Sun Joe Hydraulic Steel Beam Log Splitter, 10 Ton Capacity Firewood Tool, Green

I love this! Since the day it arrived, I have used it to split a huge amount of cut wood that was too big to burn. I'm splitting about 5 to 10 of these birch logs a day. I don't have much upper body strength, yet I'm able to split the wood easily. Right now, our house is being warmed by our wood stove and my pile of split wood. The power company cut a lot of trees under the lines, so I have lots to do this summer. Since I don't use power tools, this elegant device has empowered me.

Split amazing been able to split Doug’s fur 18” long and up to 20 across

The media could not be loaded. This thing does a good job at splitting. Not much to set up when it arrives. Just open the box, put the handles in and go to work. You will almost certainly need a spacer of some kind for shorter pieces. I use an old piece of 4X6 post. Be sure the spacer is small enough to clear the forks on the track or stand it on end. Yes, the ends of the logs need to be reasonably square or you risk the work popping out of the splitter. Why did I give it 4 stars instead of 5? The valve that controls the jack is stiff and sometimes I need to hold it closed when the pump starts putting pressure on the log. Once the pressure builds up the valve stays closed but as soon as the log begins to split and the pressure drops I sometimes have to tighten it again. I assume this is because of a tight O-ring on the valve. And speaking of O-rings, I noticed a small leak that appears to be coming from the ring sealing the ram from the top of the jack. It's more of a seep than a leak and seems to be getting better as I use the splitter. I'm guessing the O-rings are new and tight or a bit stiff. We'll see what happens after more use. Sorry about the video. It's hard to hold the phone with one hand and operate the splitter with the other but this gives you an idea of how fast it works.Addendum: The afore mentioned o-ring on the high pressure pump began to leak so badly that I had to do something about it. I removed the pump and o-ring. Under a magnifying glass it had the cross sectional profile of a car tire rather than a circular cross section and it felt hard and brittle. I assume it was very old and had lost its elasticity. After some effort I found a replacement o-ring and now it works fine with no leak.

We've got a couple of maple trees that I cut into approximately 15" logs, 14" in diameter on average. They're a little short; I should have made them 18 or 20" but too late now. This splitter works great, though.For the shorter logs, I use a good, straight piece of wood as a spacer and it's worked great. You have to be careful that the spacer doesn't cause the log to pop out and become a flying projectile. In fact Snow Joe doesn't recommend this approach, so do this at your own risk!I've done about 5 logs so far, and will finish these trees in a few days. It's easy to use and doesn't hurt my back the way swinging an axe does. The satisfying sound of the log cracking in half is music to my ears. I just go ahead and split a log down to 6-8 pieces suitable for use in my small wood stove. Takes about 5-10 minutes per log.I think for the price, this machine is pretty good. The electric and gasoline splitters are way more expensive and inconvenient. If you're doing large scale splitting, like to produce several cords of wood, this might be insufficient and you need to consider shelling out $300-$500 for a motorized heavy duty splitter, but for casual use like chopping up a single tree, the Snow Joe is pretty close to ideal.The worrisome thing is that several of the reviewers report defective units, like the knobs breaking off or the piston suddenly failing to work. But so far, my unit has worked great. It stores upright in the garage and takes up very little space.It does have wheels, and you have to be somewhat in shape to haul this thing around, but it's not that hard, not harder than pulling a heavy mower around for example. I don't try to take it down to where the wood is at the rear of the yard; the wheels seem too small and it seems like it would end up just getting dragged through the soft dirt and mud, and then I have to drag it back up the hill to the garage. So I just wheel it out onto the driveway, and wheelbarrow my logs back and forth. For the amount I have, this works out great.If you have a pretty big pile of logs, though, you may need to load this thing onto a hand cart to wheel it to where the wood is, and maybe lay it down on a 2-by-4 or a plank of plywood for stability. I've noticed it will rock back and forth while you are working the levers, if it's set on an uneven surface, so you do need to make sure it's on a flat, level surface.Not much else to say about this. In a couple of months I'll probably add more oil, if the instructions are accurate, and if that is problematic, I'll add a note about that here. Otherwise... it's time to "make like a banana and split"!!!