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Log Splitters: Huskee vs Troy Built, + Cycle Times

Started by plaindriver, October 20, 2012, 06:29:50 PM

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plaindriver

I have narrowed my choices down to two units: The Husky 22T @$1100 from Tractor Supply and the Troy Built 27T @$1200 Lowes. I ruled out the Swisher models because of the poly hyd fluid tanks and mostly because of the stated 24 sec cycle time.

The Huskee says a 13 second cycle, while the Troy claims a 19 sec time. The Troy seems more substantial, and has a Honda vs B&S engine on the Huskee, But the lower cycle time on the Huskee is attractive. Both go horiz and vert, and both have a makeshift log catcher when in the vertical position.

So, am I putting too much consideration on the cycle time??
(BTW, I just retired and this is strictly for my own personal consumption.)
Kubota L4600 DT w/FEL, John Deere 750 4WD w/FEL, PH Digger,RotoTiller,Box Scraper,Disc;16, 18, 20" chainsaws;Troy Built 27T splitter; table saw, radial arm saw,turning lathe, chipper, small backhoe, Isuzu NPR 14' stakeside diesel truck; a wife that still likes me.

thecfarm

Six seconds does add up,but I'm not one of these guys that is concerned about splitting a cord in one hour either. I'm not 18 years old anymore and I might like a longer cycle time now.  :(  I would buy the one I like the best and hope I made the right choice down the road.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

LeeB

Both are made by MTD. I think for $100 more I would lean toward the Honda engine.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

sawguy21

I  don't believe the Honda GC engine is worth an extra c note, it is not heir premium model. If it had the GX engine I would say yeah go for it. FWIW, I believe the Huskee unit is built by Speeco, a Blount (Oregon) subsidiary. Either one should be ok as long as the frame is stout enough for prolonged use and the hydraulics are U.S. made with SAE fittings. A lot of off shore junk out there so buyer beware.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Russ1053

Congratulations on the retirement.  Time comes down to how fast you "realistically" need/want to split your wood.  I'm with thecfarm on the whole time thing.  I don't really pay any attention to the time.  Go at a comfortable pace and you'll get plenty done and still have all your fingers at the end of the day.  Another excellent option is the 27-ton Ariens/Gravely.  I have the Gravely version and love it.  It is rated at 16.5 seconds recycle time but since I cut everything to 16 inches I rarely use the full ram length.  It is smooth and the Subaru engine is very quiet and great on gas.  In vertical position it doesn't even flinch at 24" diameter chunks, knots and all.  For smaller, easy to pick up pieces horizontal is super comfortable and the Gravely version comes with the table included.  Bought it at my local power equipment dealer for $1,699.00. 
Best regards,
Russ Waldron

giant splinter

If cycle time is of importance I recommend investigating Kinetic Energy log splitters, the cycle time is 3 seconds total start to finish on each split. Logrite, DR Power Equipment and Speedpro have them. They are able to split two cords of wood per hour and cost just slightly more than hydraulic splitters.
roll with it

John Mc

Quote from: giant splinter on October 21, 2012, 01:52:37 PM
If cycle time is of importance I recommend investigating Kinetic Energy log splitters, the cycle time is 3 seconds total start to finish on each split. Logrite, DR Power Equipment and Speedpro have them. They are able to split two cords of wood per hour and cost just slightly more than hydraulic splitters.

I believe the Logrite units are all more of a wood processor than just a log splitter.  They look like GREAT units, but may be more than PlainDriver is looking for.  Logrite builds them around the SuperSplit logsplitter (with some modifications).

The SuperSplit logsplitters are very well built units, if you are looking for that kind of cycle time.  They are also more expensive that traditional hydraulic log splitters (worth it, if you need the extra production, but maybe not if you have time and are just doing this for a few cords a year?)

The DR Products unit is basically a copy of the SuperSplit (once SuperSplit's patent ran out).  At least DR seems to have done a decent job of copying it.  I've not heard complaints about these units.  DR Products now has a lighter duty model RapidFire Pro, in addition to the Rapidfire Pro-XL.  I've seen the Pro-XL in operation, and it seems well built.  Even the light duty model is significantly more expensive than what the OP is considering.

