 Like Moses parting the Red Sea, buy one, and you'll see! |
| Review Date: January 22, 2010 |
| Reviewer: R. Brooks, Central, TEXAS |
The most difficult part of owning this, is unloading it from the freight truck, when it shows up at your house. Luckily for me, I'm on a farm and had my front-loader on my tractor to move this around, but two men can lift this and set the box where needed. My box was damaged when it arrived. A large hole had been poked into the side, but the log-splitter is well-built and was undamaged. The inside packing was more than adequate. One of the reasons I ordered this log splitter over the smaller one sold on Amazon was the smaller splitter had bad reviews about the box it came in. Not to worry with the Pow'R'Kraft. It had large foam blocks on each end and was packaged very well.
I'm also delighted I spent the extra $$ for this model and not the smaller one, because the Pow'R'Kraft impressed me with how "heavy-duty" it appears. And, it indeed splits some very big chunks of wood. I've been splitting very dense and hard Texas Mesquite and Pecan. I call this "My Little Yellow Beast."
I also like the fact that even though the ends of many of the logs I have split were not cut at a 90 degree angle, the logs ride in the work-table and don't slip out. I was at first concerned the logs needed to be a perfect 90 degree cut, but no real problem, only a minor adjustment might be needed on logs cut at bad angles.
One thing you might need is a table to put this splitter on. The unit comes with wheels to allow it to be rolled around, but at my place, I didn't think the wheels were large enough to negotiate the rough turf outside my barn and near my wood pile. I elected to go to Tractor Supply and buy a 4-wheel cart (costing me $100.00 ) The cart has sides and ends that fold down and elevates the splitter to a height where I don't have to ruin my back in order to bend down so low to work the splitter. If you elect roll this splitter on it's own wheels, you might have a hard time getting them across expansion joints in concrete surfaces. My cart makes it easy to pull the splitter out of my barn to the wood pile, split the logs horizontally and then return the splitter to the barn to keep it out of bad weather. Trust me, you'll be happy if you elevate this splitter of the ground and a cart makes it easy to work with. (Tractor Supply had three carts, one for $69, mine was $99 and they had a more expensive one that was "overkill" for I believe $129...) The carts too are made in China (hey isn't everything these days?) and requires some assembly, but believe me, the cart is wonderful and I think splitting wood horizontally is easire than doing it vertically.
I believe all log splitters require the use of two hands in order to operate. This is probably a safety feature. On this splitter, my right hand engages a small button underneath the ram device that basically turns the unit on, and my left hand operates a lever that makes the ram move thus forces the log onto the cutting block.
The instructions show having to turn a screw on the end of the unit PRIOR to operating it for the first time. However, it IS NOT a screw, but a plastic looking "wing-nut." It took me a while to determine that someone in China drew the wrong picture. It is critical to open this "wing-nut" in order to allow air to escape from the cylinder when the ram is being moved forward while splitting. If you ever move the splitter into a vertical position, or ship it, you'll need to screw the wing-nut back in so oil won't leak out of the cylinder.
This is one tough little "fireball" and I actually had a fun time using it to split wood. The manual isn't too bad, considering it was written in China, but the diagrams work and the instructions are straight-forward (except for the bleed valve vent that is a "wing-nut" and not a screw.) |
Terrific
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| Review Date: December 16, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Lincoln F. Baird, |
| I've got 7 cords of Australian Pine from my neighbor's tree cut to 20" lengths and anywhere from 5" to 22" in diameter. I tried to split one 16 inch round with wedges and drove 3 of them completely into it, waited 5 minutes and finally it split. Log splitter time. This wood is unlike anything I've seen except Eucalyptus. It is totally twisted and even when it looks straight grained has knots all through it. On fast speed it will stall on a 6" piece but on slow speed it will chew through anything. I am real glad I did not buy a 4 ton splitter because it would not have done the job. This thing splits the piece and when it hits the knotted part just crushes it and keeps going. What sold me was reading the reviews on the other splitters, noting that some stalled, and then looking at the pictures shown with this one. They show it splitting a large round and it surely does for me. Before I bought it from Amazon I called the Best company up in Oregon at 877-876-7895 and talked to Keith regarding parts availability in case I broke it. Shipping weight is 172 lbs and it is built strong. |
Fast and easy
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| Review Date: December 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Mark A. Fisher, BEDFORD, KY, US |
Just got this little beast and what a plesant suprise. This little monster has mega power plus. Split a quick rick in mere minutes without a hitch. I really like to two-handed safety feature that is built in. Has plenty of power. Split some ash and walnut without any problem. Another sweet aspect is that Amazon had it here on our farm within a week of ordering, even at this busy time of year. I give it 5 stars!
Mark Fisher
Bedford, Ky
mafisherukfan@bellsouth.net |
Nice splitter for home use.
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| Review Date: July 10, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Mark Busha, Royal Oak, MI |
Nice splitter, great service. Unfortunately the splitter arrive damaged. It must have been dropped and the wheel bracket was bent. Called the manufacturer and got an auto message that everyone was busy. I left my name and number and resigned myself to an endless battle. It was not to be, my call was returned within 10 minutes. A very nice person transfered me to the parts department and a new bracket was placed on order. I am in Michigan and the manufacturer is on the West coast. To my surprise, the correct part arrived 10am next day FexEx. The Machine construction is sturdy and straightforward. Using simple hand tools and the bracket was replaced in 40 minutes or so.
As for the performance of the splitter, it does exactly what it claims. Maybe even a slightly larger diameter log. We have 6 acres, mostly Oak, Maple and Ash. It has not jammed or stalled yet. Only drawback is it's very low, really needs a stand. I have been using it on a small trailer pulled with an ATV. That seems to work well.
I recommend this product. |
Pow' R' Kraft 7 Ton 15 amp splitter - works great!
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| Review Date: August 8, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Timothy T. Krasin, |
| The Pow' R' Kraft 7 Ton 15 amp splitter works great! I purchased this as a gift for my father. I've tried it out now myself and it works well. We've only split a few pieces of dry wood and will only be using it to further split existing split wood to better burn in the fireplace. I'd imagine for a real large job of splitting green or wet wood you'd be better off with a gas powered splitter, or be willing to take some time with this unit. |
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