I think the big advantage of having your own splitter is not having to rush in order to get the job done before the meter runs up a big bill... A splitter is far safer than a chainsaw, but we have still had a fair number of reported injuries where people have tried to split their fingers (Not a good idea, fingers don't burn well...) Almost always because they were rushing with the rental splitter, and got tired and careless... When it's your machine, you can stop when you get tired, no need to push the limits in order to get the production out.
Size wise, I think a 20 ton is about right, and I definitely fall in the go vertical camp. I don't see that much need for a multi-way wedge, it seems to me like it's a little less safe, and makes it harder to get just the size split you want. I often will take and split a log once or twice in one direction, and then hold the peices together while turning them 90* and making another 2-3 splits - this gives more splits with fewer strokes. I also try to "short cycle" the ram - take it down just far enough to make the split, then back up just far enough to make room for the next round - big time savings when you are using a 4-5" cycle instead of a 24" cycle. I may actually try to adjust my valve to turn the auto-return off, as I find that I'm happier controlling it by hand anyway.
Another thing that I did on my splitter was to mark the beam for length - primarily by drilling with a large drill just enough to cut a "dimple" every two inches - staggering them on alternate sides of the web. I also stamped the measurments with a numbering set I had, but that was just being fancy... However it gives me a reference as to how far to cycle the wedge back up, and also gives me a "QA" check on the length so I can filter out the rounds that are over length. (This is the sort of thing you can do with your own machine, but not with a rental...)
Gooserider
Size wise, I think a 20 ton is about right, and I definitely fall in the go vertical camp. I don't see that much need for a multi-way wedge, it seems to me like it's a little less safe, and makes it harder to get just the size split you want. I often will take and split a log once or twice in one direction, and then hold the peices together while turning them 90* and making another 2-3 splits - this gives more splits with fewer strokes. I also try to "short cycle" the ram - take it down just far enough to make the split, then back up just far enough to make room for the next round - big time savings when you are using a 4-5" cycle instead of a 24" cycle. I may actually try to adjust my valve to turn the auto-return off, as I find that I'm happier controlling it by hand anyway.
Another thing that I did on my splitter was to mark the beam for length - primarily by drilling with a large drill just enough to cut a "dimple" every two inches - staggering them on alternate sides of the web. I also stamped the measurments with a numbering set I had, but that was just being fancy... However it gives me a reference as to how far to cycle the wedge back up, and also gives me a "QA" check on the length so I can filter out the rounds that are over length. (This is the sort of thing you can do with your own machine, but not with a rental...)
Gooserider