Hi all,

Menards currently has a sale on a Forest King 22T log splitter (made in China ), normally $999 on sale for $899 with a $200 rebate bringing it to $699.

It will be mainly be light-duty splitting Ash, Cottonwood (for outdoor FP), Locust and some Walnut. Nothing too big (only the occasional) and prefer to split on the job opposed to saving up the logs and splitting all at once, so likely no more than a couple hours at a time.

I've read the reviews, pros and cons but wondered if anyone had or heard of any experience with this unit.

As a guy who's pretty adamant on quality first, it's pretty tough to pass up at this price, but on the same hand I don't want to throw my money away on junk.

Also, as I was expecting to pay $1,000 - $1,300 and wanted at least a 22T unit, I am also open to suggestions on what you might deem a good-for-the-money splitter. But $700 is awful tempting!

Thanks!

I have begun to avoid things made in China unless they are disposable. Too many bad experiences, but I am sure it varies by product.

I'm not familiar with that exact product, but there are a few issues common with some of the offshore stuff. Any piece of equipment will need repair sometime....Menards does not do service or warranty work in house, so the likelihood is they contract it out with an external provider. FIND OUT for sure....who it is, where they are located, then give em' a call and ask how many units they see in the shop for repair. That should give you an idea of just how rugged the unit may, or may not be.

Do not assume that you will be able to just visit your local outdoor power repair facility for parts or service...many will not work on offshore stuff, or have a hard time coming up with parts.

You must verify that you can get service after the sale, BEFORE the sale.

Thanks Sprk!

Reading more reviews, there's an equal amount of happy and unhappy owners, with the satisfied being on the "I realized when I bought it that it may have some issues". Which were poor welds, cheap hoses/fittings, log-stop needing reinforced, etc. But also that most parts were generic.

So, considering that I will likely have to take re-sale into account down the road, I'm going to write off the "China-Doll".

So to switch gears, I've found a 27T Troy-Bilt and a 25T Cub Cadet for the same price. Both have 160cc Honda engines, same cycle time, specs, etc., except that the Cub Cadet has fenders, the Troy-Bilt does not.

Any reviews or opinions on either of those?

Can't speak for everyone but we deal with a lot of Honda motors and they work GREAT!! I have also used a few times a Troy-Bilt log splitter and worked like a charm. I can't remember what Ton is was but it was at least 20.

I cut stuff up to plate size (Oak, Cedar, Hickory) maybe a little bigger no problems.

RC

Some Troy-Built/Husky splitters had bad welds. I don't know if the forum is up now or not, as it's been getting hit by hackers regularly in the past month. When I checked yesterday, it was hacked again and a pop-up would automatically show up and direct you away from it.

Go to www.ArboristSite.com and look in the homeowners secion for splitter recommendations.

Troy-bilt and Cub will be virtually identical, with a lot of parts interchangeability due to the fact they are produced by the same company....MTD.

The toughest, baddest splitters I see available locally are built by Speeco/Huskee.

The Honda engine is a strong selling point in my book.

Even badder than Timberwolf?

http://www.timberwolfcorp.com/tw-pro-hd-xl-firewood-processor-optional-equipment/

Half a day of labor should keep him in firewood for the rest of the year.

O.K. I missed the "locally" part......

"The toughest, baddest splitters I see available locally are built by Speeco/Huskee."

I purposefully added the "locally" part for just that reason... I have an uncle who just had a "firewood processor" built by a company up north someplace....over 10 grand!

Eric, you mentioned them in a previous thread and as I tried last night and this morning, it was still hacked . Hey, now it's up again


Sprk, you're exactly right! Putting those two side by side, the only difference was the name. But as Chevy makes a ton of different models, how does a guy know if one's better quality than the next

Regarding the Huskee, that's the brand my (local ) TSC carries, has their 22T on sale right now ($999), has a 190cc B&G engine and a 13 second cycle time compared to 19. Another difference is, it has the narrow wedge compared to the wider one, and it seems like I've read people much prefer the wider wedge?

I'm glad to see the Huskee with good reviews although I too would prefer the Honda engine but it's priced right!

But any comments on the narrow wedge compared to the wide/fat ones?

Thanks again for all your input!

A lot depends upon the type of wood you're trying to bust...a narrow wedge, while requiring less power, will sometimes pinch and hang up, especially in stringy wood. A fatter wedge takes more oomph, but placing the "kickers" further back on the wedge will give the best combination...a thinner wedge to start the split, then a wider section to open the log up.

