Screw Type Splitters
I`m going to agree with Bill G on this premise. In the 70s when I was a teenager, my dad had one of those screw type splitters. I don`t recall the brand but it attached to the three point hitch and pto of a tractor. I fully credit the operating charcteristics of this beast with developing in me the skills that earned me a reputation as formidable fighter with great upper body strength and lightning fast hands and reflexes. His machine had a steel tip on an aluminum screw which needed periodic sharpening, but even when sharp it was often difficult to start into a chunk. So in order to start a round I would normally grab a piece with both hands and forcefully shove it on to the rotating screw to ensure engagement. Things were normally OK from this point as long as you engaged the piece perpendicular to the screw and an outboard brace/log rest this thing had built in to it. Fully supported, it would split nearly anything you could pick up. Miss perfect engagement however and you suddenly find your head and hands in close proximity to a rapidly (540 rpm) spinning chunk of tree. Just like the models that attach to the drive wheel of a vehicle, there was no handy way of rapid disengagement, but at least this model had the auxilary log rest to help prevent this, unlike the vehicle models I have seen which rely on contact with the ground. That was a machine which should have been outlawed. Happily, someone stole that setup from my father after too many years of ownership. Talk about an instant day of reckoning or judgement day, LOL. I too have one of the cheap MTD 20 ton splitters. I bought it for my stepdaughters and wife to use when they used to help me, probably 8 years ago. It has split a pretty good amount of wood for a cheap splitter with minimal repairs. We were splitting about 30-35 face cord a year with it, and frankly I don`t know what sort of abuse they subjected it too, but the only thing that needed any attention was the adjustable jib plate on the wedge, needed replacement twice, about $30 each time. Knowing the girls I know that it suffered unusual abuse, but I have also noticed that the new MTDs have a cast piece that the wedge rides on now, probably much tougher. I`d probably buy another if I needed a machine for homeowner use. Now that I am solely responsible for splitting the wood I normally just maul it as I cut it although sometimes if I`m into really big, 30" or more, rounds I will split them with the machine. Sorry about the long post. Russ
