Types of Log Splitter

Gas Powered Log Splitter

Gas powered log splitters are the most expensive, but by far the most powerful of the machines I have summarised. Gas log splitters have their own engine of between 3-5 HP, and are fuelled by gas or diesel. As well as being the most powerful, gas log splitters are often mounted on a trailer so can be transported to the wooded area you are working in, and don’t need an external power source.

Electric Log splitters

Electric Log splitters are generally slightly less powerful than their gas counterparts, with a 1-2 HP engine, delivering up to 7 tons of splitting power. This is still more than enough for most people though, and the electric log splitters we recommend below are able to split logs that are well over 15’ in diameter. Electric log splitters are also smaller and lighter than gas, while still often having wheels so you can easily move your machine to the garden by hand to do your work.

Manual Log Splitter

Depending on your needs, a manual log splitter may be ideal. In the comparison chart we have included both leverage based log splitters like the Smart Splitter, as well as our favourite splitting axes. The main benefit of a manual log splitter over an axe is that it uses leverages rather than muscle to power it, so regardless of how strong you are you will be able to easily split logs with the Smart Splitter, whereas a little more effort will be needed to put into the swing of an axe. As well as this, manual log splitters are far cheaper than a motor powered machine, and they are far easier to transport and store. If you are planning on getting a log splitter for chopping wood for a stove in your house for example, and don’t intend on splitting huge quantities of logs, we would highly recommend looking at the Smart Splitter below before considering a more expensive gas or electric powered model.

Best Manual Log Splitter:

The Smart Splitter is a very interesting innovation that has arrived onto the market recently, and makes splitting wood extremely easy.The Smart Splitter stands upright, and you thrust a metal wedge into the log you are splitting. The weight of the wedge will split small logs on its own, and with a bit of practise we had the Smart Splitter going through 6-12 inch diameter logs with just a little extra manual force. Because of the design of this device, anyone can use the Smart Splitter, as it isn’t operated based on strength, and takes away the danger of chopping off limbs or fingers!

Pros:

• Unique log splitting device that uses momentum to split logs, rather than splitting an axe.
• Light weight at only 10 Kilograms
• Very safe splitting mechanism
• Reasonably priced compared to other manual log splitters

Cons:

• Will struggle with very large logs, but with enough effort mast logs can be split
• Some setting up is necessary, as you have you drill the log splitter into a larger splitting log

Read more manual log splitters review @ log splitter picks