Reviews on DHT 4-way for splitter?

[motoguy]

Title kind of sums it up. I'm planning on buying a DHT 35T splitter, and using a 4-way. I'm curious about the DHT 4-way. I've seen some reviews on Amazon and logsplitterdirect about the units breaking apart/failing.

I'm curious how many of you are using them, and your results. Also, are there other brands of 4-way that will fit the DHT units?

 

[rowerwet]

4 way wedges work with a log in a limited range of diameter. Too large and it will jam, too small and two splits will be kindling.
Unless you have straight grain wood, you will jam up and break things.

 

[Boiler74]

I've seen one review of the wings breaking off. But from what I've read, the company is great to deal with so I'm sure that break was taken care of. Just got my 27 ton last night. Pondering the 4 way. What makes it unique is that the height of the horizontal wings is adjustable. There is a pin that will go into one of three holes so you can get three sizes of splits from under the wings. The four way is also removable and a single wedge will slip back on. It looks pretty slick. I will probably buy one at some point. Busy cutting now.

 

[motoguy]

4 way wedges work with a log in a limited range of diameter. Too large and it will jam, too small and two splits will be kindling.
Unless you have straight grain wood, you will jam up and break things.

Understood. The DHT unit is adjustable, which should open up the usable log diameter. I have no intention of using the 4-way on the knotted stuff, Ys, etc. Just the straightforward round splits. That should be the majority of wood I have to split, though the knotty stuff and Ys take a disproportionate amount of time. The nasty stuff will get the single (2-way) blade.

While it can't be used on everything, I'd like to cut the majority (straight grained rounds) as efficiently as possible. The idea of the 4-way on this stuff is helping me to justify something like the DHT 35ton vs a SuperSplit...with the 4-way, the DHT should have all the productivity I want for a 1-man operation, while retaining the ability to chew through the gnarly stuff with the regular blade.

 

[motoguy]

I've seen one review of the wings breaking off. But from what I've read, the company is great to deal with so I'm sure that break was taken care of.

I understand their customer service to be top notch, which is one reason I'm choosing their splitter. Still, I'd rather have an unbreakable item from a company with crappy customer service, than an item that regularly breaks, but the send a replacement each time.

I also need to find the height of the wedge on the 4-way...one reason I want the 35t machine is the 9" wedge, vs 8" on smaller units.

 

[Babaganoosh]

You have your mind made up but as a 27ton owner I think 35 is pointless. I'd say go with the 28 due to the shorter cycle time and the bigger engine and pump over the 27. I generally work solo and I'm not bothered by the cycle time.

I've used an adjustable 4 way on a buddies splitter and wasn't impressed. Too much fiddling. If you want to get a taller blade made up you can do that too. I'm going to have a 10inch made. That will make life easier than a 4 way

 

[motoguy]

You have your mind made up but as a 27ton owner I think 35 is pointless. I'd say go with the 28 due to the shorter cycle time and the bigger engine and pump over the 27. I generally work solo and I'm not bothered by the cycle time.

I've used an adjustable 4 way on a buddies splitter and wasn't impressed. Too much fiddling. If you want to get a taller blade made up you can do that too. I'm going to have a 10inch made. That will make life easier than a 4 way

I do agree that the 28 seems to be the "sweet spot". One of the DHT guys even said he thought it was the "best unit in our lineup". Bigger pump/faster cycle times than than the older 27t model, with higher load capacity. I'm a big fan of the 28.

However, once I'm at that point, the 35 is only $100 more. For that, I get increased capacity (tonnage), and an inch taller blade/foot The only downside that I can see to the 35 (aside from the $100), is an additional 2 second cycle time. Even with a couple hundred cycles per day, that 2 second cycle time is negated by a single log that gets hung on the wedge and has to be beaten off, or has to be fought/repositioned for a couple of minutes. As I'll likely be working by myself, cycle time is probably a moot point. In that regard, I'll take the extra (potentially never used) capacity and taller wedge for $100.

However, the 4 way seems like a good way to improve productivity when I have a helper. Was your buddy's adjustable wedge a DHT unit? What needed to be fiddled with on it? Split size, wood getting stuck, etc?

 

[Babaganoosh]

100 bucks difference? Well than go for it. It's going to cost me almost that for a 10 inch blade that I've got planned out in my head.

It's hard to explain without seeing it but the reason I don't care for the 4 way is that I learned a different way to split while working with a buddy. It's a home built machine but it's got a 12 inch wedge. We were taking slices right thru the log, 22 inch logs. The taller wedge allowed clean slices. Usually take a slice from each side to make the round a little more square. Then because of the tall wedge we would stack multiple slabs and be splitting off 2 and sometimes 3 splits at a time. This works very well with a work table by the way.

I found that with the 8 inch wedge I can't always take clean slabs. The slice stays straight until 2 inches above the blade, then it curves to the side. The end result isn't a slab that can be easily stacked. This is my goal because using that method you can really run thru the wood efficiently.