Dirty Hand Tools 28-Ton Horizontal / Vertical Gas Log Splitter

Received our splitter on time, and then waited 2.5 weeks for the hydraulic fluid shipment to catch up! (There's a story about that...)
Got the splitter assembled with no problems. My overhead lift made some operations much easier and safer to perform. Getting the bolts properly installed to hold the engine to the frame was difficult for large hands.

Quality of the components is robust and excellent. The hardware is equally strong and of good quality. The Kohler motor is set up with dip sticks and drain plugs on opposite ends of the engine, providing easy access regardless of installation position. This is an unusually well engineered design of motor.

Got the machine all juiced up and it started on the first pull. A good omen. We split a variety of wet woods, including gnarly oak. The cylinder slowed, but never stalled, except in one situation detailed next:

We had installed the 4-way wedge. 'Found that the two horizontal blades had a tendency to jam the wet wood between the frame and the blade. The cylinder actually refused to move! We had some trouble prying those jammed wood pieces out with a large crow bar. The solution is to use the splitter in the vertical mode, to control the base position of the log, keeping it away from the frame. Then the jam issues disappeared. A single vertical wedge - as supplied with the machine - would have none of these jamming problems. I consider this a learning issue, not a problem with the splitter.

We look forward to getting more work accomplished, after our initial tests.

Received our splitter on time, and then waited 2.5 weeks for the hydraulic fluid shipment to catch up! (There's a story about that...)
Got the splitter assembled with no problems. My overhead lift made some operations much easier and safer to perform. Getting the bolts properly installed to hold the engine to the frame was difficult for large hands.

Quality of the components is robust and excellent. The hardware is equally strong and of good quality. The Kohler motor is set up with dip... more

I started out who great hopes for this machine. I had been at my brothers splitting wood with a cheap 22 ton and thought I needed to get me a good one. Talked to a buddy of mine at work and he recommended the Dirty Hands. I did my due diligence and landed on the 28 ton unit due to the 9.5 hp kohlar engine and the 15 inch wheels. Once I got it I realized the wheels were actually 8" wheels, when I went back and read the fine print, the wheels were 15" OUTER diameter. False advertising. But I was excited about that engine. After I finally got it running, the wedge started hanging up on the reverse stroke and would pop the trigger such that I had to hold it in place just like the forward stroke. Now it will split wood, but the reverse stroke is a pain in the ass. It seems to bind on the reverse stroke. It shudders and bogs down that 9.5hp engine. I have even greased the beam and it does not help. And it's not like you can simply touch the gear level to start it again cause it will bind again. While it does split wood, the quality isn't there. I would put my 1600$ someplace else.

I started out who great hopes for this machine. I had been at my brothers splitting wood with a cheap 22 ton and thought I needed to get me a good one. Talked to a buddy of mine at work and he recommended the Dirty Hands. I did my due diligence and landed on the 28 ton unit due to the 9.5 hp kohlar engine and the 15 inch wheels. Once I got it I realized the wheels were actually 8" wheels, when I went back and read the fine print, the wheels were 15" OUTER diameter. False advertising.... more

The crate arrived shortly after 10 am and I spent the better part of the day unpacking it and assembling it. Assembly was not hard, just time consuming. I did not have a 22cm or 24cm wrench or teflon tape so I deferred the installation of the hydraulic tubes until I acquired them. The good news is that it is easy to assemble un-aided. The splitter works very well, it splits aged Oak and Ash with ease.

The only issue I have is that it was designed to be towed by a truck, and when I use a lower vehicle like a Rhino, there may not be enough clearance to lower the hitch onto the ball and if I am not square on the hookup the jack handle can hit the lower part of the Rhino.

The crate arrived shortly after 10 am and I spent the better part of the day unpacking it and assembling it. Assembly was not hard, just time consuming. I did not have a 22cm or 24cm wrench or teflon tape so I deferred the installation of the hydraulic tubes until I acquired them. The good news is that it is easy to assemble un-aided. The splitter works very well, it splits aged Oak and Ash with ease.

The only issue I have is that it was designed to be towed by a truck, and when I use a... more

I have used the log splitter 4 or 5 times and haven't had a single log I couldn't split with ease! It's a high quality machine at a fair price.

