Would you buy a used commercial level splitter?

[B.C.C. Lapp]

I need a new splitter.  And I need a faster one.   I'm at that point.   I've always bought box store splitters, used them as long as they were tight and trouble free then bought a new one and sold the old one.   I would not buy a splitter from me.   Cause its been used to death.   Yeah I'm a stickler for maintenance but they are still just used up.
      And I can't keep up using these splitters any more. My volumes Im selling most years are past that. 
Way way past it.    
    So I need a faster better splitter.    A commercial model.   But they start at around $7000 and quickly get up around $10,000.  
  Dont thinks nows a good time to do that.   
So maybe a used one?  Say, under $5500.   Would you buy a used commercial splitter?    Is it worth it?     Would it be already beat, like the ones I sell?     I'm caught between a rock and a wood pile.  
I need the splitter to keep up and sell more wood but then I gotta sell a whole lots more wood to pay for the splitter.   
Could I even find a used commercial splitter?   Has any body bought a used one?   If you did would you do it over?

[rusticretreater]

Anytime you buy used equipment, you gotta be ready to get your hands dirty and also put a bit of money into it.  You might be better off building your own.

Keep looking for equipment auctions and prowling craigslist and facebook market, etc.

[Stephen1]

I think the time is right to upgrade. You need a fast splitter. fuel prices are rising drastically, people will rely on their backup, firewood even more. 
New gets you a machine with a warranty, no down time fixing or rebuilding. If you like you say you get rid of your machines because they are worn out why would you buy someone else worn out machine. If it was new, 1-2 years old I would think seriously about buying that. 

[SwampDonkey]

I think you could find good used ones. It's just like people buying new Woodmizers and haven't cut 3000 feet in 5 years. There's lots of money spent on the wants and not needs. Just have to look. ;D There's a Woodmizer in this area that has changed hands 4 times, I call it the community-mizer. All them put together never cut much lumber. :D Used to laugh where it was set up for a few years at one place. You could walk by when they were sawing cedar. On the way back from that walk you could hear crickets in the summer and snow buntings in the winter. Not a sign of anyone near it. :D

[Spike60]

Every used spliter will be unique. Some will be low hour units in good shape, but most will be pretty beat. May have to check out a bunch of them to find a nice one, so it'll take some patience. But using your numbers, I'd spend the extra $1500 or so to jump from the under $5500 range to $7000 and get a new one. Problem you'll likely run into is wait/lead time to get one. Hearing some crazy stories with 12 to 24 month wait times. Talk about patience!

One consideration that goes against the grain is to resist the growth pressure that can hit any business. There's an old saying, "growth eats cash." Gross revenue rises in a straight line, but profitability hits peaks and valleys along the way. It's real easy for a customer to walk into my store and say, "you ought to hire somebody". But it's just as easy for me to say that I don't need to make an investment to work on all the junk sold by the stores that don't work on anything. We're busy, profitable and we take good care of our customers. Everything else out there isn't our problem to solve.

Most wood sellers around here are getting more wood orders than they can handle. Like Stephen says, many people lean more on firewood when fuel prices go up. Regulars want more, and what do you do with new customers? Guys who can't say no, are all stressed out. Guys who accept the reality of how much wood they are capable of producing and operate within those parameters are doing just fine.

[PoginyHill]

I bought a used Allwood splitter about 2 years ago. No hour meter, but used very little. Most of the original paint was on typical wear surfaces. Called the manufacturer for an oil filter and he said I had an "old" model. So an old splitter, but used very little. Only problem was water in the oil: milky. 20 gals of new oil later and it's been good since. Paid $6,000. I'm happy.

[B.C.C. Lapp]

Well, I got some answers and I thank you guys for it.      Maybe the smart move is to just bite the bullet and put the money down to get on the list for a new splitter.    I know its going to take quite a while. Some company's are at 8 month lead times, some not quite that bad and some just aint saying.
       I'm not stressing about not be able to produce wood fast enough.   I'm real happy about it.  I just want to take advantage of it and sell all I can. 

[hedgerow]

B.C.C. Lapp  I myself can't stand slow splitters. In my area there are a lot of box store and farm store splitters. I pickup up a few used each summer at estate, garage sales cheap fix up a little and resale in the fall and winter. I have always ran home built for my own use. I like a 28 GPM two stage pump on a four inch cylinder. I like splitters at least waist high with a log lift. It will keep two guys busy. Sounds like you in this wood thing for the long haul I would just pick a commercial brand you like. Get it built the way you want it and be done with it. A little more money and planning on the front end will save you body in the long haul. 

