Who makes a STRONG electric splitter?

[skinnykid]

Just as the title says, who makes a strong electric splitter? 1 of my buddies has a 25 ton hydro splitter and it is awesome. Another has a 3 ton electric splitter that he bought from Lowes. The guy with the electric splitter says it splits anything he puts in it but I am skeptical about that.

I ask because I want to buy a splitter and want to save as much $ as I can and the electrics seem less expensive.

Thanks

 

[aussieblake]

Ramsplitter makes few models that have the higher tonnage ratings, you may look at those. One of the members here just received his, hopefully he will chime in. DR offers one not sure of the tonnage. I have two splitters one that is gas a 22 ton Huskee and an electric 4 ton Ryobi from HD, the Ryobi splits some stuff but I have encountered wood it could not split, which is why I bought the Huskee. If you want a higher tonnage electric model, it will require 220 Volt feed.

aussieblake

 

[skinnykid]

I don't wanna use a 220 feed. maybe electric is not the way to go.

 

[pdhowell]

You have exactly the same question I had a while ago. I did not want a heavy splitter that far exceeded my needs, ( I buy delivered logs). The gas splitters I looked at were (for me) heavy, hard to move around store or use inside and involved one more gas engine to take care of. After much consideration, I bought a 16 ton, 120 volt, 20 amp horizontal/vertical model from Ramsplitter. I got it with the four way wedge,and to my amazement, find myself using the four way wedge most of the time.

I was puzzled by the seeming contradiction of a four way wedge well on a smaller electric splitter, when a four way splitter seems to require a larger gas splitter . After working with it the splitter and pondering, I have come to the conclusion that the splitting force needed dor a shorter length of the firewood is MUCH less than with a longer piece of wood.

For example, IF the splitting force of a 16 inch length of wood is proportional to the splitting force required for a 24 inch piece, (2:3 length) and the 24 inch piece took 18 tons (a high value for a "20 ton" splitter) , then if you took that same proportion, a 12 ton force would split the shorter length. Just out of interest, I just checked and DR Power (for example) makes a nominal 6 ton electric splitter for lengths to 16 inches . It seems to be well regarded by those who have one.

So, to answer your question as best I can, I believe that it would depend a great deal upon the length of wood to be split. The smaller electric splitter will competently split shorter pieces. If you stove uses 18 inch wood as I do, a electric splitter, would be fine even with a four way wedge. If your stove or fireplace handles 24" i, I would think a small electric splitter, would be a disappointment. However, if you have 240 volts and 30 amps available, or more, you can power a very capable splitter with an electric motor. Ramsplitter has such a model.

I would note that the torque qualities of electric motors lend themselves very well to wood splitters.

Hope this helps,

Dave Howell, Maryland

 

[skinnykid]

I cut my stuff to 14 inches because that is my saw bar length. BUT as many people know from previous threads of mine, I have some mystery wood that is super strong. If I can get that split, I have another trees worth that I can take in my back yard. Other than that I split Oak, Maple, Birch, and normal stuff like that.

 

[aussieblake]

Never really paid much attention to the power requirements for the 12 ton and 16 ton ramsplitter, but typically a 1.5 HP or 2.0 HP electric motor is not fed off of 120V. Not to say it can't, but usually if the motor is truly a 1.5 or 2.0 HP motor the amperage requirements are typically higher 20 and 24 amps respectively. However some manufactures rate their motors differently sometimes with Peak HP (Sears is notorious), the bottom line is this does the tool perform the task the way you want it to be performed? There are several members here with a Ramsplitter, to my knowledge all would recommend the product, so they must perform well.

aussieblake

 

[wahoowad]

I would so love to have a RamSplitter but other priorities get in the way. Honestly I haven't needed more than my 4 ton Ryobi. I've been making due with it for 3 seasons now and the yard is full of oak, hickory, locust, ash, cherry, etc. splits. Even some miserable gum and sycamore I accidentally brought home. This year's wood is already 1 to 2 years seasoned, next years was just split and stacked this weekend. I'm probably sitting on 5 cords right now. The pile where I throw my unsplittable logs has 2 gnarled up logs I never should have brought home anyway.

I'm a scrounger. I've learned that hard to split wood is usually easy to identify and not brought home. Crotches and other gnarled up logs are both hard to split and usually hard to stack because the splits wind up so uneven. I don't want to fool with either.

I had an unexpected sum of money come my way 2 weeks ago. I had to decide between a RamSplitter and a new mattress set. After stacking all the wood I split with my Ryobi this weekend I realized a new mattress was more important.

 

[glacialhills]

I got a taskforce(lowes) 5 ton electric splitter and it will split almost any wood. I have split quite a bit of extra large 20+"cherry and oak with it and as long as its not knotted up it will go right through them.It is rated to only split 10" dia. but in the real world you split what ya got. I know a couple of oak rounds I heafted up on it yesterday were at least 20" and they splt no problem. I have found it will not split elm even small dia. 6-8". and spraying some pam on the wedge helps a bunch. Love not spending $$ on gas just plug in and go and very little noise cept when the wood splits.

 

[aussieblake]

I will have to remember to use cooking spray.

aussieblake

 

[Highbeam]

My 5 HP air compressor motor is 110 volt?

Isn't the ramsplitter quite expensive?

 

[Redox]

My 5 HP air compressor motor is 110 volt?

Isn't the ramsplitter quite expensive?

Air compressors are one of those devices that are notoriously overrated by their manufacturers. AFAIK, this is the breakdown torque developed right before the motor stalls and is an unrealistic rating. It can't maintain this rating for more than a few seconds and when was the last time you stalled your air compressor? It is better to rate a compressor by CFM @ a set pressure, usually 90 PSI. 5HP@120V is about 60 amps, BTW.