Tractor Supply Co. used to sell the SpeedPro units - made by Speeco (I believe in China).  These also came out about the time SuperSplit's patent ran out.  When they were available, they were significantly less expensive than the SuperSplit or DR offerings -- but apparently there was a reason they were so inexpensive:  TSC discontinued these due to problems with teeth shearing off the gears (I forget if it was the rack or the pinion gear that had the problems).  Sounded like a problem with using poor quality steel, and/or poorly controlled heat treatment on the gears.  Some people have these units and have gotten good service from them, but there were a number of complaints.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

Al_Smith

Okay just how many people can load two cords per hour over the course of a day .Lets get real here. On this forum there are way more of us over 50 than there are under 30 .

Now as I type and sip my coffee I have about a cord laying in the landing spot that needs split .Realistically it will take me about two hours today ,maybe longer .No sense making up a story about it because most people know it to be fact how long it takes .

Al_Smith

Okay so here's how that went .At a few minutes till 11 AM EST I walked out of the house,hooked on to   the spitter ,gassed it and pulled it 300 feet to the landing .At a few minutes till 12 I walked back in after splitting about 2/3 cord .In addition to repairing a bar tightener on my neighbors S-25 Poulan .Now I'm having another cup of coffee .

So just how important is cycle time ? That little job was done with a TSC supposidely rated at 28 tons which is highly over rated as far as tonnage .

So say you burn 10 cord a year in about 3-4 days at that rate you'd be done for the year .Plus you wouldn't work your butt off doing it .Food for thought now . ;)

Logging logginglogging

I would go with the Troy built as its a better name. The low end stuff at TC just always disapoints me. I purchased a "Job smart" aircompressor there last year and it wasent very powerfull right from the beginning and never did a very good job running air tool like it said it would. They have cheaply made stuff that get overrated. Now as for the dog kennel and the she i have purchased there. They seem to be pretty decent. I use my fathers Try built splitter all the time and it works great and the cycle time is fast evough where its waiting for you when you go and get another piece to split. Once you get use to it u can really fly with it and split some wood in a hurry.

Al_Smith

Oh the price on those things just keeps going up each year . About 5-6  years ago you could buy a 12 HP 5 inch cylinder model for about what you pay for a 4 inch cylinder 6.5 HP splitter now days .

On the other hand if you don't let them sit in the rain for 10 months out of the year and change the oil they will about last forever .A cheap old 10 dollar tarp is about the best thing you can invest in to get some longevity out of one of those things .If not sooner or later you'll become an expert in changing hydraulic hoses.

Axe Handle Hound

I have a SpeeCo 35 ton splitter and it's a well made piece of equipment.   It's got a 14.5HP B&S that runs great and the splitter itself has no trouble busting up the big elm stumps I feed into it.  It has a pretty slow cycle time, but I figured that since I was dealing with heavy, string, knotty wood I wasn't going to be moving fast anyway.  Pick a machine that matches your usual work speed and you'll be happy.

Al_Smith

I looked up that machine and they give it 14 seconds cycle time which is only 1 second slower than a 4" cylinder model .

Now while it reality it's closer to 25 tons than what  they allude to of 35 tons a 5 inch cylinder verses a 4" is the difference between night and day if you are dealing with some tough old wood like elm .

This is basically what my home built uses as far as cylinder size with slightly less power .

If you take two machines ,one with a 5" and one with a 4" on the same size tough old wood the 5" will have a shorter cycle time .The 4" might pressure out long before the 5" needs too and will pop right through a tough old chunk of gnarly wood and never shift into low volume high pressure

plaindriver

To All: I ended up buying the 27T Troy Built from Lowes. Cost $1283 OTD. We have used it several times, and so far, nothing has stalled it. Mostly maple and wht or red oak. I usually cut the logs to either 22" or 15", as I have a smaller wood stove and a rather large conventional masonry fireplace. (48" deep and 57" across, 38" hi.). Our property has lotsa trees, lotsa lotsa!
Kubota L4600 DT w/FEL, John Deere 750 4WD w/FEL, PH Digger,RotoTiller,Box Scraper,Disc;16, 18, 20" chainsaws;Troy Built 27T splitter; table saw, radial arm saw,turning lathe, chipper, small backhoe, Isuzu NPR 14' stakeside diesel truck; a wife that still likes me.

clww

Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

thecfarm

Glad you are happy with it. I think mine only puts put 23 ton,but have never stalled it out yet.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

blackfoot griz

 

 
Plaindriver, I have the same machine.  It's 7-8 years old and has never missed a lick.  Since I built a firewood processor, I don't use it much...but the neighbors sure love it.  I can say this has run at least 100 cords through it and it always starts on the 1st or second pull.

