It's a monster. But it's been sitting for about 6 years. It ran when he last used it and moved away for a while. He tried to start it last year and it wouldnt turn over. It's got an 18HP Wisconsin engine. I figure worst case scenario, I can fit it with a smaller engine if I cant free this one up. I can get it for $150. He said the hydraulics, tank, and pump are all fine (not sure how he knows that). But I figure it's worth $150 to take a chance. It weighs 1500-2000 Lbs. I almost bought the 30 Ton from Harbor Freight. But I'll try this first to see if it will pan out. It way outpowers any of my needs, but better too much then not enough. Here's a pic of it. Thoughts?
47 Ton splitter I may be getting this evening. What do you think?
- Thread starter mlexp
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![[Hearth.com] 47 Ton splitter I may be getting this evening. What do you think?](/talk/data/attachments/4/4975-611cee412ec9094a3e79833df0b30a5a.jpg?hash=jDuHRy_-Pn)
- Jun 12, 2006
- 1,053
Wow! comes to mind!
I'm a maul & wedge type myself, but a deal like that would probably get me interested. get some Kroil & Kerosene in the cylinders and campaign the carb while it soaks... A good cleaning for the fuel tank... I think I'd blow out or replace the fuel lines (if they are soft tube)...
Good luck!
Mike P
I'm a maul & wedge type myself, but a deal like that would probably get me interested. get some Kroil & Kerosene in the cylinders and campaign the carb while it soaks... A good cleaning for the fuel tank... I think I'd blow out or replace the fuel lines (if they are soft tube)...
Good luck!
Mike P
WOW is right.
I too am a maul and wedge guy but 150 is worth the chance. What ever it may need may be cheaper than a new one, plus in repairing you will know every aspect of the beast.
Good luck and let us know how it works.
I too am a maul and wedge guy but 150 is worth the chance. What ever it may need may be cheaper than a new one, plus in repairing you will know every aspect of the beast.
Good luck and let us know how it works.
Yeah, I may get it Saturday instead. But I thought it is worth the chance. Just been reading here for so long, that I figured I'd ask for some unsolicited opinions.
Is that the 4 cyl. V4 style wisconsin? 18hp would be like a VE4 I believe. If so, they can be kinda picky. Many of those used on yesteryear combines and other things. Just be aware, they like to stick valves when not in use. And pulling the heads off can be a real PIA. They like to break head bolts. Honest horse power though.
I may just put a vertical shaft Robin engine on it or something comparable. God knows I dont need 47 tons of splitting power. Half that would suffice. But I need to do my homework about horsepower and hydraulics to make sure what size of an engine is too small and cannot drive the pump...etc.
And I cant believe no one has made any statements about how striking it is to look at... 
My wife is going to kill me when I pull that contraption into our driveway. I guess I can give her a portion of the $2500+ per year we would be spending on oil to run our boiler if we didnt werent heating with wood. That should keep her happy. I had a window salesman come by to sell me replacement thermal windows a couple years ago. I told him I wanted the windows for $189 each installed, they were double pane, double hung windows. He then started into his pitch and opened catalogs telling me I should upgrade to a triple pane, and other thermal features. When I refused, he said, "well, let me ask you one thing, how much did you spend on heating this 4600 Sq ft. house last year for the whole season?" I answered, "all season? $29 (gas, and other incidentals), I heat with wood I get myself". He closed the books and said, "well, no use going into that then". It was great.
My wife is going to kill me when I pull that contraption into our driveway. I guess I can give her a portion of the $2500+ per year we would be spending on oil to run our boiler if we didnt werent heating with wood. That should keep her happy. I had a window salesman come by to sell me replacement thermal windows a couple years ago. I told him I wanted the windows for $189 each installed, they were double pane, double hung windows. He then started into his pitch and opened catalogs telling me I should upgrade to a triple pane, and other thermal features. When I refused, he said, "well, let me ask you one thing, how much did you spend on heating this 4600 Sq ft. house last year for the whole season?" I answered, "all season? $29 (gas, and other incidentals), I heat with wood I get myself". He closed the books and said, "well, no use going into that then". It was great.
mlexp said:
That will be directly relational to the pump style (2 stage or not), and the GPM output of the pump.
