Looking for Log Splitter recommendations
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MrWhoopee
Minister of Fire
After some reflection, I have decided I was focusing too much on the suitability of the splitter for the task and not on the entire picture. I have the big brother of the generator that the OP has, the Honda EU3000is. They are beautiful, quiet, very efficient generators, but they are not cheap. I realized a couple of things.
First, running an ICE to run a generator to run an electric motor to run a hydraulic pump requires too many energy conversions, each with its attendant losses. The fewer the number of conversions, the more efficient the process is.
Second, the OP is proposing running a relatively expensive generator, upon which he relies for his power backup, for extended periods and at loads close to its maximum rating. The splitter is only running intermittently, but the generator will be running full time. Even if the generator is not adversely affected by the load, it will accumulate a lot of operational hours, shortening its life.
Third, replacing the ICE on a log splitter is much cheaper than the price of replacing the generator.
I continue to prefer electric motors to ICEs whenever practical, but I don't believe an electric splitter is a practical choice in this situation. I would recommend a low tonnage ICE powered splitter, something from 7 to 20 tons would be more than adequate. There are several choices in the $700 price range, with some under $500. Personally, I would give preference to one with a Honda motor.
First, running an ICE to run a generator to run an electric motor to run a hydraulic pump requires too many energy conversions, each with its attendant losses. The fewer the number of conversions, the more efficient the process is.
Second, the OP is proposing running a relatively expensive generator, upon which he relies for his power backup, for extended periods and at loads close to its maximum rating. The splitter is only running intermittently, but the generator will be running full time. Even if the generator is not adversely affected by the load, it will accumulate a lot of operational hours, shortening its life.
Third, replacing the ICE on a log splitter is much cheaper than the price of replacing the generator.
I continue to prefer electric motors to ICEs whenever practical, but I don't believe an electric splitter is a practical choice in this situation. I would recommend a low tonnage ICE powered splitter, something from 7 to 20 tons would be more than adequate. There are several choices in the $700 price range, with some under $500. Personally, I would give preference to one with a Honda motor.
ColdNorCal
Feeling the Heat
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I'm in the same boat and prefer electric tools due to sound, weight, etc. but now that I live in a rural area it's just not practical. Perhaps someday energy storage will be so light and convenient that electric tools can replace all of my gas tools, but that day is not today.
Thank you so much for all of your replies!
After reading through them all, and thinking it over, I am now thinking I indeed should go with a gas splitter, over 20 tons.
I'm currently thinking about one at Home Depot (the closest store that has them an hour from me), a 27 ton Champion, for with tax title and license, around $1100.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Champion-Power-Equipment-27-Ton-224cc-Log-Splitter-100424/302367049
They have it in stock, put together, and ready to roll!
I need to get something locally that is put together and ready to tow to my place. I don't want to order something online, and have a 500 lb box of parts I have to pick up at some motor carrier - I live in a rural area, no deliveries, and I have no help, I'm a one man wrecking crew around this place.
The Champion is a bit more than I wanted to spend, but reviews seem good? Whatever splitter I get, I need to tow about 50 miles, to my place, about an hour at normal speeds, probably 2 hours pulling a splitter. I assume I can slowly move it around 50 feet or so pulling it on the wheels by hand once I get to my place? And I also assume by CREEPING, I can get it down my 1/10 of a mile steep dirt rough driveway? It's steep but paved to that point.
After reading through them all, and thinking it over, I am now thinking I indeed should go with a gas splitter, over 20 tons.
I'm currently thinking about one at Home Depot (the closest store that has them an hour from me), a 27 ton Champion, for with tax title and license, around $1100.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Champion-Power-Equipment-27-Ton-224cc-Log-Splitter-100424/302367049
They have it in stock, put together, and ready to roll!
I need to get something locally that is put together and ready to tow to my place. I don't want to order something online, and have a 500 lb box of parts I have to pick up at some motor carrier - I live in a rural area, no deliveries, and I have no help, I'm a one man wrecking crew around this place.
The Champion is a bit more than I wanted to spend, but reviews seem good? Whatever splitter I get, I need to tow about 50 miles, to my place, about an hour at normal speeds, probably 2 hours pulling a splitter. I assume I can slowly move it around 50 feet or so pulling it on the wheels by hand once I get to my place? And I also assume by CREEPING, I can get it down my 1/10 of a mile steep dirt rough driveway? It's steep but paved to that point.
