Splitter all up

[KindredSpiritzz]

Rented me a wood splitter this past weekend so i could get ahead of the curve on splitting and dry time. Usually i split by hand but i had so much to split i needed help. Cost me $75 for 24 hrs. The brand was Iron & Oak which i never heard of before, guess Northern Tool sells it. Anyways i was very impressed putting it thru its paces. I loved the fast cycle time and it had more than enough muscle to get thru everything cept one piece of gnarly box elder i had. I quickly fell in love and hated to have to return it. I can see one of these in my future someday.





so i turned this


into this in about 10 hrs of splitting. Now the stacking begins. Im hoping/thinking that's 2 yrs worth of wood.

 

[Applesister]

Someone brought me the catalogue and they have a nice range of options. They offer a PTO driven splitter that runs off the hydraulics of a tractor. I used them before and they split twice as fast as a self contained model.
Since my tractors are always in questionable condition I never wanted to invest that type of model but Northern tool has some interesting products here.
Id like the chance to try one out.
Who did you rent the splitter from?

 

[Longstreet]

Wow. $75 for 24 hours would be a lot for around here. I've seen ads for $40 for a day or $100 a week.

I have a similar plan. I split most stuff by hand, but then stockpile the large and difficult pieces. When that pile gets too large, I will rent a splitter. Once a year at most.

We need pictures of the stacks when you get them finished.

 

[midwestcoast]

Nice bit of work there. Those Iron & Oak are beefy, top quality machines popular for use as rentals. Or in other words, virtually indestructable.
I rented the same model a few years ago and other than the auto-return detent being worn from heavy use, it worked perfect vertical & horizontal. Good cycle time.
My rental place is closed Sundays, so i get late Saturday afternoon to Monday morning for the 1 day rate.
Hard to argue with $75 for two years worth of splitting!

 

[JRHAWK9]

http://www.ironandoak.com/vhmodels/26ton.html

I rented an Iron & Oak awhile ago before I purchased mine and it was a POS. May have been at the end of it's life though as it was pretty beat up. Plate screws loose for the wedge, control valve sloppy. The hydraulic hose ended up breaking and throwing fluid all over the place. We ended up getting a partial credit. It wasn't too long after that they purchased one of -THESE- for their rental unit. It too has the same 12 second cycle time as the Iron & Oak does above.

I ended up purchasing the almost identical one to the Power Pro above, but it has the standard Briggs motor and not the Vanguard/Honda. Still has the same 12 second cycle time due to having the same pump and same hydraulic ram. http://www.speeco.com/products.aspx?id=95&prod=356 I have the optional -LOG CATCHER- and -ADJUSTABLE 2/4 WAY WEDGE- on mine.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

the only thing i didnt like was i thought the splitting head could have been bigger and i found splitting vertically was challenging. Anytime you're splitting vertical its cause the round is to big to lift and its not easy to wrestle that big a round on that little platform when its in vertical. Next time i'd hand split my big rounds in half before using the splitter. It was a pretty new machine so it ran great.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Vertical does save your back. I split my big rounds in half or quarter them first and "horizontal" them into smaller with the rest of the regular rounds.

 

[n3pro]

I do similar, I have a pile of stuff I just can't get through by hand. I rent a spliter once a year usually around $50 for one day. As much as I have been tempted to buy one I think at $50 a year how long it would take to get to 1,000 cost of a splitter plus I don't have to try to store it, I don't have the maintenance it works well for me. One of my gripes living in the suburbs, lack of storage space. I have enough frustration and time wasted with seasonal changes (lawn mower to snow blower). Nice work.