How To Choose The Best Log Splitter For Your Needs

Many people unaware of making their own firewood think that it’s as easy as taking an ax, chopping down a tree, and cutting it into logs. However, they tend to miss many other important aspects that go into creating their own firewood. For example, cutting the trees into logs is not enough since most of the logs cut from the trees are large and cannot be directly used. This is why they are sliced and split into smaller sizes.

Wielding the ax to create smaller logs can create many problems as it requires a large amount of effort and power to split the logs. This could bring a world of back-related problems for your body and can also cause various other problems. This is why most people depend on log splitters or wood splitters, as they are called, to reduce their efforts and speed up the job.

A log splitter is basically a mechanical device that uses hydraulics to push the logs against a metal wedge that splits them to make them smaller and ideal for use. Unlike an ax that requires muscle power, impact power, and gravity, a log splitter uses pressure and mechanical energy to split the logs into the desired sizes. As a result, the log splitter is safer than using an ax and ensures accurate splits that are difficult to attain with an ax.

There are many types of these hydraulic log splitters to choose from, like electric horizontal splitters, electric vertical splitters, petrol vertical splitters, petrol tow behind splitter, and many more. Each of these categories has varieties of features, which creates a lot of confusion among people looking to buy a log splitter that could help them create the ideal firewood.

If you’re looking to buy the best wood splitter or log splitter, here are some features that you might consider looking for a log splitter that you could buy:

Focus On The Motor Power

It’s the most important feature that you should look at in a log splitter before buying it. A log splitter or wood splitter should be powerful to cut through all types of woods, including hardwood, wet wood, and others, without getting strained. This would largely depend on the power of its motor, which means the more powerful motor will provide better results than the splitters having low motor power.

This is why it’s recommended that you should choose a log splitter that has the power to split through the toughest of woods. Checking the total RAM force, total horsepower, and amps can give you a better idea about the power of the log splitter, and based on that, you can make your decision.

Check The Diameter Splitting Range And Log Length

All the log splitters have a specific limit of accepting certain sizes of logs. The log length and diameter that the log splitter accepts also determines the amount of work that you can do with it. Always remember that it’s better to buy a log splitter that can accept woods that are larger in size. This gives you the freedom to put any size of log you want in the splitter.

Check For Fast Cycle Times

A cycle time of a log splitter is the total time the splitter takes to complete a cycle of extending the splitting wedge from full retraction to full extension and back. Log splitter with fast cycle times means that the log splitter would do more work in less time. A cycle time of 15 seconds is a respectable time for a splitter, and anything more than that is considered not good.

The cycle time of a splitter plays an important part in its splitting efficiency and productivity. This is why you should always look for log splitters having a cycle time equal to 15 seconds or less than that. Remember, the lower the cycle time, the faster the work is done by the log splitter.

Focus On The Construction

The construction of the log splitter will determine how long the log splitter will work without creating problems. Generally, log splitters are designed to be used for many years of service. However, it’s suggested that you select a durable design, preferably an all-steel construction, that would give you many years of hassle-free wood splitting.

Check For The Warranty And Reviews

These factors are very important to consider before buying a log splitter. In addition, you should buy log splitters that come with at least a 1-year warranty to ensure that if there are any problems with the splitter, you can get it repaired for free. Finally, it’s also good to read the reviews of other users of the product; this will give you an idea about its efficiency.

If you’re buying the product from any online website, you should first check the customer ratings of the splitters. Then you can compare log splitters of different manufacturers and styles to choose the best wood splitter that would be your log splitter.