Before purchasing any kind of machine, it’s best to find out whether it’s worth it or not. Of course, you wouldn’t want to waste your hard-earned cash on a piece of equipment that’s just not worth it. When it comes to purchasing a log splitter, the advantages can outweigh the drawbacks quite significantly.
Although any log splitter will require you pay for both the machine and regular maintenance, the log splitter can pay for itself a few times over in its first few uses.
Benefits of Using a Log Splitter
Here we’ll look at the nine major benefits of using a log splitter when cutting your firewood.
1. A Log Splitter Will Save You Lots of Time
Splitting logs is quite a difficult task that requires a long time to complete. You not only need to cut the wood into pieces that you can put in your fireplace but also cut them into manageable pieces. Ideally, this requires you to cut the same piece of wood multiple times.
When using a wood splitter, you will be able to cut the wood once and make it into a round that fits into the splitter. This way, the process will significantly consume less time, especially when compared to cutting each piece into a round, and then cut it into pieces that can fit the fireplace.
The amount of time you will spend will depend on the kind of log splitter you’re using. Manual wood splitters are not as fast as their gas-powered and electric counterparts since they rely on the power of the person.
With a manual splitter, the user sets up and manoeuvres the wedge using their hands. While this still takes much longer than a powered splitter, they take much less time than using an axe.
Gas or electric powered splitters can get the job done in considerably less time than the manual splitters. Powered splitters usually cut the wood with just the pull of a lever or press of a button, which in turn saves you the time you would have otherwise used to set up the wedge. Furthermore, the wedge reduces the amount of time you would require to cut the wood.
2. Minimizes the Amount of Work You Have to Do
For those who’ve tried splitting wood using an axe, you’re probably aware that it requires a lot of time and energy. The energy you need to split the log completely can exhaust the person quite fast. Of course, one log won’t take much, but when you do it enough times as you build your pile of firewood, it can wear you down.
However, benefit of using a log splitter is that you will be letting the machine do the work for you, saving yourself the energy you’d have used. The only work you will have to do is load the round into the splitter, and to take the finished pieces off. This is significantly less tiring compared to cutting it all by hand. But be sure to check out more on how to use a log splitter properly to prevent injury.
Manual splitters will obviously require more work compared to their powered counterparts since the user will have to move the wedge and also load and unload each round. Although this kind of log splitter isn’t as efficient as the electric and gas-powered versions, the users will do much less work with a manual splitter compared to cutting with an axe.
When you set up your log splitter properly, you’ll be able to cut down the amount of carrying you need to do, thereby saving yourself even more work.
Setting up your splitter close to the location you want to stack the finished pieces will minimize how far you need to move the finished pieces.
3. Getting More Done
Since you’ll have saved more time and energy, you can now get a lot more done. You can now focus on other tasks you need to get done, other than cutting wood or splitting logs. The energy you save by using a log splitter can be put into other uses like increasing the amount of wood you can split in just one sitting.
Moreover, you can use the energy you have saved to complete other tasks you’ve probably put off, and therefore get more done in different areas. When you choose to cut more wood at one go, you will decrease the time you’d need for spitting logs.
With a stockpile ready, you can then spend your time doing other important work other than cutting firewood. As such, you will be more productive in other areas of your life.
4. Saving Money on Heating Bills
When you purchase a log splitter, you’re making a good investment. Just as with any other kind of equipment, you’ll have to pay the upfront cost, which is ideally the price of the machine as well as the accompanying expenses on things like gas and oil. Nonetheless, the upfront payment can save you money even for the first few uses.
Many families find it expensive to keep up with the heating costs of their homes. The heating bill seems to come with a few extra charges or taxes every time. A good alternative to your central heating is using firewood, which is an excellent replacement for many types of heating.
A log splitter will let you cut down your firewood, thereby saving money on your heating bill. This way, you will realize substantial savings, even if you use firewood to heat up your house in a few months. Plus, everyone who’s gone camping can attest that bringing your firewood is a great way to save money.
Buying firewood from independent vendors or campground only adds on to your overall expenses for your trip. And if you go camping regularly, investing in a log splitter can significantly reduce the amount of preparation time and money you spend each time you go. In the long run, these savings can add up.
5. Environmentally Friendly Option
Compared to other options, using wood to heat up your home is much better for the environment. With a manual log splitter, you won’t be producing any chemicals or fumes since the equipment is not powered by fuel. Using manpower to work the machine instead of gasoline means you’re contributing a lot to a healthy environment.
With gas powered log splitters, some fumes are created in the form of exhaust gases. However, the exhaust gases from a gas splitter usually have a smaller impact than using petroleum fuel to power or heat your home.
6. Minimal Maintenance Required
Almost every kind of machine requires some kind of maintenance to keep it running in good working condition. In general, the larger and more complex the machine is, the more the maintenance it will require. Log splitters typically have a small footprint compared to other types of equipment, and usually come in relatively simple designs.
As a result, the won’t have to worry about being overwhelmed by the upkeep. Any log splitter will need oil to keep running for the manual splitters, that’s the only major kind of maintenance you’ll have to do.
On the other hand, powered splitters will require much more maintenance, mainly because they are more complex. The gas-powered splitters will typically require oil and regular filling up with fuel. Electric splitters require a connection to a power outlet and looking after the condition of the power cord.
7. Clean and Uniform Cuts
Another important benefit of owning or renting a log splitter is that creates more uniform and cleaner cuts in wood. With the ability of lock the material in place and the chances of the blade veering-off is reduced and produce less mess.
8. Log Splitters Are Portable
Log splitters are designed in such a way that they are portable and easy to store. This is a major benefit for most users because they don’t want to set up their log splitters every time they need to use them. Such flexibility ensures that you can use your log splitter whenever you need to.
This portability also allows you completely get value for your money. Whether you plan on using it on different areas of your yard or bring it to another person’s house, when you have the option to use it in different locations removes the limitations that can be brought about by the reach of the machine.
Once you’ve finished using the machine, you’ll appreciate how having a portable machine makes it much easier to store it.
Proper storage significantly increases the lifespan of your tools. Storing your log splitter in an appropriate space will make sure that your investment is properly stored.
No matter what kind of log splitter you have, it’ll be easy for you to move and store it. Overall, the manual log splitters are considerably much smaller than their powered counterparts, making it easier to store them because they take much less room/ gas-powered and electric splitters typically come with wheels, allowing the user to move them about without struggling.
9. Log Splitters Don’t Make Much Mess
With some yard equipment, you will have to clean up a lot after use due to the kind of mess they make. But with log splitters, you won’t make much mess. As you cut the logs, some wood chips might fly off the machine. You can easily rake these chips into a pile and used for tinder, or even add them to a composite pile.
