Log Splitter For Smoker?

[WeberWho]

I found a facecord plus of precut seasoned oak today for free. I definitely had to work for the free oak wood. It took 20+ trips up a steep hill with a wheelbarrow. I had the next door lady ask me over the fence what I was doing all morning long? I told her I was hauling wood up from the bottom of the hill. She thought I was training for the army. Lol.

After a couple truck beds worth of hauling I got it all back home and stacked. Now I'm trying to figure out a way to split it. This is where it gets complicated. I'd love to have a hydraulic wood spliter but I can't really afford a new one or a 2nd hand one for a facecord of wood. I don't have much of any trees on my property. So it kind of seems far fetched to own one. The kicker is that my parents need to drop a 125'+ oak tree some day or year. I definitely will need something that will kick out split wood. I looked around Craigslist for a used hydraulic splitter but a used one usually goes for $500+. Still too much at this point not knowing when my parents will have their oak tree dropped. I did see that I could rent a hydraulic splitter for around $50/day but I'm not sure I want to spend that and haul it around for a facecord. I looked at manual splitters but that seems like it's not much better than a maul or splitting axe. Do any of you own an electric splitter? Those caught my eye. I can find those used for around $150-$200. Maybe that might work for smaller loads?

I had a facecord of oak and apple delivered a few months ago for $120. Which seems like a pretty good deal for doing zero work other than stacking. At the same time I see wood available for free and is hard to pass up. Do any of you own splitters for your smokers? The downfall is that the only thing I'd be using it for is my smoker.

Am I crazy for wanting a wood splitter? They look like a ton of fun. Should I look for a smaller electric splitter? Just keep buying facecords? Just wanted to see what you guys do or have any suggestions. Thanks!

 

[mchar69]

I think if you can rent a hydraulic for $50 a day, and split your yearly needs in logs/
splits, that would be money well spent...

 

[sleebus.jones]

I picked up one of the manual ones from Northern Tool

Works great, up to about 6".

Splits green wood with little effort. I got mine because I have a lot of Pecan trees on my property and they're always dropping limbs. This makes it easy.

Edit: I like Mchar69's suggestion. Rent the big one when you need too. You can keep one of the manual ones around for small jobs.

 

[Highlife4me]

Have you considered renting one? For about $50 you can rent a splitter for a day, and you can split a lot of wood in a day. Lots of benefits to renting a splitter, no maintenance, no need to find a place to store it, and nobody will keep asking to borrow it either.

 

[Moose]

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117191

 

[gun smoke]

In the north almost everyone heats with wood. So everyone puts up 15 to 25 face cord for the winter. Just about everyone gets a splitter over time (age) but for the first 10 years of adulthood most people use a maul. Yes I have a splitter and love it but I'll still split by hand for the exercise when I get a wild hair.

 

[Smokesignalsfromtx]

By buddy has one similar to this mounted to the front of his smoker. I works surprisingly well.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?...608008560129214481&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0

 

[gcs]

I've split a lot of wood with my monster maul, but that gets old...as you get old.
So I bought an electric splitter for the little wood I have left. They actually work pretty good. Like anything else, straight grained logs go easy but I put some gnarly wood through mine, You might need to rotate the wood to get a good split, or work the edges off first but I was impressed. It IS slower then a gas hydraulic, even slower then a maul with good wood, but it never gets tired. If your not in a rush, they will split a LOT of wood, and you don't have to do it all in one day. Just don't be an animal with it, they do have limits.

 

[BillN]

For the big stuff I use a splitting maul, as already said it's great exercise.

 

[Beentown]

Rent...

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[bgross88]

Another vote for renting for a day or two. My stepdad owns one, so I'm lucky. My wife and I split almost 3 cords yesterday. Took us less than 3 hours. Could have done more but we got hungry for lunch--and the beers started flowing, so we didn't go back for more.

 

[Westx]

Home depot sells an electric one that works pretty good. I think I paid like $299 for it.

 

[Texian]

Another vote for a rental splitter. Hydraulic splitters need small engine maintenance, seals replaced and make one hell of a mess when they leak. That's a lot of upkeep for a machine you'll only use a couple times a year.

 

[Kmm]

My rule is if I have to use something more than three times a year, I will buy rather than messing around borrowing or renting. Unless you have a secret plan for buying a wooded patch, it sounds like you will be better off renting or investing in a nice splitting maul.
125' oak? Save the money you would spend on a splitter and use it to rent a skid steer when your parents tree comes down. Given how badly you are are currently lusting for a splitter, you may think that sounds crazy like crazy talk, but trust me it isn't and your back will thank you.

 

[WeberWho]

My rule is if I have to use something more than three times a year, I will buy rather than messing around borrowing or renting. Unless you have a secret plan for buying a wooded patch, it sounds like you will be better off renting or investing in a nice splitting maul.
125' oak? Save the money you would spend on a splitter and use it to rent a skid steer when your parents tree comes down. Given how badly you are are currently lusting for a splitter, you may think that sounds crazy like crazy talk, but trust me it isn't and your back will thank you.

Fortunately my Dad has a Ford utility tractor with a bucket. My parents dropped a oak similar in size last year. The tractor played a major role. My dad gave all the oak away to a friend who heats his shop with it. (Before I owned a stick burner) Hoping for a nice supply of oak this go around. It sounds like renting is the way to go. Maybe an electric one for smaller loads might come in handy.

 

[quamdar]

I don't have a stick burner but I burn a lot in the indoor fireplace and to me having presplit wood delivered is worth the extra cash. though I only use a few truck loads a year and only have an SUV so by the time I get a truck and a splitter it's too much effort.

 

[THoey1963]

During my brief foray into stick burning, I bought one of these from Northern Tool. Getting old(er), have a bad back and shoulders, so the idea of manually doing it was not an option. This worked great. Ended up selling it to another old(er) gentleman after I realized I wasn't a stick burner. Five of your $50 rentals and you own it...

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200631753_200631753

 

[CookinScuba]

If it's 125' , it will likely be a good straight run before the limbs and it is really easy to split oak that is a straight run. I haven't used a maul since I was a child ( not smart enough to use one once I got older , lol )just a splitting axe for the last 20 years ( then last year I bought a split fire log splitter�&#56397