Finally

[Wood Collector]

Yes its an odd thing to buy yourself on the 4th of July. Most people are buying BBQ Grills and the like . But noooooooo, not me, the Dirty Hand Tools 22 ton splitter was on sale and I had a $100 gift card in my wallet ....Well you can pretty much guess the rest, 4th of July afternoon in the backyard splitting whatever I could find. Neighbors looking over with a curious look... and me with a big smile plastered on my face!

 

[firefighterjake]

Seems normal to me . . . I spent the morning cutting firewood on a friend's sugar maple farm. Parades, fireworks and family gatherings? Nobody got time for that.

 

[matt1@]

Nice! I've hand my DHT 22 ton for 2 years that I too got on sale at Lowes and i'm lovin every minute of it. Rock on!

 

[Wickets]

Nice! I've hand my DHT 22 ton for 2 years that I too got on sale at Lowes and i'm lovin every minute of it. Rock on!

Agree...I bought mine last year (my first with wood and saws and stoves etc)

and it survived me using it which means its best one evahh!! lol

 

[Wood Collector]

Some great proof of my choice in those pictures

 

[matt1@]

Absolutely! I've been busy with mine too, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I split 10 racks full like this without issue. Have fun!

 

[osagebow]

Congrats! Don't forget to tighten everything back up after a few uses, and get that first quick oil change done. Hopefully less of a PITA than changing oil on the husky splitters

 

[Chap]

I am going to Lowe's tomorrow to buy the very same thing. I don't have the gift card in hand but with the 10% veteran discount it will come out about the same. Did you have any issues with loose bolts or hoses? Many of the reviews on the Lowe's website make mention of that sort of thing.

Did you/are you getting the DHT wood catcher for it? None of my area Lowe's have it in stock, but I put it on order this afternoon.

 

[matt1@]

+2 on checking the bolts for tightness before towing. Also check for holes where bolts may be missing. I towed mine home 15 miles on the highway and realized when i got home, the bolts where the main beam is held down on the frame were there, but the nuts were missing. I guess i got lucky it made it home without the beam flopping up on me over bumps

 

[Wood Collector]

I am going to Lowe's tomorrow to buy the very same thing. I don't have the gift card in hand but with the 10% veteran discount it will come out about the same. Did you have any issues with loose bolts or hoses? Many of the reviews on the Lowe's website make mention of that sort of thing.

Did you/are you getting the DHT wood catcher for it? None of my area Lowe's have it in stock, but I put it on order this afternoon.[/QUOTE

Chap,
After reading the reviews I just went ahead and did the bolt & line check once I got it home. Everything was good! Nothing was loose even after a half hour of splitting. I checked the lines and no leaks. I did by another gallon of hydraulic fluid since it only comes with (5) gallons. Also bought 2 quarts of motor oil to do an oil change after about an hours run time.

 

[Wood Collector]

I am going to Lowe's tomorrow to buy the very same thing. I don't have the gift card in hand but with the 10% veteran discount it will come out about the same. Did you have any issues with loose bolts or hoses? Many of the reviews on the Lowe's website make mention of that sort of thing.

Did you/are you getting the DHT wood catcher for it? None of my area Lowe's have it in stock, but I put it on order this afternoon.

I'll be getting mine direct from DHT... So yes I'm getting one.

 

[Wood Collector]

I do want to thank everybody for the advice they gave me for my splitter! Your time to respond and passing on experience is much appreciated. I love my splitter and feel more confident with it thanks to all the advice!! Thanks again!

 

[Wood Collector]

+2 on checking the bolts for tightness before towing. Also check for holes where bolts may be missing. I towed mine home 15 miles on the highway and realized when i got home, the bolts where the main beam is held down on the frame were there, but the nuts were missing. I guess i got lucky it made it home without the beam flopping up on me over bumps

whoa! You did get lucky! Whith 60 lbs of air in the tires they trailer kinda bouncy...

