18-19s. This had to have been one of the slowest ones.

 

[smokinj]

The way I judge the lower end splitters is if the splitter can go faster than I can load unsplit rounds (one man operation). In other words, I want to be the limiting factor--not the splitter.

That Home Depot 25-ton SpeeCo was a lot slower than the 14s 22-ton Huskees that have been very popular. To each his own, but splitters that are much closer to 20s than to 10s are not for me. Note that before this calendar year, SpeeCo had at least 4 different 25-ton models ranging from 12s to at least 18-19s. This had to have been one of the slowest ones.

I think the troy built is 18sec but kids the husky @ss on the big ones and losses, well you get the point. lol I didnt know this untill a few weeks ago putting them head to head, because we had to! (side by side.)

 

[TreePointer]

Heehee! I don't know what to trust anymore. Manufacturer's cycle times, hp ratings, return policy, warranty, etc.? We just have to figure it our for our selves, I guess.

 

[Intheswamp]

Another example... Iron & Oak 20-ton horizontal only vs. 22-ton horizontal/vertical. Both splitters have identical specs *except* the 20-ton horizontal has a 9-inch wedge while the 22-ton h/v unit has a 7-inch wedge. I guess that by decreasing the size of the wedge the same amount of energy exerted on the taller wedge is concentrated onto the shorter wedge thus increases the measured pressure on the smaller "footprint". If that is how it works then I can see how I&O comes up with the difference in tonnage. ???

The Speeco 25-ton and 28-ton units that are both rated at 12 seconds cycle time have the same engine, pump, and cylinder...they also still have the same size wedge. So the thought expressed above about the smaller wedge concentrating the pressure doesn't apply with the Speeco models. Do they adjust the hydraulic valve to attain the higher/lower pressures in these units or is it a magic hydraulic fluid?

I'm about convinced that I don't think I need to really worry about cycle time. Of course the only splitter I've ever used was that short-lived Huskee so I whatever I get I know I will at least subconsciously be comparing it to the Huskee. My little 2-3 cords a year isn't going to be something I have to finish in hurry, just something I need to get through within a reasonable length of time....which is faster than I'm currently getting it done. :-/

Ed

 

[lukem]

Ed,

For what it's worth, I've been very happy with my 22 ton...apart from the initial coupler failure. For the price it's hard to beat. 22 tons is more than enough for what I've been throwing at it.

I know you have a bad taste in your mouth from TSC, and rightfully so. If you don't want to buy another splitter from them I think that's reasonable.

What I would caution you against is talking your self into an overpriced or oversized splitter.

 

[Intheswamp]

Ed,

For what it's worth, I've been very happy with my 22 ton...apart from the initial coupler failure. For the price it's hard to beat. 22 tons is more than enough for what I've been throwing at it.

I know you have a bad taste in your mouth from TSC, and rightfully so. If you don't want to buy another splitter from them I think that's reasonable.

What I would caution you against is talking your self into an overpriced or oversized splitter.

I hear you lukem. I think the 22-ton Huskee is a good consumer grade splitter and is a good fit for me...if I can just get past this deal with TSC...

I've got a question for you...when you're splitting and you hit a really tough piece of wood does the motor bog down enough where you have to release the lever to keep from choking the engine down or does the 2-stage pump kick in, slow things down and exert greater force on the wood without choking the engine down?

Ed

 

[lukem]

Ed,

For what it's worth, I've been very happy with my 22 ton...apart from the initial coupler failure. For the price it's hard to beat. 22 tons is more than enough for what I've been throwing at it.

I know you have a bad taste in your mouth from TSC, and rightfully so. If you don't want to buy another splitter from them I think that's reasonable.

What I would caution you against is talking your self into an overpriced or oversized splitter.

I hear you lukem. I think the 22-ton Huskee is a good consumer grade splitter and is a good fit for me...if I can just get past this deal with TSC...

I've got a question for you...when you're splitting and you hit a really tough piece of wood does the motor bog down enough where you have to release the lever to keep from choking the engine down or does the 2-stage pump kick in, slow things down and exert greater force on the wood without choking the engine down?

Ed

When I get into a tough piece of wood it will kick down to the high pressure stage and slow down the ram. The engine usually does not load up (bog down). When I get into a really nasty round, and I mean really nasty, it will load the engine to the point where I have to back it off and reposition the wood. This is pretty rare. Most times it will "cut" the wood, not split it, until the ram is fully extended. This will be the case with any splitter though.

For most of the stuff I've been splitting lately, which has been all the knots and crotches of white oak rounds up to 24", it spends a lot of time in the high pressure stage. I split some pretty nice black locust over the weekend and the high volume stage handled most of it. There hasn't been anything I had to flat out give up on...but a few took more than one attempt.

 

[muncybob]

If you are a 1 person operation like me...and as stated...forget about the cycle time. Rarely comes into play for me and also as mentioned I rarely run the cylinder all the way back since my splits are around 18".

I've been renting a very old MTD which I'm told is 20 ton...this thing has been left out in the waether and frankly looks like crap, but it does the job. Only came across a handful of "uglies" that it would not completely split.

I wish I would have taken advantage of the 10% off coupon last mnonth at TSC as it appears that Huskee will be selling only the "carb compliant" 22 ton models once the older models are all gone and they are around $200 more.

Ed, your TSC adventures are a darn shame...at least for me if I go to TSC they are only 3 miles away!

 

[lukem]

I should also mention that the splitter will outrun me. I don't feel like I'm waiting around very much. As the ram is retracting I'm grabbing another round and getting it positioned. In easy wood the ram extends plenty fast for my taste.

Once my boys get a little older and can help I'm sure we'll be able to outrun the splitter.