Tractor mounted wood splitter

[Nealm66]

Anybody have one of these? My tractor has 8.2 gpm and is that enough for a decent splitter?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

most splitters for the tractor run off the PTO.. you need to look and see how much power a splitter will require and then see if it matches what you have as far as HP

 

[tgumby4]

I run a hydraulic splitter on my John Deere 4320 rated at 17 gpm. I run it on a power beyond hydraulic kit. I purchased it On clearance at tractor supply a couple years ago. It will out split my dad's stand alone 25 ton mtd splitter all day. I have heard of problems just running them on tractor rear remotes instead of power beyond kits because of lack of hydraulic flow.

 

[Nealm66]

Thank you for the replies. I was looking at one on Craigslist for $500 that looks pretty good so I thought I’d see if anybody on here had experience. Don’t think I’ll chance it with only 8.2 of my tractor. Bummer though cus my kid likes fiddling with the tractor and probably would have split a lot of wood just because.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Running a tractor engine and hydraulic system is expensive for a simple wood splitter as opposed to running an independent unit with its own small gas engine and hydraulics. I would never want to put idle hours on our tractor just to split firewood.

 

[EbS-P]

My grandfather built one out of scrap for a 1944 M-F. He found an old belt driven pump off of something and an old cylinder that didn’t leak too much. Mounted it to the three point. I’m sure he didn’t know the flow rate. It wasn’t the fastest and would often stall out splitting elm. Having it on the three point was the best feature.
My thoughts are one less engine to maintain is a good thing.
Evan

 

[St. Coemgen]

My view (I am sure other's have different opinions).

If you shop around, you can get, say, a 16 ton 3 Pt splitter new for about $1000. So, IMHO, $500 for a used one is maybe not worth it (unless it is a 30 ton monster). That "new" price is the one that will hook up to your tractor hydraulics. You can also get splitters that run off your PTO, but those require their own hdyrolic pump so tend to be more expensive (but the better option for smaller tractors that can not generate the required pressure from their own hydraulic system).

But, I would only get a 3 Pt splitter if you split in the woods. And you need to maneuver your tractor about, to get to your splitting site (especially if you have to back up a lot). Else, then a splitter on a trailer may be a better option. If you split only at home, then an electrical splitter may also be to consider (they never run out of gas and require less maintenance).

So ideally, get what works best for you and your needs.

 

[Osage]

My rx doesn't seem to have any problems running my splitter.

 

[SpaceBus]

My rx doesn't seem to have any problems running my splitter.

Kind of an expensive engine and pump for a wood splitter.

 

[Nealm66]

All good points. The one I was looking at doesn’t flip vertical but does seem handy to raise and lower. I see a 22ton for $700 online that a guy in a review says he’s running with a 25h mahindra . My tractor is a 33h new Holland so it would probably work fine. 16 second cycle time doesn’t sound awesome. Ya, doesn’t make good sense to put hours on a tractor to do anything when it comes down to it. Spendy little things they are

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Just to add a bit more: having the splitter attached to the rear of the tractor makes it so you can’t use your loader to lift big rounds up to the splitter in horizontal position. Then you have to try and wrestle them onto the splitter in vertical position.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

All good points. The one I was looking at doesn’t flip vertical but does seem handy to raise and lower. I see a 22ton for $700 online that a guy in a review says he’s running with a 25h mahindra . My tractor is a 33h new Holland so it would probably work fine. 16 second cycle time doesn’t sound awesome. Ya, doesn’t make good sense to put hours on a tractor to do anything when it comes down to it. Spendy little things they are

personally for 300 more you can get a stand alone splitter. I have 6 machines and would not hook a splitter to any of them. Its just to expensive to run that way. Your running a 33hp motor or more to do what an 6 or 8hp motor can do.
Think about an oil change.. 1qt for a small gas motor or 8qts or more for a tractor

 

[Nealm66]

Ya, sounds like a wrong path. The biggest issue I had before I even brought it up is how much I hate taking the backhoe off. It’s a simple process but I suck at lining things up and remembering. Thanks again for the feedback

 

[Bad LP]

My grandfather built one out of scrap for a 1944 M-F. He found an old belt driven pump off of something and an old cylinder that didn’t leak too much. Mounted it to the three point. I’m sure he didn’t know the flow rate. It wasn’t the fastest and would often stall out splitting elm. Having it on the three point was the best feature.
My thoughts are one less engine to maintain is a good thing.
Evan

I’ll take the wear and tear of a 300 motor and an oil change over under utilizing a 40-50K Diesel engine. If the engine is turbo charged it’s even worse for it to sit there idling.

 

[andym]

I’ll take the wear and tear of a 300 motor and an oil change over under utilizing a 40-50K Diesel engine.

I agree. On the other hand if someone has an old tractor that isn't worth a lot and another 20 hrs a year won't hurt resale, why not? I have such a tractor, but bought a 30 ton TSC splitter anyway. Much more efficient and cheaper than getting a pto pump, etc. I would rather listen to someone's 30hp diesel than my 9.5 hp kohler though.......