Electric wood splitter

[Sprinter]

If you look at the motor/pump and control box, you will find that all of these low tonnage electrics are the same, although the HF has somehow added a 2-speed feature. I wouldn't hesitate to buy the HF unit, even though I am generally leery of their electric equipment. The lower weight of the 5-ton units is a plus, I can put mine in the back of the car without help.

I think it's a two stage pump, but I don't know that much about hydraulic systems. Not sure if that can explain the extra 75 or so pounds of weight. It probably goes slower in the 7 ton mode. HF is a little bit of a gamble. Some stuff you know to stay away from. In this case, the reviews are pretty good. Having said all that, I still think I'd stay with the Ryobi/Homelite.

 

[HDRock]

I just put mine on the motorcycle lift,strap it on, raise it to a nice hight , and go to it.

The heavy gage steel, large wedge,and the heavy gage steel beam is where the weight is.,and the large tires are nice
I don't see the 7 ton. HF is any more of a gamble, than the others

 

[Sprinter]

I just put mine on the motorcycle lift,strap it on, raise it to a nice hight , and go to it.

The heavy gage steel, large wedge,and the heavy gage steel beam is where the weight is.,and the large tires are nice
I don't see the 7 ton. HF is any more of a gamble, than the others

I like the motorcycle lift. Good idea. I always need help getting mine up and down when I need to move it, but fortunately that's not often.

 

[Sprinter]

I just put mine on the motorcycle lift,strap it on, raise it to a nice hight , and go to it.

The heavy gage steel, large wedge,and the heavy gage steel beam is where the weight is.,and the large tires are nice
I don't see the 7 ton. HF is any more of a gamble, than the others

Do you not use the 7 ton mode much? There are a lot of questions on here regarding whether the 7-ton units are enough better to justify it.

 

[Fi-Q]

I have the 4 ton fron CT, looks the same as the HF one, so far my dad is doing all of our wood ( So I cant't groan at all, he s doing it for free) but he make huges split. Is stove is in the basement so he dosen't care for small fire . As our stove is in our main living area ( i do leave in my own house basement as of now, but thats an other story...) we like to be able to have small fire. And I am ofently on the road and my wife hates spliting kindling with the axe. So I have the 4 ton in the house by the wood pile and using it to re-split dry wood. It is not very fast. I think the stroke is too short. But for the price ( they oftenly come on sale 40% off) I think it is worth having one.

 

[mattjm1017]

Well I just ordered the homelite from the Home Depot it should be here by the end of the week well see how she splits the mix of stuff Ive got in the driveway I figure whats the worst thing that can happen Im not happy with it and take it back for a refund that's not to bad. I appreciate all the advice yall have given me and Ill be sure to post an update after I get it ant try it out. Now to go find a trailer....

 

[Sprinter]

Well I just ordered the homelite from the Home Depot it should be here by the end of the week well see how she splits the mix of stuff Ive got in the driveway I figure whats the worst thing that can happen Im not happy with it and take it back for a refund that's not to bad. I appreciate all the advice yall have given me and Ill be sure to post an update after I get it ant try it out. Now to go find a trailer....

That's what I figured when I got mine from HD. But I had no reason to return it. I'm going to warn you about something. It comes very poorly packaged in a cardboard box with inadequate styrofoam. It may come with the box all torn up. I and others here had the same experience. It weighs 100 pounds so gets banged up easily. Maybe yours will get handled less being in the east; I think they are shipped from back there somewhere. Anyway, I thought mine was damaged for sure, but it was fine. They seem pretty rugged. Just didn't want you to be shocked if it comes looking as bad as mine did.

One other thing. Be sure to unscrew the little wing nut that ventilates the hydraulics first thing (a few turns). Before you even plug it in. It can blow the seals if you don't.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I think it's a two stage pump, but I don't know that much about hydraulic systems. Not sure if that can explain the extra 75 or so pounds of weight. It probably goes slower in the 7 ton mode. HF is a little bit of a gamble. Some stuff you know to stay away from. In this case, the reviews are pretty good. Having said all that, I still think I'd stay with the Ryobi/Homelite.

