Grizzly hydraulic wood splitter - two thumbs up.

[bae]

The other day, I picked up one of these hand-operated hydraulic wood splitters, from Grizzly tool. It was reasonably frugal, $108. Freight for delivery is insane, $79, but it weighs ~100 pounds. Luckily, Grizzly Tools has one of their main warehouses just a few miles away from me over on the mainland, and when I was over there recently, I just drove by and picked it up for $0 delivery cost. The savings paid for my ferry ticket, gasoline, and lunch.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/10-Ton-Log-Splitter/H6239

The reason I got this is that I have some really nasty tough wood here, with lots of knots or twisted burls, and some of it is a royal pain to split totally by hand - I was getting tennis elbow blasting through it with a sledge hammer and wedges, the splitting maul wouldn't even make a dent in those chunks.

This hydraulic unit eats them up.

One handle moves the ram forward semi-fast, but requires more force, the other handle moves the ram very slowly, using very little effort on your part, so you can start the split with the low-geared one, then speed things up with the other.

It is still a bit slow, so for me its best use is to break a problem round in halves or quarters, then do the rest with hand tools. It is great for team-splitting, one partner can produce halves, while the other deals with them.

It stows upright when you are done using it, so you can tuck it away in a corner of the garage or shed and not trip over it.

[TacAir]

Thanks for the review and photos!

[bae]

My new exercise gear is all set to go:








About half of the hemlock trees I took down this week, I still have to buck up and get the rest up here to the house. Then it's splittin' time, arr!

[ShortFieldBreak]

That's a beautiful thing. I'm continually looking for the manual versions of powered stuff just in case I find myself without power for an extended period of time. Looks like that one is going on my list. Thanks for the review.

-SFB

[Apollo-11]

It looks like Harbor Freight has this same item with red paint. It is item #67090 for $119. I thought I'd mention it because you can get it with no shipping charge if you have a HF store nearby. The regular price is $129, but with everything at HF, it is on sale. Look around the net for a 20% off HF coupon if you happen to catch it when it is not on sale.

Looks like a good buy. If I had more time for campfires, I'd buy one! Thanks for the review.

[doitnstyle1]

I own one from Harbor Freight. While it makes the splitting much easier, it does take quite a few strokes with the levers to be able to split the wood. I find that I am usually winded whn trying to split wood quickly. I am thinking that the foot splitter is a more efficient use of energy and much quicker than the hydraulic system shown.

[Frosty709]

That's a nice rig. Much easier to use that than with a splitting ax. Far safer and energy efficient as well. Good stuff.