homestead jenna
Lovin' The Homestead
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Okay, wanted to let everyone know about the air-powered wood splitter test run.
We ordered our splitter from http://www.westcoastminisplitter.com/ . I had read someone's review on that company in a diy forum while I was researching these on-line. We ordered the 12-ton version (which was about the same money as the 4-5 ton versions from Lowes/HD) that he had been looking at. He didn't want to fool around with the whole gas thing. We got a flurry of e-mails at first with 2 free e-books and some other stuff...but then it seemed like it was over a week before we got a shipping notice...which was a little surprising. The ordering process went smoothly on-line. The price and shipping were straight-forward.
It comes in 2 boxes because UPS has a 70-pound limit; they were small and light enough that I could easily get them into the door. He said the packaging seemed adequate and the boxes looked great at delivery. It was drop-shipped from the Colorado-based manufacturer. The Ain't-Handy-Andy was able to get it together no problem, though. The directions he says aren't always as concise as they might be otherwise, but do-able.
We took 'er for a 2-hour spin yesterday morning. He put it up on a big oak round that we've been using for chainsaw work stage. He has a 90-lb air compressor. We did cedar and oak. The largest thing we put on it was one maybe 22 inches long and 20 in diameter...made 7-8 cuts to it. The return has a spring so it goes back fairly fast. The compressor seemed to be up to the task, except on one piece that had a "y." Most pieces popped apart like they were nothing. We did use a hand axe and a 10-pound hammer on a couple of pieces that aren't quite so dry as they could be...so just get them apart at the bottom.
I was able to operate it with air no problem. We didn't even try the manual pump handle operation yet. The most work is picking the wood up to the staging that we had it on. Two people makes it go quicker but it's not impossible for one person. We worked 2 hours - and some of that was fooling around with our set-up to figure out the best work flow and stuff...and got half a cord done...and weren't exhausted. It was a fair work-out but nothing overly much. It stayed fairly steady sitting how we had it.
When we bought it the key features were 1) the lifetime warranty, 2) 30-days guarantee, 3) ability to go horizontal and vertical, 4) initial affordability for us, and 5) increased tons over the similarly priced electrics.
The wheels could be improved, I thought, with a widget similar to the old, old typing tables...where you can engage the wheels (which could have been a skosh bigger) or disengage them to legs. Out on the uneven terrain of our woodlot with grass patches and things...the wheels weren't very useful - but it's light enough he picked it up to carry it to the shed. Because it's not gas-fired he could actually safely set it up in the shed to use it during bad weather. The other thing that, for me, might be improved is the metal rod that you use to take off the air could have a handle it for a better grip but it works fine as is.
Overall, we're really happy with it so far. We're gonna journal our use of it. And just as disclaimer I have no relationship with this company at all and am getting no compensation for this review. You can find the same wood splitter from other places and the price is the same. He adverts no sales tax but that's only a bonus in his home state (Washington?).
--Jenna
Original message:
My hubster is hardly Handy Andy. He just can't really get the knack of wood splitting with a maul or axe. We have a huge amount of oak that we had taken down on the property - as well as some other wood we've scarfed up along the way AND some vertical firewood standing in our old-growth woods.
We looked at log splitters on-line last night. He wanted an electric one so he doesn't have to fool around with gasoline for it. We also looked at the air-powered ones...I was wondering does anyone here have one of those? They have a 12-ton (no electric came close to that - in our price range) that runs on an air compressor OR by foot power and supposedly will do up to 24 x 24 round. They have letters from 78-year old ladies and 7-year olds who are running them. 30-day money back guarantee and the price ($410 w shipping) sold the hub so he ordered one.
Thanks!
We ordered our splitter from http://www.westcoastminisplitter.com/ . I had read someone's review on that company in a diy forum while I was researching these on-line. We ordered the 12-ton version (which was about the same money as the 4-5 ton versions from Lowes/HD) that he had been looking at. He didn't want to fool around with the whole gas thing. We got a flurry of e-mails at first with 2 free e-books and some other stuff...but then it seemed like it was over a week before we got a shipping notice...which was a little surprising. The ordering process went smoothly on-line. The price and shipping were straight-forward.
It comes in 2 boxes because UPS has a 70-pound limit; they were small and light enough that I could easily get them into the door. He said the packaging seemed adequate and the boxes looked great at delivery. It was drop-shipped from the Colorado-based manufacturer. The Ain't-Handy-Andy was able to get it together no problem, though. The directions he says aren't always as concise as they might be otherwise, but do-able.
We took 'er for a 2-hour spin yesterday morning. He put it up on a big oak round that we've been using for chainsaw work stage. He has a 90-lb air compressor. We did cedar and oak. The largest thing we put on it was one maybe 22 inches long and 20 in diameter...made 7-8 cuts to it. The return has a spring so it goes back fairly fast. The compressor seemed to be up to the task, except on one piece that had a "y." Most pieces popped apart like they were nothing. We did use a hand axe and a 10-pound hammer on a couple of pieces that aren't quite so dry as they could be...so just get them apart at the bottom.
I was able to operate it with air no problem. We didn't even try the manual pump handle operation yet. The most work is picking the wood up to the staging that we had it on. Two people makes it go quicker but it's not impossible for one person. We worked 2 hours - and some of that was fooling around with our set-up to figure out the best work flow and stuff...and got half a cord done...and weren't exhausted. It was a fair work-out but nothing overly much. It stayed fairly steady sitting how we had it.
When we bought it the key features were 1) the lifetime warranty, 2) 30-days guarantee, 3) ability to go horizontal and vertical, 4) initial affordability for us, and 5) increased tons over the similarly priced electrics.
The wheels could be improved, I thought, with a widget similar to the old, old typing tables...where you can engage the wheels (which could have been a skosh bigger) or disengage them to legs. Out on the uneven terrain of our woodlot with grass patches and things...the wheels weren't very useful - but it's light enough he picked it up to carry it to the shed. Because it's not gas-fired he could actually safely set it up in the shed to use it during bad weather. The other thing that, for me, might be improved is the metal rod that you use to take off the air could have a handle it for a better grip but it works fine as is.
Overall, we're really happy with it so far. We're gonna journal our use of it. And just as disclaimer I have no relationship with this company at all and am getting no compensation for this review. You can find the same wood splitter from other places and the price is the same. He adverts no sales tax but that's only a bonus in his home state (Washington?).
--Jenna
Original message:
My hubster is hardly Handy Andy. He just can't really get the knack of wood splitting with a maul or axe. We have a huge amount of oak that we had taken down on the property - as well as some other wood we've scarfed up along the way AND some vertical firewood standing in our old-growth woods.
We looked at log splitters on-line last night. He wanted an electric one so he doesn't have to fool around with gasoline for it. We also looked at the air-powered ones...I was wondering does anyone here have one of those? They have a 12-ton (no electric came close to that - in our price range) that runs on an air compressor OR by foot power and supposedly will do up to 24 x 24 round. They have letters from 78-year old ladies and 7-year olds who are running them. 30-day money back guarantee and the price ($410 w shipping) sold the hub so he ordered one.
Thanks!