Al_Smith

Those things have a massively heavy forged steel wedge .In addition it seem to me the front trunnion mount for the cylinder is a better option than most designs .

Logging logginglogging

Quote from: blackfoot griz on October 25, 2012, 10:12:25 PM


 
Plaindriver, I have the same machine.  It's 7-8 years old and has never missed a lick.  Since I built a firewood processor, I don't use it much...but the neighbors sure love it.  I can say this has run at least 100 cords through it and it always starts on the 1st or second pull.

Thats the exact same splitter i use. I sure love it!
Only thing is that the bolts on the wings / shelvs that come off the main ibeam break ocasionally. I plan to weld these solid when I have a few minutes, and maby make a metal table type thing that comes of the moter side so when i split a big piece I can set half over there while i split the half closest to me in to smaller pieces.

thecfarm

logging,I made a table for the motor side of mine for the same reason. I just made mine out of ¼X4 inch flat stock on edge,about 4 inches apart. It needs a lip on the sides of it or the big piece of wood will fall off. I just have 2 clamps on the edge now. I have a BS with OHV,starts good when it's warm,but anything below 40 it starts hard. At 20 is real bad. I put a magnetic heater on the oil pan and cover the motor and it starts like it does in July.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Al_Smith

I haven't paid much attention to the newer TSC/Huskey splitters but the older ones had weak link .

The type cylinder they used attached to the wedge with a 5/8" through bolt and a nylon lock nut .It was constantly shearing off .It didn't make much difference if you used a grade 5 or a grade 8 bolt it would still shear .

I think it might have been a special bolt also because if you used a reguler threaded bolt it put the threads right in the shear plane which is not good .The remedy is getting slightly longer bolts and cut some of the threads off the end to put the unthreaded portion in the shear plane yet not having enough stuck out the end to snag on the wood being split .

thecfarm

No problems with my bolt,YET. Mine looks almost the same. My wedge is made out of ½ flat stock,bent into a shape of a wedge with a space,hole in the middle of the wedge. I have really used mine too in the 10 years I have owned it. Just like everything I buy,I use it. I did not buy it to look at it.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Logging logginglogging

Quote from: thecfarm on October 26, 2012, 08:05:22 AM
logging,I made a table for the motor side of mine for the same reason. I just made mine out of ¼X4 inch flat stock on edge,about 4 inches apart. It needs a lip on the sides of it or the big piece of wood will fall off. I just have 2 clamps on the edge now. I have a BS with OHV,starts good when it's warm,but anything below 40 it starts hard. At 20 is real bad. I put a magnetic heater on the oil pan and cover the motor and it starts like it does in July.
thats cool. mabye thats how i will do that. My fathers one.. (the one i use and am gonna make a table for) came with a Honda engine. Starts good, but needs the choke in cool weather. We never run it in the winter much though. I just remembered I need to take the recoul off and clean it up some ..it dosent draw the cord back in like it use to. Its a plastic housing recoild not like the sturdy old metal ones.

blackfoot griz

Quote from: Al_Smith on October 26, 2012, 07:13:04 AM
Those things have a massively heavy forged steel wedge .In addition it seem to me the front trunnion mount for the cylinder is a better option than most designs .

Good point Al. It's also a cheaper way to make a splitter...the structural frame that takes the stress does not have to be as long than if the cylinder was anchored from the rear. The hole in the wedge is where I stick a long stick, pipe etc so I can see where the splitter is when backing it up with my pickup!
Quote from: thecfarm on October 26, 2012, 08:05:22 AM
logging,I made a table for the motor side of mine for the same reason. I just made mine out of ¼X4 inch flat stock on edge,about 4 inches apart. It needs a lip on the sides of it or the big piece of wood will fall off. I just have 2 clamps on the edge now. I have a BS with OHV,starts good when it's warm,but anything below 40 it starts hard. At 20 is real bad. I put a magnetic heater on the oil pan and cover the motor and it starts like it does in July.
Do you have any pics of the table you made??  The Honda starts easy when it is cold....as Logging stated, you just have to stick with the choke for while.

