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Hi, please help with some advice. I need a log splitter to split some old grey hard Beech and some aged Elm (Scots)

I am interested in a small splitter

My questions are

Petrol or electric?

and

would 10 tons of force be enough to tackle the job.

I have maul and can get throught the "easy" logs so I need the splitter for the troublemakers that I can not process.

Maximum lenght would be 50 cm. Width is variable as it depends on the the tree but the biggest logs have a width of 25- 30 inch. I would cut this once if necessary.

I have lots of wood to process on an ongoing basis so dont want to hire or pay someone else to have all the fun!

Currently I am thinking the Thor range of 10 tonne Splitters are perhaps best given the money I would be willing to spend. The question here is does anyone have expereince of splitting old beech and elm with a Thor splitter?

Thanks in advance

Chances are with nothing but Elm and old Beech, and in the reasonably big sizes you're dealing with, the 10 tonne Thor will struggle.

I used to run a 20 tonne thor on the back of an 1164 county and even stalled the tractor out on some Elm no bigger than a foot or so in diameter - that splitter would handle green timber in metre lengths that were big enough I'd have t feed them under it with the crane - yet Elm

Part of the problem with splitters is that until you get into the Pro ranges, most are designed for the "easy" logs - if you look through the manuals of a lot of splitters on the market it usually says somewher that "these machines are designed only for use on straight grained timber"

One other thing with a table type splitter like the 10 tonne Thor (unless I've gotten muddled up) is that you have to lift the logs up to the table height - at 24-30 inch diameter and 22 inch long - I'd not want to do that for very long

A conventional vertical with removable table might be a better choice

I ve heard that in England (English Elm) grows with a twist and is notoriously hard to split, whereas the Elm you mention Scots (or Wytch Elm?) is usually easier, and only a few rounds will give you problems, which can always be chainsawed rather than split. Beech is usually okay to split, but I m not sure about that if it is aged?

Looking at splitters is a minefield and does your head in.
Interesting what Chris says above, he stalled a 1164 county with a 20 tonne Thor splitter, on a small bit of Elm, thats 2 machines that should be able to handle anything!
Generally you ll get what you pay for.
I ve no idea if petrol or electric is best, I ve only being looking at tractor powered, and notice that most manufacturers cant even tell you what hydraulic flow rate you need to operate their products.

Absolutely, and 99% of the time it would take anything that could be physically gotten underneath it, but the Elm on the estate at the time was almost liek concrete and could be an absolute swine, especially if it's already seasoned

They made wheel hubs out of elm in the old days due to these qualities,they wouldnt split.

Gibbons, what I found when I was looking for a splitter is that 20 tonne, or 30 etc., isnt necessarily the best for the job, but I m talking about a tractor hydraulic splitter.
I bought an AMR 12 tonne splitter, made in Alsace, France, they are sold in the UK under the Ryetec label.
Its a great machine and handles the toughest of the Elm (Wytch Elm).

What I had to look at was how much oil flow the splitter needs to drive it and how much my tractor pump can put out. The AMR needs 35 litres per minute and the tractor can put out 53 l/m. The MF250 and the 12 tonne AMR work very well together.
I think a common mistake is that the higher the tonnage the splitter can force the better, but to drive a 20 or 30 tonner, you d need a tractor like Chris's county.

I see your looking at petrol or electric, so the above info isnt so much use for you, but what ever you decide to get, a 10 -14 tonne machine will probably be okay.
One other thing to look at is where the machines are built, and generally European and North American machines will be the best, I would look for a bigger manufacturer, because generally you will get spares no problem.
The bigger names are AMR (Ryetec), Thor, Balfour, Wallenstein.

Wallenstein would be my first choice, their machines are excellent quality and well thought out designs, the company over here is great to deal with too!

FLF Trading Company Limited


Sam

The Wallensteins looked to be the best value for money.
I bought the AMR because I m friendly with the dealer.

When comparing splitters, be aware of the difference in european tons and american tonnes. (I think I got that the right way round) An american tonne is 1000lbs not 1000kgs.

I have an american built petrol logsplitter that says 25t. That is comparable to a metric 12t machine.

A tonne is the metric measurement- ie. 1000kgs.

One Imperial ton (also known as a 'Long Ton') is 2240 lbs or 1016.3kgs

And to confuse you more, one short ton is 2000 lbs or 907.4kgs!