Kinetic wood splitter vs USA made hydraulic

49ereric

WKR
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Messages
834
I have a USA made hydraulic 26 ton splitter, and I still split a bunch of my wood by hand. I enjoy that.
Good heart exercise 👍👍 I do as well but in the woods I cut the big hard maple that won’t crack after a few swings into 1/4’s these days.
 

Desert Hntr

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 11, 2017
Messages
121
If your not using large logs the stationary wedge you use a small sledge on is awesome because you can keep it near and break down to small pieces as needed too.


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Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Messages
2,651
Location
West Virginia
My buddy and I went 50/50 on the DR back in the day. However, when it shells out I may look to see if there are any firewood processors in this area. Are you talking about the unit that picks up a log, cuts, and splits all in one operation? I've see these on youtube hooked onto a skid loader.
Yes. Often they are loaded by a tractor that loads onto the chain. It’s is fed into a trough that feeds it to a cross cut. Tgg he e chunk you cut falls into to 4-8 wedge splitter. It gets split and belt fed into a truck fed, wagon, trailer, etc…. One of those bad boys.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
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Colorado Springs
Good heart exercise 👍👍 I do as well but in the woods I cut the big hard maple that won’t crack after a few swings into 1/4’s these days.
Maple is like my holy grail of firewood around here. I generally mix some elm, aspen, and pine when burning, but every few years I'll get a lead on some maple.
 
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
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Western Iowa
Elm is actually my favorite wood to burn. Splits well and those "hairy" fibers and splinters make awesome tinder and kindling. It also burns very hot, less BTU than oak or hard maple probably, but hot and very clean.

Mulberry is my second favorite due to availability around here and very high BTU as well. However, IME it takes an extra 6 months to a year to age/dry. I typically get my stove hot with elm and keep it hot with mulberry.

We have various evergreens available in limited supply around here with cedar the most common. They light fast and burn faster, but are much sootier. Good tinder and kindling.
 

49ereric

WKR
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Messages
834
Elm is actually my favorite wood to burn. Splits well and those "hairy" fibers and splinters make awesome tinder and kindling. It also burns very hot, less BTU than oak or hard maple probably, but hot and very clean.

Mulberry is my second favorite due to availability around here and very high BTU as well. However, IME it takes an extra 6 months to a year to age/dry. I typically get my stove hot with elm and keep it hot with mulberry.

We have various evergreens available in limited supply around here with cedar the most common. They light fast and burn faster, but are much sootier. Good tinder and kindling.
The elm that split well here is red elm but the big trees are long gone now.
most elm only get so big and the beetle’s kill them but it makes for good pole length wood for boiling maple sap in the spring.
 
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Messages
886
Location
Montana
I have a old SpeeCo 22 ton from when they were made In USA. Not sure where they are made these days. It has Horizontal and Vertical splitting which is nice for the big rounds. It’s a tow behind. I tow with the quad or the tractor. It’s also light enough to muscle around by hand when splitting to keep pile clear.
I had to replace the Briggs and Stratton motor a few years back but that was easy and around $200 back then. I cut about 4-5 cords per season and always have 4-5 cords split and stacked ready to burn. When scouting elk and deer, I’m always scouting trees too.
Edit: Brave splitters are claimed to be USA made..
 
Last edited:

magtech

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
Messages
237
Location
Michigan
Make your own? Predator 420cc. Pump kit/tank/valve/hyd cylinder from surplus center.

Measure and buy the hoses you need at tsc or online.

Find a 10ft strong ass ibeam online or junkyard.

Throw some axles wheels and tires on it

Have a machine shop cut you a wedge.

Put on a hitch

Have a custom product thats much better than what you can buy.
 

NRA4LIFE

WKR
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Messages
1,085
Location
washington
Buy a used one with a Honda engine. I bought mine 24 years ago and it was probably that old when I bought it. Never messed with it at all and have split 50 cords at least. Still starts and runs perfectly. I paid $400 for it.
 

NRA4LIFE

WKR
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Messages
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Location
washington
I should add, this was USA made by a company in Illinois called Blackhawk. Not sure they still exist but this thing has been a solid beast.
 
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