Splitter Height

I have a harbor freight wood splitter. I raised it 4" and I am 6'2." My splitter is at 31.5" and it works good for me. My splitter splits both ways like a splitfire, it increases productivity. I was going to spend big bucks on a splitter I would get a Super Split.

I'd consider getting the splitter I want based on the splitter, then buying or building a ramp at the right height to back the splitter up onto.

Out of curiosity, what is your method of hefting the rounds upon onto the splitter, especially 36" high?

Berner said:

Some of you know from a previous thread that I'm in the market for a splitter. Thanks for all the info on the previous thread but I was hoping for some opinions on a new topic of splitter height. What do you guys find to be the optional height?

I'm 6-1 with a bad back and am very sensitive to working in any position that isn't optimal. It is best if I can stand up straight while working the wood.

The reason I bring this up is that all the horizontal splitters I'm looking at are between 24-27 inches tall. This seems ridiculously low to me. I was thinking that 36" would be ideal.

I did find that splitfires have a 4 and 8inch lift that you can add onto any splitter. That is really enticing but I'm not sure how I feel about the two way action. Anyways would love to hear anyone's thoughts on the subject. Thanks.

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I always hated that about my Troy Bilt 27 ton. Two summers ago my father in law welded up some brackets to raise up the mounting points on the locking mechanism, and the actual tilting mechanism. It is now the same height as the bigger tonnage units, without the $900 price differential. Much easier to use. Of course I am looking at getting a Super Split now, so after fighting with the working height for 10 years... I want something new.

I just broke out the tape measure... the deck height (top of I beam where you place wood) is now 31.5". Much better.

I suspect if one was cheap and wanted the splitter to be up higher they could probably use some car ramps/planking.

Now here is a topic near and dear to my heart, also very topical because I was just dealing with it this weekend.

In a nutshell we have my buddy and myself. Im 6'6" with a bad back and he's about 5' 10 with a horrible back. He's had his spine fused at some point. He is absolutely dead and hurt after splitting. I'm not. Until this past weekend I figured it was that his back is worse than mine. He has an iron and oak 20 ton horizontal only with wedge on beam and I've got a dirty hand tools 27 ton horizontal and vertical with wedge on ram and a log catcher/work table.

We both scored a few cords worth of locust and cherry lately. His are cut to 16 and mine to 20. Some are as big as 22 and 24 in diameter. Technically the iron and oak is a better splitter than my dht. But real world it turns out it's not when it comes to our situations.

When I started splitting my wood pile a few weeks ago I set my splitter to vertical and ran the big stuff thru to bust it all in half. I had someone running the handle while I muscled the rounds. Then flipped to horizontal and started running thru everything. My work table is the opposite side of the splitter from where I stand. I keep the big chunk on the table side and take splits off as they come. Resting the round on the table as I split the slices I've taken off the round. This to me is a breeze. The hardest part is getting the pieces up and on the splitter.

So my buddy asks for some help splitting on Saturday and I go over there. I offer to bust the big ones with my splitter vertically but he says no it's ok. Well his method is lift the entire round on to the beam. Then he takes a slice off each edge to make a square. Then he takes slices from the square. Then stacks 2 slices at a time and makes the finished splits. He needs someone to run the controls because he's bracing the round against himself. I did a few to give him a break and I immediately said this is terrible. No wonder your back hurts.

Basically when you split with the wedge on the ram the split wood and round stays in front of you. When you split with the wedge on the beam you are chasing the splits and the round because the splitter is actually pushing the wood away from you. Plus the log catcher/ work table allows you to rest the round while you work and while you toss splits in a pile/wheelbarrow/trailer. He's constantly carrying the weight of the round while he's bringing it back away from the wedge and also bracing it against his body as he splits. That method is horrible, plus his splitter beam is lower than mine. That makes it even worse.

