Which log splitter would you choose?

[cowadle]

 

[rawhide]

I just do most of my splitting for the year in 1 or 2 days and rent a 30 ton splitter. Some rental places if ya rent it Saturday they’ll give you Sunday free if you bring it back first thing Monday morning.

$60 for a weekend with a splitter sounds cost effective to me vs owning one.

I’ve put some big ‘ole elm rounds on there before and it definitely give that machine a hell of a workout! Lol

Elm needs to age for 2 or 3 years and be very dry before you split it

I have a huge pile of elm that was cut in the spring of 2020. What's off the ground should have a good start.

 

[rawhide]

Sounds like you made a pretty fair deal on your choice of splitters. I bet that B&S will run for years. All I've ever had have worked just fine. Granted, they're not Honda engines, but they don't have a Honda price, either.

I asked my lawnmower and small engine guy that I've used for the past decade or so about the engines. He said his Honda rep says parts will be in short supply going forward and Honda is not just getting out of the lawnmower business but also cutting back on small engines.

Simple mechanical jobs never seem to turn out simple for me. Finding the correct suction filter was an adventure.
Drained the bad hydraulic oil from the tank and then looked up how to drain the ram and hoses. Remove the spark plug and disconnect return hose. Then pull start cord to extent the ram. Takes what seems like a few hundred pulls. Same process to retract ram. Filter doesn't want to come off. Broke the strap tool. Finally got it off with the chanel lock type tool. Next night, Add the six gallons of oil I have. Then again pull cord to prime the ram. Go to reinstall spark plug and drop it in concrete floor and break it. Despite only running a few minutes it was black and looked bad anyway.

Today, drained fuel that had probably been in it for a year. Replaced spark plug. Reinstall o ring I found in the old oil. Add fresh nonethenol and Seafoam. Starts on first pull sounds great and no leaks. Not enough hydraulic oil in tank to register on the dip stick. I'll pick up 2 more gallons when I go to town and maybe put it to work tomorrow. And, removed air filter cover to disconnect fuel line to drain old fuel. After reconnecting everything, I find a small spring on the floor under the carburetor. Didn't affect function today. Burned a finger on the exhaust and about 5 hours of my time. Hope it turns out to be a good investment.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

That sounds all too familiar...

 

[C_Hallbert]

I’m conflicted as to whether I would choose one of my old girlfriends or my wife to split logs…..

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

I saw one a few years ago that had a small gasoline engine powering an A/C generator powering an electric motor driving a hydraulic pump driving a hydraulic ram…talk about Rube Goldberg…

 

[rawhide]

Got to put the splitter to work today until I got rained out.

Re-split some oak I bought from a local college boy. His idea of firewood sticks and mine are quite different, but I like to help him out.

Then, started on a blackjack I cut down last spring. 18-24" rounds. Waited too long to take this one down. Most of the wood is too far gone. However, the elm that was cut in the spring of 2020 looks really good. The 32 ton had to hunker down on the 12-16" elm rounds, but split them. I'll get back at it when the rain stops.

 

[RickN]

Just sayin

 

[rawhide]

Just sayin

That's how I did it before I broke Excalibur and had to replace it with the hydraulic splitter.