MrWhoopee
Minister of Fire
JOMO, 27 tons is significant overkill for your needs. While HD may not have some of the smaller Champions in stock, they will ship to store (and probably put the wheels on) free. Both the 7 and 9 ton units are under 150 lbs, making them reasonable to load in a pickup. Worth checking for the $400 -$600 difference, not to mention the fuel savings.
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So I'm still leaning towards this Champion, but if I "could" get a smaller, much cheaper electric that would work for me, I would do that - so unnsure at this point.
A little more info on me -
I live off grid, so no way to plug a splitter into house power, it would have to be run by one of my back up generators for my photovoltaic system.
My generators are Honda EU2000-i's. They "live" in a storage shed right next to where my wood shed is. No problem carrying one a few feet over for use. I never split wood any where else.
I lived off these generators until a year ago, when I finally got my solar panels up and running. (2000 watts) One of them is nearly new with just a few hours. These generators are very reliable and can run for hours and hours.
I rarely if ever have to use my generators these days as backup for my PV batteries, so they are pretty much just sitting around, and in fact I may sell one if I don't buy an electric splitter.
So - I have no issues with the "getting" the power to the splitter. What I need to figure out are two things if I go with an electric.
1) Will a Honda EU2000-i put out enough juice for the splitter - I absolutely will never have grid power. (I live in the boonies!) I wouldn't want to buy a bigger generator than these. It's either them or I 100% go with gas.
2) Will the splitter be powerful enough to do my 10 cords year of mainly softwoods, but some big rounds at times.
Thanks for all the opinions!
A little more info on me -
I live off grid, so no way to plug a splitter into house power, it would have to be run by one of my back up generators for my photovoltaic system.
My generators are Honda EU2000-i's. They "live" in a storage shed right next to where my wood shed is. No problem carrying one a few feet over for use. I never split wood any where else.
I lived off these generators until a year ago, when I finally got my solar panels up and running. (2000 watts) One of them is nearly new with just a few hours. These generators are very reliable and can run for hours and hours.
I rarely if ever have to use my generators these days as backup for my PV batteries, so they are pretty much just sitting around, and in fact I may sell one if I don't buy an electric splitter.
So - I have no issues with the "getting" the power to the splitter. What I need to figure out are two things if I go with an electric.
1) Will a Honda EU2000-i put out enough juice for the splitter - I absolutely will never have grid power. (I live in the boonies!) I wouldn't want to buy a bigger generator than these. It's either them or I 100% go with gas.
2) Will the splitter be powerful enough to do my 10 cords year of mainly softwoods, but some big rounds at times.
Thanks for all the opinions!
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
The gas splitter is still going to work better in your situation. With gas you won't have any power cords, more portability, and less stuff to move around. I like the Honda gensets, but I don't think this is the right application. Sell one genset and use that money to invest into the splitter. The electric setup sounds like loads of hassle.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
10 cords per year. I do 10 - 15 cords most years, and wouldn’t even consider doing it on an electric, they are just not built for the sort of continuous throughput you will need for that volume of wood use.
The 28 ton splitters are all stupid slow, I know some guys make them work for a few cords per year, but they’re completely unworkable for 10 cords every year, IMO. I see three solutions:
1. Buy any one of the many 4” ram / 196cc / 11 GPM machines in the market. These are variously rated 20-22 tons (sometimes optimistically 25 tons). They all use a ~200cc motor to drive an 11 gpm pump and get an 11 second cycle time on a 4 inch ram with 21-22 tons of force. Watch the ergonomics, they vary, and then pick your favorite color. They should cost $900 - $1100.
2. Buy any one of the many 5” cylinder machines on the market, with a 300-350cc engine and a 16 GPM pump, then downgrade the cylinder to 4” to get an 8 second cycle time. You can hawk your original cylinder on eBay, so the “downgrade” in tonnage is essentially a free speed upgrade. Almost no one really needs a cylinder larger than 4”, and those larger cylinders take more gallons per inch, making them slow. These machines are labeled 35 tons, just make sure they have the 16 GPM pump, at at least 300cc to drive it.
A few 28 ton machines on the market have a 16 GPM pump, if you’re lucky enough to find one, and it has at least a 300cc motor. You could sub that for the 35 ton machine, but most 28 ton machines just have the same 11 gpm pump and 196cc motor as their 22-ton cousins, which is why they have almost unusable 16 second cycle times!
