Log Splitters

[RogerM]

I've been promising myself a log splitter for ages, but have prevaricated and continued to use an axe and a maul. However, with several tons of logs to split after losing 6 ash trees, I've decided that a splitter is no longer a luxury. Anyone have any recommendations for an electric splitter?

I've watched a few YouTube videos and some of the hydraulic ones seem painfully slow. The kinetic ones seem to be much faster, although until recently the only one commonly available was the one made by Portek which had some dubious reviews on reliability. I see that Forest Master also do one now, and that seems to be a brand that has a reasonable reputation for reliability. The stand looks like it could do with an anti racking brace though.

Anyone have any "real world" recommendations?

 

[Lurker]

I have no experience but
What about screwfix as a supplier? They have a no quibble guarantee policy, all that you need to do is keep the receipt safe somewhere.
Their own brand seems to be Titan, and are about half the price of anything else.
I have had a few items in the range (eg sds drill) expected to wreck them in short order due to misuse but they have been great.
The only possible downside is if the nearest branch is some distance away and it’s a hassle to return should you manage to bust it.

 

[RogerS]

You're right, Roger. They are excruciatingly slow. Plus you're bending down and have one hand on the lever to feed the hydraulic fluid under pressure while the other is holding down the switch for the pump...an annoying safety feature. You can improve the speed though if you have an odd 'spacer' log that you can add-in to reduce the travel needed before doing any real work. But if the ends aren't that square then they can go Pyong and hit your knee or even higher up....DAMHIKT.

I have a Ryobi and only use it when I really have to on logs that have a large 'knot' where another branch has grown out from. Anything straight-grained is split with n axe. Much, much quicker.

It is also utterly, utterly boring because it is so slow. I have a pair of Stihl Bluetooth headphones and feed that with music from my phone. Makes it a bit more tolerable.

And some logs will beat it. And you'll need a large sledge-hammer close to hand for when it's gone as far as it can but no further. But you can't get the log off of the wedge. And sometimes it is very lethargic to return but that may be done to its age.

I'd get some of these TBH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ks_lbtgJSw&t=6s

 

[AJB Temple]

I have the Lidl 6.5 ton one that they sell from time to time (they always sell out really fast). It works fine on Leylandii trunks, cherry, apple, oak, chestnut and other random stuff. Slow compared with the 8 ton pro machines, but does the job and I am usually in no hurry to lug logs about. I mostly split apple with it as I have a ready supply from next door. Apple splits easily.

I mount it up on some bolted together pallets to save all the bending down.

Axe is faster as is log bomb but much more tiring.

 

[Lurker]

There’s a Lidl in Tunbridge Wells :shock:

 

[AndyP]

Log bomb was a term we used to use for something entirely different

 

[AJB Temple]

Lidl are very popular around here. Likewise Aldi. We have both in Sevenoaks, and Tonbridge and Aldi in Tunbridge Wells. Lots people use them in combination with other outlets for fresh goods, meat and fish. Helps to balance the budget!

 

[Lurker]

Do you park the Bentley in Lidl car park, Adrian?

 

[AJB Temple]

I wouldn't be seen dead in Lidl mate. Obviously I send my staff because I find it worthwhile to send them to shop there to feed the servants.

 

[Lurker]

I go to Aldi on my bike..




.... I know my place.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Our heating, hot water and cooking was all log-fired in our last place, so I’ve spent many a day operating various forms of log splitter.

The outright winner has been this cone/screw type, on the back of my Dexta:


Hydraulic ram types are not only slow, but modern ones are rendered hard to use by well-meaning, but clumsy safety interlocks. Also, more than half your time is spent waiting for the ram to return or to reach the log. Electric versions of these are noisy, slow and underpowered.

The cone splitter is faster, as there is no return or approach stroke, and because you hold the log with both hands you can control the pieces so they don’t fall off, resulting in less bending down.

They’re also dead simple, with only two bearings and a shaft, and can be sharpened easily with an angle grinder. If you don’t have a tractor, electric motor versions are available and they’re easy enough to build yourself.

 

[RogerM]

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Log bomb was a term we used to use for something entirely different

Andy, that conjures up an image that I can't "unsee". :lol: A log bomb would only make it worse!

After a lot of reading around I decided to grasp the nettle. Yesterday I spent a few mins sharpening the chain on my 16" electric Stihl chainsaw and then a short afternoon cutting logs into disks, and today I set to with an axe. Once I had set up a chopping block at about 50 cms agl, nothing could have been easier. The wood is all newly felled ash, so it split with ease - even the larger 40cms diameter ones. After about 2 hours work, which included a cuppa and a piece of coffee walnut cake - I had stacked this.



