Renting a wood splitter

[neverbilly]

I saw a Craigslist ad where a fellow will rent a splitter for $50 per half day or $75 per whole day. The $75 is a little steep to me but I'd prefer having it a whole day. Let's say he'd do $50 for a whole day.

Okay, I have searched to find an old used splitter, even one that looks like crap but works, for, say, $300 to $400, but, so far, have not scored. So, what about renting? Let's compare to owning an old, used splitter purchased for $400. If I rented once/year at $50/day, that is equivalent to 8 years and it would be about 'even' with owning the cheap, used splitter and no hassle of upkeep and no need for storage. Seems like renting might not be such a bad idea. But if I could buy a used one and it lasted for many, many years, owning would be better. What do you think?

EDIT: BTW, I hand split; the hydraulic splitter would be for gnarly/impossible pieces and I guess if I rented once/yr, I could at least halve or quarter a bunch of rounds while at it. I do like the exercise.

 

[SeanBB]

I think a major factor is that if you own it you can use it when you want. If you rent one you would try to get as much done as possible in a day and maybe take risks or get tired and careless. How about owning one and renting it out to get some money back?

 

[neverbilly]

I think a major factor is that if you own it you can use it when you want. If you rent one you would try to get as much done as possible in a day and maybe take risks or get tired and careless. How about owning one and renting it out to get some money back?

I never considered that and, immediately, this popped into my mind -- liability. Now that I think about it, any individual renting a splitter is taking quite a risk.

 

[Jags]

I would find it darn near impossible for me (a one person operation) to produce a years worth of firewood in a day. I understand that you will be using this for the ugly/difficult stuff, but keep in mind that the ugly difficult stuff can be slow production even with a splitter. I would guess that it really comes down to how much you plan on processing in a day...

 

[maple1]

You would need to factor in re-sale on a splitter you would buy. Used ones don't seem to depreciate a whole lot.

Personally, I would buy. Everyones situation is different though...

 

[johneh]

Renting is fine I did it for ten years
Get the help lined up The splitter rented for the weekend
Get er done
Down side 10 cord to split in 1 weekend
Hoping sons are going to help
Hope I can get splitter when everybody else is ready to go
Then 1 year got a worn out splitter not good, price has gone
from100 weekend to 200 a weekend . That's when I took the plunge and bought
a brand new unit now I split when I want . If there are 2 logs from the fence line
buck ,split, stack when I want to . No longer need my boys who have there own lives
Much happier even the better half uses it and enjoys the experience

 

[blades]

Hand splitting is fine - sooner or later ( mostly sooner) body parts wear out . Not saying that body parts don't wear out with mechanical advantage unit but it takes longer and production is usually higher.

 

[Dobish]

i was going to rent one, and i ended up buying it. allowing me to go out at leisure is nice, since a lot of the stuff I get is not really fun to split by hand. I also rent it out to friends (most of the time it involves me going there and using it), but I get beer and wood in return.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

I'm being lent one currently and the price is to feed the owner as much wood as he needs
until It's returned.
Works out well as he is afraid to burn except on his days off work. He uses very little wood.
He bought it used for $1,000 and is a 22 ton and he got taken as it works fine but is worn out.
The engine smokes, and the hydros are loud.

A well kept splitter is worth nearly new price I have seen both here on Hearth and on Craigslist.

What's awesome is that the pawn shop has a 27 ton for $800 and it's gonna be mine if
I can fix the finances real soon before it sells.

The friend let me borrow his as I had shoulder surgery, but this thing has me spoiled rotten, er, punky. LOL
I hand split, and use the machine for huge rounds and knotted stuff.

When one of my teenagers wants a favor or a ride to town, ten minutes of me splitting while the kid stacks
makes for a very fast stack. I ram the clean rounds one inch and get a break down the length of it and pull
the splitter blade up n' pull the halves apart. Makes for some very fast n' efficient work.

Whether $800 pawn, or a thousand new I'm getting one. This unit, a very worn Husky has proven itself but
has to go back before I blow it up. LOL

The original question: Rent one and see if you wish to rent in the future or own. 75 is a fair price to find out.

CheapAndGettingLazierByTheDay

 

[Bad LP]

I rented a few times. Didn't like the pressure to get it done. Didn't like the lost time in traveling to pick up and return. Didn't like the machine with no balls and slow.

Bought a Super Split. It would have been great to split it with a very anal retentive friend who treats his stuff like I treat mine but he was not in the position to split as he has a hydro that works. If the day comes I stop burning wood I know I can get most of my money back as the SS hold their values well and it's rare to see them on the used market.

 

[D8Chumley]

I looked for quite awhile for a used one. The ones I found on CL were clapped out junk and too much money. I bought my Troy-Bilt 27 ton (wanted the Honda engine) from Lowes for $1399 and 18 months free financing. Never looked back. Like was stated, I split when I feel like it, at my own pace and also a one-man operation. My wife and kids have no interest in helping which is fine, it's therapeutic for me. My .02

 

[Dobish]

my wife will split on occasion. I bought my DHT 22 direct from the factory at a discount and figure even if I sell it for $500, I will have gotten my use out of it.... not feeling rushed is nice.