thecfarm

That BS when it's cold I bet I can pull on it 20 times before it starts. But when it's warm, a real easy pull and it starts fine. I think a 5 year old could start it when it's warm. But in the winter time a 50 year old has a hard time starting it.  ;D
Batteries are dead in the camera. They are on charge.Don't expect anything fancy with the table. I just removed the log cradle and kinda cut it so it just rest on the I beam. I tipped up the splitter to split a big piece. Little did I know the table was tipped up so the bottom wedge hit it. I wondered why it was splitting kinda hard.  ::)
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

blackfoot griz

Well, it's 22 degrees here. I walked outside, knocked the snow off the honda and this 50+ year old got it started on the 3rd pull....must have been the old gas in the tank! ;)

Al_Smith

Those Briggs engine are no different than chainsaws .Some start easy and some not so .The condition of the valves and the carb tune has a lot to do with it .

The newer Briggs also often use diaphragm type fuel pumps and just like chainsaws the ethanol in the gas affects them .The good news is the diaphragm and check valves are only 5-6 bucks to replace them .I order them 4 sets at a time .

Al_Smith

Couple more things on those Briggs engine .If it's a flat head model you can lap the valves with removing them .Remove the head and apply just a tiny amount of light lapping compound on the valve face and roll it over till it just touches the seat and lap away .Make darned certain you take a Q-tip or something and get all the compound off after you're done .

In Maine or any other place it gets colder than a well diggers butt you'd probabley do better with synthetic oil .Now mind you it can get cold in Ohio just not like some of the more northerly states .

thecfarm

It was like that since day one,start great when it's warm,but cold forget it.  I split most of my wood when it's cold out. I might try that sythetic oil. time to change it anyways. I will still use the heater too. I like things kinda warm when I start them up in the cold.
Here's the pictures of the so called table. Nothing fancy,just plain and simple.You can see where the bottom of the splitter hit the table when I had it tipped down. I split alot of dead stuff and the bark really piles up in front of it. I tipped it down without cleaning out in front of it and the table is not tight,I just left it loose. And to tell you the truth I have no idea why I left it loose. some great idea I had.  ::) Now I clean out in front of the splitter before I tip it down.


 

Just another view and this shows the wedge.



 

You can see the 2 clamps that is use to keep the wood from falling off. I really should weld a couple bolts about 2-3 inches high. I don't think a piece of metal all the way would work unless I made sure it was on the inside of the lip each time instead of on top of it. The whole thing is about 14 inches. seems to work or I would of added on to it by now.

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Al_Smith

That formed steel  wedge is a little different than my buddys' 28 ton rated I just replaced the engine on .His is a knife edge leading with a set of solid steel wings .The cylinder pin is the same though .

The Briggs 8 HP I replaced was a 1992 model so I assume that's the age of the splitter .That machine probabley does 40-50  cords a year .

Busy Beaver Lumber

I personally have the 35 ton huskee splitter and my best bud has the 22 ton huskee. They are both excellent machines. He has probably gone through 100 cords with his and i would estimate that i have put 70 cords through mine with no problems with either machine. A 4 way splitting wedge is available for the 35 ton unit as well.

I have also had the chance to use the troy built 22 ton unit and it too is a fine machine, but if i had to pick one over the other I would go with the speeco/husky splitters as just a person preference
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clww

Quote from: Al_Smith on October 26, 2012, 08:19:44 AM
I haven't paid much attention to the newer TSC/Huskey splitters but the older ones had weak link .

The type cylinder they used attached to the wedge with a 5/8" through bolt and a nylon lock nut .It was constantly shearing off .It didn't make much difference if you used a grade 5 or a grade 8 bolt it would still shear .

I think it might have been a special bolt also because if you used a reguler threaded bolt it put the threads right in the shear plane which is not good .The remedy is getting slightly longer bolts and cut some of the threads off the end to put the unthreaded portion in the shear plane yet not having enough stuck out the end to snag on the wood being split .
I'll agree with that. The original bolt on my Huskee I broke. After that, I swapped to longer Grade 8 bolts. So far, I've snapped two of these in four years. The one installed now is probably going to go before spring arrives. All of mine have broken off at the threads on the nut side. Prior to breaking completely, these have bent from the force of the hydraulics.
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

Al_Smith

Yeah I took heed of that problem before I made my home built .The cylinder on it has a yoke and a 1" pin made from a three point tractor hitch pin .Also on the knife type wedge I welded a boss on either side so the total width at that point is 1 1/4" .There's just barely enough room the wings cover it so it doesn't get hung up on the wood .

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