[chrismahon]

I've been advised to take a wood splitter to France as, like everything, they are expensive over there. Would prefer to buy a hand operated hydraulic unit on the basis that it uses no power (so cheapest to run) and is inherently more reliable. I currently use a Roughneck splitting maul and pretend each log is my next door neighbour.

Looked at a Wolf at £99 plus postage. Also Clarke at £132. They seem to be the same item rebadged. Has anyone got experience of these?

[robert waddell]

it all depends on how young and fit you are
been there with the imaginary next door neighbour        i have had two hydraulic log splitters the first an opico  one and the second i made myself modeled on the opico  but stronger   and would make up another one if i was going back to logs large scale    after 8 hours with the hydraulic one you will still be buggered but a hell of a lot fresher than 8 hours with a axe or maul
o both worked from tractor hydraulics

[chrismahon]

Thanks Robert. But these are operated by a manual pump from levers, just like a car jack on its side. So it is a lot more work than a tractor driven hydraulic one.

[darkbrowneggs]

I've got a Hy-crack one that fits on the back of the tractor, but apparently they were developed by Canadian (I think)  loggers who jacked up the back of their pickups and fitted a screw where the wheel would normally go revved up and used it as a log splitter.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=2&oq=screw+type+l&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_en-GB&q=screw+type+log+splitter+video&gs_upl=0l0l2l25279406lllllllllll0&aqi=g5

I must say they work incredibly well and are very quick, and can tackle very thick logs.

[Small Farmer]

I have a hydraulic splitter which runs off the tractor but unless I'm wanting industrial quantities I still use an axe.  Difference is I fill a big tyre with the logs and then whack them with the axe.  Accuracy isn't important and they fly nowhere.

[FiB]

INteresting that no-one has come forward saying they use one manually - We are also intending to purchase one this year and trying to decide electric or manual.  After a winter of axing I have really knackered my elbow and broken my finger (could have beeen MUCH worse!!) - So I WILL be getting something else!  The reviews Ive read on Amazon suggest that they are OK but still knackering on your legs (and at least put a more even and gentler strain on your body).  Watching with interest, Fi

[chrismahon]

Hi FiB. I looked at the cheap electric ones and the reviews were diabolical. Lots of moving parts to wear out and fail as well. If you want something decent you are looking at £450 plus and you still have the problems of failure and moving it is a problem because of weight. I'm going to pop into Machine Mart (Clarke unit) and have a look. I think they may be slower overall than an axe but a lot less effort and safer so OH can do some, rather than watching me!

[MAK]

Hi Chris - it depends upon what you expect to cut. Only about 20% of the wood I cut needs splitting and the rest stays as logs. I like the physical exercise and use wedges, a lump hammer and very occasionally  a sledge hammer to split logs. A good axe does the job too.
I may be fundamentally mean but I make do without a log splitter here ( in France) because of the wood that I harvest. Sweet chestnut provides long poles that rarely need splitting.

[Norfolk Newby]

If you have a good supply of wood that is easy to split, you may get away with a manually operated splitter. I have a supply of ash logs and they split fairly easily. However, if the wood has a twisted grain or the logs are large - say over 6" - then a big power operated one is worth the investment.

I have hired a 6 ton one and that was pretty good. The 6 ton figure is the force exerted by the ram. However, a 4 ton splitter was tedious and need several attempts if the log had side branches which made the grain twisted. Some of the difficult logs I had to split manually using a grenade wedge from Screwfix. See:-

http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-wood-grenade-log-splitter/51334;jsessionid=yB71PyvSc3GGRp6W4hh1MlK225vdCmjGhrLGZ2y2GDMqlywpnd11!-1305922526?cm_sp=Search-_-SearchRec-_-Area1&_requestid=952506

I haven't tried a Hy-crack but have heard good reports of them if you have a tractor or quad bike with a power take off. Their simplicity means low risk of breakdown. have a look at:-

http://www.hycrack.co.uk/log-splitter.htm

[chrismahon]

The manual hydraulic units I've listed at the beginning are supposed to exert 10 tons of force. One lever is for rapid ram movement, the other is for the final push. Takes 450mm long logs apparently.

You can get cheaper units that are cam operated, rather than hydraulic. But then the force exerted depends on how hard you push and that sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

[robert waddell]

the easy split logs can be done with an axe and very rapid as well  get a bit of seasoned dead elm  and you will know the small cheap splitters are any good

[chrismahon]

Despite Machine Mart doing a VAT free promotion until the end of May which brings the price down to £110 I've decided not to get one. They weigh 47.5Kg and will only split up to 175mm diameter (7" in old money). Not convinced the welding will take the loads either.
 
So I've bought a rather big (10lbs) sledge hammer (£1.50) which has now got a new handle (£11.80) secured with a new wedge (80p) and one of those wood splitting 'grenades' by Roughneck (£14.00). Anyone got any experience of splitting logs with one of those?

[SallyintNorth]

Does no-one use a log-splitting axe?  Like an axey axe but with a much thicker blade to force the wood apart?
 
Wedges when the log-splitting axe can't get in there, yes, but mostly the log-splitting axe should do the job?
 
BH is an education to watch - with a thick log, first a few blows around a ring (concentric), then the radials to split off the first row of chunks, then another concentric, and so on.

[robert waddell]

yes sally there is a art to splitting logs and it is not just hitting any old way
before i bought a log splitter i could outperform the output with just an axe

[deepinthewoods]

i use an 'axey' axe and as mentioned before, stuff an old tyre full of logs then just go hell for leather on it, you cant miss, no logs go flying off and an evenings burners worth is done in minutes.