Log spitter ..Still looking Harbour Freight ones any good of E-bay ones??

[chipster314]

Are these Splitters from Harbour freight andy good?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=66663



Or these ones on E-bay


http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Ariens-27-T...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca42603a9

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Gas-15-ton-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5a02f07e

 

[mbcijim]

F**k Harbor Freight.

I bought my first item their about a month ago. Thought it was junk but thought I would give them a try. Got the item to about 2/3 of it's stated design capacity and both pieces (2 seperate ones not connected) broke. I'll never buy a piece of their crap again.

 

[SPED]

Here's a thread about the ariens one. I'm sure others will chime in on the harbor freight ones.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/44333/

 

[Got Wood]

Check out the Gear room forum on this site, lots of discussion on Splitters.
As a price performer for most home owners the Tractor Supply Huskee 22 ton seems to be a popular choice here (I know I researched it and ended up buying one)

 

[blel]

Go buy a Tractor Supply 22 ton and be done with it. Like an Englander stove, best bang for the buck. Do a search on the Tractor Supply splitter and you will see a lot of satisfied buyers. I have one , no problems.

 

[Gooserider]

Are these Splitters from Harbour freight andy good?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=66663



Or these ones on E-bay


http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Ariens-27-T...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca42603a9

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Gas-15-ton-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5a02f07e

I own the 30 ton version of the HF splitter, and it has done OK for me, though I've also done some fairly extensive mods on it. If you do a search, you will find a LONG thread where I review it, modify it, and so forth. Others have had some mixed results. The big unknown with the HF splitters these days is that they used to come w/ Subaru-Robin engines, which was a premium quality engine, equivalent to the Hondas (and parts interchangeable with them) The new units are coming with HF "Greyhound" engines, which are a "China Clone" of the Honda engines, with unknown quality / reliability / longevity... The big advantage of the HF splitter is the way they use the beam for the trailer tongue, which greatly reduces the storage "foot print".

The Ariens unit was reviewed in the thread mentioned above - seemed nice, certainly no major issues, OTOH nothing to make it outstanding either... It does use a trunnion mount cylinder, which many folks (myself included) see as a weakness, but IMHO it isn't a deal breaker. I wouldn't pay $1800 for it though...

The third unit has a great price if you can pick it up (I suspect shipping would kill a lot of the savings if you had it delivered), but it is horizontal only, and is a lower tonnage rating than what generally seems popular for most of our users (15 ton 3.5" cylinder), in addition, like the HF unit, it has a "China Clone" engine, with all that implies... Don't know why it's so slow, but they also claim to only have a 30 second cycle time, which is REALLY slow - most of the popular units have a 15 second cycle, and generally faster is better... I would pass on it because of the low tonnage rating, and the slow cycle time, not to mention the fact that it's horizontal only - some folks like horizontal splitting, I consider vertical far more desirable and would never consider a horizontal only unit...

Of the three that you mention, I'd say the HF unit is the best value. The other good value that has already been mentioned are the Tractor Supply (TSC) splitters, many have gotten their 20 ton units, and been very happy with them - and if you watch the sales, they've been going for around $1K or so...

Gooserider

 

[chipster314]

OK thanks everyone. The link was a great help. Looks like for the money TSC 22 Ton is the best bet. Although the Ariens looks a little more robust and motor placement looks a little more out of the way. I do like the idea that both of them split towards the back so you can hook up and move the unit forward with out having to move the splits out of the way.


$$$ I think is going to be the deciding factor.

 

[RPK1]

I bought a smaller version of that same splitter about three years ago. I got it from a local used equipment dealer. The brand name on the splitter was Chicago hydraulics. If I had known it came from Harbor Freight I probably wouldn't have bought it. It has a 5hp engine and will split anything I throw at it. I usually run it just above idle and it will run most of a day on one tank of gas. This splitter has been excellent so far.

RPK

 

[bogydave]

I'm still looking too. I found a Speeco 22 ton for 1600. Troy built 27 ton for 2200. The 2 here that look well made.
Speeco is top on my list if I buy a new one.
20 -22 ton would be more than I need but next available smaller ones here are the small electric ones
I'm just having a tough time justifying that kind of money for a log splitter.
The others available in AK just look , well not well built. Maybe they'll go on sale, or a craigs list one may pop up.
Shipping add about 300+ to our prices.

