Best splitter under $2k

Going to pull the trigger on a splitter. Was thinking Huskee 22 ton at TSC but after watching some YouTube videos I'm wanting to go bigger. Most all my wood is fairly knotty oak. Leaning toward the northern tool 37 ton. Any others I should consider at my price limit. Iron and Oak seem to be out of my budget.

american are good splitters. I just got one.

I have the huskee 22 ton. Great splitter.
Has the Briggs engine... Damn thing starts on the 2nd pull after sitting for months. People talk bad about them but I love them to death.

The splitter is pretty strong... the wedge can be removed and resharpened... I bet you probably could put a 4 way on it as well. I split mainly softwood this year so I can't talk about how good it is at going through oak. But it rarely ever had to go 2nd stage on the pump except on TERRIBLY crotchy pieces. Never had any problems with getting anything split though. The reason I went with this versus the Huskee 35 ton, is weight (22 ton is difficult enough rolling around the yard)... and I don't think I need the 35 ton. The higher tonnage you get, it seems the slower your cycle time as well. Some folks say cycle time isn't an issue, but when I'm running the 22 ton I can beat the cycle time fairly easy. But I like to move at a pretty quick pace. I think I paid 1199... Then it went on sale 2 weeks later for $1099 :|

Hass try extending your cyclinder before moving the splitter. My powerhorse dualsplitter was like this, fighting to get it off and on the trailer ball. With the cyclinder out weigth is cantilevered over the wheels, way easier to move around by hand.

I'll have to try that next time, thanks for the tip. I dreaded having to move it out to the wood pile... I usually ended up moving the wood pile to the splitter instead! :|

Ja, it's usually the folks that don't have a splitter that say that or the folk trying to justify why they cheaped out.

Even a slow splitter is better than NO splitter!

I can split by hand faster than most splitters, but I can't do cord after cord after cord!

For the money I think the Northern tool with a 4 way wedge is probably the way to go. The other splitters I have scene in the sub $2k category do not seem like a good value. I personally won't get any piece of power equipment without a Hinda engine when one is available, and that is a commercial Honda engine as well. Really the 30 ton should be fine but the cycle time is a little slower. I would like to know the price of the Super Split and Timber Wolf splitters.

The Huskee/Speeco 22 ton is probably the best bang for your buck in a low cost splitter and will split 99% of any wood. 37 ton will be real slow IMO only makes sense if your using a 4/6way wedge.

I got the 26 ton iron & oak. I think it was just below your max price. I got it from buyacehardware with the Subaru engine. Works great. Had tons of oak and hard maple in the 17+ inch diameter rounds at 20 inches tall. Took care of all of them.

The cycle time is 1 second different (14 vs. 13) so while it's a difference, worth it to me for the extra power. I'm big on the Honda motor as well.

I'm happy with my Troybilt 27 ton after @ 12 cords split. Its got a Honda engine and has never failed to split anything I fed it. About 3' fir has been its biggest yet.

I have the husky 22 ton. I'm currently splitting a bunch of large oak (largest around 36") with knots. Not very often will it change speeds. Between my use and the daughters youth group at church , I'm sure its split over 30 cords with no problems. I do wish the wedge was taller to help with the stringy woods. BTW, I think Tsc has them on sale for $999.

Thanks. Checked out the site. Free shipping makes this splitter in my range too. It's on my short list.

I have a hard time buying specific-use tools at retail. Have you tried Craigslist? You should be able to get 1/2 way to a processor for that kind of money.

I'm one of those jerks who say cycle time is not much of a consideration. But then, maybe I've not seen a slow splitter either. Just remember that it is rare to use the entire cycle! Lots of wood, including oak will split without running the wedge all the way down and most times I don't let the wedge go all the way back up either. If it has a 24" stroke and I'm splitting 16-18" wood, there is no reason to raise the wedge any higher than the wood that will be split. Of course, if you want a break you can let it go all the way up and take a deep breath...

As for tonnage, maybe some need it but our 20 ton has done the job very nicely for over 20 years now and we split a lot of elm too. With the 2-stage pump, if the splitting gets hard it does slow a bit for a second or two but still does the job and is plenty fast for me.

I use a Husky 35 ton and it will go through about anything. A20-22 ton would probably be sufficient but the heavier build of the 35 is what i liked about it.

Hey, I never called them jerks...
The only thing worse than waiting for the ram to extend is waiting for it to retract. Having to stay there to hold the lever rather than have it auto return while you get the next round is like driving behind a slowpoke in the fast lane. You're probably one of those that hold up the checkout line at the grocery digging around for exact change. Sheeesh! Life's too short to waste it on waiting.

I really like the short stop mod I did on my 20 ton. I can lock on the auto-return, go get my next round, and have the wedge within an inch of the wood. Cycle time counts in my book.

Who said anything about holding the lever and waiting for it to retract? Hit the handle to retract, clear your spot, hit the handle to stop it from being a full retract and load another round.

I know exactly what everyone is talking about and if you are splitting like this, cycle time is not going to make much of a difference if your talking about 2-4 second difference in total cycle time. Now if you have a unit that is 5-7 seconds and below (total cycle time), then there is going to be a difference in how you split.

The way BWS describes it, he extends the ram just a few inches so by simple deduction, he would have to retract it the same few inches. Not much time to go get another round in that short a time so may as well just sit there and hold the lever than wear out the detent. You can't setup the next round at the beam until the wedge is out of the way.

In my case, if I'm fast enough, the short stop kicked out the detent just as I'm about to drop the next round on the beam. I used to try to get back with the next round JIT and scramble to free one hand to knock the lever off the detent. More often than not, in the haste, I'd drop a round or stop it short or long.

IMHO, high end splitters should have adjustable auto-return kickout but then high end splitters probably have fast enough cycle time so as to make it a moot point.

Great idea! I was thinking about that they other day when splitting.... I wonder if you could retrofit something to make this possible?

Not sure about your Ariens but here's my thread on short stroke modding my MTD.
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/38669/

Awesome! I assume it still working well for you?

Ja, did that over 2 1/2 years ago and it still puts a smile on my face everytime I use it. Initially I kicked myself for waiting 5 years to try the mod.

Code:

[quote=LLigetfa][quote=MofoG23]
IMHO, high end splitters should have adjustable auto-return kickout but then high end splitters probably have fast enough cycle time so as to make it a moot point.[/quote]

How about cylinder stops. Very cheap and can be purchased at TSC or any ag supply stores. They just clip on the cylinder ram.
[url]http://www.tsrparts.com/straw-choppers-cylinder-stops.html[/url]