Is that enough? Jumps up to 27 ton from there looks like so a big difference. Same size engine in both but the 13 ton only does horizontal not vertical like the bigger ones. Spruce and birch. Thanks!

Seems like the bigger rounds with knots a guy may be able to chip off slabs and work it down that way if a smaller splitter doesn't have the grunt to power down the middle?

I’ve never used them side by side like that, so I may not be of much help. What’s the price difference? I’d lean towards the bigger one, it’s only going to save time and headaches

The 13 T is fine for most Alaska wood (spruce and birch.) Having a vertical feed can be handy in terms of saving your back some aggravation!

For my winter operation, I use a 30 T unit. I cut and split eastern hardwoods, primarily white/red/chestnut oak, ash and maple. The dense, twisted grain on those, plus larger circumfrence in general, makes more power desirable.

(Safety tip: When a 30T splitter meets your finger, be sure you jump off the power lever fast enough that you only render the finger useless instead of chopping it off with that dull blade! Don't ask me how I learned that!)

Pete (your friend the retarded wood cutter...!)

Jeez Pete at least it wasn't your trigger finger!

That's the concern hopefully someone who has used one will chime in.

Looks like you needed a hand ....but got the finger instead

Split a piece of wood that grew around rock somehow (placed there years ago I’m guessing) that created pressure during the split half of the round rolled into my shin boy that hurt for some time. I don’t know how many times I stepped back when a log was being split and nothing but not that time.

I get a lot of wood from a friends tree service and it comes with all kinds of gems some hidden some not. Flag holders, cloths line hardware, bird feeder mounts just about anything a guy would leave in a tree in a yard. Had one log he warned me about a bolt that was grown over that was in a big round I painted it where he thought it was cut the round up to dry I never did hit it it will end up in the ash pile someday.

You should be able to split Spruce or Birch if 24 inch diameters or less with a 13t. If you have bigger diameter or nearly Spruce like the Oregon coast has you might want the 26t. If you have like South East Alaska 26t again.

I have a 25t that works both vertically and horizontally. I get some fairly large narly White Oak at times. It splits it all. Grunts a bit on twists and limbs but has yet to fail. Being able to split vertically let's me break down the large rounds to a size I am able to lift. A Peavey comes in real handy here .

Ted

I've got a 25 ton speeco that does both vertical and horizontal. The vertical does help with the back,but can still be a pain with bark,wood splinters on the ground that gets hard on the knees after awhile. I solved the problem by mounting a wheel chair lift on it with a pair of log tongs to pick big chunks up.love it.

About 40 years ago we my son was about four years old, he would stand on a 5-gallon bucket and operate the wood splitter. His uncle and I would feed the wood. Our wedge had been welded back in place several times and there were some burs where the metal had been torn. I was wearing a pair of jersey gloves and the cloth got hung on a bur. A piece of wood was passing through the wedge and I could not get my hand out of the way. I thought my little finger was severed inside the glove, but it wasn’t. Scared the heck out of me. The kid never noticed what was happening and never reversed the ram.

Can’t imagine loosing an index finger. Glad the doctors could save it. Does it have any function or feeling?

Yikes, I about had that happen to me a few years ago while working a 27 ton splitter. I was very fortunate to be quick on the release and yank my hand out of the way.

I think the size is going to depend on what you intend to split with it. I went with the 27 ton because a few years back I was splitting large rounds of seasoned elm. Elm has strong interlocking grain and in some areas with knots it still got hung up, but worked like a champ for the most part. These rounds were 20"+ in diameter and 16" to 20" thick, mostly with knots. Spruce and birch, seems like they are a wood that splits fairly easy. If your are experienced with splitting wood, often picking the right line makes a big difference too. Personally, I dont know if I would go with 13tons though, seems small.

13 seems a little small

I run a 27 but I find a fair amount of curly maple

13 would probably be no issue on Bass , strait grained ash, birch , poplar or pine

I have enough stuff to lift it even into the vertical I have to noodle it first make it a half or a 1/4

that stuff was 30-45 inches in diameter

Unless you got some real gnarly wood the 13 will be fine.... a little more power then hand splitting,

Good point re splitting on the right line still some of this stuff is pretty twisted and plenty of limbs. I think the smaller one would handle about 75% of it just fine but the bigger gnarly stuff would be a chore.

I like a minimum of 20 tons but then I split ash and black locust
Better to have too much than not enough!

I too figured when I pulled off the glove that I'd have to shake it to find the other piece! I could have sworn it was severed. I was relieved to find that it was (barely) still in one piece.

Range of motion in that finger (left index) is down by about 50%. It's constantly fairly numb and gets cold easily. If I were younger, I'd probably have surgery on it and try and restore more ROM. But at my age, it's just a good reminder to stay more alert while using the splitter!

Pete

my dad cut most of the way through the middle finger on his right hand with the table saw about 2002 he told the doc just take it off I don't really need that one.

doc says you don't want to be that 9 1/2 fingered grandpa , my dad was like really I won't even be the first one in the family my father inlaw lost his ring finger the day he started dating my mother in law.

doc tells him how advances have happened , he will save the finger and he will be glad he saved it

fast forward 20 years , it hurts when he shoots anything with recoil, it hurts anytime he bangs it on anything , it is fused so it doesn't bend, it hurts to try and grab anything with it too hard, it gets cold very easily , but not like he wants to cut it off and go through healing again.