 

[SolarAndWood]

20 -22 ton would be more than I need but next available smaller ones here are the small electric ones

Ramsplitter makes 12 and 16 ton units that have been well reviewed here. The electric versions of the same splitters were also well liked.


http://ramsplitter.com/ModelH16.html

 

[Markyboy]

Go buy a Tractor Supply 22 ton and be done with it. Like an Englander stove, best bang for the buck. Do a search on the Tractor Supply splitter and you will see a lot of satisfied buyers. I have one , no problems.

+1, Happy with mine, well priced w/ 10% off tsc coupon.

 

[bogydave]

20 -22 ton would be more than I need but next available smaller ones here are the small electric ones

Ramsplitter makes 12 and 16 ton units that have been well reviewed here. The electric versions of the same splitters were also well liked.


http://ramsplitter.com/ModelH16.html

Thanks, I'll check them out & see what shipping cost to Alaska.

Wish a Tractor Supply store would move into Alaska. I think they'd do well here. The competition would be good.
Their Huskee looks similar to the Speeco.

 

[Gooserider]

20 -22 ton would be more than I need but next available smaller ones here are the small electric ones

Ramsplitter makes 12 and 16 ton units that have been well reviewed here. The electric versions of the same splitters were also well liked.


http://ramsplitter.com/ModelH16.html

Thanks, I'll check them out & see what shipping cost to Alaska.

Wish a Tractor Supply store would move into Alaska. I think they'd do well here. The competition would be good.
Their Huskee looks similar to the Speeco.

The TSC Huskee IS a Speeco - thats who makes them for TSC.... Nearly all the "box store" splitters are made by either Speeco or MTD, with MTD having most of the market.

Gooserider

 

[Kong]

I'm still looking too. I found a Speeco 22 ton for 1600. Troy built 27 ton for 2200. The 2 here that look well made.
Speeco is top on my list if I buy a new one.
20 -22 ton would be more than I need but next available smaller ones here are the small electric ones
I'm just having a tough time justifying that kind of money for a log splitter.
The others available in AK just look , well not well built. Maybe they'll go on sale, or a craigs list one may pop up.
Shipping add about 300+ to our prices.

27 ton for twenty-two-hundred sounds like highway robbery to me. Yesterday (2/2/10), at the local TSC, they had the latest version of their 35 ton, with a bolt-on side tray, new larger wheels for actual towing, and galvanized fenders rather than the plastic ones (a move in the wrong direction in my estimation). It has a 10 hp B&S engine and the tag price on it was $1,995.99. I can't see how you are getting a price of over two grand for a smaller splitter.

 

[Gooserider]

I'm still looking too. I found a Speeco 22 ton for 1600. Troy built 27 ton for 2200. The 2 here that look well made.
Speeco is top on my list if I buy a new one.
20 -22 ton would be more than I need but next available smaller ones here are the small electric ones
I'm just having a tough time justifying that kind of money for a log splitter.
The others available in AK just look , well not well built. Maybe they'll go on sale, or a craigs list one may pop up.
Shipping add about 300+ to our prices.

27 ton for twenty-two-hundred sounds like highway robbery to me. Yesterday (2/2/10), at the local TSC, they had the latest version of their 35 ton, with a bolt-on side tray, new larger wheels for actual towing, and galvanized fenders rather than the plastic ones (a move in the wrong direction in my estimation). It has a 10 hp B&S engine and the tag price on it was $1,995.99. I can't see how you are getting a price of over two grand for a smaller splitter.

One thing that might be worth keeping in mind is that Bogydave is from AK - though it doesn't look like he's horribly out in the sticks from the map... From what I've seen, seems like most stuff in AK is considerably more than the same thing in the lower 48 - shipping is a beast, and somebody has to pay to get the stuff there... Thus that price might not be all that bad for AK.

