I have split better then two cords now with my new PowerHorse and thought I would do a short write up on it. My old splitter was about 29 years old 5 inch 36 inch stroke cylinder, had a 8HP Ntech Briggs that I put on it (2nd engine ). When replacing my old splitter I wanted something faster reasonably priced, and durable.
Putting the unit together was very straight forward and relatively easy. I used Dextron III as I use it during really cold and hot weather. The fit and finish is better then I expected for this price splitter. I have included a pic of some welds.
First gripe was how short the end plates are and only two places to catch and hold the wood ( see pic ). It really needs one more at the top of the stop which would make this part better. Wood not cut straight wants to slide up over the stop. After some use and the paint came off it worked so much better.
The tables are surprisingly strong versus how they look ( see pic ). Wood up to about 18 inches fit nicely when wood approached over 20 they are a little small. I did split some pieces that were pushing 30 inches, it walked right thru them. But as expected with the narrow wedge cracked them totally thru but not to the point they fell apart.
I ran some Bur Oak crotches to give it the OH OH test. I was surprised it kicked into low and split them, what it didn`t split it sheared em apart.
The PowerHorse engine starts way better then the Ntech Briggs. At idle it is a little rougher but much quieter then the Briggs Was. The most noise of this splitter comes from the control valve, when in neutral, once the valve is opened to the cylinder it is quiet.
One person alone cannot utilize how fast this splitter is. I usually only run at half throttle. In comparison I have a spreader that holds about 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cords. My old splitter it was 4 1/2 to 5 hours to fill, the PowerHorse less then 3 hours working alone.
For the money if your not constantly splitting very large pieces, this splitter will do more then expected and faster. I will have to wait a year or two for the final verdict on longevity.
Once the warranty is up I will be making some mods to the machine to make it just a little better.
MY TWO CENTS
Putting the unit together was very straight forward and relatively easy. I used Dextron III as I use it during really cold and hot weather. The fit and finish is better then I expected for this price splitter. I have included a pic of some welds.
First gripe was how short the end plates are and only two places to catch and hold the wood ( see pic ). It really needs one more at the top of the stop which would make this part better. Wood not cut straight wants to slide up over the stop. After some use and the paint came off it worked so much better.
The tables are surprisingly strong versus how they look ( see pic ). Wood up to about 18 inches fit nicely when wood approached over 20 they are a little small. I did split some pieces that were pushing 30 inches, it walked right thru them. But as expected with the narrow wedge cracked them totally thru but not to the point they fell apart.
I ran some Bur Oak crotches to give it the OH OH test. I was surprised it kicked into low and split them, what it didn`t split it sheared em apart.
The PowerHorse engine starts way better then the Ntech Briggs. At idle it is a little rougher but much quieter then the Briggs Was. The most noise of this splitter comes from the control valve, when in neutral, once the valve is opened to the cylinder it is quiet.
One person alone cannot utilize how fast this splitter is. I usually only run at half throttle. In comparison I have a spreader that holds about 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cords. My old splitter it was 4 1/2 to 5 hours to fill, the PowerHorse less then 3 hours working alone.
For the money if your not constantly splitting very large pieces, this splitter will do more then expected and faster. I will have to wait a year or two for the final verdict on longevity.
Once the warranty is up I will be making some mods to the machine to make it just a little better.
MY TWO CENTS