3. Buy a 22-ton 11 second machine, and plan to upgrade it for speed, when you inevitably get sick of spending hours by the splitter waiting for that slow thing to split ten cords. But this is the most expensive path, it is what I did, before I had the experience of trying to split this volume of wood on a typical slow machine.
Anyone here who claims their 22 ton stock splitter is fast enough, is either brain dead or is not actually splitting 10+ cords year, after year, after year...
The 28 ton splitters are all stupid slow, I know some guys make them work for a few cords per year, but they’re completely unworkable for 10 cords every year, IMO. I see three solutions:
1. Buy any one of the many 4” ram / 196cc / 11 GPM machines in the market. These are variously rated 20-22 tons (sometimes optimistically 25 tons). They all use a ~200cc motor to drive an 11 gpm pump and get an 11 second cycle time on a 4 inch ram with 21-22 tons of force. Watch the ergonomics, they vary, and then pick your favorite color. They should cost $900 - $1100.
2. Buy any one of the many 5” cylinder machines on the market, with a 300-350cc engine and a 16 GPM pump, then downgrade the cylinder to 4” to get an 8 second cycle time. You can hawk your original cylinder on eBay, so the “downgrade” in tonnage is essentially a free speed upgrade. Almost no one really needs a cylinder larger than 4”, and those larger cylinders take more gallons per inch, making them slow. These machines are labeled 35 tons, just make sure they have the 16 GPM pump, at at least 300cc to drive it.
A few 28 ton machines on the market have a 16 GPM pump, if you’re lucky enough to find one, and it has at least a 300cc motor. You could sub that for the 35 ton machine, but most 28 ton machines just have the same 11 gpm pump and 196cc motor as their 22-ton cousins, which is why they have almost unusable 16 second cycle times!
3. Buy a 22-ton 11 second machine, and plan to upgrade it for speed, when you inevitably get sick of spending hours by the splitter waiting for that slow thing to split ten cords. But this is the most expensive path, it is what I did, before I had the experience of trying to split this volume of wood on a typical slow machine.
Anyone here who claims their 22 ton stock splitter is fast enough, is either brain dead or is not actually splitting 10+ cords year, after year, after year...
johneh
Minister of Fire
I guess I'm Brain Dead !! My 13 second 22-ton splitter serves me will
But I only split 20 cord a year and being semi Retired it is my fitness plan
And at my age, I do not Feel The Need For Speed
I didn’t see anyone mention it but I might have missed it, the startup watts of a electric splitter might be too much for a 2000 watt generator. My 2000 watt generator has a 2200 peak rating but many of the other 2000 watt generators I see for sale are actually 1800 watt with a 2000 watt peak capacity and that might not cut it. And there’s going to be lots of starts with a electric splitter and I don’t think that’s going to be a good thing for the generator and the splitter if it needs more watts to start. I started out with a electric splitter years ago but I always had it plugged into a 20 amp outlet with a short run of 12 gauge extension cord. Even though the splitter was rated for a 15 amp circuit it liked the thicker cord and house/garage wiring that the 20 amp plugs used.
Boy so many opinions and ideas. Thanks so much for all of them, and any more! I wish you ALL would have agreed that I need "this certain type and brand".... 
I wanted to start splitting this weekend, but I think I'm going to research for at least another week before I buy. I have a lot of rounds here.
I took down a bunch of tall Ponderosa's a year ago on my property, blocked them, some of the rounds are 16 - 24" ish.....
And by taking a full hard swing with a splitting maul, all I get, is a dull THUD, with nothing happening.......hence me saying to hell with this time to get a splitter!
The only way I can hand split these huge rounds, is to use a wedge, and sledgehammer for the first split at least, and this is a very time consuming task......for 10 cords that is.
I wanted to start splitting this weekend, but I think I'm going to research for at least another week before I buy. I have a lot of rounds here.
I took down a bunch of tall Ponderosa's a year ago on my property, blocked them, some of the rounds are 16 - 24" ish.....
And by taking a full hard swing with a splitting maul, all I get, is a dull THUD, with nothing happening.......hence me saying to hell with this time to get a splitter!
The only way I can hand split these huge rounds, is to use a wedge, and sledgehammer for the first split at least, and this is a very time consuming task......for 10 cords that is.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I guess I'm Brain Dead !! My 13 second 22-ton splitter serves me will
But I only split 20 cord a year and being semi Retired it is my fitness plan
And at my age, I do not Feel The Need For Speed
Sorry about that. There is a “retiree exception” that I forgot to mention.
