Woo Hoo! Just got a splitter and wow I can see my wood growing.

[drdoct]

Picked up a Brave 20 Ton 5hp V/H splitter off craigslist today. I was kind of wondering how it would do because it's only 5hp and 20 ton. This sucker rips though anything. What it doesn't split, it cuts. Even when it hits a huge knot... it powers through and doesn't seem to even slow the motor at all. I'm really pleased with this model. I can see my scrounging get faster because now I can take it to where I'm cutting and split the trunks without having to split by hand just to get them loaded. There is no model number on it though and it's probably 10+ years old or so. I'm wondering why I would ever need anything with a bigger tonnage. Anyone else have a Brave splitter? I noticed when I was working the valve that you don't have to hold the valve up when it's going up... it just pops into neutral once it reaches the top. Also noticed that it's much easier with a nice size round to sit on while positioning the big pieces around.

 

[LLigetfa]

Welcome to Easy Street.

 

[drdoct]

No kidding... I must have split 30 trunk rounds just playing around. A lot of it had some big branch crotches that I would have had to have a few wedges to try and split. Probably would have ended up sawing them because this tree was twisted and gnarled.

 

[JustWood]

20 ton Brave was the first splitter I bought when I started out 21 years ago. Indestructible! Only thing I disliked about it was the Friggs & Stepon (Briggs & Stratton) motor. Whenever you wanted to start it again you cussed and had to step on the tire to get enough leverage to start the friggen thing. Wished it wood have had a Honda! I prolly wood still own it. Great splitter as long as you didn't shut it off.

 

[awoodman]

Yea the brigs motor is a btch when it is cold and one thing I don't like is the (small) size of the base for holding big logs against the I beam.
But that sucker will flat split and that wedge is still super sharp after all these yrs. And it pulls great behind an ATV through the woods.

 

[drdoct]

I noticed the small base while splitting some 30+" rounds today. It wanted to move around because it was pushing a little into the ground opposite from the blade. Not too much of a big deal, but it does make you pay attention to it. I don't have a manual or anything with this, but am I supposed to run this motor at full speed? I tried to move it from all the way fast to not quite so fast but it didn't run very good at all. With it all the way on fast it doesn't bog down or anything. I watched a few youtube videos of splitters that were 22-30 ton mtd type and it seems like their motors almost die when it hits a hard spot. I haven't noticed this with our splitters. Maybe the newer two speed pumps compress a lot more or something. The ram will slow down but the motor seems to stay the same sound. That little leg by the hitch has been redesigned from the looks of their newer models. Ours is shaky. I've got to put in a few quick pins where the other guy had little quarter inch bolts that fall out when the motor's running. I'm very happy for the $500 I gave for it.

 

[awoodman]

I need to do some maintenance on my engine like change oil and spark plug clean out carb. I wonder if Sea Foam would help,I used to throttle mine back with no problem.

 

[Gooserider]

I noticed the small base while splitting some 30+" rounds today. It wanted to move around because it was pushing a little into the ground opposite from the blade. Not too much of a big deal, but it does make you pay attention to it. I don't have a manual or anything with this, but am I supposed to run this motor at full speed? I tried to move it from all the way fast to not quite so fast but it didn't run very good at all. With it all the way on fast it doesn't bog down or anything. I watched a few youtube videos of splitters that were 22-30 ton mtd type and it seems like their motors almost die when it hits a hard spot. I haven't noticed this with our splitters. Maybe the newer two speed pumps compress a lot more or something. The ram will slow down but the motor seems to stay the same sound. That little leg by the hitch has been redesigned from the looks of their newer models. Ours is shaky. I've got to put in a few quick pins where the other guy had little quarter inch bolts that fall out when the motor's running. I'm very happy for the $500 I gave for it.

The small base is a common issue w/ most vertical splitters - you learn to hold up the edge of the round a bit to keep it off the ground while splitting, it's a PITA, but doable. The reason not to make a larger foot is weight, plus strength issues - if you put full pressure near the outside edge of a large foot you risk either bending it or ripping it off the beam... A small foot doesn't have quite as much risk.

In terms of the engine speed, depends on what you are splitting and the torque curve of the engine - at idle you probably have more than enough power to move the wedge by itself, but as the resistance goes up, so does the load on the engine until the round lets go, the engine stalls, or the pressure relief pops. The lower the engine speed, the less power it puts out, so the more likely it is to stall, unless you bump up the RPM to get more power... Each machine is different and you have to play with yours to find out what it needs.

Gooserider