Well I finally caved and realised that:
a) my screw splitter is not the safest thing around
b) running a 80hp tractor just to power said splitter wasn’t really smart

So, tractor and splitter are on eBay (and will sell for more than I paid for them) and I’ve gone and bought a petrol splitter.

It’s great! Horizontal for small stuff and vertical for big stuff, runs on a sniff of fuel in comparison to the tractor and I can tow it around. 20 ton pressure for those that care.

Happy bunny.

Bring on those 3′ rings!

[/willy waggling]
sorry 😉

Where’s the fun in that?

Keeping my hands intact…. that’s fun!

But once the tractors gone on the bay, what will you tow it around with?

Decent size ram. Just the levers to re-jig so that you can run it single handed now.
Everyone does that, don’t they?

Sweepy that John Deere is actually the lawn mower – the tractor on ebay is a ‘big’ 4wd proper job.

The thought did pass through my mind timber …. it’s actually not a bad setup and has an autoreturn mode which helps. That said I’ve only used it for an hour today so I may be tempted in the future and it does look pretty easy.

I’ve got to take the log arms off as they’re in the way when I want to load some of the bigger rings.

Just the levers to re-jig so that you can run it single handed now

Levers? Surely it should auto cycle for all the efficiencies!

Goan mister, ‘ow much was it?

Desperate Dan would be laughing at that

Threads like this make me sad that I live ina house with a small garden, no outbuildings and no machinery…..

Still loving my fiskars x27. Gives me a good work out too.

£1500 delivered with a 3 year warranty on the engine – less than a fifth of what the big tractor and cone splitter will realise!

Wynne: I’ve got 4 broken axes at home…. I’m not a musclebound hunk so it must be my crap technique! Some of the stuff I am dealing with is just too big for an axe – which is why I get it fairly cheap.

Maybe I need a grapple 😉

Having seen my puny little 5T hydraulic splitter in use two of my friends have bought a share, so it now only owes me 70e. I chain saw down to a size that’s easy to pick up and drop on the thing. It rarely fails but when it does I make a little pile to chainsaw again.

As I’m currently battling some 2″6′ rounds of ash with the waviest grain going, I’m envious. But i cant justify and tbh, losing makes the battles that i win sweeter. X27 with its lifetime warranty and for the big stuff a stihl pro cleaving hammer. 4 wedges and a sledge occasionally, but i hate them. I’m learning splitting is about knowing technique, where to hit, and also when. If it won’t go green, put it aside and try after a bit of drying. With the right technique even 3′ crotches can be beaten…. Although i do reach for the ‘saw if the battle is going badly.

That looks like a versatile piece of kit. I was going to say that once you’ve tried hydraulic splitting you’ll never go back, but I had to dig out my maul and buy some wedges recently to split some huge chunks of Sycamore that I had no chance of lifting up onto the splitting table.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-log-fairy-cometh-big-baddass-tractor-content

My home brewed splitter looks like it will need another repair as each weak link is exposed.

*high fives*

We (at the NT place I work at) got the 12 ton version last month

12 Ton VENOM Log Splitter

Great bit of kit and seem like a good company with excellent product back up.

I’ve spent 6 hours today splitting, it’s been used 3 days a week running for 5+ hours for the last 4 weeks and it’s not missed a beat. It’s amazing the size and weight of logs it can get through effortlessly. I wish I knew the tonnage it’s split so far. Big thumbs up from a commercial user

Got access to one of these, 20 something ton of split, still challenged it enough to have to chainsaw lumps off it.

Our regular machine is one of these, about 10 minutes to fill a 12′ Ifor Williams.

We’re processing 75-100 cubic m a year.

Houns – where you to? I’m with NT in Brecon.

Kinver Edge and Rockhouses, South Staffs. You’re welcome to pop up with your big toys 🙂

What stove have you got, Timber? I’d have to chainsaw those lumps again to get them in my Jotul – it’s far easier dicing to the right length before slitting than sawing split lumps.

The big one is making 1m billets for a biomass boiler on a friends farm. Split all his off cut butt ends from saw milling, generally load it with the telehandler. Did hunt out the ugliest, knottiest logs for it, but still split them. Struggles with seasoned branch unions though.

The Riko and Oxdale do regular stove stuff, 8″-24″.

mcmoonter

That looks like a versatile piece of kit. I was going to say that once you’ve tried hydraulic splitting you’ll never go back, but I had to dig out my maul and buy some wedges recently to split some huge chunks of Sycamore that I had no chance of lifting up onto the splitting table.

Are those the ones you said wedges would be useless on 😉

…….wanders off to see if the lawnmower has a pto.

Given my use of timber as primary heating fuel saves me about 2k a year I reckon I can justify one of those soon. Just need some spare pocket money…

I usually chainsaw it down to 12″ and then an Aldi maul does the rest.

