Do we need a 40 tonne splitter

[gooseflight]

We're a charitable trust with around 60 acres of arboretum/woodland open to the public.

 

At the moment we've quite a lot of firewood to process -- Douglas fir, beech and sycamore in the main.

 

We can afford to buy a splitter and I have seen 40 tonne, diesel, trailed splitters for around £2K.

 

We do have a Siromer tractor and a 3-point, 10 tonne splitter but the hydraulics on the tractor aren't the best. And for sure the tractor splitter isn't going to handle some of our bigger rounds.

 

So I'm thinking 40 tonne ought to do it with capacity to spare. Is it more than we need? Or is it common sense to buy the biggest we can afford?

[justin131]

only thing to remember is big=slow so you need a decent power pack to run a 40 ton splitter at a productive speed.

[caledonian bob]

40tonne is overkill to say the least unless you have loads of knotty Oak and Elm. As Justin said it will be slow unless you have a big power pack. If you tractors hydraulics are not good you could always buy a power pack to run the splitter you already have.

[spandit]

I've been hiring a 25-tonne splitter recently and it has coped with everything. Frankly, if there was something it couldn't handle, I'd put it aside for the bonfire or pile it up for nature

[Stubby]

Why not get a cone splitter to run of the tractor PTO and the if the hydraulics arnt any good ?

[gooseflight]

40tonne is overkill to say the least unless you have loads of knotty Oak and Elm. As Justin said it will be slow unless you have a big power pack. If you tractors hydraulics are not good you could always buy a power pack to run the splitter you already have.

Thanks Bob, this is a good option. How do you go about sizing a pack for a 10 tonne splitter?

[Woodworks]

I can't see the need. We went for a 17 tonne Krpan and it's never failed to split what's put in front of it. This is on rings upto 2'-3' diameter. Not sure of the lift you have on your tractor but how's about a splitter with PTO pump. Our splitter is near the limit for our compact but it copes with it's weight of near 500kg. Recon there is a bit of difference between Chinese tonnes and European tonnes when it comes to splitters

[rowan lee]

We do have a Siromer tractor and a 3-point, 10 tonne splitter but the hydraulics on the tractor aren't the best. And for sure the tractor splitter isn't going to handle some of our bigger rounds.

 

Look into a pto pump conversion for your existing splitter then. All you need is a pump, an oil reservoir and some pipe work. It will speed things up dramatically.

 

I would avoid a 40t splitter priced at 2k. I have a 13t pto splitter and it splits everything i can lift onto the table. Does a great job with a 4 way head as well on anything up to 14'' in diameter.

[Mark Bolam]

I wasn't sure if I'd gone too small with a 7T petrol, but I was after portability and a reasonably quick ram stroke.

Not much it's failed on if you know your timber, sometimes have to bust edges off with the tip of the wedge on gnarly stuff.

Weirdly it's great on longer stuff.

Special order cut at 20" last week and it whizzed through it.

The advantage I can see with 40T is that if it wouldn't split it it would pretty much cut through it.

I bet some twisted bits would come apart a bit lively though!

[Logged On]

The one (I broke), but is now repaired and going again, is just a 10ton one.

 

It's coped with everything we've thrown at it.

 

One thing we did learn is, if the wood's REALLY knotty / gnarly, cut the ring thinner than normal.