Gooserider

 

[bogydave]

Shipping is the killer. over $300 - $400 for shipping a splitter. Many just don't ship to AK.
I was going to order $20 worth of parts for my sears chains saw until the shipping was $33. You learn to improvise
When online looking put in 99502 (Anchorage zip). will give you an idea of $$.
The other brands I found here had a belt & pulley system, driving the pump & were not built what I would call heavy duty, especially for the money. or
were 36 ton beasts, for high dollar. I mean I have maybe 18" - 20" dia trees max, 30 + ton would burn more gas & be severe overkill.
I was going to order parts to build one, again shipping was the killer.
Maybe this spring they'll go on sale. (or TS will move in for some competition)

 

[millerhill]

Guys, you might consider Timberwolf splitters. They're made in the USA and you never have to worry about service after the sale. It's also a problem comparing prices by ton ratings. There are a lot of factors that contribute to how well a splitter performs and the ton rating of the cylinder is just a small part of the equation.

Here's a little piece I wrote about what contributes to the true power of a log splitter.
http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/tw5-video/

I do the marketing and advertising for Timberwolf and we are about to launch a smaller gas splitter that's rated at 8 tons, but it's built like a little bull dog and will be a great alternative to electrics. Plenty of power. It won't be available until after March 1st or so. It's SO much better than the imports it's worth waiting for.

I've owned an electric myself for a couple of years that I use to resplit wood. Unfortunately it just died yesterday. I called DR and they immediately gave me a new "Earthquake" 5 ton electric. Another piece of crap that probably won't make it through the warranty period. But for $359 what do you expect? Just about all the splitters you see now are from China and like everything else, they're virtually throw aways when they go down for the count. it drives me crazy to have to throw something like that in the trash! I was told by DR to just "throw away the old one" because it's impossible to get parts. I'm going to drain the hydraulic oil out of it and take it apart and see if I can rebuild the seals and see if that works.

Even though I work for Timberwolf I never really had a need for one of their splitters because I get all my wood pre-split, but now that I've tried the electrics, I think I'm going to break down and get this new smaller machine as it will be about 1/2 the cost of their (current) small splitter- The TW-P1. There are pros and cons to switching to gas. I'm sick to death of tripping breakers and running extension cords and the electrics are really wimpy for the most part. The electrics also don't like the cold and in Vermont that's a serious problem for me. Maybe I should wrap it in an electric blanket ;-). On the other hand they're quiet and you can use them in confined spaces which isn't possible with the gas splitters.

Steve

 

[bogydave]

Guys, you might consider Timberwolf splitters. They're made in the USA and you never have to worry about service after the sale. It's also a problem comparing prices by ton ratings. There are a lot of factors that contribute to how well a splitter performs and the ton rating of the cylinder is just a small part of the equation.

Here's a little piece I wrote about what contributes to the true power of a log splitter.
http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/tw5-video/

I do the marketing and advertising for Timberwolf and we are about to launch a smaller gas splitter that's rated at 8 tons, but it's built like a little bull dog and will be a great alternative to electrics. Plenty of power. It won't be available until after March 1st or so. It's SO much better than the imports it's worth waiting for.

I've owned an electric myself for a couple of years that I use to resplit wood. Unfortunately it just died yesterday. I called DR and they immediately gave me a new "Earthquake" 5 ton electric. Another piece of crap that probably won't make it through the warranty period. But for $359 what do you expect? Just about all the splitters you see now are from China and like everything else, they're virtually throw aways when they go down for the count. it drives me crazy to have to throw something like that in the trash! I was told by DR to just "throw away the old one" because it's impossible to get parts. I'm going to drain the hydraulic oil out of it and take it apart and see if I can rebuild the seals and see if that works.

Even though I work for Timberwolf I never really had a need for one of their splitters because I get all my wood pre-split, but now that I've tried the electrics, I think I'm going to break down and get this new smaller machine as it will be about 1/2 the cost of their (current) small splitter- The TW-P1. There are pros and cons to switching to gas. I'm sick to death of tripping breakers and running extension cords and the electrics are really wimpy for the most part. The electrics also don't like the cold and in Vermont that's a serious problem for me. Maybe I should wrap it in an electric blanket ;-). On the other hand they're quiet and you can use them in confined spaces which isn't possible with the gas splitters.

Steve

timberwolfcorp.com, "not found". other link?

 

[LLigetfa]

timberwolfcorp.com, "not found". other link?

Link works for me. Check your browser or DNS settings ar maybe content filtering at work.

