Tractor mounted splitter

[djblech]

Anyone have a tractor mounted splitter. Pro's and Con's. I have pretty much decided to get one because that will be one less motor to maintain. I am borrowing a gas engine one and it works fine but would be another large thing to store in my shop or garage. I have to much stuff as it is.
Doug

 

[smokinj]

cons are fuel in a small engine vs gas in a tractor.+ taking the splittr on and off. Not sure what the pro would be unless you can buy it much cheaper.

 

[leaddog]

Anyone have a tractor mounted splitter. Pro's and Con's. I have pretty much decided to get one because that will be one less motor to maintain. I am borrowing a gas engine one and it works fine but would be another large thing to store in my shop or garage. I have to much stuff as it is.
Doug

cons.
They are generally slow as tractor hyd. gpms are usually not high
You are running a large engine and putting time on your tractor. But if you have a deisel tractor it might be more efficiant than gas.
Depending how you use your tractor when splitting you won't be able to load wood into the loader when splitting or haul wood to the splitter.
Pro's
One less motor to keep up
cheaper

I have a 35 ton 12hp gas splitter which I really like except it is hard to start when cold and is a gas hog.
I just built a duel cyl splitter for my skidsteer which works very good. It's fast as I have high gpm flow and can split BIG stuff with out leaving the cab. But I running a 115hp engine and even though its diesel I don't think it is cheaper. They both have there place.
I'd like a elect. motor one on my 35 ton and then I'd use that here at the house and the skidsteer one in the woods.
leaddog

 

[firefighterjake]

Pro to tractor splitter: One less engine to maintain . . . may be a bit cheaper without the need to buy the engine

Con to tractor splitter: Consumes more fuel, if your tractor is out of service you also cannot split

 

[webie]

I actually have both a tractor splitter , ( Timberwolf TW3HD ) and an old an I mean old Speeco 16 ton on its 3rd engine now . I am on my 5th year of ownership on the tractor splitter . Here are all the Pros that I have for the tractor splitter and by the way I run this on a 32 HP deere . This thing is heavy at over 800 lbs so If it was self contained I would need a tractor or 4 wheeler to move it around anyways . So Its convenient to move its on the tractor , It is really quiet because the exhaust from the engine and engine noise are aways away from where you are working . I can process wood 24-7 with the cab lights and have split well into the darkness on several occasions . Its very economical as about a quart of diesel to a full cord of wood , I only run the tractor at about 50% throttle which is way faster than I can throw wood against this thing ( I can run a cord an hour on this ). Hook up is about a 15 minute process which is no big deal . Its height adjustable for working comfort . I love it the best investment I could have made and will never wear it out in my lifetime .
This is how I process my wood .
I have 40 acres of swampland with only one higher accessible spot . All trees that get dropped in the woods are brushed out in the same spot and dragged as long as possible sometimes the whole tree to this processing area on this hill and then unhooked from the tractor and this process continues over about 5 to 7 days of dropping time . All this time I have front end loader off of the tractor for 2 reasons as I am not able to carry the front end weight over the swampy soil even tho I have 4 wheel drive , plus its easier to get around in the woods . After I cut and drag what I think is enough wood I then switch modes and I go to my processing mode . On goes the loader , I am a firm believer in trying to handle my wood as little as possible . I have a small cleared area and what I do is take the tractor and loader and go back and connect on to a tree and drag it to this area and I on the bottom end and my gal on the small end we start cutting it up in blocks , Then I repeat this step with the next tree I drag it to the same area and then use the loader to push the tree on top of the cut block pile and we cut the next tree up on the same pile of blocks . I can usually cut the 14 cord a year I have to in 2 weekend days this way and All my firewood blocks are nearly all on the same pile . The next step is on goes the splitter on the tractor . The tractor and splitter we start on the one end and as I fire the wood thru the splitter the splits get thrown on my car hauler from there to go home some 3.5 miles away .
The only real cons I have is it does tie up the tractor , and I have had to take it off in between splitting but its no real big deal and also it does put clock hours on the tractor .
My splitter is fast , I have a 4 way wedge and a 6 way wedge the delivery table the log lift and the autocycle controls . and here is the link for it .
http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/log_splitters/default.asp?id=8
Oh yea and it has electric start .

 

[RowCropRenegade]

One pro to the tractor mounted is you can move the splitter to the bigger pieces if necessary. Also I can split pieces up to 30 inches on the tractor mount versus 22 on the husky mobile rig.

3 point hookups are easy if you unhook/level them correctly.

I think both types have their place in the wood lot.

 

[JustWood]

I'd never buy one.
Too many expensive moving parts on the tractor to wear out vs. a 8 or 10HP motor and small/cheap pump on a self contained splitter. I could easily swap out a pump on a SC splitter in less than an hour vs a tractor , who knows how long.

Portability of SC splitter.Could easily pull a spitter elsewhere if need be. Tractor may need trailered with a decent sized truck or roaded = wear on very expensive tires.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'd like a elect. motor one on my 35 ton

I love mine and much prefer it to my 3pt tied to tractor hydraulics splitter.

If you go the tractor route and you don't have a high flow pump, get one with a pto pump.

 

[djblech]

Thanks for all the info. I have a 45hp Kioti tractor that I have only put 150 hrs on in 3 yrs so I am actually hoping to run the tractor more with a tractor mounted splitter. I have an older client that I snow plow for that is letting me use her gas splitter so I can use that whenever I need it. My tractor has about an 18gpm pump, I run an auger and a small backhoe, so I think it should handle it. The adjustable height with the 3 pt sounds really good as my back is sore from bending over the borrowed splitter. The price is about $675 for a new 3pt which is a bit cheaper.
Thanks again.
Doug

 

[dirttracker]

I only have a 3pt mount splitter, so I may be a little biased.........I really like mine for it's mobility and the ability to set the height of the beam where I need it. I can take it almost anywhere in the woods easily and set the beam right on the ground and roll the large rounds on it to split into manageable size. I put an engine, pump, and reservoir on it so I don't have to run the tractor for power. The tractor hydo system would not have been up to the task anyway in my case. I used an 12.5 hp vertical shaft Kohler I had laying around (out of a broken John Deere riding mower). I don't have anything to compare the efficiency to, but it does not seem overly thirsty. It also makes a good counterweight for when I'm moving things around with the loader.

 

[flewism]

I believe everybody situation is different, me I only considered a 3pt splitter for a moment. First 90% of the time I'm splitting at home right by where we stack it. I used the tractor bucket to throw splits in sometimes but mostly use a 4' by 4' trailer behind a 4-wheeler for that. I used the tractor towing a 5 by 8 trailer to harvest wood. My tractor a New Holland TC-30 only pumps 6.5 gpm with the relief valve set at 2200 psi from the factory. If I was going to buy a PTO pump for it I would need to run the tractor engine at 2200rpm to get 540rpm on the rear PTO.
Plus my wife and kids can use the splitter and split wood without my presence. She likes to do it, getting out of the house ,working in the nice weather, and does it about three or four times a spring. She wouldn't be doing this if if she had to hook it up to the tractor. Now she just hooks it up to the 4-wheeler with the 2" ball and drags it out of the barn and splits away. If something doesn't split easily or is to heavy she just leaves it for me.
The wife and kids splitting is just an added bonus at this point in time.
An extra small engine, I've got lots of them anyway, oil and grease in the spring, Stabil in the fall.