Hydralic Log Spliter

MVP

I will be buying a wood spliter sometime in the next week and have never really used one.
My question would be is the difference in the power that I have seen (20,26,30 Ton Rams). Is there that much of a difference to warrent the extra $200 to $300 for the extra ton or two or three.
Thanks for any advice on wood spliters at all.

allen griggs

I have a big orange maul. This is named the "Monster Maul", made years ago by the Sotz Company.
This maul has a head a little heavier than the mauls you see for sale in the stores today.
This bad boy will split almost anything. The angle of the blade is so obtuse that it either splits the wood, or bounces off. It is a delight to use.
We had a big oak tree to split at my Mom's once. We borrowed a hydraulic splitter, and I brought the Monster Maul.
We had a contest, man against machine. We had two construction workers working the hydraulic machine, we had a former all SEC football player using the Monster Maul.
In half an hour, the man beat the machine by just a little.

Wish I knew how to get you one of my mauls, it would be useful for you even if you have the hydraulic machine.

Well I found a company that makes a copy of the Monster Maul, guess Sotz didn't patent it. This is a 12 pound wood splitter that you wouldn't believe. Costs $34.95
http://secure-shopping-cart.com/5027/orderform.htm

D@D

If its just for personal use I would just get the 20 ton ram that will split any type of wood you will come across.Or are you planning on selling firewood then I would get the bigger one just cause it would be faster. Best of luck.

select-fire

Go with the monster maul, I still have mine. It will give you a workout. I also still have a stickler splitter. It attaches to the left rear of a jeep or ford 5 lug. It looks like a cone and you actually screw it into the wood. Then the wood catches on a block and bingo.. split wood. It will split it as fast as a hydralic splitter. Power is from the truck.

TOOLS1

What D@D said[;)]
TOOLS

General TOOLS RRG

Don't go blaming the beer. Hank Hill

So much Ice, So much Beer. So little time. Shooter4

I don't have an anger problem. I have an idiot problem. Hank Hill

When I was a child, I thought as a child. But now that I am grown, I just wish I could act like a child and get away with it.

select-fire

Tools you have a Ford and a chainsaw. You could start up a wood business.

MVP

It would just be for mine and my uncles personal use, as we are going to split the cost (no pun intended). Between us we will split aproximatly 15 to 20 cords a year. I have the gnarliest,twisted maples on my property and have been hand splitting them with malls and wedges for over 20 years and its finaly getting thru this thick skull that there is an easier way. Anyway, Thank you all for the advice. I just dont want to be underpowered and am willing to pay the extra $ if it really makes a difference.

allen griggs

Wait, you didn't say it was maple!
For maple, get the machine, and get a big one.
I got hold of my first maple tree a year ago, that will be my last one. I never saw wood so hard to split. The Monster Maul bounced off a lot. This was 18 inch maple.
I can split hell out of a 3 foot oak tree with the indomitable Monster Maul.
Thank God I can get lots of oak and locust, I Just Say No to maple.

Old hickory

A maul will really do almost all the splitting that needs to be done!
If you count all the messing around storing and transporting a log splitter, not to mention keeping it running, then it makes a maul look awful simple. In addition you can split the wood where it lies. For hard splitting crotches I just cut them shorter and it works fine. Speaking of the log splitting contest that griggs had - he should have matched 2 guys splitting with the maul versus the 2 on the splitter to keep it really fair then it would have been a runaway for the monster maul. BTW I have one but so just fine with a regular 8 pound maul.

cbxjeff

I have an 8# maul as well as a splitter I made with the help of GM! True, the maul does a good job especially on stuff like oak. I can see a big hairy guy out splitting the splitter for a half hour. I have 2 problems with that.

1 - I'm not big and hairy.
2 - What happens to the contest after the 3rd of 4th half hour?

I guess it depends how much wood you need to split.

cbxjeff<P>It's too late for me, save yourself. <br>

TOOLS1

Select-fire thats a good idea. I just dont have that many trees.
TOOLS

General TOOLS RRG

Don't go blaming the beer. Hank Hill

So much Ice, So much Beer. So little time. Shooter4

I don't have an anger problem. I have an idiot problem. Hank Hill

When I was a child, I thought as a child. But now that I am grown, I just wish I could act like a child and get away with it.

barto

The main criteria is a two-stage pump. (I think all the commercially-built ones have em) The last one I built had A 2500# pump, 16 hp Onan engine, 5" X 30" cylinder & my uncles' 5 hp w/2-stage pump would keep up while using 1/3 the gas.JMHO
[^][^]barto


Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.-JFK

gogolen

Go out and rent one 20 ton and one 30 ton so you can see the difference yourself. I will tell you the extra power does make a big difference, but until you see it for yourself you just won't know. They are relatively inexpensive to rent and the cost of renting each for an hour will be far less costly than making the wrong purchase for your application.

richbug

Unless the higher tonnage ones you are looking at have larger engines and higher volume pumps they may be slower in that they have larger diameter cylinders which require more volume of oil to move the wedge down the rail. Nothing wrong with the basic 20 ton models. A place I used to turn a wrench at had a contest where they would give away a new splitter to anyone who brought in a piece of wood that I couldn't split with the stores 31 ton model. I split some pretty ignorant stuff. 1 Piece out of hundreds required backing out and trying a different spot. Needless to say we never gave away a splitter, but sold many.

