The Bob Vila team distills need-to-know information into project tutorials, maintenance guides, tool 101s, and more. Amazon.com : Boss Industrial ES7T20 Electric Log Splitter, 7-Ton : Power Log Splitters : Patio, Lawn & Garden . The full-beam design of this log splitter from Bosscan handle logs cut from softer woods. Full-beam splitters come with a cylinder mounted at the towing end of a large beam. Since they require more power, the models usually have a gas engine. Stay up to date on industry news and trends, product announcements and the latest innovations. Plus, it's quite reasonably priced for this kind of tool. This heavy-duty gas log splitter is built from the ground up with premium partscommercial GX200 Honda engine, NorthStar hydraulic cylinder with Hallite seals, and two-stage concentric pumpfor many years of hard work. This compact manual splitter is portable and well suited to taking on camping trips or just to the backyard for splitting small logs with a mallet or sledgehammer. $299 at Lowe's. $299 at Lowe's. Read more. Power Source: Electric | Driving Force: 7 tons | Cycle Time: 15 seconds | Vertical/Horizontal Options: No, Struggles a bit with very hard or knotty wood. Thicker and denser logs, or logs that are still partly wet, require splitters with more power than is needed for small logs, dry logs, or softwoods such as cedar and pine. Power Source: Gas | Driving Force: 27 tons | Cycle Time: 11 seconds | Vertical/Horizontal Options: Yes, Can struggle with very knotty or hard logs. Read on to find out more information on each of these best commercial log splitters and why hundreds of customers chose to buy them. Thomas Regional are part of Thomasnet.com. The must-have machinery for any woodshed includes log splitters that cut wood clean and fast. Never use your foot or hand to hold or steady the log while the wedge is in motion. In the vertical position giant, heavy logs can be chopped with no lifting. For these two reasons, this machine is not the best commercial log splitter for the money. The impressive 11.5-second cycle time means you can work your way through the wood pile in a reasonable amount of time, and you can use the tool in either a horizontal or a vertical orientation to suit your needs, which reduces effort and strain on your back. One happy shopper explained that they used a high-rated extension and made sure it had the required amperage, and went on to do five hours of splitting and stacking with this machine. This means you can take the splitter out into the woods when necessary to split logs at the source. This tool has a 90-day returnable guarantee and a two-year warranty if used residentially. Pump-style manual log splitters can generally tackle logs up to around 10 inches in diameter. Some merely require you to pump levers that work up enough pressure to drive the splitter through the log, while others hold the log in place while you do all of the heavy work. We did about four cords of wood for our first use, and it only slowed down on one log, and when we saw it had split right through a huge knot, we were amazed.. Best Overall: NorthStar Horizontal/Vertical 30 Ton Log Splitter. Weighing in at a beefy 430 pounds, this splitter is not easy to lift, but theres no need. Its an excellent investment for anyone needing to use it to stock up on firewood, but one customer who praised how it starts and runs explained that this splitter easily keeps up with their 20-ton splitter. See Newsroom Guidelines . The manufacturer specifies that this log splitter is for wood up to 12 inches in diameter, although many users have successfully split much longer logs without problem. A half-beam log splitter is smaller than a full-beam splitter, but that doesnt mean it has less splitting power. The Swisher 14.5 HP commercial grade log splitter features a powerful Kawasaki V-Twin electric start engine to ensure top end performance. Best gas: NorthStar Horizontal/Vertical Log Splitter; Best electric: Boss Industrial EC5T20; Best manual: Fiskars IsoCore 36-Inch Maul; Best budget: Southland Outdoor Power Equipment SELS60; How . Their main purpose is functionality, but a few additional features and accessories may be handy. Swisher offers several designs of log splitters and accessories for your wood splitting needsranging from a horizontal and vertical direct drive and full frame to splitting forces of 22 tons up to 34 tons. Log size and splitter tonnage rating are closely related. Folding tongue standard. Very powerful splitter, with a strong Kohler engine, reported one reviewer. They can split logs with twisted or springy grain, which would be impossible with hand tools. Most vertical splitting machines also come with log lifts and log cradles that help lift and hold heavier logs in the cutting area. Many styles and sizes available to meet your firewood splitting needs. Providing the power source for this beast is the 429cc Kohler CommandPro gas motor known for its reliability and durability. Whats the difference between a full-beam and half-beam log splitter? While there are no exact figures, generally speaking, a 4-ton splitter would be expected to handle logs up to 6 inches in diameter, whereas a massive 24-inch tree trunk requires at least a 20-ton splitter, if not larger. Tanisha Peten, Chief Marketing Officer at outdoor-living website Garrett Wade, cautions, "When using a log splitter, you need to be equally careful of the wood youre cutting and the splitting wedge. Best on a Budget: Fiskars Iso Core 36 Inch Maul. By contrast, powered log splitters are pretty heavy and can be several hundred pounds for gas-powered models. But, if you have the benefit of splitting wood with a hydraulic log splitter, you can do it at whatever stage you choose. Naturally, the higher the tons of driving force, the stronger the tool, and the larger the logs you can split. Instead, fetch the cast-iron Kindling Cracker, insert a piece of wood thats less than 6 inches in diameter into the central ring, use your mallet or hammer to give the top of the wood a whack, and voila! Most commercial-grade splitters are gas-powered and have more splitting force than other wood splitters. As the sharpened ram splits the log, the pieces fall to the sides, and the large remaining bits can be repositioned on the steel base for further splitting. 8" heavy duty reinforced beam, 12" AR400 wedge. For a step up from a simple axe, the best way to manually split your own logs quickly is with a metal wedge and some good old-fashioned gravity. Timberwolf's Alpha Series commercial log splitters can be equipped with a 4" or 5" hydraulic cylinder. It's is the 12-22 model. A wedge-shaped splitting maul is still the simplest, most reliable, most portable tool for splitting firewood. The downside, however, is that most electric log splitters have far less power than gas models.