I have a new Ramplitter 20 ton and the 3HP motor peaks out at about 20 amps on 240V. It was $1555 delivered and about 50% more than the 16 ton unit, but comes with high speed tires and a 2" hitch. I have a tendency to buy the largest tool that I think I will ever need. The 16 ton might have been enough, but I didn't want to chance it as I never know what kind of garbage the tree guys are going to drop off. We scroungers can't afford to be picky! There are cheaper 20 ton splitters out there, but none that are available in electric versions. These things are touted as "rental duty" FWIW. I have bent other splitters before!

Large motors should be run on the highest voltage available. They are more efficient due to less voltage drop and the wire can be half the size at 240 volts. If you have a 50 amp welder receptacle anywhere, you are already there, or you can bug it off a central AC unit. I bought a 10 ga extension cord and whacked the ends off it to use on the splitter. SO cord would be a classier way to do it, but I have never been mistaken for being classy!

The original writeup is here:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/18715/

Chris

 

[johnnywarm]

My 5 HP air compressor motor is 110 volt?

Isn't the ramsplitter quite expensive?

Air compressors are one of those devices that are notoriously overrated by their manufacturers. AFAIK, this is the breakdown torque developed right before the motor stalls and is an unrealistic rating. It can't maintain this rating for more than a few seconds and when was the last time you stalled your air compressor? It is better to rate a compressor by CFM @ a set pressure, usually 90 PSI. 5HP@120V is about 60 amps, BTW.

I have a new Ramplitter 20 ton and the 3HP motor peaks out at about 20 amps on 240V. It was $1555 delivered and about 50% more than the 16 ton unit, but comes with high speed tires and a 2" hitch. I have a tendency to buy the largest tool that I think I will ever need. The 16 ton might have been enough, but I didn't want to chance it as I never know what kind of garbage the tree guys are going to drop off. We scroungers can't afford to be picky! There are cheaper 20 ton splitters out there, but none that are available in electric versions. These things are touted as "rental duty" FWIW. I have bent other splitters before!

Large motors should be run on the highest voltage available. They are more efficient due to less voltage drop and the wire can be half the size at 240 volts. If you have a 50 amp welder receptacle anywhere, you are already there, or you can bug it off a central AC unit. I bought a 10 ga extension cord and whacked the ends off it to use on the splitter. SO cord would be a classier way to do it, but I have never been mistaken for being classy!

The original writeup is here:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/18715/

Chris

Hows the ramsplitter doing Chris??? Can you post a pic of it??

John

 

[Redox]

Great! Thanks for asking. I have run about 2-3 cords through it and haven't been disappointed in the least. It won't take on the absolute biggest chunks right down the middle, but there hasn't been anything it hasn't been able to split. "Crusher" used to go through wood sideways, but it also drank a gallon of gas an hour and was hard to restart when it was hot. I don't miss those problems at all...

I have been playing around with horizontal vs. vertical splitting and haven't really decided which I like better. Gravity seems to help when breaking up stringy wood horizontally, but vertical is fantastic for stumps that are hard to move around. You can sit down on a piece of wood when you are working it vertically, so this is a plus for those of us with bad backs. It takes all of about 15 seconds to change from vertical to horizontal. Definitely worth the extra bux for convertible! BTW, I needed my 30 amp breaker back for the heat pump and substituted a 20 amp (double pole) for the splitter. It starts and runs fine without any trips on 20 amps.

I will post a pic of my wood pile(s) later. What kind of pics do you want of the splitter? I can e-mail them to you if you want details. I think I have a video clip around here somewhere...

Chris

 

[johnnywarm]

Great! Thanks for asking. I have run about 2-3 cords through it and haven't been disappointed in the least. It won't take on the absolute biggest chunks right down the middle, but there hasn't been anything it hasn't been able to split. "Crusher" used to go through wood sideways, but it also drank a gallon of gas an hour and was hard to restart when it was hot. I don't miss those problems at all...

I have been playing around with horizontal vs. vertical splitting and haven't really decided which I like better. Gravity seems to help when breaking up stringy wood horizontally, but vertical is fantastic for stumps that are hard to move around. You can sit down on a piece of wood when you are working it vertically, so this is a plus for those of us with bad backs. It takes all of about 15 seconds to change from vertical to horizontal. Definitely worth the extra bux for convertible! BTW, I needed my 30 amp breaker back for the heat pump and substituted a 20 amp (double pole) for the splitter. It starts and runs fine without any trips on 20 amps.

I will post a pic of my wood pile(s) later. What kind of pics do you want of the splitter? I can e-mail them to you if you want details. I think I have a video clip around here somewhere...

Chris

Thanks Chris! I seen the pics in the other thread. glad your happy with the splitter. A video would be cool. i asked ramsplitter but nothing back as of yet.

John

 

[Redox]

As I've mentioned before, they aren't real good at communication, but they do seem to make a nice splitter. If you want to try it out, I'll let you split some of my wood! ;-)

Chris

 

[johnnywarm]

As I've mentioned before, they aren't real good at communication, but they do seem to make a nice splitter. If you want to try it out, I'll let you split some of my wood! ;-)

Chris

I'm flying in as i type :lol: i would like to hear it split wood.the 4way video sounds good.

 

[johnnywarm]

As I've mentioned before, they aren't real good at communication, but they do seem to make a nice splitter. If you want to try it out, I'll let you split some of my wood! ;-)

Chris

Are you still happy with the Ram Splitter???

John