Huskee or Brave log splitter purchase?

whiting-5 · Jan 20, 2009

my huskee 35 ton update .... i am pleased with the overall construction of unit im still not a fan of the briggs engine my biggest complaint is that it is just to big of engine for pull start when cold ive changed the oil to thinner oil changed the hyd. fluid to dex3 while these have helped it is not a cure ive just replaced the pull start assy for the second time since i bought it new they just dont hold up! the little plastic pawls that flip out when you pull it seem to be the weak link.they appear to be the same size as smaller engines .i talked to the largest briggs dealer in chattanooga he really did not have anything positive to say about that starter assy. it is also used on the snapper mowers he sells and he has to keep alot of these assys.in stock.he said make sure you pull it 4-5 times easy before you try to start it this may help i did this and the only thing that happened is i sprained two fingers when the little handle was ripped from my fingers when it hit compression stroke cut off handle again and put my jumbo size one back on. ive thought of buying the same engine in a electric start model TSC. has them for just under 500.00$ but just cant justify it i will be buying a super splitter this spring and just use the 35 ton for splitting my large hickory and oak rounds down.

while at tractor supply the other night i looked at the 35 ton model boy have they changed the design it now has a horizontal engine instead of the vertical engine and the way it was setup it looked like crap lots of fittings and clamps that looked like a leak waiting to happen. plus the price was about 250.00 higher than i paid two years ago. if i was buying a hyd. splitter now with the knowledge i know from using a splitter and the info i recived from this site the huskee would not be in my final 3 !!! it just looks like anyother big box store splitter.

chilipeppermaniac · Sep 3, 2019

I know this is an old thread, But I just bought a used Brave Splitter. Having never seen one, I took a chance and listened to all the things the seller said it currently has. I believe he has modified it from original in several areas. but time will tell me if he did a proper job of everything. Here is a picture of it. It has a 6.5 Hp Honda motor instead of a Briggs. He said he put an 11 GPM pump on it and it almost looks like a different ram than the original. I am guessing this is a VH 0626 but y'all can tell me differently if you see telltale signs. He also said he relocated the lever to the other side away from the heat of the engine.

chilipeppermaniac · Sep 3, 2019

sb47 · Sep 3, 2019

I had a husky 22 ton and it was an ok home owner grade splitter but I had to look up the Brave 22 ton brand so I could see what it looked like. The Brave brand looks very cheaply made and came with a 2,299 dollar price tag.
Neather one will stack up to the Countyline 40 ton unit from TS I bought over a year ago. The Countyline 40 I have now is hands down better then the ones your looking at and is 1.1900 dollars and comes with a Koaler motor that is hands down better then the BS that my old Husky had. When you step up to the 40 ton unit, everything is bigger and better.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-40-ton-log-splitter?cm_vc=-10005

Watch this video

chilipeppermaniac · Sep 3, 2019

Thanks SB47. I wound up buying the used Brave in the picture above. It is far from cheaply made and for the price I paid, the former owner already put a bigger and stronger cylinder on it. In addition, he swapped in this 6.5 HP Honda Motor and the initial test splitting I did was on a 30+ inch round of Maple. It ate through it wonderfully. For the money I spent, I will get my splitting money's worth out of this puppy.

That 40 HP County Line looks pretty sweet too.