I'd say that if you have a bad back and you want to split without killing it you need a vertical/horizontal with work table or a horizontal with a log lift and an outfeed table. That option rocks but it's also double the price. With either one you definitely will benefit from getting it up a little higher. Ergonomics or lack thereof will make or break you physically. It's also the difference between enjoying your time splitting vs hating it.

As someone who's had every back injury known to man I can say yes. Get it as high as possible.
I used an Agway splitter for years. Beam was probably eight inches off the ground after the foot dug into the soil. Hated it but always thought I'd hate lifting logs higher.
Not the case, that old splitter finally died and I bought a DHT 28 ton. Man is it nice to stand up straight and work that thing. I can lift and toss around weight as long as I don't have to bend over to do it.
As babaganoosh stated. Having the splitter on the ram is very nice. No chasing large splits.
Between a pickaroon and those hooked gizmos with cable and garden hose on them I no longer need to lift anything from ground height.
The DHT isn't the best splitter on the market but it's set up pretty well. Look for those features in your price range and have fun.

When I built mine I made it 32" high. I'm 6'3". It's what felt right.

Get a pulp hook to move rounds around. Helps the back.

Berner said:

I should have mentioned that my plan was to buy a splitter with a log lift. I would be curious with those who have customized their splitters raising the working height if this would be possible with a log lift? Could you customize a log lift too to match the new height of the customized splitter?

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A log lift and outfeed table can be added to any horizontal splitter with a little skill and imagination. Cost can vary greatly depending on how it is designed. A hydraulic lift is usually considered because the power supply is already there but it is the most expensive. The least expensive lift would be mechanically operated but the linkage can get complicated. For simplicity and low cost a12 volt electric winch operated lift can be adapted to any splitter. An electric lift can be permanently attached to the splitter or as a standalone unit sitting next to the splitter.
Here are pics of a back breaker before and after an upgrade.

As per my and jo191145 comment about dht not being the best splitter. I give the iron and oak the edg due to the Honda engine on it. It's very smooth and most importantly quiet. I don't think they are the be all end all of engines but I've always had great experiences with them. The kohler on my dht is a lot louder. I wear ear plugs splitting. As for long term durability and reliability we shall see. I've already had some issues with it surging occasionally.

Other than that the DHT is built much better than all the other ones you can get at big box stores. I'm very satisfied with it. If I wanted to step up any higher than this i would skip over the iron and oak and go to timberwolf. Having played with one I can say that it's very very nice. That's not bashing the iron and oak mind you because they are nice. The problem is I don't think they are that much better for the normal firewood guy. It fills the price gap nicely but not much point spending a lot more when a dht or huskee can do the same thing for half the cost.

http://www.logsplittersdirect.com/Iron-&-Oak-BHVH3715GX-Log-Splitter/p58613.html

I'm 6'7". Been shopping for a splitter too. Found this Iron and Oak that is 34.5" working height. Big beasty. Looks well made. Not saying I'm going to get it, but I noted the height and thought I would share after seeing this thread. The DHT are 31" I believe. The Ariens are 29".

That price I'd get a timberwolf and add a log lift.

I saw somebody on here who put their splitter up on a set of car ramps like these and then rested the tongue on a large round. That seemed like a good idea.

Babaganoosh said:

Now here is a topic near and dear to my heart, also very topical because I was just dealing with it this weekend.

In a nutshell we have my buddy and myself. Im 6'6" with a bad back and he's about 5' 10 with a horrible back. He's had his spine fused at some point. He is absolutely dead and hurt after splitting. I'm not. Until this past weekend I figured it was that his back is worse than mine. He has an iron and oak 20 ton horizontal only with wedge on beam and I've got a dirty hand tools 27 ton horizontal and vertical with wedge on ram and a log catcher/work table.

We both scored a few cords worth of locust and cherry lately. His are cut to 16 and mine to 20. Some are as big as 22 and 24 in diameter. Technically the iron and oak is a better splitter than my dht. But real world it turns out it's not when it comes to our situations.

