How well do manual hydrolic splitters work?

[Bezalel]

I'm thinking of picking up something like this ...

(broken link removed)

If this works well, I can go ahead and order the Ryobi 4 Ton Electric Splitter. The Ryobi will be for processing most of my wood, and the manual 10 Ton unit will be for those larger stubborn logs. I am thinly built and can't do much with a 8lbs maul!

 

[Eric Johnson]

I would buy the Ryobi and see if it splits your toughest wood. I suspect that operating those hand-operated hydraulic splitters get old pretty quick, and you may find that the Ryobi does most, if not all, of your wood.

 

[Roospike]

Manual hydraulic splitters are painfully slooooooooooooow..................

 

[ourhouse]

They don't work very well. the guy next door has one and he hates it.

 

[elkimmeg]

look at it this way when is the last time you used a hand saw to cut a full piece of 3/4" plywood

cutting the plywood maybe quicker than that manual hydraulic splitter Its a 10 ton jack

 

[Chuck Pearson]

I have an 8 ton manual splitter. It is fast enough for me but the first jack failed in a few weeks and the replacement failed six months later. After the second one failed I ordered a Japanese jack from a separate source. It was rated at only 5 tons but had a bigger ram than the "8 ton" original (Chinese?) jack. The answer to your question is that a manual splitter works well if you have small quantities or a lot of time but durability could be an issue.