 

[matt1@]

I know! Ha ha

 

[Beer Belly]

Nothin' like hydraulics .....and yes, do that first oil change....don't ask how I know

 

[Wood Collector]

Nothin' like hydraulics .....and yes, do that first oil change....don't ask how I know

Ok beer belly, You gotta tell us how you know.. I've been wondering what happened since I saw this while drinking my morning coffee...

 

[Chap]

So I went to (S)Lowe's last night to buy me one of these splitters. Only one store near me had them in stock according to the website and that store was 30-40 minutes away. But the website said it was ready for store pick-up so I loaded into my truck and off I went. Once at the store, I wandered here and there and everywhere but could not find any sign of a log splitter, any log splitter. So I finally tracked down an employee, who of course had no clue what I was talking about, but called someone on the phone about it. After the phone call I was told that the splitter was still in the crate "because we don't normally assemble them until next month." When I asked if I could just take the crate and assemble it myself the young man called back whomever he had called and then told me that no I couldn't just take it in the crate, but that they would have someone assemble it for me first thing tomorrow morning and I could come back and pick it up then.

(I bet you can already see where this is going....sigh)

So got back into my truck today, drove the 40 minutes to (S)Lowe's to pick up my shiny, new, and newly assembled log splitter. Once I got to the store I of course could not find anyone that knew anything about a log splitter nor about one needing to be assembled for a customer. Come to find out that the young man last night "didn't enter it into the computer and so we didn't know it needed to be assembled." So the splitter is still in its crate sitting in the back room. This time when I asked about just taking it in the crate and assembling it myself I was told that was ok. So while the young women loaded it up on the forklift, I went and found a manager to express my dissatisfaction. The manager offered me 5% off of the splitter, mostly to just make me go away. I took that deal and the guy at customer service let me through my 10% off military discount on top. So now I was getting the splitter for around $850 and while not happy to be assembling it myself I was happy at the price.

So I make the 40 minute drive back home with my shiny new (but disassembled) splitter in the bed of my truck. Once home I quickly grabbed my cordless screwdriver and opened up the crate. There before me was not a shiny new log splitter but instead a rusted up log splitter.

Now I was mad.

I called Lowe's and talked to the same manager, who offered me an additional 5% off if I just kept the rusted up piece of junk. I very firmly said NO. So then he gave me the option of returning it to another closer Lowe's and having them special order me a new one that will be available in a week.

End result at this time....no shiny new log splitter for me. Sigh.

 

[volunbeer]

Customer service has gotten really bad at the Lowes store closest to me, but I would encourage anyone who buys one of these to assemble it themselves so you know it is done correctly. There is not that much assembly and you want to check all the nuts and bolts anyways to make sure they are not loose.

I went back today and bit the bullet and bought the 4 year product protection plan - have had the splitter for 3 months and it has already done probably close to 20 cords. Figured it would get biggest workout in the first 4 years as I am clearing trees on my property so that may pay for itself. Will see.

 

[Wood Collector]

So I went to (S)Lowe's last night to buy me one of these splitters. Only one store near me had them in stock according to the website and that store was 30-40 minutes away. But the website said it was ready for store pick-up so I loaded into my truck and off I went. Once at the store, I wandered here and there and everywhere but could not find any sign of a log splitter, any log splitter. So I finally tracked down an employee, who of course had no clue what I was talking about, but called someone on the phone about it. After the phone call I was told that the splitter was still in the crate "because we don't normally assemble them until next month." When I asked if I could just take the crate and assemble it myself the young man called back whomever he had called and then told me that no I couldn't just take it in the crate, but that they would have someone assemble it for me first thing tomorrow morning and I could come back and pick it up then.

