Most productive pto log splitter under 4k

[Peasgood]

6 hours ago, pembswoodrecycling said:

There’s very little wrong with it to be fair.

at the moment we run it off the tractor, so I want a PTO version to be able to use our smaller tractor which is waaay too slow on it’s own hydraulics.

we fabricated a big table for it and that was a massive improvement.

the biggest complaint I’ve got is the tiny axe head they have can only ever split one log at a time, and the fillets that strengthen the table makes getting big logs close enough to split quite difficult sometimes.

there’s also a stupid gap between the axe and the splitter body that is prone to getting bits wedged in.

I’d also like a more powerful ram without sacrificing speed, which means having a well designed hydraulic system.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Oxdale and would have another one in a heartbeat, but a bigger wedge that goes right back and a stronger ram would make all the difference to me.

 

If money was no object I’d buy an Axis because I like their setup, although I don’t see the need to buy an expensive to buy and expensive to run petrol engine when I could use an 80hp tractor for no cost.

what I’m really looking for is a splitter as well thought out as the Axis, but tractor mounted with a PTO pump.

I sat my Oxdale on an Ifor flatbed trailer and ran it off extension pipes from the tractor hydraulics, it would have been better still if actually fastened to the trailer but wasn't enough of an issue to ever make that modification. Those pipes actually came from Hand as a result of me complaining about the splitter they sent, it went on for months of them promising a new splitter but ended with me saying just give me some new pipes. 

I'm sure you already figured it out but a length of wood the right size held against the bit that gets stuck behind the blade and the bottom of the ram pushes the stuck bit out on the return stroke. A feature pretty much designed into the Eastonmade Axis.

[GarethM]

11 minutes ago, Peasgood said:

Yep that's me but you can feck off with the old bit, I am only 60!.

As for running it backwards, yes I am sure you are right because it did have more power if piped different but the return never worked if it was that way around. I never got it to run how I thought it should but it worked well enough. It arrived to me very badly put together, it would not function at all because the guards over the levers stopped them from working, the pipes weren't in the right place along with various other things. Yes the height was wrong too, I sat it on a pallet when using it.

Haha, I'm only 42, so I'm just a whipper snapper 😉. Nice too have met another member albeit a few year back.

 

I stripped absolutely everything off it including the guard and upped the hoses 1/2" feed and 3/4" return hopefully it breaths easier.

[Conor Wright]

Carroll engineering make a good range of splitters, they have some UK distribution as far as I know. They're a small outfit and will build to spec. Very popular over here.

There's also proarc, but they're no longer being made, great splitters if you can find one, but I don't recall seeing a pto model. 

 

[Dan Maynard]

22 minutes ago, Conor Wright said:

Carroll engineering make a good range of splitters, they have some UK distribution as far as I know. They're a small outfit and will build to spec. Very popular over here.

There's also proarc, but they're no longer being made, great splitters if you can find one, but I don't recall seeing a pto model. 

 

I looked at Carroll, they do look well built. UK sales through Field and Forest apparently 

http://www.fieldandforestltd.co.uk/

[pembswoodrecycling]

Things have moved on… I’m very taken with the Ryetec CV16 and is not massively out of budget at £4700.

But I’ve been thrown a curve ball, there’s a Balfour pro22 for sale locally. I’ve always fancied one of these, are they any good for short logs or only any good for billets?

[slack ma girdle]

No idea what these are like, but they do seem to be well thought out.

Petrol Log Splitter with Lift - MDL PowerupMDL Powerup

WWW.MDLPOWERUP.COM

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Petrol Log Splitter with lift. Electric start petrol and diesel engine options. Hydraulic lifting table. Includes 3 Year Warranty