[gasman1075]

I bought a well used TW-5 about 3 years ago ran 30-40 cords through it mangled my leg and sold it for more than I paid for it. in upstate NY I looked at how well there maintained and the shims / looseness of the push block. I had to re-shim mine and replace the tires change the oil etc. It was well worth the 3500 for a TW-5

[Al_Smith]

I suppose it just boils down to how mechanically inclined a person is and how thick your wallet is .I've built several myself so it's not a big deal to me but to some people it would be out of the question .It's kind of like used chainsaws .Some can work on them and some are totally lost .
It would be kind of silly to buy a $1000 chainsaw and a $ 3000 splitter to do 3 cords of fire wood a year unless you have more dollars than sense .

[doc henderson]

how many cords do you think you can sell each year?  if you are losing sales as you cannot keep up, what is you max estimate.  how many days a year do you plan on working on your firewood.  It seems you could take the total cords, divide by the number of days to work, and see what your daily workday output needs to be.  then look at a splitter/processor cord per hour to achieve that goal.   The advantage of used is no wait time.  If issues creep up, there is expense and time for repairs to consider.  If the equipment is in high demand, you may be paying more than it's worth to get that machine.  If you buy during a bubble, it may not hold value.  If you finance it, that is more expense.  If you can sell 2 more cord per day that could make a payment of X.  I agree with patience.  housing and cars are way up on price, so in 2 years when the bubble is burst, it may really drop in value.  If not in a bubble, then you may use a machine for 5 years and get 80% back on selling it.  Now seems to be a time to sell, not buy.  2 years down the road may be the time to buy.  It all still takes a lot of work so make sure you are not enslaving yourself to working to just pay off the machine.  sorry if this is long winded, just got off work and headed to sleepy time.     Doc

[Nathan4104]

If you're looking at spending close to 10g, keep your eyes open for a used firewood processor as well!   A smaller self contained unit like a Hakki or similar will also speed up your production if your logs allow for the processor use, and it comes with a built on splitter   I bought mine well used, have fixed it up a lot but it's well worth keeping even if I'm only doing 5-10 cord a year.  Easy and time are priceless. 

[B.C.C. Lapp]

how many cords do you think you can sell each year?  

Doc that remains to be seen.   I've hit 50 cords sold in a year many times and I sold it all long before winter was half over.   I've been selling wood since 1997, some years a lot of wood and some years less but I've never come into spring with a stick left to sell.    And I hardly advertise.   Mostly its word of mouth that sellls the wood.
   I believe,  that I could sell as much as I could produce by myself, and I don't really know what that cord count would look like.    I pretty much work 7 days a week most of the time cause thats what it takes and thats how I like it.     
I always used to  spend most of my time logging, then the farm work, and firewood was a distant third.  I've kind of slowed down logging and spent more time lately with firewood.   I'm getting older and firewood is light work compared to cutting and skidding on some side hill job.   I enjoy delivering to customers and filling my racks. Sometimes my wife comes along and its enjoyable work.   Most of the customers I meet are  nice folks and some customers I've had for decades.

[B.C.C. Lapp]

Nathan, I have thought about a processor and I did look at a used one.   But since I bring so much of my wood home in already cut rounds and coupled with the fact that some of the tri axle loads I buy have some real ugly pieces in them a splitter makes more sense for me.

[stavebuyer]

The Eastonmade splitter I owned was designed with replaceable wear parts on all the sliding surfaces etc. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a used unit but would expect cost savings over new pricing.

Log lift and enough HP and hydraulic pump to run a multiple wedge. Don't underestimate the importance of auto-cycle. When you couple a faster cycle time with the ability to position the next round or deal with split wood, the well-designed commercial splitter will double or triple your output per hour with less fatigue to the joints.

I'd also want adjustable and interchangeable wedges.

Splitting is only part of the equation. I used to sell most of my wood picked up at my log yard so splitting speed was a big factor. I had some customers who resold it and hauled it to Lexington or Lou. and stacked it inside people's garages for double or triple what I charged. Their "production" was limited to a cord a day due to the road trip and stacking etc. A faster splitter might be less desirable than a bigger truck or trailer depending on the business model and customer base.