When I started splitting my wood pile a few weeks ago I set my splitter to vertical and ran the big stuff thru to bust it all in half. I had someone running the handle while I muscled the rounds. Then flipped to horizontal and started running thru everything. My work table is the opposite side of the splitter from where I stand. I keep the big chunk on the table side and take splits off as they come. Resting the round on the table as I split the slices I've taken off the round. This to me is a breeze. The hardest part is getting the pieces up and on the splitter.

So my buddy asks for some help splitting on Saturday and I go over there. I offer to bust the big ones with my splitter vertically but he says no it's ok. Well his method is lift the entire round on to the beam. Then he takes a slice off each edge to make a square. Then he takes slices from the square. Then stacks 2 slices at a time and makes the finished splits. He needs someone to run the controls because he's bracing the round against himself. I did a few to give him a break and I immediately said this is terrible. No wonder your back hurts.

Basically when you split with the wedge on the ram the split wood and round stays in front of you. When you split with the wedge on the beam you are chasing the splits and the round because the splitter is actually pushing the wood away from you. Plus the log catcher/ work table allows you to rest the round while you work and while you toss splits in a pile/wheelbarrow/trailer. He's constantly carrying the weight of the round while he's bringing it back away from the wedge and also bracing it against his body as he splits. That method is horrible, plus his splitter beam is lower than mine. That makes it even worse.

I'd say that if you have a bad back and you want to split without killing it you need a vertical/horizontal with work table or a horizontal with a log lift and an outfeed table. That option rocks but it's also double the price. With either one you definitely will benefit from getting it up a little higher. Ergonomics or lack thereof will make or break you physically. It's also the difference between enjoying your time splitting vs hating it.

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That does sound terrible. With a work table and hookaroon or pulp hook I never have to lift a log or move where I'm standing once the log is on the lift. A horizontal wedge on beam splitter really needs a lift, log tables on the side and out feed and a 4-way.

Mike Fromme said:

That does sound terrible. With a work table and hookaroon or pulp hook I never have to lift a log or move where I'm standing once the log is on the lift. A horizontal wedge on beam splitter really needs a lift, log tables on the side and out feed and a 4-way.

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I agree totally. Maybe not the 4 way if you are anal about split sizes but everything else definitely. I do like his method of taking off slices and then stacking and splitting those. It works a little better with the wedge on the beam in my experience but it might just be the shape of my wedge. All I know is that table on mine makes it so much easier.

Berner said:

I've looked at super split but all the wood I'm going to get is big and knotty. How did you raise your HF 4"?

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I welded 2 peices of 4x4 angle together to make 4x4 sq tube and used that under the front. I fabbed a piece for the rear out of 1/4'' plate.

Before



After

I'm 6 ft and feel your pain (regularly actually). I just made some "steps" out of 2X8 and roll the splitter up onto them to get to the right height for me. 3 2X8s raise it up about 4.5" and I have a block for under the hitch as well. If it gets too high lifting the rounds starts to get pretty cumbersome.

One other thing that helps save my back is to take the split and toss it directly into the trailer on my lawn tractor. Saves throwing it and then later doing all the bending to pick it up and put it into the trailer to move / stack. Buddy and I do this all the time now, we both have tractors, so we get 2 trailers full, then go stack, then come back, rinse and repeat. Other little tricks like moving the splitter to where the rounds are stacked then taking them off the top helps. little things have made a big difference for me and my sore old back.

I've done both splitting and tossing into the trailer or into a big pile. I don't mind either. If I go with the pile I just wait a few days to stack. I have a double gate into my back yard that I can drive right thru. I only do it when the ground is hard. My lawn mower is a commercial machine so there's no hitch. I am thinking of buying a used lawn tractor off Craig's list on the cheap and using that but I hate cluttering my yard. I split in the driveway for ease of cleanup and then stack out back.