The Best Log Splitting Equipment Reviews

Information, reviews and buyer guides for gas powered, electric powered, and manual log splitters. We make it easy for you to find the right equipment for your log splitting needs.

Safety when using powered and manual log splitters

When splitting or cutting, it’s essential to consider safety. The tool you purchase will always come with operating instructions, boring as it may be to read them, they do provide some useful information. Generally, this information came from the mistakes of others.

It’s very tempting to take short cuts or to use a tool past its intended limits, but when you do that, you must consider whether the risk justifies the reward.

Pay attention to the user operating area

Many products recommend a user operating area, and for a good reason. When splitting wood, you are exerting a lot of force on the wood, even though a 10-ton hydraulic log splitter or 7 ton one may appear small. Think of the amount of energy it is exerting on the wood. Not all pieces of wood are equal, and some may be a bit more stubborn than others. When those logs eventually split, they are highly likely to fly out in the opposite direction to the force exerted on them. If you are standing in the way of that piece of wood, you may get severely hurt.

Keep hand and feet clear of moving parts

Always keep your hands and feet clear of the hydraulic rams and cutting wedges.

The temptation to adjust the log while the ram is moving can be high. Even with small pressure applied to the log from the ram it can be dam hard to move your hand or feet if they are stuck. By the time you reverse the direction of the ram it could be to late. At the very least you will have sore limb and at worse you could be in for a long trip to the hospital

Wear eye and hearing protection

Always wear eye protection when operating any tool or machine that exerts a force on another object as two things can happen. First, the object with the energy excreted on it can break suddenly in unexpected directions. Secondly, the tool used may break if the material is far more robust than what it can handle. In the breaking process, screws, metal, or plastic shards could fly towards your eyes.

Hearing protection is a good idea when working near objects that create noise; this could be a motor or the noise of two objects striking each other at a high pitch or volume.

It is never to late to protect your hearing, even if you haven’t in the past.

A small investment in proper hearing protection can save on a more substantial personal and financial cost caused by hearing loss.

How do I know what log splitter suite my needs?

There are a few questions you need to ask yourself when researching a log splitter.

How much wood am I planning to split?

That will dictate whether you get a small, big manual or powered log splitter

How big is the wood that I would typically be splitting (length and diameter)?

That will dictate the force and the size of your future log splitter.

What type of wood am I going to split is it hardwood or softwood?

Hardwoods require a grater splitting force than softwoods.

Does the log splitter need to be mobile, or will it stay in one place?

If you need to be able to move your log splitter around, you need to ask yourself where I am taking it?

Will I need help to move it? Will I have an adequate electrical source at the location? Will I have access to gas?

Do I have the benefit of time, or do I need to get the splitting done fast?

That will dictate if you are happy with a manual log splitter or a powered log splitter.

Here is a list of the pros and cons of each category

Gas Log Splitter

Pros

*More flexible, as can be used anywhere outdoors

*Available with higher splitting force than electric or manual splitters

Cons

*Nosier

*Requires maintenance

*Extra cost of fuel

*Due petrol fumes cannot be used in enclosed spaces

Electric Log splitter

Pros

*Quitter than gas splitters

*More environmentally friendly

*Can be used in enclosed areas

*Less maintenance than gas splitters

Cons

*Need an adequate power source

*less flexibility, due to a requirement for electric power

*Requires some maintenance

Manual Log Splitter

Pros

*Extraordinarily little maintenance if any

*Generally lighter

*Only requires human power

*Safer than using an ax or a maul

*Can be taken anywhere you are splitting wood

Cons

*Amount of wood splitting limited to your available energy

*More time consuming than electric and gas splitter

Check out reviews of the popular models for , electrical log splitters, gas-powered log splitters and manual log splitters. I hope this will help in your decision-making process.

Disclaimer
Reviews and information on the website were compiled from various sources available to the author. These include readily available product operating manuals, data from customers who have purchased the particular product under review, and the author’s own personal knowledge and experience with splitting wood. As the reader, you are solely responsible for how you use this information.