splitter.

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ohiojoe13

Feeling the Heat
Dec 22, 2014
390
alliance ohio
Bought a dht 22 ton splitter about a month ago from lowes. I exchanged it when it started leaking fluid. The replacement won't even start and when it turns over rusty looking water comes out of the muffler. I thinking about returning it and getting a tractor supply brand one. Anyone have any experience with tsc splitter? Thanks
 
Neighbor bought a tsc splitter this year. Can't remember brand but he has no complaints yet and he sells wood so it gets allot of use
 
Bought a 22 ton tsc splitter 3 years ago and have put a lot of wood through it. No problems, had to tighten bolts once. Would buy one again.
 
Well i returned the splitter to lowes. Then went to look at tsc. They didn't have any 22 ton ones in stock. They had the 28 ton and the 35 ton. I really don't think I need anything more than a 22 ton. The one thing that made me think about the 28 ton is that it came with a Honda engine.
 
I have the 35 ton TSC. I've had it for... 8 or 9 years, I think?

Other than bending the toe plate on a very nasty ancient oak crotch, it's been flawless. The beam was replaced under warranty, by the way.

Mine has the Briggs engine. Zero problems. But that Honda is tempting....
 
The man working said the 22 will split whatever you want you want it to and they all have the same pump. But he said the 22 ton is in stage two more than the others. Which is harder on them. Any truth to that?
 
If I remember correctly, the 22 ton Huskee and the 28 ton version had the same pump, 1/2" difference in the cylinder diameter and a faster cycle time for the 22 ton. 35 ton I thought had a different pump and again a 1/2" larger diameter increase over the 28 ton, but faster cycle time than the 28 ton, about the same as the 22 ton. I have split most of the hardwoods found in my area including elm, combined about 15 cord and the 22 ton has split every piece. Cuts through knots sometimes, in second stage, but it does it with not much concern on my part. BTW, my cutting splitting scoffed at my 22 ton versus his 35 ton(don't remember brand), but he is amazed at what the 22 does and we never use his.
 
In my opinion I think if you do your research thoroughly you would be crazy to buy anything other than the TSC (speeco 22 ton splitter) other than the super expensive stuff.
 
Tons of reviews and people love the TSC splitter. Was called the Huskee, now called the County Line. Made by Speeco in Colorado. Great splitter for the money. I split a couple of cord today on mine, and am near 100 cord total without a hitch.
 
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I bought the 22ton county line this past black friday sale from tsc, its great so far. I actually thought it was the same as the dht both made by speeco? maybe their not, the county line certainly is
 
22 ton speeco here. It's been fantastic. Not one single complaint. I've had it for about 5 years splitting about 6-7 full cord a year
 
I bought my Huskee 22 a few years ago....money well spent. The only problems I had was a blown Engine due to my lack of an oil change after the first 5 hours as per users manual ;sick.....read the manual, do the oil change....and when I got it home, found the Bearing Seal had pushed up on the Axle and the whole thing was loose as heck and wobbling.....had the Throttle Linkage fall apart, but not to the point it couldn't be used, just the lever fell off. So, overall, the only issue that was not caused by someone's neglect, was the Throttle issue which was extremely minor. Another thing to be aware of....the Axle is part of the Hydraulic Tank, driving over rough roads continuously may crack the Tank. Here's a pic of the Axle Seal riding up on the Axle....couldn't take it back down the road, so they (Speeco) shipped me an entire Wheel / Tire / Bearing / Seal all set to bolt onto the Axle....
DSCN2087.jpg
 
The man working said the 22 will split whatever you want you want it to and they all have the same pump. But he said the 22 ton is in stage two more than the others. Which is harder on them. Any truth to that?


Of course it is. It's got a smaller diameter piston. Working the same wood, it's got to work harder. Basic physics.
 
It isn't always about tonnage. I have a 4" cylinder and I run it at a peak pressure of about 2600 psi.
That gives me roughly 16 tons and it will split anything. I have a sharp wedge like an axe head and that helps a lot.
 
I bought my Huskee 22 a few years ago....money well spent. The only problems I had was a blown Engine due to my lack of an oil change after the first 5 hours as per users manual ;sick.....read the manual, do the oil change...
View attachment 169701

Oil with 5 hrs on it, can't cause an engine to fail. Some slightly increased wear,,,maybe but not fail.

I've got about 4 hrs on my new HF 20T splitter and the oil looks brand new! Almost perfectly clear.
 
Oil with 5 hrs on it, can't cause an engine to fail
It ain't the oil. Its the particulates that the oil is picking up from a new cast block not being 100% cleaned out.
After a few hours of hot oil splashing around its a darn good idea to drain it out (along with the particulates) and replace. Pretty standard operation for small engines.
 
Oil with 5 hrs on it, can't cause an engine to fail. Some slightly increased wear,,,maybe but not fail.

I've got about 4 hrs on my new HF 20T splitter and the oil looks brand new! Almost perfectly clear.
I went way over 5 hours.....more like 40 hours<>
 
It ain't the oil. Its the particulates that the oil is picking up from a new cast block not being 100% cleaned out.
After a few hours of hot oil splashing around its a darn good idea to drain it out (along with the particulates) and replace. Pretty standard operation for small engines.
I follow completely that this is a good best practice to improve longevity, but if it grenades and engine??? That engine had serious flake inside and likely would have failed anyway. If there is enough debris to block the flow of oil, there is a real issue with that engine. Not normal.
 
When I bought mine the salesman told me the most important thing I could do was make sure and change the oil after 5 hours. He made me buy the extra oil at purchase or he said I would have trouble with the warranty. I changed mine at 1 hour and also at 5 hours based on the warning from the salesman.
 
If there is enough debris to block the flow of oil, there is a real issue with that engine. Not normal.
Its not even really a block of flow (most of these small consumer engines are a splash system, not a pump), its the particulates in the oil such as casting sand or debris from cleaning the castings. Stuff that can get into bearings and close tolerances and cause trouble early in life.
Remember - these ain't the honda GX engines that cost 4X as much.
 
Just to give an idea - in the 70's guy buys new car ( ya big old iron big V8) any way a couple weeks later its towed into the shop- engined seized up, had not even made it to first oil change - tore it down looked like someone had mixed sand in with the oil wasn't anything that wasn't scored and yup oil was full, wasn't 200 miles on the clock - there is a ton more to this story but not needed here just as an indication of what can/does happen when blocks are not properly cleaned from casting process or is a very poor pour.
 
Oil with 5 hrs on it, can't cause an engine to fail. Some slightly increased wear,,,maybe but not fail.

I've got about 4 hrs on my new HF 20T splitter and the oil looks brand new! Almost perfectly clear.
So you are recommending the HF 20 ton so far? I like the idea of the thin wedge cutting through the tough stuff rather than busting it up, not to mention the two-way. And I re-powered a lawnmower that was a gift from someone important to me with a HF Predator engine this summer, and it is a nice engine, so I'm leaning that way for the splitter.
 
Here is a pic of the Cylinder
DSCN2722_zps865c8236.jpg
 
So you are recommending the HF 20 ton so far? I like the idea of the thin wedge cutting through the tough stuff rather than busting it up, not to mention the two-way. And I re-powered a lawnmower that was a gift from someone important to me with a HF Predator engine this summer, and it is a nice engine, so I'm leaning that way for the splitter.

I like the sharp wedge. It will cut through anything. My pressure is normally 400-1000 psi on a decent round. Once in a while I get a tough one that takes a lot more, but those are rare. I have yet to find a piece that it won't split.
 
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