 

[Gere Flewelling]

My son and I sold firewood for a few years.  He was a self employed logger and was able to gather good quantities of fire wood logs.  We tried hydraulic splitters (mostly home made) that worked pretty well.  We decided we needed a faster commercial splitter but couldn't justify the expense of a $10,000.00 + splitter.  Took a chance and ordered a new$6,000.00 Super Split kinetic splitter.  I purchased the largest one they made.  It had a 13hp Honda engine.  Once we learned how to run it we were working up firewood faster than I could ever have imagined.  I think this unit paid for itself in the first year we owned it.  One person could split wood and push it onto the conveyor faster than another person could get the wood  to the splitter.  No multi split wedges, it made up for the lack of multi splitting by just being fast.  I think there was a lot less waste as well as multi split wedges tend to make a lot of slivers unless the wood is perfect sized. The Supersplit will split anything large or small you put on it.  It's only limit is the lack of hydraulics to have a lifting table for big stuff.  I have a 3PH lifting boom with a hand winch and tongs that take care of the heavy lifting.  Turns out this was probably the best investment we made during the firewood business years.  Only sell campfire wood now, but kept the splitter as it works great for splitting up small stuff as well.  I would suggest you try and find a used one to try while waiting on finding a big splitter.  Be sure to stick with the Super Split brand as I have heard there are a lot of clones that don't work as well.  Good Luck!

[moodnacreek]

I don't think there has ever been a production splitter made that with hard use will not break the wedge off. As long as it is steel and can be welded or reproduced I would not hesitate to purchase if the price was good.

[barbender]

As mentioned, most commercial machines have replaceable wear parts. They are definitely built heavier, condition is everything on a used machine. 

[nativewolf]

My son and I sold firewood for a few years.  He was a self employed logger and was able to gather good quantities of fire wood logs.  We tried hydraulic splitters (mostly home made) that worked pretty well.  We decided we needed a faster commercial splitter but couldn't justify the expense of a $10,000.00 + splitter.  Took a chance and ordered a new$6,000.00 Super Split kinetic splitter.  I purchased the largest one they made.  It had a 13hp Honda engine.  Once we learned how to run it we were working up firewood faster than I could ever have imagined.  I think this unit paid for itself in the first year we owned it.  One person could split wood and push it onto the conveyor faster than another person could get the wood  to the splitter.  No multi split wedges, it made up for the lack of multi splitting by just being fast.  I think there was a lot less waste as well as multi split wedges tend to make a lot of slivers unless the wood is perfect sized. The Supersplit will split anything large or small you put on it.  It's only limit is the lack of hydraulics to have a lifting table for big stuff.  I have a 3PH lifting boom with a hand winch and tongs that take care of the heavy lifting.  Turns out this was probably the best investment we made during the firewood business years.  Only sell campfire wood now, but kept the splitter as it works great for splitting up small stuff as well.  I would suggest you try and find a used one to try while waiting on finding a big splitter.  Be sure to stick with the Super Split brand as I have heard there are a lot of clones that don't work as well.  Good Luck!

There is a tree service close to us that does over 2000 cords a year with kinetic splitters.  Amazing operation, firewood piled as high a conveyor will dump it 100 the size of a football field with ventilation pipes through the piles. 

[thecfarm]

I have never seen that much wood split in one pile!!!

[Al_Smith]

On huge mountains of firewood it's usually seen around large metro areas .I recall two ,one near Toledo and one near Columbus Ohio .Both had set ups for processers ,one with two . The demand in those areas they get a lot more money per unit than for example in my area . The wood is free for all intents because these are large tree services .It's just a regional thing I think .In this area the only one that even comes close is a local hardwood mill that sells it by the dump truck full .

[Generic name]

I've always bought box store splitters, used them as long as they were tight and trouble free then bought a new one and sold the old one.   I would not buy a splitter from me.  

I have lucked out.  Bought 1 old homeowner unit and it lasted about a decade.  Cost $500.
Bought a made in USA Swisher from a tree guy about 1 year before covid started.  Clearly very little use. $800.
This ad caught my eye as an interesting / neat build:
AD REMOVED BY ADMIN
Clearly someone put some thought and work into it.  Precursor to all the modern $12k-$15k multi wedge splitters.