I've done all my splitting by hand these past 62 years (although I didn't start splitting until I was in my 30s!) and decided it was time to give my body a bit of a rest and try a log splitter. I didn't want a big gas powered unit due to storage requirements and thought a small electric splitter would fit the bill. I found this Powerhouse 7 ton unit on Sale online at Sears for $347 and free shipping, so I bought it. The unit arrived yesterday via UPS even though it weighed 120 lbs.!
I assembled it this morning, which only consists of bolting on the wheels and legs. Here are some photos:
It will handle logs just over 20" in length. You can see the 8" - 10" rounds of some oak I split to try it out. It split the green oak with no trouble, so it looks like it should handle my splitting needs. As some other owners on this forum have mentioned I converted the unit to one hand operation by removing the plate that goes between the two handles and then attaching a yoke between the two levers. Here is a before and after photo:
For safety reasons you have to hold down both these levers to activate the ram. It's hard to see, but there is a plate running straight back between the two levers to prevent you from using just one hand. I had read online where other guys with similar units removed the plate so you could use just one hand to push the two levers down and then have your other hand free to balance the log so that it didn't shift when the ram pushed it against the wedge. I did the same thing and also made a custom handle to yoke the two levers together.
I took off the plastic end caps on the half inch diameter levers and then used a piece of a tree limb that was about an inch and quarter in diameter for the yoke. I drilled a couple of holes in it and tapped it onto the levers and it works great.
I assembled it this morning, which only consists of bolting on the wheels and legs. Here are some photos:
It will handle logs just over 20" in length. You can see the 8" - 10" rounds of some oak I split to try it out. It split the green oak with no trouble, so it looks like it should handle my splitting needs. As some other owners on this forum have mentioned I converted the unit to one hand operation by removing the plate that goes between the two handles and then attaching a yoke between the two levers. Here is a before and after photo:
For safety reasons you have to hold down both these levers to activate the ram. It's hard to see, but there is a plate running straight back between the two levers to prevent you from using just one hand. I had read online where other guys with similar units removed the plate so you could use just one hand to push the two levers down and then have your other hand free to balance the log so that it didn't shift when the ram pushed it against the wedge. I did the same thing and also made a custom handle to yoke the two levers together.
I took off the plastic end caps on the half inch diameter levers and then used a piece of a tree limb that was about an inch and quarter in diameter for the yoke. I drilled a couple of holes in it and tapped it onto the levers and it works great.
