Does any one know if I can tow a Huskee 22 ton splitter on the highway at full speed? Are they just

wood-fan-atic said:

I want to buy one this week , but the closest TSC is upstate (about 1 1/2 hrs away ). I told the girl on the phone that I'd put it in the bed of my truck ( '01 Ranger,Ive fit a 27 ton MTD in there), but she said most people just hook it up to a ball hitch. Is it rated for highway speeds? Thanks for your help,guys. ;-)

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on the tractor supply website it says that the tires are "DOT Approved." I THINK that means that they are highway safe, but I would bet 55mph is as fast as you should drive with it. let me qualify my statement by acknowledging that I have never towed one, nor have I ever researched a thing about them.

Its not so much the tires as it has no suspension and can get very bouncy. Id put in the back to be safe and off load it with some ramps etc.

I think I read somewhere that the max recommended speed is 35 or 40.

Wood, The tires on my 27 ton splitter are DOT approved for use on public roads but the maximum speed rating on the sides of the tires is 30 or 35 mph. I've towed mine a little bit but would not dare to exceed 10 to 15 mph on any road or parking lot. As James said above, the splitter has no suspension and has a very high center of gravity. So, even the slightest bump in the road might cause it to flip over on you, even though it is clamped onto the hitch ball and safety-chained to the trailer hitch.

Transporting it in the bed of your pickup is the safest and best idea. These splitters are very heavy so getting it into and out of your pickup will not be an easy task. All that weight can easily "get away from you" and cause much damage. Good luck.

John_M

TS will have a loading dock. Load it into the bed haul it home then find a hill or bank you can back up to and off-load it with ramps. Drive the recommended speed (on the splitter tires) sidewalls. This will save a "You aint going to believe This" story but, you will get your new toy home safely.
Mike

IIRC the tires are basically mini space saver spare tires and are not highway speed rated. I think the real issue is the bearings and lack of suspension though. I would get the splitter into the bed for a long transit, no sense in wiping out your new $1000 splitter on the way home from the store.

blel said:

I think I read somewhere that the max recommended speed is 35 or 40.

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This.
Should be on either the tires, or a placard on the machine.

wood-fan-atic said:

but the closest TSC is upstate (about 1 1/2 hrs away )

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Ha, that would be a sight. Crusin the Hutch, going across the bridge then stylin down the LIE with the splitter in tow. I don't think the tires are the issue.

Wood-fan-atic- I just looked at my splitter, which is a Huskee 22 ton, and it states that you should not exceed 45mph when towing it. I have gone quicker with mine, for short trips and it does bounce around a lot. I'd agree with "mayhem" and put it the back of the truck. Once you get back on the Island you can probably tow it...with all the traffic you probably won't hit 45.

Jamess67 said:

Its not so much the tires as it has no suspension and can get very bouncy. Id put in the back to be safe and off load it with some ramps etc.

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I agree . . . with no suspension and such a narrow beam hitting a pot hole or making a quick turn could be a bad thing . . . I have towed this before . . . from the local store to my house (about 2 miles) . . . other than that it gets loaded in a pick up or on to the trailer.

I have heard the same thing about 30-35. I bought mine at Lowes and the guy said to take it easy bringing it home. They have had people come back after they flipped them. Not pretty. I would put it in the bed or bring a trailer to strap it into.

I have towed mine and never feel real comfortable doing so. I go SLOW and stay on back roads. NO WAY would I towed at highway speeds. If it fits in the bed of your truck do that - if you have a ramp 2 guys can easily push it up there.

Bearings. I think you need high speed bearings before you need to worry about suspension or anything else, approved tires or not.

Okay, here is a little story.

I ride bicycle a lot during the warmer months. One road I ride a lot has a good amount of traffic for a rural road and most times when I am in the car going 55, most other folks are passing me. So I have an idea of some of the traffic speeds. So, one day I was cranking along at about 25 mph (yes, I had a tailwind) and this pickup goes flying past me. To my horror, there was a splitter hooked behind him and it looked just like mine! I was afraid he had stole it but more afraid I'd find him up the road a ways with some problems. My best guess is that he was going not less than 65-70 mph. There is no suspension on this splitter! This was a rural road! He was even passing cars that were going fast! Well, he made it or at least I never say him again.

Would I do that or recommend that? Absolutely not! One must also realize the newer splitters are built a bid different in that they are not as wide as mine is. What that means is what my neighbor found out after he tipped his splitter over for the third time. They will tip over easier. Mine has never been tipped over nor has it ever been towed behind a vehicle other than the atv. I did have a fellow who wanted about 20 cord of wood split and he lived quite a ways from me. I agreed so long as he would come after the splitter and put it in the bed of his truck. After we finished, he was to return it the same way. It was a bit scary with the possibility of that thing going through the back window of the pickup so we tied it down pretty tight and drove slow.

Good luck.

Folks,

Not yet mentioned is that the axle is the oil tank, and any flexing of the tank will affect it's integrity. The oil tank seems to be only sheet metal with axle studs welded to the ends. One more caution, my splitter fits in my pickup, but really is difficult to load/unload and almost nailed my neighbor who was helping me. To be safe, my splitter takes three ramps, one under the tongue and one under each wheel, plus some way of restraining it as it rolls down. I now use an engine lift to lift it up and back the truck under it. The engine lift folds and although heavy, can be lifted into the bed with the splitter for unloading. Best to move the splitter is when I carry it on my son's trailer.

One more thing I intend to do with our splitter (no excuse for not doing it before now) is to put a front wheel on it so that it is easier to move around manually, like when you move it forward while splitting wood. Just one of those single wheels like most boat trailers have on should do the trick.

I blew a tire out on my 27 ton troy built almost the same tire thats on yours. When on the hi-way I put it on top of the trailer and have a 2inch ball mount on it for quick transport.

Yes, Yes you can. maybe. but you dont want too! oil tank is th axle, low speed bearings, low speed tires, no spare, short tongue length, and a narrow track width all make for very dangerous towing conditions. One other thing not addressed yet is state trailer laws. these things have no titles, so some states will not alow them to be classified as trailers/towable.

The manual for my huskee splitter lists a max speed of 45 MPH. I wouldn't want to go any faster than that. I towed mine home from the store, but took backroads (not on the interstate, actually we only have one interstate but that is another story).

Also, it will blow hydraulic oil out the vent hole when towing. You don't lose much but it makes a mess so wrap something around or plug it or something.

Dennis - I though about a nose wheel for my 27 ton. After a while I noticed an opening under the beam that will accept a 5" diameter, 8' long stick. I loop the saftey chains over the top and it's pretty easy to move the splitter around. The ground I'm going over is soft and bumpy so I would have a hard time with a normal 6" trailer nose wheel set-up.

ATB,
Mike P

When you look at the rims on most of the low end splitters you will see that they look like they belong on a wheel barrow with a single nut or cotter pin retaining the bearing and rim. I would not trust them at speed even if the tires were rated for 200 mph.
Log splitters are top heavy and hard to see behind tow vehicles, a bad combination at speed.

There is usually some final assembly done at the store which is done by a stock boy. Did he properly tighten all the bolts, did he grease the bearings, did he know or care what he was doing?

Drove mine 30 miles home, never exceeded 40. Man did it bounce around though....