Craftsman and powerbuilt 27 ton log splitter

My neighbor who has his own construction business drops off logs at my place to be rid of them.
The biggest one was a 4 foot diameter elm tree trunk. Well I eventually I got it cut down to size with my 24 inch echo 60cc saw running a stihl yellow chain.
The thinnest part of the stump I could rip with my echo and the tips of the cuts barely touched.
I really need a log splitter. So I started reading reviews.
10 to 13 ton, definitely not big enough. 15 to 20 ton might be big enough mid twenty ton was probably it. 40ton seemed too big.
So I was looking at lowes 27ton powerbuilt and craftsman log splitters. I think both had Kohler 196cc engine and 14gpm hydraulic pump. Hydraulic controls have a return detent.
Reoccurring negative reviews on log splitters put together by lows employees were as follows:
Put together poorly.
Didn't work, didn't start.
Gas tank and/or crank case had water in it.
Wheel bearings failed.
Step 1 identify ones missing parts and had damage. Well all of them had one or the other. One had a crushed gas tank and another one had a bent spindle. Cross those 2 off.
2 Check for water. One had corrosion in the gas tank, crossed that one off.
3 see if I can get the least fupked up one to start. It stated and hydraulics moved. I should have bought a knot to split. But it worked fine.
So I was left with 1 that didn't have anything wrong with it other than it was missing a wheel bearing dust cap.
4 haggle, got the price reduced $300.
I brought my trailer since I knew from the reviews the wheel bearings liked to fail and prior recon I observed 3 out of 4 missing a dust cap on wheel bearings. I knew there was a good chance I would be buying one missing a wheel bearing cap.
5 I got it home and split some peices of pine then a few knotted chunks of wood before I even took it off the trailer. It worked great.
6 repacked wheel bearings, while it was still on the trailer. The wheel bearings had a smear of corrosion prevention compound. They would definitely fail after some highway driving. I cleaned them with gasoline and repacked them with real grease.
So I got the craftsman 27 ton log splitter.
I got one missing a dust cap on the wheel bearing so they took 10%, plus my 10% military discount. I knew the wheel bearings were going to need to be repacked.
I warmed up the log splitter with some pine, it didn't even slow down. A 27ton log splitter is grossly overkill for pine. The most knotted up pine log I had barely slowed it down. Then I put some knotted up chunks of elm on the wood splitter and it busted them apart with little difficulty.
I still had part of that elm next to my drive way. The top of the stump where the tree limbs sprang fourth it was 250lb or more of green tree knots.
It was green so it didn't want to split at all.
The splitter had some difficulty splitting the top knots apart but it did them in.
Only complaint I have is after about 45 minutes of use the hydraulics became quite hot. I'll need to add add cooler.
The engine runs quite rich, I'll need the high altitude jet kit.
Also I have a tree job that will start any day now and will give me about a 3 year supply of wood.
I'm going to try and break it before the lowes 30 day warranty is up.
I split all the green knotted chunks I chainsawed off those logs my neighbor dropped off and then went to the field to my knot pile of tree knots and tree roots I didn't even bother trying to split by hand with wedges, I just threw them on a pile.
Those knots are 2 to 5 years old so now they are split down to size and are on the ready to burn pile.
The only reason to buy the 40 ton one is say your neighbor bought a 27 and you had to have one that was bigger and more expensive. The 40 ton is about $2,600. I'm very happy with paying $1,400 including sales tax (Normal price is around $1,700 after tax).

 

The elm has a twisted core like rifling in a barrel.?

 

Elm is fairly straight grain, has plenty of knots, has strong grain cohesion.

 

Thanks for that review . I've been seeing the 27 ton Champion ones lined up like a drag race at the local Home Depot ,, been wondering if they were worth spit . I figure they're all made in the same factory ,, just painted different colors . Just haven't needed it just yet ,, but am getting close .

 

I would definitely install an oil cooler for the hydros, make sure to also install a small electric fan to go with it! Got hydros means their working, over heated hydros means lots of leaks are soon to appear, usually at the worst possible time! Install if in the return side after the pump/filter, and if no filter, install one!

 

I run 4 Log splitters

First thing is a honda // or a knock off Honda engine , with fuel shut off .
As @Ura-Ki stated , and return auto .

Next is the big ones , if it is Horizontal and vertical Can you flip it ? Strong enough ??? // AND you can lock it in that position !!
make sure the cylinder of the ram is not hampered when flexed / side push .
I'll see if i can up load pix on my new one after 3 hrs and toasted !!

Phone shots , are gone , I'll take more to explain
Sloth

 

It does have a return filter. And it runs 3,750psi so I doubt I will add a high pressure filter.

 

Yeah this one goes horizontal and vertical and has an auto retract detent built into the hydraulic valve.

 

Ran into this while looking at log splitting. Has anyone used something like this?

 

Looks like it would be good for very easy to split wood. If I hit wood like that with the splitting maul it would break into 3 or 4 pieces, I wouldn't even bother starting the hydraulic log splitter for wood like that.

 

Lots of youtube vids on homemade wood splitters. Some of them look less than OSHA approved though.

 

For $1,400 I don't think think I could have done much better.
A predator 301cc engine, 16gpm pump, valve with lines and engine to pump adaptor at least $600.
$200 for spindles, bearings hubs and tires. $400 to 500 for a cylinder.
I don't have any massive steel on hand that would be appropriate for a 30+ ton log splitter.

 

Yeah that looks like it.
I would have preferred the mostly black and grey one, but those were all f-ed up so I got the all red one.

 

If elm is anything like eucalyptus there is a ring around the biscuit that binds it together, by removing the ring the rest of the biscut splits easy, comparatively. The ring is differentiated by color and can be a few inches inward from the bark. I run a wedge at that point fallowing it around splitting that ring off and then work over the interior as usual.

 

Yeah I see something like that on real thick pieces of elm. But I don't get a lot of big logs like that.

 

I have since sharpened the splitting ram. Now it slices through green knots like a breeze.
The engine runs really rich, it has soot around the muffler exhaust hole so I ordered the next size smaller carburetor jet. Should be here today.
I took the spark arrestor off and ran it with the warm air intake air filter cover removed to try and lean it out a bit. That helped some but it needs that smaller jet.

 

I defueled the engine and bought some e10 faux gasoline.
Also the next size smaller carburetor jet should show up today. I also have 2 and 3 steps smaller sizes on their way.
Ideally what should happen when I install the correct jet is it should sputter on e10 gas and run perfect on ethanol free.