I just returned from my cabin and had a chance to use my 7-ton Pow'R'Kraft splitter on some larger rounds. I was splitting red oak which was felled last summer and cut into 6-foot lengths. I bucked it into 18-inch long rounds (one was 20" long) which were 18" in diameter. The splitter had no problem with any of them, including the 20" round, if I put the wedge into the fresh-cut end of the round. If I put the wedge into the soft end, which had been exposed to the elements for a year and a half, it would bury the wedge about an inch deep, but the round wouldn't split.
As far as my needs are concerned, this performance is just fine. I will always be bucking rounds which have at least one fresh-cut end and won't be splitting anything larger than 18" in diameter. I mention this latter point because I'm alone when splitting and a red oak round which is 18" in diameter and 18" long weighs about 160# (using a green density of 62# per cubic foot). Because this splitter is horizontal, you must lift the round onto the beam. I could barely roll these rounds off my hand truck onto my splitter, much less lift them alone. I continue to be a happy camper with my 7-ton Pow'R'Kraft.
I realize an 18" diameter round is small potatoes for many of you, but for my needs, it is plenty.
As far as my needs are concerned, this performance is just fine. I will always be bucking rounds which have at least one fresh-cut end and won't be splitting anything larger than 18" in diameter. I mention this latter point because I'm alone when splitting and a red oak round which is 18" in diameter and 18" long weighs about 160# (using a green density of 62# per cubic foot). Because this splitter is horizontal, you must lift the round onto the beam. I could barely roll these rounds off my hand truck onto my splitter, much less lift them alone. I continue to be a happy camper with my 7-ton Pow'R'Kraft.
I realize an 18" diameter round is small potatoes for many of you, but for my needs, it is plenty.