Is the Tractor Supply brand splitter (county line) the best small splitter?

[cookies]

just for reference this is the hydraulic filter im using to replace the one that comes on it
Baldwin Heavy Duty BT839-10 Hydraulic Filter,3-11/16 x 5-13/32 In
This is the hydraulic oil, ordered iso 46 to replace the iso 32 that they come filled with
028846-005 HTC Oil, Extreme Performance with Dynavis ISO 46 5 gallon bucket
over a gallon left over for future filter top offs during filter replacements
Im thinking a fiberglass rod with flag to mount for towing visibility, Any one know of a gas cap with fuel level gauge that will fit a honda style gas tank? that seems to be the design used by kholer..the engine looks like a honda gsx clone.

 

[stumpy75]

i’m more inclined to go with the real world physical speeco comparison - i plan going to buy one this week if they will give a military discount - otherwise might wait until memorial day - i will report back if i find any manufacturer marks on it.

Mine has Speeco stickers on the hydo tank, and a stamp on the beam...

 

[REJ2]

The only negative I could find when looking at the County Line (Speeco) brand was the captured slide guides the wedge rode into. It just looked like a place for debris to accumulate. Without any real world experience with that particular style my thoughts are only conjecture.

 

[djg james]

For my $0.02 worth, if you haven't decided yet, is go with the 22T to 25T splitter around $1000. If you're like me and only cut for yourself, that splitter will last your life time if you take care of it. I wouldn't worry about speed either as you're not? a production operation. As I get older, I've found the slower speed of my 22T is plenty fast and allows a little break time or slower work pace for me.

 

[stumpy75]

The only negative I could find when looking at the County Line (Speeco) brand was the captured slide guides the wedge rode into. It just looked like a place for debris to accumulate. Without any real world experience with that particular style my thoughts are only conjecture.

I have not had any problems with that. Some debris does collect at the end of the guide(at the plate), but I just pop it out with a screw driver. Most of the time though, I have no problems with that, and use a screwdriver or some splitter trash just to clean out the crud at the end of the day when I'm cleaning it up.

 

[stihl023/5]

Had this one 22T TSC (Speeco) for 9Y and use it hard. I was on a budget and ANYTHING was a step up for me.
Could replace it with something more efficient now, but it still works fine for my purposes. Gone through some pretty nasty stuff with some slight hesitation, but never tapped out.

One minor note (at least to me) is the Kohler that came on mine was always loud, rough and a bit hard to start. It gave up a few years ago and I went with the predator (honda clone) from HF.
Runs like a dream and, if anything, a bit faster although it has theoretically less HP

Kohler on mine has been stellar. I did read something about issues like you had, and something about slightly enlarging the jet because some had a slight constriction

 

[djg james]

If you haven't purchased yours yet, I had one more thought. Mine has a vertical shaft engine. I thought the original engine locked up (verdict is still out) so I had to look for another one. Only found brand name that were expensive. Ended up with a used one for $50.
Most splitters I've seen nowadays are horizontal shaft. Much easier to find a replacement if you ever need one. Some people here recommend the HF Predator HS engine for around $100. So maybe spend a little more if you have to and get a splitter with a horizontal shaft engine.

 

[cookies]

I grabbed and used the 4 way slip over head for this 25 ton splitter, it works well at making kindling pretty quickly but I would not use it for busting up logs over 5-6 inches. It appears to be made from 1/4 plate

 

[gsheller]

I bought the 25 ton countyline from the salisbury, md tractor supply last weekend. No “Speeco” or other manufacturer markings anywhere i could find. The Kholer engine started on first pull, but ran rough the whole time - throttle lever does almost nothing as far as controlling rpm - one tiny sweetspot just below choke position, which is where i left it - everywhere else on the throttle the engine misses and generally sounds awful, but never cut out. Other than that, the thing splits like crazy! I was splitting fresh cut red oak and red maple up to 30” diameter and it handled everything except the centers of the toughest oak crotches - but i was still able to work those pieces down to woodstove size.

 

[sb47]

I bought the countyline 40 ton about 4 years ago and have put over 1000 hours on it without a single problem. I liked it so much I bought another one this year so now I have 2 splitting stations set up. The welds are solid and the kohler motor runs great. The 40 ton has a taller wedge that makes splitting the stringy stuff much easier without having to flip the round over to cut the stringy stuff.
I had a Husky 22 ton before I bought the 40 and it would not split the hard live oak but the 40 goes right through it like butter. I like the height of the 40 over the smaller splitter because I don't stay bent over so much.
They have a fast cycle time as well and the wedge design works very well.

 

[cookies]

I bought the 25 ton countyline from the salisbury, md tractor supply last weekend. No “Speeco” or other manufacturer markings anywhere i could find. The Kholer engine started on first pull, but ran rough the whole time - throttle lever does almost nothing as far as controlling rpm - one tiny sweetspot just below choke position, which is where i left it - everywhere else on the throttle the engine misses and generally sounds awful, but never cut out. Other than that, the thing splits like crazy! I was splitting fresh cut red oak and red maple up to 30” diameter and it handled everything except the centers of the toughest oak crotches - but i was still able to work those pieces down to woodstove size.

warranty time, sounds like it has a carb problem or water in the float bowl. let us know how they handle it! come to you or take it in etc

 

[gsheller]

warranty time, sounds like it has a carb problem or water in the float bowl. let us know how they handle it! come to you or take it in etc

Tractor Supply Store manager said if it needed warranty work I would have to go to the “manufacturer” ( but I thought tractor supply was the manufacturer…??!!).Then I pointed out that I had only owned it for a week and could just return it. ... He said yes,I could return it and swap it for one of the 2 identical splitters they still had in stock. But before I went to the trouble of hauling it back to the store- and knowing that the thing otherwise worked great, I had a mechanic look at it- He made a small adjustment to the air-fuel mixture screw and got it running 100% better so I never took it back. based on that experience I am not looking forward to having to make a warranty claim -hopefully it will never happen!!