Another Log Splitter Battle - SpeeCo 15 Ton or SpeeCo 25 Ton - Anyone own one of these?

I have been borrowing my dad's homemade log splitter, which I have no idea what capacity it is. He lives two hours away so need to arrange in advance to get it when we visit or they visit us. Not exactly convenient.

Now, I'm looking for a new log splitter for me. I stopped off at Blain's Farm and Fleet. They carry SpeeCo. The 15 ton sells for $879.99 and the 25 ton sells for $1379.99 but is now on sale for $1249.99.

Anyone own one of these?

Any thoughts about cost versus umph? I'm leaning toward the 25 ton, thinking that something with more power would be better. I get a lot of big rounds that require some umph. By the way, these two units work horizontally or vertically.

What about the brand?

(15 ton on left; 25 ton on the right)

Tractor Supply sells a 22 ton Huskee splitter for $999. Made by SpeeCo. I've heard all good about these units so far. I do like the 25-ton unit's engine better than the Huskee tho.

TSC has a hard time keeping the 22 ton in stock around here this time of the year.

The 15 looks like a horiz only splitter. Don't waste the money on the 25, get the 22 for $999.. It's horiz and vertical and will split anything you need. I've never stalled my 22.

I bought the 15 ton 3 years ago. About 15 cords through it.....unless it has changed, it does not split vertically. I love the splitter. Plenty of ummmph for me, fast cycle times and I can move it around my yard by hand. It has a chicom (loncin) engine, but it has given me no problems. If you are splitting big rounds often, I'd look at the 22 though for more power and the vertical ability

X2, I have stalled the 22 ton but I split my nasty stuff. I just restart it and go from the other side.

For the extra $120, you get a more powerful splitter, plus the vertical mode

I owned a SpeeCo 20 ton H/V (which I ALWAYS used vertical ;-) ) w/8HP Tecumseh from Apr '96 to Dec 2005.Never had any trouble with it,would handle anything I threw at it.From 30"+ Bur Oak crotches,20" White Elm,gnarly Honey Locust or Mulberry stumps...you name it.Only stalled a couple times never once did engine die when testing it on the toughest ones.

Great well built machine,very good value for the money.

My immediate thought was to go for the Huskee (Speeco) 22 for about $1000 at TSC. I see that that has been seconded by several others. Lots of folks on this forum have one them.

HittinSteel right on about the 15 ton being horizontal only, so not an option. Thanks MasterMech, blel, , Kenster for suggesting the Huskee. I compared the specs on the 22 ton Huskee and the 25 ton SpeeCo. I ended up pulling the trigger on the 25 ton SpeeCo. The 305 cc engine did it for me, along with the fact I could drive two miles to pick it up versus 60 miles.

I got it home and fired it up. At darn near idle it plowed through maple without effort. The downside is it doesn't pull nicely with 8" tires. Too bumpy. Let's put it this way: I wouldn't want to pull long distances.

I have a 15 ton which has served me well over the last 3 years. It's easy to move around and can handle some pretty large stuff. I would recommend it.

As a city dweller, being able to move it around the yard by hand was the biggest selling feature for me. A nasty gnarled maple trunk is the only thing to stop it thus far.......but thats what a big chainsaw it for!

I often kid Dennis about splitting wood vertically as I truly do prefer splitting wood horizontally . . . but that said . . . even I find there are times when it's really nice to go vertical when you have a huge round and don't want to waste time sawing it down to a smaller size.

Funny thing is that all the years growing up we split wood horizontally because our homemade splitter wouldn't split vertically. Now that I have a combo vert/horizontal splitter, I still find myself splitting horizontally. Though I have a bunch of huge rounds, so I'm going to definitely make use of the vertical splitting option.

We had a home-built one that was only horizontal as well . . . maybe that's why I am partial to splitting horizontally . . . but that said, it didn't take me long to realize that wrestling a behemoth on to the beam is a lot more work than just going vertical.

A splitter that can be used only horizontally! That to me would be an almost worthless piece of machinery. The next thing you'd want or need would be a table to work on. Following this you'd need a hydraulic log splitter. On top of all that, realize that when splitting vertically, you can sit down to do the splitting and not lift every log before splitting. You can split without even working up a sweat and still get the job done; probably faster.

But if it takes me longer, then maybe I can avoid some of the "honey do list".

Splitting vertically will never take longer. Sorry, go to the list WoodNStuff.