Firewood Splitters, Firewood Splitter

Which firewood splitters are the best? The answer to that question is that it all depends. How much wood will you be splitting? How much money do you want to spend on a firewood splitter? Do you need it to be portable? How large is the wood you'll be putting in your woodsplitter?

Read about the 3 most common types of splitters below to help make the best decision.

Manual Log Splitter -Under $200

Manual log splitters are the most inexpensive option for splitting wood besides doing it the old fashioned way with an axe or maul. They are essentially a bottle jack set opposite from a splitting beam.

The way they work is by cranking the lever or handle, the jack progressively moves the wood toward the splitting beam and splits the log.

Advantages:

Price
Manual splitters are very inexpensive to both buy and use. There is no gas to fill up and no electricity that needs to be used to make the splitter run. It is all done by hand.

Portability
Most of these splitters are fairly light and don't take up a lot of room. You can easily travel with a manual splitter in the trunk of your car.

Quiet
These splitters aren't noisy at all. The only noise you'll hear is the sound of the wood fibers splitting apart.

Disadvantages:

Speed
They are by far the slowest of all the woodsplitters out there. Even compared to using an axe or maul, you may find yourself frustrated with the time it takes to split a load of wood. The advantage, compared with using a maul, is that it is easy on your body.

Size of pieces that can be split
Every splitter varies, but many of these splitters do not split shorter pieces of wood without putting another block behind them. The reason for this is the length of the shaft that pushes the wood only goes a certain distance. Please note that this is not only a problem with manual splitters, but can also be a factor with other types of electric or gas models.

Electric Splitters -$250 to $800

Electric firewood splitters are an excellent solution for someone who doesn't want to deal with the noise of a gas splitter, but needs something faster than a manual splitter.

Most electric splitters have a motor that powers a hydraulic pump that controls the piston that splits the wood.

Disadvantages

Price
Although not the most expensive splitting option out there, these will still put a dent in your bank account. Most models are in the $500 price range.

Power
Some models are more powerful than others, but generally speaking, electric splitters don't pack the same punch as the gas versions.

Portability
Although these splitters aren't as heavy as the gas models, they do require electricity. Therefore, unless you have lots of extension cords, you probably won't be going into the woods to split your firewood.

Advantages

Quiet and Clean
The electric splitters are quiet, and you don't have to deal with the fumes that come from running a gas splitter.

Inexpensive to Run
No need to make trip to the gas station! As long as you have a power source, you'll be good to go.

Gas Splitters -$800 to $3000

Gas splitters are the best for people who are looking to split significant amounts of wood. Also, anyone who is looking to sell firewood should certainly have a gas powered splitter.

Advantages

Power and Speed
Gas splitters are the most powerful and usually have very fast cycle times(the time it takes between splitting pieces of firewood).

Portability
I know what you're thinking- what is this guy talking about? How can a big gas splitter be portable. Well, I say this for two reasons. One is because they can be run anywhere because they don't need electricity. The other reason is because many models come with a trailer hitch attached. This way you can drive your splitter to other locations.

Disadvantages

Noisy and Smelly
They make a lot of noise and give off fumes. Some people like it, other people hate it. It's the trade-off that you make for optimal performance.

Expensive
Gas splitters are much more expensive than the other options. The majority of them will run you at least $1500. And don't forget, you need to fill them up with fuel.

Headaches
As anyone who has ever had a piece of equipment with a small engine can tell you, these things tend to act up at times. That is certainly not to say that gas woodsplitters break all the time. The fact of the matter is that small engines need maintenance.

Recommendation

Buy your woodsplitter based on your needs and the amount of money you are willing to spend. Obviously, the gas powered splitters are the way to go if you process more than a couple of cords per year. However, if you only process a small amount of wood, you should look into buying an electric or manual splitter.

Good luck and happy splitting!

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