***edit*** out of curiosity, what is the diameter of the cylinder?
I have no idea. He said all of the hydraulics came off a trash truck. Hence the ridiculous crushing power it has. Should be fun (sarcastic) to get hydraulic parts for though. I can see it now going into a trucking supply company with a bypass valve I need, and having them ask me what year my truck is.... Hehe.
The price is definitely right, and if you've got the space to store it, why not. One thing I would look at is getting the GPM ratings off the pump, size of the cylinder, etc and work out what the expected cycle time is. It may be 47 tons, but if through some combination of pump GPM and cylinder size, it takes 50 or 60 seconds to run a cycle, you'll be forever trying to split a cord of wood. Another thing to consider is to see if it has a four (or hell, 8 way) splitting wedge with 47 tons! That might help you get done faster, too.
It really seems at though there is a 'curve' for splitter capacity. Elkimmeg will tell you his 12? ton electric unit does a pretty good job - and I would wager it can split probably 95+% of the firewood he finds. My splitter tops out at about 19 tons and I run across a bad 'crotch' section of wood every now and then that I can't get through, but anything with a relatively straight grain is going to get split - I'd say it gets 98-99% of the wood. Going up again, 25-30 tons probably gets 99.5% of the wood. But you see how increasing the power isn't really getting through substantially more wood.
Anyway, let us know how it goes if you get that sucker fired up!
Corey
It really seems at though there is a 'curve' for splitter capacity. Elkimmeg will tell you his 12? ton electric unit does a pretty good job - and I would wager it can split probably 95+% of the firewood he finds. My splitter tops out at about 19 tons and I run across a bad 'crotch' section of wood every now and then that I can't get through, but anything with a relatively straight grain is going to get split - I'd say it gets 98-99% of the wood. Going up again, 25-30 tons probably gets 99.5% of the wood. But you see how increasing the power isn't really getting through substantially more wood.
Anyway, let us know how it goes if you get that sucker fired up!
Corey
Alright guys. Supposedly, I'm picking it up tomorrow. If it doesnt fall off the trailer and kill someone or during a hard braking doesnt come forward and kill me.... I will report on my progress (if any) next week. Thanks for all the comments.
Ok, it's in my driveway. I may just put this on ebay. This is WAY too much splitter for me. I really had a chance while looking at it yesterday to understand how large, mammoth, and how heavy it is. Not to mention, it basically holds loads more power than I would ever have an honest need for. It's crushing force is more along the lines of a firewood processor. I may put it online this weekend, take the money, and put it toward the $1299.99 30 tonner at Harbor Freight. I will post pics of it ASAP so you guys can see what I mean. It has a 35 Gallon hydraulic tank and the cylinder looks at least 5 feet long if that gives any idea!! I'll take measurements on it too if you guys are curious about this behemoth. Just let me know what dimensions you are curious about. I may spray paint the words "Goliath the David Pulverizer" on the side of it. Hehe.
Good luck with that wisconsin mine had a VH4D on it and all of the rings are froze up. I am putting a VW engine on mine right now.
Kelly
Kelly
This one has a 2 cylinder THD series Wisconsin. I just saw a used one on Ebay sell for around $420. I wonder how a VW would work as far as RPM's and mounting it.
I had a 1200 cc VW my dad took out of his car and i was given a used transmission that i cut the bell housing off of so that i could keep the clutch. Then i used the input shaft of the tranny to turn the pump. So i haven't had to spend no more than the $250 i paid for it so far.
Kelly
Kelly
You might want 2 consider the 20 ton northstar splitter at northern tools.com
its 500.00 less and only 1 % difference in the work it will do. It wont split that 1 log out of 100
how many cords of green firewood you get for 500.oo = 3 cords of wood @165.oo cord delevered, with 5 bucks change.
You can get the 4 way wedge 4 that machine, too.
I am buying one ,20 ton, this week. I was looking very hard at the 30 ton, but what the guys say here
change my mind.
$500.oo almost enough for a 1400 sq ft eva rated non cat stove, if u shop home depot or lowes.
hint: same stove at both stores. englander @ home depot & summerheat@loews all made same factory/parts interchange.
its 500.00 less and only 1 % difference in the work it will do. It wont split that 1 log out of 100
how many cords of green firewood you get for 500.oo = 3 cords of wood @165.oo cord delevered, with 5 bucks change.
You can get the 4 way wedge 4 that machine, too.
