I only wish I’d bought one sooner. This electric kinetic log splitter speeds up firewood prep so much I have it done in less than half the time compared to my old 4 ton hydraulic version.
It arrives boxed and well packaged in protective polystyrene. Assembly is required (installing the legs, wheels, operating handle, log supports and the cage. It comes with a user manual that could be better but, between the instructions and online pictures for reference, 2 of us had it built in under an hour. It’s a heavy beast and a second pair of helping hands are useful.
It’s easy to operate using two levers that engage and then activate the ram. The kinetic energy is quite significant and the machine does jolt about a bit. It’s not terrible, but fixing it to the ground using bolts through holes in the legs may be a good idea (I plan on doing this). It’s quiet when the motors running but fairly noisy when the Ram slams forward and then comes to a sudden stop on the return, so I’ve been using it in a shed so as not to bother the neighbours.
In terms of performance, it’s impressive. It powers through hard logs and splits or smashes them into lengths of firewood. I’ve found it even copes fine with hard seasoned wood as long as it’s not too knotty or oversized. It’s advertised as able to split logs up to 30cm diameter, and it can; as long as the wood is generally straight grained and not too gnarly. The 10 tonnes of force does an amazing job of splitting lumbar and it’s possible to get through surprisingly big lumps of timber - although they sometimes require 2-3 goes with the Ram (let it spool up and get back to speed for a couple of seconds before attacking the log with the ram again). If the log is misshapen or really knotty it can spring out of position and bounce into the cage. It happens very quickly, so it’s probably worth keeping the cage installed even though it can get in the way of fast loading/unloading.
For a machine that plugs into the standard UK mains it really has some power. It seems sturdy enough and well made, so I’d say it’s reasonably priced and I’m pleased with it.