 

[Jason763]

I bought a 24 ton Northstar new, no complaints. As some have said I can split when I have the time. At times an hour or two. That's priceless to be able to split on short notice and no downtime traveling rented or borrowed. Just my thoughts..

 

[Lloyd the redneck]

Build one! Mines home made. For free, granted I have access to pretty much anything you can imagine for little to nothing

 

[NickDL]

I rented one for the weekend several years ago. It was non stop splitting all weekend. We got a lot accomplished, but it was exhausting. I finally bought one last year from Craigslist. I got a great deal, Husky 22 ton for $750. Overall it was in great shape, I needed to replace one tire that kept losing air.
I enjoy having the ability to use it whenever I have time. I work a lot of weekends, so I can't always take advantage of the weekend discount. I enjoy not having to worry if it's going to downpour on the days that I scheduled a rental. There is just so much more freedom from owning one.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[bunfoolio]

I saw a Craigslist ad where a fellow will rent a splitter for $50 per half day or $75 per whole day. The $75 is a little steep to me but I'd prefer having it a whole day. Let's say he'd do $50 for a whole day.

Okay, I have searched to find an old used splitter, even one that looks like crap but works, for, say, $300 to $400, but, so far, have not scored. So, what about renting? Let's compare to owning an old, used splitter purchased for $400. If I rented once/year at $50/day, that is equivalent to 8 years and it would be about 'even' with owning the cheap, used splitter and no hassle of upkeep and no need for storage. Seems like renting might not be such a bad idea. But if I could buy a used one and it lasted for many, many years, owning would be better. What do you think?

EDIT: BTW, I hand split; the hydraulic splitter would be for gnarly/impossible pieces and I guess if I rented once/yr, I could at least halve or quarter a bunch of rounds while at it. I do like the exercise.

Why not get an eclectic log splitter? I have a home lite one that I have split about 18 cord with. It does about 90% of what a gas one does however it is slower but much faster than hand splitting. I got mine at home depot for $270

Seems like all the gas splitters are priced like they are new on craigslist. I just upgraded to the dirty hand tools 22 ton splitter with the 4 way. It was on sale for $899+plus the cost of the 4 way. It is much faster.

 

[Allagash350]

I rented/borrowed for about 5 years. 75 bucks a day and it's gotta be back by 430.
Bust your butt to split as much as you can.
I was at Lowe's a year or two ago and found a 27 ton troy bilt with the Honda Motor for 800 bucks in the clearance section.
Manager said people buy them, split their wood, and return them. She couldn't tell me when it was sold, but said it was pretty close to when it was returned.
Bought it and love it. Now I split at my own pace and do a cord here and there, so I don't dread it as much.
Also I love letting people borrow it that need it.
And I've had quite a few deals were people will have me split their wood, from downed trees, and give me half as payment.

Can't say how much you would use it if you only want to do the gnarly stuff, but according to Craigslist these things hold their value pretty good

 

[byQ]

I have a dirty hands 22-ton splitter but am curious about the Harbor Freight 20-ton splitter. I think it is $800 - you can't use the discount coupons but it probably comes on sale once in a while. I like that you can split in both directions - thus saving time. I like that you can swap the engine out for $100.

But it won't split vertical - so you either have to avoid big rounds or noodle/wedge them down. If your wood was mostly medium to small rounds this splitter would work nicely. But if you have a lot of big stuff or gnarly stuff probably better to go with the DHT/Husky design. I could see this splitter working well for someone who is older - who gathers lighter/smaller BTU woods.

Here it is against a kinetic splitter.

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[KC Matt]

I got a little laugh from the first post; contemplating renting a splitter for $50 so he can slam knots, crotches, and twisted gnarly trash through it all day. I sure wouldn't let somebody do that to my splitter all day for $50! I don't mess with that junk; if it's not straight and solid, it can rot. There are plenty of trees around here.

I rented a splitter from a local place for like $150 for the day. Three of us ran it all day and probably split 3 cords. Owning a splitter is convenient and as noted, they hold their value. I bought mine used for $700 and have spent $0 on it in the last 4 years. It would bring at least $700 today.

 

[Bioburner]

Just got tired of hand splitting. Sams club had a smaller Champion 7ton that I can use for the couple cords a year to split mostly decent ash that usually cut to length and let sit for 6 months. $400
Rental here is $50 a day. Thing is I can't make use of it to make it worth my while in a day when my back can only handle 1/2 cord

 

[BrotherBart]

That 20 ton I paid $700 for new in 1988 has split from three to six cord a year every year since then. Can't imagine what I would spent on rentals in that amount of time.