With all the chatter about splitters on this forum, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Predator splitter from HF, at least that I've seen:
https://www.harborfreight.com/20-ton-log-splitter-61594.html
I recently finished my fifth season of splitting and this thing has been great. It doesn't do vertical but it splits both directions so the cycle time is quick. I've split up to 24" rounds of Ponderosa without a problem.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20-ton-log-splitter-61594.html
I recently finished my fifth season of splitting and this thing has been great. It doesn't do vertical but it splits both directions so the cycle time is quick. I've split up to 24" rounds of Ponderosa without a problem.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I have the Brave version of this and it works great for all my needs. I've split 10 cords with it this year already.
I always wanted to try bidirectional splitter but haven’t yet. Heck I bought a inverted splitter for the skid steer 8 months ago and I haven’t even tried that out yet lol.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
Boy so many opinions and ideas. Thanks so much for all of them, and any more! I wish you ALL would have agreed that I need "this certain type and brand"....
I wanted to start splitting this weekend, but I think I'm going to research for at least another week before I buy. I have a lot of rounds here.
I took down a bunch of tall Ponderosa's a year ago on my property, blocked them, some of the rounds are 16 - 24" ish.....
And by taking a full hard swing with a splitting maul, all I get, is a dull THUD, with nothing happening.......hence me saying to hell with this time to get a splitter!
The only way I can hand split these huge rounds, is to use a wedge, and sledgehammer for the first split at least, and this is a very time consuming task......for 10 cords that is.
Theres no reason to work that hard. If you truly splitting 10 cords get a gas splitter. Reading through this thread the majority of people are telling you.. get a gas splitter. Dont over think it.. buy a gas splitter and youll look back and wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Get is soon as pricing will be at a premium as splitting season is fast approaching.
You probably don’t want to wait until Black Friday but that’s when I’ve gotten my last two splitters from Menards. You probably don’t have a Menards in the southwest but maybe another big box store or a online seller sells them at a deep discount then.
I looked this up and it’s a good price for a 22 ton splitter plus you’d likely not pay sales tax and it ships free.
triptester
Feeling the Heat
Beware of buying a log splitter and then towing it any distance . There have been many stories of inexperienced stockroom employees assembling splitters and not properly tightening bolts or failing to lube bearings.
I'm leaning still towards the Champion 27 ton at Home Depot....reasons -
1) it has great reviews
2) it should have enough or more power than I need
3) price seems fair, about $1100 out the door
4) For my remote location, Home Depot is the handiest place to buy from, no town to go through, and no interstate's, just smaller state roads. I can drive slow, like 30 mph or less, for the 50 or so miles to my property. I'm going to literally creep home, and take my time, maybe even go 20 mph. What is normally an hour drive, will probably take 2 - 3 hours.
5) If there are problems, Home Depot will be a lot easier to deal with than some online/ebay place.
I will make sure and check, and re-check all fluid lines, and assembly bolts/nuts for tighthness before I hit the road for my one time long trip!!
1) it has great reviews
2) it should have enough or more power than I need
3) price seems fair, about $1100 out the door
4) For my remote location, Home Depot is the handiest place to buy from, no town to go through, and no interstate's, just smaller state roads. I can drive slow, like 30 mph or less, for the 50 or so miles to my property. I'm going to literally creep home, and take my time, maybe even go 20 mph. What is normally an hour drive, will probably take 2 - 3 hours.
5) If there are problems, Home Depot will be a lot easier to deal with than some online/ebay place.
I will make sure and check, and re-check all fluid lines, and assembly bolts/nuts for tighthness before I hit the road for my one time long trip!!
lsucet
Minister of Fire
Ashful
Minister of Fire
All true, but nothing beats just strapping one down on a real landscape trailer and doing highway speeds with no concerns.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
If you have the equipment to handle it, yes. I took one one time to a friend house on my dump trailer. Here I did it with the skidsteer tractor, at his house with the ramp all the way to the inside we were able to rolled it down, the problem was when I picked it up to get it on the trailer.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
If you have the equipment to handle it, yes. I took one one time to a friend house on my dump trailer. Here I did it with the skidsteer tractor, at his house with the ramp all the way to the inside we were able to rolled it down, the problem was when I picked it up to get it on the trailer.
Yeah, dump trailers are great for moving wood, but they suck for moving equipment! Most landscape trailers have a ramp tailgate, easy on / easy off.
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