My border collie is smarter than your honor student.

TOOLS1

Richbug I once cut down an old tree on a fence line. It was dead and dried out. The largest part wa about 8 inches across. When I cut it the saw threw sparks. The chain only lasted long enough to make 4 cuts. When I tried to split it the maul just bounced off. When we put it on the splitter it stoped dead. I tried to find out what it was. The Old timers just called it Iron wood.
If I could find some more of that I would take you up on that challenge.
TOOLS

General TOOLS RRG

Don't go blaming the beer. Hank Hill

So much Ice, So much Beer. So little time. Shooter4

I don't have an anger problem. I have an idiot problem. Hank Hill

When I was a child, I thought as a child. But now that I am grown, I just wish I could act like a child and get away with it.

select-fire

Tools when I can't split it I just put the chainsaw to it. Your sparks was probably a fence wire or a nail. Nothing worse than taking a good chain and hitting a nail.

TOOLS1

Select-fire there was not any nails. It was the wood its self. It it had been one cut I could belive that theroy. Also it was well over the hight of the fence.
TOOLS

General TOOLS RRG

Don't go blaming the beer. Hank Hill

So much Ice, So much Beer. So little time. Shooter4

I don't have an anger problem. I have an idiot problem. Hank Hill

When I was a child, I thought as a child. But now that I am grown, I just wish I could act like a child and get away with it.

Iconoclast

Tools, it could have been a loose chain (?) combined with a tough wood or some embedded grit in the bark - no wood causes sparks in itself. Around here "ironwood" = hop hawthorne. It doesn't grow large (8" would be a giant) but it *is* tough. Another possibility would be elm - that stuff doesn't want to be cut or split, not no way, not no how. I used to put chuncks in on top of other wood to burn through the night rather than try to split it. I also used an 18" diameter piece for a chopping block for twelve years (nine - twelve cord a year) and when I left that place, it still had another century of use left in it.

MVP - "knarly" maple? Man, you don't ever want to try beech; it makes maple (at least our local varieties) look like #2 pine.

Where's timberbeast and Mrs. Beast? They haven't been around for a long time, it seems. He would know this stuff better than anyone.

"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain) ". . . And DemoCraps" (me)

select-fire

I,ve cut tons and tons of wood and never seen sparks unless it was dirt, metal. Old dried out wood cuts tough.

richbug

I have a couple pieces of of Ironwood drying at my parents, I am planning on making a couple stocks out of it. 6" is a monster, didn't spark when I cut it. The fenceline is the key, there had to be wire in it. steel can migrate an amazing distance through a tree with enough time. the 6" one I cut was over 80 years old, the rings are almost invisable. Fruitwood are usually real tough. Pear and apple can be really bad, cottonwood is bad because it is so soft the wedge just plows straight through without splitting.

My border collie is smarter than your honor student.

cbxjeff

barto is correct. A 2 stage pump is important if you want to do real work. I'm talking trees/hour. The engine, pump and cylinder are all a team. Think of the 2 stage pump as a 2 speed tranny. You can back off the wedge and move it forward until you hit the tough stuff in high gear. This save a heck of a lot of time. Then the pump will go to low and give you more power. Sure we are talking about maybe only 10 seconds for a fore or aft move, but when you are out there for 3 hours it really adds up. I get by just fine with a 5 horse engine. Another thing is that a bigger cylinder is not prone to damage. Say you hit something hard when the rod is almost all the way extended. But a large dia. cylinder requires a lot of fluid. You really need that 2 stage to be really productive.

cbxjeff<P>It's too late for me, save yourself. <br>

MVP

Thanks to everyone for the information. Was valuable to my decision as I knew nothing about log splitters. Just ordered an 8 HP, 24ton two stage pump, cycle time of 14 seconds, verticle or horizontal splitter on a trailer brand new to my drive way for 804.00 total from harbor freight.

ryan_marine

If your spliting wood that came from a windy area or from a fence row and the grain is twisted then you will like the 30ton model. If not then the smaller one will work. Also plan on having to "crack" some of the more stuberen wood with a sledge and wedge if you go with the smaller one. We have a 50ton that runs off of the PTO on our old John Deeres' that has been strained before.(also plain stopped a couple of our smaller tractors) With that said it is all on what you plan on spliting.

Ray

More Powder, More Lead, More Dead

jltrent

I have one that is 8 HP and I think 20 ton. It will split almost anything in one cycle, but real knotty hickory or stringy ellam. I have seen a smaller one that would do better than mine, but the wedge on it was not near as wide, it was more like a slicing effect. I have had it for probably 20 years and the only thing I have ever done to it was rebuild the cyclinder when it started linking a lot of oil. As far as busting maple you should'nt have any problem, just watch your fingers.