That pile is 4 logs deep, front to back. I don't think I'd have split anymore even with a hydraulic log splitter tbh, although a kinetic one may have been a bit more productive. So, I think I'll just continue splitting with my axe and save my beer vouchers for something a little more exciting than a log splitter!
:text-givemebeer:

 

[heimlaga]

Cone splitters are by far the fastest but they have a bad reputation for screwing themselves into people and splitting them open as well. Not to mention the habit of flinging the log around like a huge flail crushing skulls and demolishing tractors.

We use a hydraulic ram splitter on the back of my Massey-Ferguson 165. It was made before the advent of CE markings and two hand safety features so manouvering is by a long rod hooked onto the valve lever inside the cab. It pushes a wedge into the side of the log so the maximal stroke is only some 40 cm and the wedge doesn't have to be retracted fully between strokes. Works very well for firewood in one metre lengths which is what we normally split. It works best in freezing temperatures when the wood is brittle and almost flies apart instantly.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Log bomb was a term we used to use for something entirely different

Andy, that conjures up an image that I can't "unsee". :lol: A log bomb would only make it worse!

After a lot of reading around I decided to grasp the nettle. Yesterday I spent a few mins sharpening the chain on my 16" electric Stihl chainsaw and then a short afternoon cutting logs into disks, and today I set to with an axe. Once I had set up a chopping block at about 50 cms agl, nothing could have been easier. The wood is all newly felled ash, so it split with ease - even the larger 40cms diameter ones. After about 2 hours work, which included a cuppa and a piece of coffee walnut cake - I had stacked this.



That pile is 4 logs deep, front to back. I don't think I'd have split anymore even with a hydraulic log splitter tbh, although a kinetic one may have been a bit more productive. So, I think I'll just continue splitting with my axe and save my beer vouchers for something a little more exciting than a log splitter!
:text-givemebeer:

Nicely done. I nearly added to my post above that, if you have easy-cleaving wood, doing it by hand is FAR quicker. Especially if you set the log in an old tyre, so you can make all the chops without re-setting.

 

[Guineafowl21]

Cone splitters are by far the fastest but they have a bad reputation for screwing themselves into people and splitting them open as well. Not to mention the habit of flinging the log around like a huge flail crushing skulls and demolishing tractors.

You must mean the digger-mounted cones, since there’s no way a proper tractor type could fling the log. You’re meant to set the log against the digger’s front blade, to prevent such accidents. As with any power tool, misuse leads to accidents, which lead to reputations for being dangerous.

 

[Lurker]

If you are going to stick with physical work out route, consider getting a maul.
I think that an axe is hard work for log splitting, a maul works faster easier and with less effort

 

[woodstalker]

Just been splitting all the ash logs from when our ash was cut back the other day (in between the rain showers). I’ve been using this log splitting maul:

 

[AndyP]

I’ve been using the Big Ox version of one of these since 2008

https://www.ochsenkopf.com/en/products/ ... g-hammers/

I was told when splitting wood one should aim at the top of the chopping bloke on which the log is standing rather than the top of the log being split. I don’t have to split many as my logs are delivered ready split, just few are too big. I also tend to split them when they are dry.

 

[RogerS]

I’ve been using the Big Ox version of one of these since 2008

https://www.ochsenkopf.com/en/products/ ... g-hammers/

I was told when splitting wood one should aim at the top of the chopping bloke on which the log is standing rather than the top of the log being split. I don’t have to split many as my logs are delivered ready split, just few are too big. I also tend to split them when they are dry.

Better to split them when they are wet.

 

[RogerS]

...
They’re also dead simple, with only two bearings and a shaft, and can be sharpened easily with an angle grinder. If you don’t have a tractor, electric motor versions are available and they’re easy enough to build yourself.

Any pointers to the electric version?

 

[Guineafowl21]

...
They’re also dead simple, with only two bearings and a shaft, and can be sharpened easily with an angle grinder. If you don’t have a tractor, electric motor versions are available and they’re easy enough to build yourself.

Any pointers to the electric version?

Many of the electric ones I’ve seen were home made or adapted from another power source, but there was one chap making them commercially. I’ll try to find him again. You can get a kit like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223470399482 ... SwDP1bs1AT

Just add motor and frame.

 

[RogerS]

.....
Just add motor and frame.

LOL...have you seen my TUIT list

 

[Woodster]

Something I saw some years ago.

[youtubessl]SaEHuDsSVog[/youtubessl]

 

[MikeJ460]

I've used a hydraulic splitter on the back of my Dexta when we had a log boiler but it was too slow so i sold it. I have a Machine Mart splitter which I use for smaller logs but last year I bought a Fiskars X25 splitting axe and it is by a mile the best axe I've ever used, I used it to split some large ash boughs which it did with ease.

https://www.raygrahams.com/products/154 ... g-axe.aspx

I have a Roughneck Maul from Screwfix for large knotty logs and a log bomb!