I did consider a hydraulic splitter but still a manual exercise, maybe a simple/cheap electric one would be better, anyone had something like this?

http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb685lsp-37cm-log-splitter-1-5kw/6054P?kpid=6054P&gclid=CKqA-ti0pNMCFcUp0wodJKgBZA&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CLPd4tm0pNMCFVAC0wodAkkLsQ

A friend has an electric splitter and thinks very lowly of it…. Depends on the logs I guess.

sharkbait – Member

A friend has an electric splitter and thinks very lowly of it…. Depends on the logs I guess.

What are the big tractor ones, 10 or 15 tons? Four tons sounds ok, although it does make me wonder how much an axe or a maul can generate. Some lumps of seasoned hardwood do seem nigh on indestructible.

Big tractor ones basically depend on the size of the ram, but probably >20 tons. A half decent tractor will have a very capable hydraulic system.
4 tons would be fine for certain wood.

yeah but the little electric ones like that all state a capacity of log diameter which is dinky, 10″ in the case of that titan. If I can’t split a 10″ diameter log with a maul then I’d buy one, but I can, always. A good maul helps. I use a Stihl pro cleaving hammer on the tougher stuff.

When we get to the big gnarly rounds and crotches that a splitter would be wonderful for, you need to be able to use it vertically as they are too big to lift. Sharkbaits toy looks awesome.

Massive cynic here – decent maul will do everything I need. Until I tried a neighbour’s shitty litttle Clarke 4 tonne electric splitter last weekend…

10 minutes later… “Bring me the Internet!”

Yep, ordered one. Out stove only takes 12-14″ logs anyway, so everything gets “ringed” to that length but this thing was ploughing through some knotty sweet chestnut with ease. It was a bastard to spit with maul / wedges. I’m a convert but do realise I need to hand back my “man” badge…

I’m not saying they don’t work, I suspect they do. If I were older, less fit, sore or just didn’t fancy the exercise I’d go that route. I’ve spent as much as a cheap electric splitter on my cleaving hammer, x27, 4 wedges and a sledge, well, would have if i hadn’t got the cleaving hammer at 1/3 price. However its not in the league of sharkbait’s toy, THAT is a proper log splitter!

I think Timber wins the log splitter wars and I suspect MM will have a big one too [missus] 😉
This is what mine will hopefully be tackling next week

(B R)
I bought that Titan splitter from screwfix a couple of months ago.
Got it for £135, absolute bargain!
Splits some knotty crap that are normally back breakers with the maul no problem.

JimJam – our machines are both 10 ton splitting pressure, the little one runs off the tractor hydraulics, the processor has its own PTO pump for more flow/low revs and clean oil. Friends buggy is 26 ton I think.

Our old 6 ton did fine, was just slow work. There are some big trailed splitters around the 100 ton mark.

That’s similar to the one I’ve got, br, though mine is rated 5T and only cost about 30e more than the 4T version . It’s about the same as a 3.5kg maul swung as hard as I could when I was 10 years younger. But the splitter does it all afternoon. Ten all-out swings with a maul now and I remember why I had to have an operation for carpal tunnel syndrome on the left hand and I really don’t want to have the right hand operated on.

Edukator

Ten all-out swings with a maul now and I remember why I had to have an operation for carpal tunnel syndrome on the left hand and I really don’t want to have the right hand operated on.

Let the tool do the work 😉

Seriously though, that’s why I prefer a splitting axe to a maul where possible. Unless you’re an absolute beast of a man a maul will beat you up over a days splitting (it does on me anyway). There’s a time and a place for it but I find my Husqvarna and Gransfors splitting axes do 90% of the work of a maul for considerably less weight.

I agree a splitting axe can work well, particularly if the wood has dried just a bit but not too much. Too wet and the axe gets stuck, too dry and it doesn’t have enough weight. Having used both I bought a maul, but you’re right, the vibrations through the (wooden) maul shaft are worse than the axe when the wood resists, and it’s a big lump to swing for long.

Yeah – you’re all amateurs

[video]https://youtu.be/2eengn9eNQw[/video]

There are a couple of commercial firewood producers near me who have this sort of pro setup. I just rent a splitter for 2 x days per year and that has me done for the winter with a wood stove.

Agree regarding maul vs axe. I use the big boy only on big rounds and only bother to chunk them up, then pick up the fiskars to split to stove size. Wearing gloves helps too.

BTW, for those handling wood a bit, I recommend a pickaroon/hookaroon/sapie. I have a 800mm handled bison one which is great for picking up big rounds and I adapted a 15″ handled mortar pick to make a hand pickaroon to collect the splits. they save a lot of bending and are real back savers in my opinion.

Sharkbait, what size bar is on that chainsaw? It looks like you have serious timber to cut up!

16″…. and that big bit is 30″ diameter!

What about these as an alternative to hydraulic? Or would it struggle on stuff a 4 ton hydaulic would handle?