 

[bogydave]

timberwolfcorp.com, "not found". other link?

Link works for me. Check your browser or DNS settings ar maybe content filtering at work.

Thanks, it worked today. Will check it out.
?? but now it works. Bad wind & snow storm here last night when I was surfing, site may just been busy or down.
sold old wood-stove,getting closer to enough $. Sure like the speeco, was able to kick, touch & feel one, looks heavy duty. $1600 though, TS don't ship to Alaska. but at $1100 + $3-400 shipping, close in price.
Troybuilt look well made too, just more $ & bigger than I need.
Looked at ramsplitter, no dealer here, emailed them for price list & shipping cost to AK. Not tow-able on highway without upgrade on tires & add fenders. 18 ton perfect size though.
Still looking,
$2100 for a used troybuilt 33 ton used, on CL. Too big but if $ was right ok.
attached pic model I can find here for $1600

 

[Gooserider]

link worked for me as well... Nice machines, but from all I've heard, I just don't see them as cost competitive for the home user... Unlike saws, where there is considerable difference in construction detail between a "pro-grade" and a "consumer-grade" that makes it arguably worth paying extra for the pro-grade saw if doing serious (i.e. >5 full cords / year) firewood production, I don't see anything that makes it worth paying a lot extra for a "pro-grade" splitter, unless one is actually in the firewood business, and even then it isn't essential...

Yes a commercial grade Honda is a nice engine, but even a "China clone" engine will last a lot of years for most home-owners - and if / when it finally does die, a replacement is cheap... Valves, cylinders, and pumps are all relatively generic items - aside from picking the right combo, (and it doesn't look like TW is doing anything unusual there) not much to gain. Biggest potential difference is the chassis, and I don't see a lot of big problems there that TW solves, though they DO handle it right - I notice that they have separate hydraulic tanks, rather than making them part of the frame / suspension like some of the other brands.

OTOH, comparing the TW HV-2 which is the closest equivalent to my el-cheapo HF splitter -

Wheels look about the same.
Engines, both 9HP, mine's a Subaru-Robin, which is a parts-interchangeable copy of the Honda.
Both use 16gpm pumps, and a 5" cylinder.
TW can't seem to decide where their valve is, as the photos of the machine show it in two different locations :-S , but I would probably have wanted to move it in either case to where I have put it on my HF splitter.
TW does have a bigger hydraulic tank, separate from the chassis as mentioned - of course the downside of this is more expense for the fluid...
Size and weight are similar - can't see enough detail on the beam / wedge construction to compare...
The TW would have the same "storage footprint" as most other gas splitters. Because the HF unit uses the beam as the trailer tongue, it stores in about 1/3 the space.
Both units come w/ a one year warranty... Much as people say rude things about HF, I have never had a problem with them on warranty issues - when their cheap junk breaks, they will replace it with more cheap junk....

Bottom line, nothing "wrong" with the TW, but I don't see anything so special about it as to justify what I keep hearing are MUCH higher prices... My HF splitter was under $1500 delivered to my door, after I purchased the fluids for it, etc. I've heard list on the TW HV-2 is around $2500 - sorry but I don't see $1,000 worth of "better" there...

Gooserider

 

[millerhill]

Does the Speeco come with log cradles? Nice to have to keep chunks from dropping on your toes as you split. Looks like a nice machine though. If you can wait, CL is a good alternative.

Good luck with your quest!

Steve

 

[bogydave]

Could not find prices on the Timberwolf.
Is $2500 right for the TW-HV2
Price of the tw-hv1
I do like the pump not being on the underside, where if towing in the wood could get damage. (though it looks like it could use some support/protection.

 

[millerhill]

Pricing depends on the dealer in many ways. Some need to get a bit more because of shipping. We do have a distributor that covers AK if you would like their number....

For MSRP give Don Pitaniello a call at 800-340-3486. He can give you more specific information.

Steve

 

[bogydave]

Pricing depends on the dealer in many ways. Some need to get a bit more because of shipping. We do have a distributor that covers AK if you would like their number....

For MSRP give Don Pitaniello a call at 800-340-3486. He can give you more specific information.

Steve

Thanks, I get message:
"Number cannot be reached from my phone" message?