Yes, I'm sure it's a 2-stage pump. If you look at the picture of the HF model posted by HDRock, you will note that the motor, electric control box, ram connection and pull rods are identical to all the other models available. I think the extra weight is in the pump and the hand-truck style carriage, which I really like. Dan Corcoran (on this forum) also has a Pow'r Kraft version of the 7-ton unit

http://powrkraft.com/prod02.htm

which weighs in at 172 lbs. I'm surprised we haven't heard a little more from him.

 

[DanCorcoran]

I mentioned early on in this thread that doing a search for electric splitters would bring up a lot of endorsements. I hate to keep posting the same comments over and over, but I'm very happy with my PowR'Kraft 7-ton electric. As far as I can tell, it is identical to the Harbor Freight version, except the HF has better wheels and the PRK has side panels that guard the rods. I also agree with getting an electric to begin with. It'll split a lot of wood, but if you need more oomph, sell it and get a bigger gasoline model.

 

[HDRock]

Do you not use the 7 ton mode much? There are a lot of questions on here regarding whether the 7-ton units are enough better to justify it.

What is to justify ? Same price ?

 

[Pallet Pete]

What is to justify ? Same price ?

Also if you go look in person the HF unit is much larger than the home depot / Lowe's 4 & 5 ton units and not because of the dolly. The cylinder was larger than mine as well as the splitting wedge. If I had not found ours for $120 I would have purchased the same one as hd.

Pete

 

[Seanm]

This is my 5th year, between my friend and myself, we split about 10 cords per year. The only problem was when my friend neglected to open the bleeder screw and blew the seals. He returned it to HD and they gave him a new one. If and when this one quits, I will go buy another.

When you got it back and tried using it what was the result? Were you still able to split with it? The reason I ask is because I picked up a 7 ton electric late winter and went through splitting a pile of Larch without opening the valve before realising what I had done. Ive used it for at least two cords since and its worked good on everything from small to big rounds of Larch but only on the slow setting. Prior to my screw up I had been splitting Pine and it worked on fast speed but I haven't had any pine to split since to see if ive had an impact on it. Thanks! My two cents is that ive been happy getting an electric, its saved my back a lot of pain!

 

[MrWhoopee]

When you got it back and tried using it what was the result? Were you still able to split with it? The reason I ask is because I picked up a 7 ton electric late winter and went through splitting a pile of Larch without opening the valve before realising what I had done. Ive used it for at least two cords since and its worked good on everything from small to big rounds of Larch but only on the slow setting. Prior to my screw up I had been splitting Pine and it worked on fast speed but I haven't had any pine to split since to see if ive had an impact on it. Thanks! My two cents is that ive been happy getting an electric, its saved my back a lot of pain!

I can't rightly say. It happened shortly after I bought the splitter, my friend was using it for the first time. When it quit splitting (lost power) he realized what he'd done and took it back to HD. They exchanged it for him without any questions.

 

[Seanm]

I can't rightly say. It happened shortly after I bought the splitter, my friend was using it for the first time. When it quit splitting (lost power) he realized what he'd done and took it back to HD. They exchanged it for him without any questions.

Thanks for that. I think the key with your experience being it quit splitting.... Ive since used mine on some big rounds and several cords and its had no problems at all but I was kicking myself for making the error in the first place. Maybe I dodged a bullet since mine seems to have lots of power. A friend just picked up the smaller version today second hand (3.5 ton), He has the same stove and uses the same wood as myself so it will be interesting to see how he likes it.

 

[mattjm1017]

Well it was sitting on the front porch when I got home today so naturally I pulled it out and put the wheels on read the directions and started splitting. It seems to work pretty good I found that it struggled with a large round that was very wet on the bottom but after turning it a couple times and then just hitting it letting off and hitting it again it pushed right through, I believe I read somewhere where someone else had wrote that they had the same problem. There is some silly tropical storm getting ready to push through here so hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get outside and get a better feel for it and also give yall a better review. So far so good though.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Thanks for that. I think the key with your experience being it quit splitting.... Ive since used mine on some big rounds and several cords and its had no problems at all but I was kicking myself for making the error in the first place. Maybe I dodged a bullet since mine seems to have lots of power.

