How many cords per year until you break down and buy a splitter vs renting one?

Get yourself one of those hand trucks (Northern Tool has them) and a good stout nylon cargo strap, and you'll be glad you did.

Use the strap to hold the round on the hand truck while you rock it back. Works great.

tsquini said:

Maybe you guys should stop drinking beers and focus on splitting.

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I hate beer, white wine on the rocks for me

tsquini said:

Maybe you guys should stop drinking beers and focus on splitting.

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I'll drink beer and do most anything except drive a CDL truck. That is just about "A N Y T H I N G" in case you doubt it.

The one thing I will not do is run that Super Split with a single beer in me.

claydogg84 said:

I'd pick up a 22 ton from Tractor Supply for $950 and call it a day. Splitters hold their value fairly well so you could always sell it down the road.

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I did the same and love it....

If someone is going to be splitting wood year after year a splitter is the only way to go. Sorry but hand splitting is in no way faster.

Some people may enjoy splitting by hand, as do I on occasion, but I wouldn't want to do it consistently as I value my body more than my money. It is repetitive work/exercise whatever you want to call it, which is the worst type.

I lucked out- I inherited a Northstar 20 ton when I bought my home and rebuilt it for under $200 and it runs perfect. New motor runs great. Split around 6 cords this summer in 10 days.

I had to move 20 or so 30-36" diameter fresh hickory rounds around and did so myself. My body didn't appreciate it. That's enough bull work for me.

Hydraulic splitter...I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.


It's not like you can't do both. Just set some rounds aside for hand splitting. No biggie.

Try craigs list. Even if it is beat if you are handy i would imagine most are not difficult to repair.

I got a predator motor for $120 @ harbor freight tools and then went back as i didn't realize i had a $20 coupon (mailing list) and got that back too. The motor is impressive.

BlueRidgeMark said:

Owning the splitter means owning your time.

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Not married, eh?

BlueRidgeMark said:

Get yourself one of those hand trucks (Northern Tool has them) and a good stout nylon cargo strap, and you'll be glad you did.

Use the strap to hold the round on the hand truck while you rock it back. Works great.

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Get yourself a front-end loader, and you can smirk at the guys muscling rounds around on hand carts.

Work smarter . . . not harder. Buy a splitter.

And now for a true story . . . for years my Uncle made fun of my father for building and using a hydraulic wood splitter as my Uncle always split his wood with a maul. Fast forward to a few years back and I couldn't help but notice my Uncle now uses a hydraulic wood splitter.

After the first year I bought a splitter. After two years doing most of it by hand and the big stuff with the screw splitter I bought the HF 20 ton.
I scrounge all of my wood so that takes a bunch of time. Splitting by hand also takes a bunch of time. I'm so glad to have the 20 ton, it reduced my splitting time from days to hours per cord.
If you burn over 2 cords get a splitter. I paid $650 for the 20 ton, it leaves me much more time to scrounge.

I found a used timber wolf tw5 for 2500 - put 150 into it and can now split everything I need for a year in about a weekend ! Splitter is the way to go - never look back

Man! You got a GREAT deal!

fire_man said:

I don't get these guys that claim to be able to out split hydraulics by hand. I think they would be humbled by the typical cord of twisted and knotty oak and beech I get around here.

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I am a hand splitter. I've done about 14-15 cords by hand in the last three seasons. But..... I've gotten really nice oak and ash mostly straight grain. My guy tries to bring nice stuff cause he knows I hand split. I'm also a stay at home dad and have lots of time. If I had wavy grain stuff or lots of wyes delivered, I'd be up the creek without a paddle or splitter! No way I could get on without some power equipment.

Here's about 3-4 hours worth of splitting. That's 2 cords worth. I've got a real ergonomic swing. I pay close attention about how I raise that maul. And I stop when I feel any pain.



And here is my splitting frame to eliminate a lot of the bending over.

I have split about six cords this fall all by hand. I don't plan to buy a splitter any time soon. The splitting is only a small part of the work involved in converting a log in the woods into a stack of splits, and the splitter would eliminate only one small step in the process. I can't see spending the money to eliminate the splitting which is the one step in the process I enjoy. If I could buy a machine to stand the billets on the splitting block and stack the splits, I'd definitely buy one.

DTrain said:

I am a hand splitter. I've done about 14-15 cords by hand in the last three seasons. But..... I've gotten really nice oak and ash mostly straight grain. My guy tries to bring nice stuff cause he knows I hand split. I'm also a stay at home dad and have lots of time. If I had wavy grain stuff or lots of wyes delivered, I'd be up the creek without a paddle or splitter! No way I could get on without some power equipment.

Here's about 3-4 hours worth of splitting. That's 2 cords worth. I've got a real ergonomic swing. I pay close attention about how I raise that maul. And I stop when I feel any pain.

And here is my splitting frame to eliminate a lot of the bending over.

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Nice set up. Not having to bend over to pick up splits save a huge amount of time end energy.

Any hand splitter that wants to go against myself and a hydraulic splitter I say bring it!

Babaganoosh said:

Any hand splitter that wants to go against myself and a hydraulic splitter I say bring it!

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Yup. Better bring a big friggen maul. No freaking way that's going to win. Better yet I'll split and stack in the same time frame..

All I get is oak, I'll take you on.

Can't be cherry picking wood, this isn't a splitter commercial where they use balsa wood to make you think the splitter can split anything! Lol

Mixed hard and soft woods. Just like real life.

Elm, Elm, Elm, Elm!

I used to split by hand. With nice straight grained oak I could move right along.
But splitting what I had which were whole trees I cut down with all the branch crotches and sometimes big knots I'd end up with a pile I couldn't split and there were always some rounds that took some persistence and stubbornness. Which slows things way down.

STIHLY DAN said:

All I get is oak, I'll take you on.

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Let me know when to bring down the splitter.