(I bet you can already see where this is going....sigh)

So got back into my truck today, drove the 40 minutes to (S)Lowe's to pick up my shiny, new, and newly assembled log splitter. Once I got to the store I of course could not find anyone that knew anything about a log splitter nor about one needing to be assembled for a customer. Come to find out that the young man last night "didn't enter it into the computer and so we didn't know it needed to be assembled." So the splitter is still in its crate sitting in the back room. This time when I asked about just taking it in the crate and assembling it myself I was told that was ok. So while the young women loaded it up on the forklift, I went and found a manager to express my dissatisfaction. The manager offered me 5% off of the splitter, mostly to just make me go away. I took that deal and the guy at customer service let me through my 10% off military discount on top. So now I was getting the splitter for around $850 and while not happy to be assembling it myself I was happy at the price.

So I make the 40 minute drive back home with my shiny new (but disassembled) splitter in the bed of my truck. Once home I quickly grabbed my cordless screwdriver and opened up the crate. There before me was not a shiny new log splitter but instead a rusted up log splitter.

Now I was mad.

I called Lowe's and talked to the same manager, who offered me an additional 5% off if I just kept the rusted up piece of junk. I very firmly said NO. So then he gave me the option of returning it to another closer Lowe's and having them special order me a new one that will be available in a week.

End result at this time....no shiny new log splitter for me. Sigh.

Chap, sorry you had such a rough time with your first one. But the good thing is It'll be worth the wait! When you fire that thing up the first time you'll be smiling ear to ear! Just remember to check all the bolts and lines. Get an extra gallon of hydraulic fluid and (2) quarts of oil, (1)quart for break in the other for the splitting season.

 

[Beer Belly]

I didn't do my 5 hr. Oil Change.....more like 30+.....motor blew up.....$500 repair

Ok beer belly, You gotta tell us how you know.. I've been wondering what happened since I saw this while drinking my morning coffee...

 

[Wood Collector]

I didn't do my 5 hr. Oil Change.....more like 30+.....motor blew up.....$500 repair

In my little mind I wouldn't think that 5 hr oil change is necessary. But things are different these days it appears...

 

[Ashful]

Be happy you get to assemble it yourself. I have never, not once in my life, bought a store-assembled machine that didn't have at least one issue due to incorrect assembly. Eg, on my Huskee, the motor wasn't bolted securely to the frame, and all the bolts worked loose over the first two hours of use. Started shaking like hell, but easily resolved once the problem was spotted and corrected. Other experiences with in-store assembly have been worse.

 

[HybridFyre]

In my little mind I wouldn't think that 5 hr oil change is necessary. But things are different these days it appears...

Any new engine or rebuild and I don't even wait the five hours. I do a 30 or 60 minute flush then again at 5 hours. Small engines only take a quart or two. The few bucks is worth the peace of mind. A lot of shavings can come off during the piston break in and valve seating process. All it takes is a few little shavings to get into the crank/Rod mount and it can seize.

 

[Wood Collector]

Sunday I got to try this splitter out on some nice 20" diameter Cherry rounds that were crotch sections for the most part. Even the farmer joined me to watch. Well as I had hoped, 22 tons was plenty enough! Through the toughest parts it slowed down a little but just kept on pushing. Busted right thru where a 8" limb was branching out with no problem! Yes, the farmer and I were quite impressed. So after I get home I figured this would be a good time to do oil change #3. Given all of the advice, warnings and experiences on this posting & web site my splitter should be good to go for February & March splitting season!

 

[Chap]

So after my experience of trying to get one of these splitters at an area Lowe's I just went ahead and ordered one online from Lowe's before the sale ended. I picked it and the log catcher up yestererday from a much better Lowe's nearer to my home. It came in the large coffin like crate disassembled. It was a bit of a chore to unpackage the thing, since it was bolted down to the bottom of the crate, but with my wife's help I was able to get it put together and even ran a few pieces of wood through it. Unfortunately it now has to sit until I find the time to make full use of it. I am in the middle of building a chicken coop/barn, the thing has gotten a bit out of hand, and can't play with my new toy until that project is done