I see TSC has these on sale for 1599, anyone have any opinions on these?? Any complaints on the Briggs? Are these engines much louder than the Hondas? Are the horizontal shaft engines more durable than the vertical shafts ? I like the 5" cylinder and 16gpm pump. Price seems pretty good too.
huskee 35 ton
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They should be good but you could save several hundred dollars by buying a 22 ton which should split all you need. My 20 ton has worked out well and it also has the Briggs engine. Neighbor has one (22 ton) with the Honda. They are pretty well even all the way.
Backwoods Savage said:
I am kind of up in the air right now. I have been looking at these too, but don't like the exhaust set up blowing at you when horizontal. And sounds a bit loud too. I have seen on youtube them splitting large rounds but seems to struggle somewhat. That is the kind of stuff I have right now, 20" red oak rounds and some poplar, and a little pine. Just not sure if the extra $500 is worth it or not. I am just not sure (cause I don't have one) if the 22 ton would "wear out" soon with alot of struggling.
Wachy, I have no idea why you would want to split in the horizontal position. That is the worst way to split because you have to lift every piece. Working with wood is hard enough so why make it harder? I know it is not recommended but when I split, I also sit. I do not lift the logs but simply roll them onto the splitting block. That does not mean I lay them down to roll either. Just tip them a little and roll that way and it is very easy to do, and quick too. A 20" red oak is not that big and will split very easy except in knotty parts.
This reminds me of a neighbor who for years split with a home made splitter he used with his tractor. Talk about slow
! Several times I offered to let him use ours but he always declined. Then one day he was complaining because he had some big oak that he could not split. Again I offered. It was then that he finally came out with it. He thought that I had to pick up the log and split it horizontally!
Shorten the story, I hooked onto the splitter and headed to his place. He was right that it was some big oak!! I did not measure but it was at least 48" across. I backed the splitter up to the logs, stood the splitter up vertical and put one on. He was amazed to say the least. We made short work of those logs. He had more stuff to split but it was smaller so he declined my offer to leave the splitter there. I now know why. Before the day was done, he had bought a new splitter like ours! Well, the design has changed a bit and his has a Honda motor but it is basically the same splitter.
Again I'll say that the best way (unless a guy really likes to work hard) is to split vertically. It is also the fastest way to split. As for danger, what they speak of is sometimes certain woods will have a tendency to fly when split; usually soft maple when you are splitting really thin. Sitting facing the splitter like I do, there is no danger like that. The biggest danger is probably if someone put his finger or thumb where the splitter does its work. You would find out really fast how strong that splitter was and probably learn a new dance too.
Here is how I split wood:
![[Hearth.com] huskee 35 ton](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/denniscook4-4-09b-gif.210725/ "[Hearth.com] huskee 35 ton")
This reminds me of a neighbor who for years split with a home made splitter he used with his tractor. Talk about slow
! Several times I offered to let him use ours but he always declined. Then one day he was complaining because he had some big oak that he could not split. Again I offered. It was then that he finally came out with it. He thought that I had to pick up the log and split it horizontally!Shorten the story, I hooked onto the splitter and headed to his place. He was right that it was some big oak!! I did not measure but it was at least 48" across. I backed the splitter up to the logs, stood the splitter up vertical and put one on. He was amazed to say the least. We made short work of those logs. He had more stuff to split but it was smaller so he declined my offer to leave the splitter there. I now know why. Before the day was done, he had bought a new splitter like ours! Well, the design has changed a bit and his has a Honda motor but it is basically the same splitter.
Again I'll say that the best way (unless a guy really likes to work hard) is to split vertically. It is also the fastest way to split. As for danger, what they speak of is sometimes certain woods will have a tendency to fly when split; usually soft maple when you are splitting really thin. Sitting facing the splitter like I do, there is no danger like that. The biggest danger is probably if someone put his finger or thumb where the splitter does its work. You would find out really fast how strong that splitter was and probably learn a new dance too.
Here is how I split wood:
Thanks, I should have clarified that I don't intend to split horizontally much at all. And that really the oak varies from 20" to 40" with quite a few crotches and the 22 ton looks like it may do what I need. Just not wanting to "overwork" the hydraulics and blow something apart. Do they have a limit valve or something to avert a failure of a overpressure situation or will it end up blowing something up? Just don't want my wife or someone else to get hurt trying to split some hard oak and the cylinder stops, They keep the valve open, thinking it will eventually go thru, and BOOM the whole thing blows apart in their face.
I don't think you have any worries there. In all the time I've split, I've had only one piece it didn't go through.
When the ram stopped, it made some noise, so I just let up on the lever. I've did that on a couple others that stopped the ram and then I turned the log over and split that way. Nothing bad has ever happened.