I am buying one ,20 ton, this week. I was looking very hard at the 30 ton, but what the guys say here
change my mind.
$500.oo almost enough for a 1400 sq ft eva rated non cat stove, if u shop home depot or lowes.
hint: same stove at both stores. englander @ home depot & summerheat@loews all made same factory/parts interchange.
Would you still feel the same way is the $1299 one was $909? I have a 30% off coupon for Harfor Freight for a single item. I wonder if Lowes, Home depot, Northern, or other competitors honor Harbor Freight coupons. I know Lowes honors Home depot and Vice Versa...
How the heck did you get that coupon?
I've spent quite a few bucks there (including a 30 ton splitter a year ago for a grand), and they've never sent me a 30% coupon?
I've spent quite a few bucks there (including a 30 ton splitter a year ago for a grand), and they've never sent me a 30% coupon?
My sister sent it to me. She knew I could find a large purchase to make it worthwhile. I tried to use it online because they sell the recertified splitter on their website. Exact same splitter for $899. $400 cheaper
! But after chatting with the online rep on screen, she told me that my coupon was only good for retail store purchases. And the recertified version of the splitter wasnt a ship to store item, just the new $1299 one. Can you imagine getting a 30 ton for $600!! That would have been great. But $909 will have to do.
! But after chatting with the online rep on screen, she told me that my coupon was only good for retail store purchases. And the recertified version of the splitter wasnt a ship to store item, just the new $1299 one. Can you imagine getting a 30 ton for $600!! That would have been great. But $909 will have to do.How do you like your 30 TON HF splitter? Has it been reliable? Is it the Robin Subaru engine like the one they sell now? or the B&S
Recertified? Is that like refurbished? 909 is still a great deal. Shipping was 60 bucks at the time.
I wrote up some impressions and so did another guy.
I had a bad leak from the cylinder, told HF about it, and they sent me a new cylinder and told me to keep the old one.
Thing is, the leak cleared up, and now I have an extra cylinder.
My valve's detent also wouldn't hold, so they sent me a new valve.
I wound up turning around the cylinder actuator that the handle connects to and it fixed it, mostly.
I just wasn't into replacing it-at the time I was splitting wood.
The replacement cylinder took a while to get here, and as I said, it looks like it might have worked itself out.
I think the Robin engine is great. Starts with one pull (auto compression release), chain drive overhead cam, quiet.
I put it on partial throttle and it got through most everything. Once or twice I cranked up the rpms for a tough piece, but that was it.
I split about 6 cords.
I also bought the hf all terrain trailer dolly to move it around and brought it into the garage every time I was finished working with it.
Here is a link with pictures to a thread I hijacked: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3912/P45/#49090
I wrote up some impressions and so did another guy.
I had a bad leak from the cylinder, told HF about it, and they sent me a new cylinder and told me to keep the old one.
Thing is, the leak cleared up, and now I have an extra cylinder.
My valve's detent also wouldn't hold, so they sent me a new valve.
I wound up turning around the cylinder actuator that the handle connects to and it fixed it, mostly.
I just wasn't into replacing it-at the time I was splitting wood.
The replacement cylinder took a while to get here, and as I said, it looks like it might have worked itself out.
I think the Robin engine is great. Starts with one pull (auto compression release), chain drive overhead cam, quiet.
I put it on partial throttle and it got through most everything. Once or twice I cranked up the rpms for a tough piece, but that was it.
I split about 6 cords.
I also bought the hf all terrain trailer dolly to move it around and brought it into the garage every time I was finished working with it.
Here is a link with pictures to a thread I hijacked: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3912/P45/#49090
mlexp said:How do you like your 30 TON HF splitter? Has it been reliable? Is it the Robin Subaru engine like the one they sell now? or the B&S
I am in the second year of my 24 ton HF splitter. I have split about 42 cords with it and no problems. I have never ran it at more than half throtel and it will split anything. The one problem I have is the valve has a small leak. The Robin engine is great and very quiet. I use alot of diffrent engines in my job ( clear pumps, trash pumps, and generaters) Hondas and Brigs. The Robin is clearly better than the Brigs. and equal or better than the Honda. I don't think you can go wrong with the HF 24 ton or the 30 ton splitter with a Robin engine.
I bet I here from the HONDA GODS shortly :coolgrin:
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