Log Splitter

[Tyler Howell]

It's time. The Stihl did its job, so now I need to split, stack and get this stuff off the ground. If you are familiar with Paper Birch it will rot if you don't split or kerf your logs soon. I just want to move it one time .

So any recomended manufactures. Gas or electric Vertical looks like the way to go. A lot of this stuff is 12 - 24" in diameter.
TIA

[Ian Gillis]

So any recomended manufactures. Gas or electric Vertical looks like the way to go. A lot of this stuff is 12 - 24" in diameter.
TIA

Hi Tyler

I buy my firewood split, so I don't have any direct experience. I can tell you, though, that horizontal gas splitters are the tool of choice in this neck of the woods. Electric just doesn't have the jam to compete, I'm told.

A close friend of mine has a really cool splitter - runs off the PTO of a 30hp diesel tractor

24" is pretty big stuff. We rarely see a birch that size in this climate. I'd be hauling that to the sawmill if I could find it.

I'm curious to know where you live. I've been burning wood since about mid-November. My woodpile is frozen solid. When does winter arrive for you?

[Tyler Howell]

Hey Ian ,
Thanks for the info.
I just bought a place in Northern Minnesota about 70 miles So of the Canadian boarder on Lake Superior. It's only part time for 405 more days.
Then I'll be a full time res.
It's rare to see birch that big but the lumber jack that provided this stuff found a real stand.

[Ian Gillis]

Hey Ian ,
Thanks for the info.
I just bought a place in Northern Minnesota about 70 miles So of the Canadian boarder on Lake Superior. It's only part time for 405 more days.
Then I'll be a full time res.
It's rare to see birch that big but the lumber jack that provided this stuff found a real stand.

Hehe! Nothing I can tell you about winter then !

Just another idea for you. Around here lots of people rent splitters, either from individual (look for signs) or from equipment rental places.

Good luck in the new place !

[Bill Grumbine]

Tyler, I have been using a splitter that runs off my tractor hydraulics. It isn't the fastest in the world, being that my tractor is a beat up 1963 Super Dexta, but it seems to be at least as fast as a lot of the gas engine ones out there. It has the advantage of being less expensive (assuming you already have or are going to need a tractor with a Category One 3 pt hitch) than one with its own engine, and it is one less engine to maintain as well.

It has another advantage in that it goes from horizontal to vertical in a few seconds for those really big logs you will be splitting and can't lift to the bed.

Good luck with it!

Bill

[John Pollman]

I'd have to say gas powered vertical definitely. And unless you want to spend at least $1200-$1500 I'd rent one. Back in September I rented a very nice gas powered vertical splitter. I think it was rated at 27 tons. I had just taken down a 36" diameter by 80' high ash. I sectioned the trunk into 18" lengths and split them. It took two guys but the 27 ton splitter had no trouble at all going through those big pieces. I recommend renting instead of buying because unless you are going to use it a lot, it's much cheaper in the long run and you don't have to store it. Plus, the maintenance and repair is someone else's problem.

Good luck on the project.

John

[Frank Fusco]

I have a blackpowder splitter that can be carried in one hand.

[John Bartley]

So any recomended manufactures. Gas or electric Vertical looks like the way to go. A lot of this stuff is 12 - 24" in diameter.

Over the last 16+ years I have had the opportunity to work on a few splitters. I owned (until 2001 when I semi-retired and sold it) a small engine company that sold Stihl saws (among other stuff) and while we sell very few splitters, we see all types. The one I would chose hands down if I was willing to spend enough to buy a GOOD one is the "Splitfire" brand. They make a wide variety of chassis', and the thing that makes them so good is the double acting splitter where the log stays still and the wedge moves and splits in both directions. It moves slowly, but never wastes a stroke, so you get a lot of work done very efficiently. They also have hydraulic log lifters, so even the big logs are a breeze.

That's my $0.02 (CDN )

[John Bartley]

I have a blackpowder splitter that can be carried in one hand.

Those are a blast (pun intended)

I have a 0.45" CVA Kentucky that I built 20 years ago and a Traditions 0.50" Kentucky (not built yet)

[Ian Gillis]

I guess one of the reasons horizontal is more common here is because firewood is cut from smaller trees. 14" is about the biggest diameter you'd come across on a regular basis. The only thing around here that might reach 36" is the elms and those are dying off.