Looking to buy a splitter, but I need one that will take abuse, bouncing down a old washed out county road, dragging thru brush, and the occsional wife use. ;-) That sort of thing.. Been looking at a Northern Tool 30 ton but not sure about the price, or the axle being mounted to the oil tank, I would think over time the welds may crack and leak. Main thing I like is the commercial grade Honda engine. Pretty open to opinions, so any input would help. Wallenstein is the brand I have rented with good results.
Sturdy splitter?
- Thread starter Wacky1
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I like my northern one, best thing I ever did was blow that old briggs up and throw a honda on there! Nice to see they are offering them now.
Yeah, everyone seems to tell me they are quieter and more reliable than a briggsWildman_fab said:
I picked up a Wallenstein WX520 this summer, and I've put about 5 cord through it so far. No probelm towing it through the woods with the ATV. Love the honda engine on it. Definitely a good investment!
I have seriously checked these out. But someone said the foot bends easily and the tanks leak (because it is also the axle? Not sure maybe bad welds, weak steel?)CK-1 said:
kenny chaos
Minister of Fire
CK-1 said:
I've had mine for 5 years or more.
I beat the hell out of it and have NEVER had an issue.
Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
Wacky1 said:
From what I've seen posted here, the TSC / Husky / Speeco units are pretty well built, some folks have managed to break / bend the foot, but I think that tends to be unusual, especially with the 22 ton units.
The tank leakage is possibly more of a question, haven't seen that many reports of it happening on TSC machines, but it seems to be a weakness with any of the machines that use the tank as a structural member. The problem is that I haven't seen many machines that DON'T use the tank as structure in some way - often as the axle, or as the beam support like on my HF unit... I suspect that if you want a real solid axle and a non-structural tank you may have to either build your own, or start looking at the big budget machines...
The only really super rugged "all terrain" splitters I've seen are the three-point units designed to go on the back of a farm tractor and run off the PTO, or something that will go on a bobcat...
Gooserider
Gooserider said:
Thats what I was afraid of. May just have to buy a Husky or a Northern Tool. TSC is just down the street, whereas the Northern will have to be shipped back and forth if repairs are needed. Seems the TSC will not try to order the Speeco I want with the commecial grade Honda. That is why I am leaning towards the Northern at this point.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
They have changed the foot on the Huskee. If I bought one the first thing I'd probably do is make that foot bigger. I have an MTD (which really is the same thing) that is about 15-20 years old (don't remember exact years) and it has been trouble free although the Briggs motor is using oil now. Still works, just have to add some oil now and then. It is a 20 ton and splits everything we need, including elm.
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