A narrow wedge is not a deal breaker.....I have welded heavy angle iron kickers to many thin wedges over the years.

Thanks again Sprk!

The Huskee wedge appears to have the "kickers" you speak of, and with a lot of my wood being stringy (Ash I think), it may be better anyway.

Plus I have a welder if needed

How about one last opinion on the log-cradle? The splitters I've rented in the past have had them and the ones I spoke of earlier do too, but the Huskee does not.

Any big deal on that one?

I like a log cradle. It saves a lot of wear and tear on the back, especially if you're operating the splitter solo. When you have help it's not as big an issue, as many times there will be two off-bearers waiting to catch the chunks as they come off the wedge. Hard to do that, and operate the controls when you're alone.

But again, have welder - problem solved.

Thank you all for your opinions, views and reviews!

Extremely helpful as always!

Somebody mentioned the "baddest" log splitter, this one gets my vote. When it's done with one, it'll go get the next one!

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

That is pretty cool....looks like a lot of wear on the machine with all that jostling to shake things free, though.

On a related note, homemade woodsplitters occupy a spot near the very top of my list of things I do not like working on. I believe that every red-blooded American male who owns a welder must harbor a secret desire to build a woodsplitter. I have seen a great many, and the majority place the most emphasis on using whatever is at hand to build it, with functionality, safety, balance, and overall weight occupying spots near the bottom on their list of important considerations.

Sure they work.... But if it takes a team of draft horses just to move the blamed thing around, what does that prove?

I've got a welder, know how to use it and have no desire to build one.

It was easier to buy a twice used 27T Troy-build/Husky/MTD one from the neighbor for less than 50% of the new price. Honda motor, thankfully. It can be used both vertically and horizontally, but I really DO have to make the log holding shelves larger and more robust. Much easier for one person to use it if the pieces aren't constantly dropping to the ground.

Although most of my pieces are large enough that they require picking up with a FEL on the tractor to place on the log splitter.....

Wise choice!

I have been watching this for the past 20 minutes...coolest thing EVER.

What about a gas powered can smasher? Sorry, no vids...

That's cool spark! Up here we have a 10 cent deposit and they won't take them if they are crushed. Some places won't even allow minor dents.

My BIL has a Huskee 35 ton log splitter and it's really sweet. He burns about 18 cord per year. Only ever had minor issues with some fasteners, but I gave him some real ones.

I clicked on this thread last night and my laptop went nut's. A quick thing about a virus, blue screen of death, then it quickly rebooted. Overnight scan pulled a nasty bug out.

I have quit cutting oak that had to be split. And, I have a lot of oak.

Splitter update, I decided to rent one again this year and glad I did. The one I rented was 20T Baretto and I know now if/when I buy one, it will be bigger. But the Honda engine was awesome, quiet and always started on the first pull. The 20T just struggled a bit on some of the bigger/harder stuff.

Special thanks to Sprkplug for putting up with all my questions including on a chainsaw. I ended up getting an ECHO and love it! Thanks Sprk!

Busy weekend but got 'er done! (BTW, Larry The Cable Guy lives only a mile from me )

http://youtu.be/dZF-kBg025M

Thanks everyone for your input!

Back to the heating pad

When the magazine MOTHER EARTH NEWS first came out, a screw type of log splitter that fastened on to your car wheel hub sold for around $79 that worked well but was scary. Similar to the one on this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1HZztie5ac

Later a friend built me a hydraulic vertical splitter that fit on my tractor that was nice since you just rolled the round onto the splitter and didn't have to lift it.

I've seen those screw-type splitters before. The ones I am personally familiar with were made to simply slide on the PTO shaft of a tractor......no bolting or unbolting needed.

Interesting concept but knowing my luck I have visions of SO many bad things happening with one of those

The scary part of a screw splitter is if you get the wood too centered it can kick out and spin. The spin I had was off balance and shaky scary. I had an older car and I wouldn't want to put it on a new car.

I have come across many a unsafe thing in my travels but this takes the cake

I went with a Wallenstein 3 point unit for my tractor. No pump or motor, inexpensive, well built plus I can lay it right down on the ground and roll the big stuff on. An easily removable 4 way wedge makes splitting 3x as fast...

Cut it, split it, stack it in the racks and I'm done fingerprinting it. Wheel into basement on casters, and lower to floor with a motorcycle jack. A full seasons worth stacked inside high and dry...