I just quit closing the vent. I move it a lot and it's never leaked. When I move it, I never put the wedge end down, which is natural since the handles are on that end.

 

[MrWhoopee]

It seems to work pretty good I found that it struggled with a large round that was very wet on the bottom but after turning it a couple times and then just hitting it letting off and hitting it again it pushed right through, I believe I read somewhere where someone else had wrote that they had the same problem.

I've had that same problem with really wet (not green) wood. Look for any obvious cracks and attack there, oak will frequently have a visible line or crack in the bark betraying the weak spot. If you still can't pop it, let it dry for a week and the cracks will start to show.

 

[BillinTX]

Well it was sitting on the front porch when I got home today so naturally I pulled it out and put the wheels on read the directions and started splitting. It seems to work pretty good I found that it struggled with a large round that was very wet on the bottom but after turning it a couple times and then just hitting it letting off and hitting it again it pushed right through, I believe I read somewhere where someone else had wrote that they had the same problem. There is some silly tropical storm getting ready to push through here so hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get outside and get a better feel for it and also give yall a better review. So far so good though.

A little paraffin (candle wax) on the wedge will help. I have also used Pam spray.

 

[Sprinter]

Thanks for that. I think the key with your experience being it quit splitting.... Ive since used mine on some big rounds and several cords and its had no problems at all but I was kicking myself for making the error in the first place. Maybe I dodged a bullet since mine seems to have lots of power. A friend just picked up the smaller version today second hand (3.5 ton), He has the same stove and uses the same wood as myself so it will be interesting to see how he likes it.

You probably did. I would think that a damaged or blown seal would have shown up by now by obvious leaking of fluid. Good luck.

 

[blades]

Got a 4 ton about 10 years ago, my recommendation is the 7 ton versions. They are very slow as compared to my gas unit but that is a function of design and price point not a reflection on electric vs fuel. Also annoying on mine is it takes 2 hands to operate it, one to hold the power switch on and the other to actuate the ram ( could change that but seldom use it now days). Currently looking for a an older gas unit that I can convert to electric in the 15 ton range due to the insane pricing of fuel. Main splitting area at home is only 20 ft or so from power supply. Better off to pretreat really gnarly stuff with the chain saw prior to setting on splitter. Oh and keep a 8# sledge available when ya get a piece stuck on the wedge.

 

[HDRock]

The two speed HF 7 ton is much quicker, cuz, I use fast speed until, I hit the wood ,then switch to low speed high power, once the wood pops, back to fast speed to finish.

 

[DanCorcoran]

"A little paraffin (candle wax) on the wedge will help. I have also used Pam spray."

I use inexpensive silicone spray from Walmart. I also used that on the blade of my ATV snow plow.

 

[MasterMech]

Currently looking for a an older gas unit that I can convert to electric in the 15 ton range due to the insane pricing of fuel.

How much are you really saving? If you split hundreds of cords a year maybe but I run maybe 10-12 cord across mine a year (will be less going forward) and I doubt it uses 5 gallons for that.

 

[MrWhoopee]

How much are you really saving? If you split hundreds of cords a year maybe but I run maybe 10-12 cord across mine a year (will be less going forward) and I doubt it uses 5 gallons for that.

I agree. I am a huge fan of electric splitters, but I seriously doubt that there would be a payback in buying a gas splitter (even a cheap one) and converting it. Buy an electric splitter.

 

[DanCorcoran]

"Currently looking for a an older gas unit that I can convert to electric in the 15 ton range due to the insane pricing of fuel."

As you can see from the attached, in constant 2012 dollars*, the price of gasoline is about the same as it was in the early 1980s. Not crazy at all in my book (it was less than half of the early 1980s price in the late 1990s). I still prefer an electric splitter, though, if it will split what I need to split.



* Constant dollars puts it context with our current wages and the prices of other goods we buy.