Nice thing about these is they have a 2 stage pump. When extra power is needed, the ram slows down and you get extra power. It will kick back into the higher speed automatically the same as it kicked into the lower speed.
When the ram stopped, it made some noise, so I just let up on the lever. I've did that on a couple others that stopped the ram and then I turned the log over and split that way. Nothing bad has ever happened.
Nice thing about these is they have a 2 stage pump. When extra power is needed, the ram slows down and you get extra power. It will kick back into the higher speed automatically the same as it kicked into the lower speed.
The splitters are all supposed to have an overpressure relief valve that will open around 3,000 psi, well before any parts would exceed their test limits. On top of that, the horsepower needed to drive a pump goes up with the pressure, so I would expect that if the relief valve didn't pop, you'd stall the engine...
I've got a 30 ton, and have used a 20 ton quite a bit, and I can't say there is a lot of practical difference in the ability of either to split... I wouldn't put it as a "priority" but if I ever needed to replace my cylinder, I'd be seriously tempted to replace my current 5" w/ a 4" cylinder. This would theoretically drop the splitting power from 30 tons to 20, which I don't think would be a big deal, but it would give about a 20% faster cycle time...
Gooserider
I've got a 30 ton, and have used a 20 ton quite a bit, and I can't say there is a lot of practical difference in the ability of either to split... I wouldn't put it as a "priority" but if I ever needed to replace my cylinder, I'd be seriously tempted to replace my current 5" w/ a 4" cylinder. This would theoretically drop the splitting power from 30 tons to 20, which I don't think would be a big deal, but it would give about a 20% faster cycle time...
Gooserider
Wacky 1, I live in Clarksburg WV and I'm in the same boat as you. Trying to decide betwwen 28 or 22 ton Huskee. Lets us know how you like the 22 ton. Thanks
I have about 4 weeks on my Huskee 22 ton. I have split maple, cherry, locust and elm. Most rounds it goes through like butter. The elm was by far the hardest to get through, 24" across but it did the job. Knotty pieces and all. My only complaint thus far is I find the plate to be too small for larger rounds to stand on easily....not a big deal though, a little balancing with the left hand and it works. I think it has plenty of power, I would save your money and go with the 22 ton.
I'm with Dennis on splitting in vertical. About the only thing I havn't done yet is bring out the cushin for the milk crate!
Posted a couple pictures in this thread:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/45478/
I'm with Dennis on splitting in vertical. About the only thing I havn't done yet is bring out the cushin for the milk crate!
Posted a couple pictures in this thread:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/45478/
That is one complaint I also have about the new splitters in that they now come with such a small plate that it makes more work balancing the log. I do believe I'd make something to sit that log on; something that would extend the plate to maybe 12" or even more. It would make splitting easier I believe.
Backwoods Savage said:
The trouble with extending the plate is that it needs to be a really strong extension to keep it from breaking off, and then you have increased the leverage for ripping the plate off the beam.
One thing I recently did with my splitter (pix are still on the camera) is weld some more extra "holding spikes" on the plate in an effort to make it less likely for the rounds to slip off... I had some scrap 1/4" x 2" angle iron, and I cut about three narrow strips off that to make more protrusions on the plate itself, and also wrapped some 1/4" flat stock around the edge. Haven't done a lot of splitting since, but it seems to have helped considerably.
Gooserider
Goose, I was thinking more of something that would not be attached to the plate but instead, just fit around it and have it sit right on the ground.
Backwoods Savage said:
Well what I've found is that if the log pushes on the ground more than it does the plate, then you end up lifting the splitter... I agree that it can sometimes be a challenge getting a big log to sit on the plate rather than the ground, but the fix for that is not to try to make the ground around the plate taller...
Gooserider
Well, went to TSC tonight and looked really hard at the 22 ton and I'm still not sold on the design of the pump being down in front of the tank. I plan on taking this down my old county road that runs along my farm and it is pretty rough. All I would have to do is bump the protruding pump and I am out 1 grand. I wish that the pump was out the side or built like yours Backwoods. So either I split it back home (which it is looking like) or wait for something else. Im am not sure why they would do the pump out the bottom, if you run over something on the road and it kicks up, goodby pump!
Goose, I believe you could build a platform and the ram would still be pushing on the plate and not the platform. All this platform would do is keep the block level instead of you having to hold that log upright with the small butt plate. I hope I don't have to try this though; mine should have a few more years in it. Just an idea for the other guys.
Doing some more research.. and came across this 25 ton 8hp Honda GX #LS401118NO-25. This is what would work, only cannot have TSC get it for me. They said they cannot special order it for me. Any of you know who has these available?? I would not care to drive to get one.
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