Is the splitter intended for personal use, and how much wood do you need to split per year?
There's no doubt that the premium brand entry model splitters like Timberwolf and American are nicer than the entry level units like the Speeco/Huskee's and MTD stuff. But are they $1000 better? In most cases, the cheaper splitters are all that a guy needs to split his own wood. You rarely hear anything about them along the lines of not being able to get the job done. Tons of guys, (get it; "tons"?) report splitting anything they need to with the 22 ton entry level units.
The spread in ability and quality between these splitters is not as significant as with chain saws where you might be comparing a Wild Thing to a 346 or MS261.
As in a lot of situations, the entry models from premium brands end up being somewhat overpriced when compared to the mass market brands. The smaller companies with smaller distribution networks just can't get their opening price points down low enough. Now for commercial heavy duty stuff, the TW's and Americans are just kick-butt awesome. They are clearly the way to go if you need that much splitter. But for personal use, I really don't see the value in their entry models.
