Need a little Log Splitter advice from the pros.Only for personal.

Al_Smith · September 01, 2011, 05:49:55 AM

With Briggs it depends on weather you are refering to a new or old engine .

The older IC engines are pretty reliable .I can't comment on the newer designs .They stopped making L head engines a few years back because of the good old EPA and all newer ones are overhead valve . Of those I only own one, an 8 HP on a pressure washer which so far is working out fine .

On small engines like most things it's all an opinion. Kohler and Honda are no doubt fine engines but a Briggs will do just as well and is a lot cheaper .If you keep clean oil and a clean air filter on them they all will provide years of service .

Al_Smith · September 01, 2011, 06:01:01 AM

Not a splitter engine but a comment about Briggs some people don't know.
The horizontal twin 14 to aprox 19.5 HP rated flat head engines were used on a lot of riding mowers and have recieved a lot of complaints .

Most people do not know that those engines have the oil slinger on the left hand side of the engines .If used on the slopes blowing the grass downhill which is tipping the engine towards the right that they don't oil properly .This has caused mucho problems with knocking the rods out of the engines due to lack of oil and has given the pancakes a bad rap .Just a little tid bit of info here .

Another little pain in the rear is the pulse jet carbs .This thing has a carb with a diaphragm fuel pump .The same problems that plague chainsaws because of the ethanol in the gas affects these things too .Not a big deal if you know about it .If not lots of folks have layed out over a hundred bucks for a new carb when a 5 dollar or less diaphragm could have fixed the problem .

Collima · September 01, 2011, 08:53:02 AM

I split 400 cord every year. I have a tempest splitter.
Either splitter you mention will do the job. If you plan on splitting brother and tougher wood I would go with the 27 ton.

Al_Smith · September 01, 2011, 08:58:17 AM

400 cords a year ? Hmm what do you do in your spare time?

Collima · September 01, 2011, 09:32:23 AM

I have 4 full time employees that run my sawmill and split wood while I log 10+ acres every week

Al_Smith · September 01, 2011, 10:30:52 AM

They must be some supermen because that's 80 cords a week give or take .

10 acres a week would be around 500 acres per year .Now that's a lot of wood .

Now just pray tell do you do with all of it ?

Collima · September 01, 2011, 11:24:34 AM

Sell logs and all biomass. Make lumber and silt fence posts and grade stakes. Sell a lot of firewood.. Whatever doesn't get used goes to a biomass energy plant

Collima · September 01, 2011, 11:33:42 AM

I have a processor. Splits 20 cord a day.
I'm just saying if I was looking at splitters for regular homeowner use I would stick with that 27 ton splitter mentioned above.

beenthere · September 01, 2011, 12:04:51 PM

Collima
Tell us some more about your operation, if you would and some pics. Sounds very interesting. What do the "clearings" turn into? ag land? housing?

I'd look real close at the LogRite splitter system if I were to invest $$ in firewood splitting, and not going the full processor route. I think it is a lot of bang for the buck.

John Mc · September 01, 2011, 01:32:13 PM

I like the looks of the Logrite system as well, especially for someone who is not going into the business in a big way. A landowner with a few bucks to spare could use one, or possibly a group of landowners could pitch in on one.

I am hoping they come up with some sort of mounted chainsaw at some point. Their current system relies on a handheld chainsaw to do the cutting. I have a friend who has a shoulder injury that would be all over one of these if he didn't constantly have to keep two hands on the saw.

beenthere · September 01, 2011, 02:02:46 PM

John
That would be quite a bit of additional expense to add to their system. Would require a trolley/rails to move the saw along the log, or a way to move the log past the saw. Some injuries do limit what one can do.

John Mc · September 01, 2011, 02:21:36 PM

Yeah, I figured it was not too realistic a dream... at least not without a whole lot of added expense. It's been a while since I looked at the video... I couldn't remember if the winch could be used to slide the log along the table in front of a saw mounted on a pivot.

Al_Smith · September 01, 2011, 06:54:27 PM

If one person does 1 cord a day depending on where they live ,in about a week or so you're all done unless you live in Alaska or the some frozen tundra in Canada .Then it takes you two weeks .Big deal .

Now this guy with his 400 cords a year can justify a processer but 99 percent of us can't .However if he keeps cutting very long he won't need it because he'll run out of wood . :D

Collima · September 06, 2011, 10:26:41 PM

The clearing turns into ag land, new roads, housing developments, Airports, etc... We do a lot of street reconstructions too. Just cleared 300 miles of ditch on a highway.
All of the trees and brush turn into chips/biomass for energy.
All of the saw logs and firewood logs come home to be processed.
I have pics, but my phone won't let me upload.
Smaller jobs we use skid steers to shear trees. On the bigger jobs we use a fellerbuncher.
I'm proud to say every tree we cut down gets used one way or another. And every tree we cut down is for a purpose. Even all of the byproducts of my mill gets used. Sawdust, slabwood, and cutoffs turn into biomass. Hardwood and softwood hauled home not suitable for lumber or firewood gets shaved down into animal bedding.

doctorb · September 07, 2011, 09:44:58 AM

Like John Mc, I have a 16 ton electric Ramsplitter. I haven't needed bigger, and it has worked well for me.
Here's a former thread and video:

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,46916.msg674844.html#msg674844

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru4rCDldwg8

Al_Smith · September 07, 2011, 09:56:14 AM

Back in the mid 70's to mid 80's with the escalating price of farm land a lot of 5 to 10 acre patchs of woods fell to the mighty D8 Caterpillars .Most of it was "wind rowed " and set afire after a few years .Fact being I cut a lot of that stuff when I sold firewood .Keep in mind this was in a day when portable bandsaws as we know them today did not exist .

Here of late with modern big portable tub grinders it seems they save as much as they can be it saw logs or grinder fodder . Along the same lines while brush chippers have been around almost forever the chips were just discard to some land fill or tossed in a big heap to eventually rot .Now of days I know of at least three places locally that recycle them into a mulch of some sort .Most of the waste of a forgone time has been eliminated ,a good thing .

Al_Smith · September 07, 2011, 10:01:32 AM

Say that electric splitter does just fine .The one I have loaned out at this time does well too .

While some may think they are slow I'd like to see anyone out last one . It looks like it gets the job done so that's all that counts . ;D

CRThomas · September 28, 2011, 05:13:44 AM

If I was going to use it for personal I would get a electric 16 ton from RamSplitter. I have there 20 ton electric and I am in the firewood business. That thing has run a many rank thru 100's of ton and still going strong. They have a utube video I have two a 20 and a 30 ton am ordering a 30 ton three point for my tractor and princes pump one bad boy at 28 gal per minute.