Husband and son love it so far.

I rented log splitters for years and finally decided to get my own. From my renting experience I determined that I needed a 25-28 ton splitter to handle White Oak and Elm and to power through large knots and crotches. I decided not to go as high as a 35-ton splitter because of expense, noise, excessive gas usage, and difficulty in maneuvering the splitter due to the weight. I did a LOT of research and decided on the 28HP Dirty Hand splitter.

Let me start at the beginning: unpacking and assembling the splitter that was delivered in a wooden box on pallet. The packaging was excellent. The engine and other major parts were bolted through the bottom of the crate and held securely during shipping. Secondary parts were well padded and none of the paint was chipped on my precious new machine. Although some may be put off by having to assemble it, I preferred to assemble it so I better understand how it works in the case of future repairs. It took me 3 hours to unpack and assemble the splitter in my garage, including going the extra mile by using threadlock on all the bolts. All of the parts were very good quality and fit together well.

The wedge on this splitter is good quality 8" hardened steel. Some splitters use a cast iron wedge that may crack, and because it's cast iron, can't be welded. Because this wedge is steel, it can be sharpened and the edge welded and ground if needed after ramming a spike embedded in a log (guess how I know about that). I wanted a wedge at least 8" tall so it will cut through fiberous logs such as Elm in a single pass without having to flip the log over for a second pass. 12" would be better, but that's pretty hard to find on splitters where the wedge is attached to the ram rather than fixed at the base. The downside to fixed wedge splitters is they can only be used horizontally so the logs can pass around the wedge. This is impractical because you have to bend over multiple times as you split a single log.

One reason for choosing this particular model is the 10-11 second cycle time...that's what's listed in the specs and I verified it myself. You might not think that a 17-20 second cycle time would make a big difference, but if you split a lot of wood, waiting for the wedge to start splitting the log gets frustrating. Cycle time is a product of the ram cylinder size and the flow rate of the hydraulic pump that pressurizes it. The ram diameter determines the tonnage so that's pretty consistent between similarly rated splitters, but cheaper splitters will use a smaller engine (5-6 HP) that can only drive a smaller pump. This splitter has a pump with a whopping 17.5 gal per min flow rate which means fast cycle times.

The engine on this model is the 9.5HP Kohler CH395. This is the main reason (along with cycle time) I chose this model over the Dirty Hand 27-Ton model which has the 6.5 HP Kohler SH265 engine. The CH395 is part of the Command series while the SH265 is part of the Courage series. The Command series is a professional grade engine with a 3yr warranty, but the Courage warranty is only 90 days. A few of the other splitter brands use a Honda engine, but I couldn't justify the price.

I am very pleased with the overall design of the splitter. The engine and gas tank are protected from falling logs if you install the provided log rack. This is the first splitter I have used with a rack and I find that is speeds up the processing dramatically by holding half of a round while you continue to split the other half. No more bending over to pick up the other half. The splitter easily swings into vertical mode to split large logs on the ground so they don't have to be lifted at all. The splitter also has an auto-return detent valve, which means that after you split a log, you put the valve in reverse and go get your next log. The valve will automatically shift back to neutral when the ram is completely retracted. While this is pretty typical of log splitters, this valve is adjustable so it can continue to work properly as the detent wears from use.

Another design feature that may be a little difficult to explain is how the wedge is held in place on the I-beam during splitting. On many splitters the slides are attached to the wedge and curl under the I-beam to keep the wedge aligned and from lifting off the beam. The problem with this design is that splinters of firewood jam under the wedge and cause the slides to wear out resulting in a loose head that encourages even more wood splinters under the wedge. On this splitter, rails are fixed along the full length of the I-beam where the wedge slides. The wedge moves freely under these rails and the logs sit on top of the rails so fewer splinters go under the wedge and the wedge is more free floating which results in less wear.

There were two minor issues. First, I had to adjust the detent valve for the auto-return feature. As delivered, the valve allowed too much pressure and would not slip into neutral when the ram returned to the home position. This took me about 10 minutes to adjust. The second minor issue is that the edge of the wedge isn't sharp. This isn't an issue if your splitting Red Oak, but Elm is stringy and a nice sharp edge cuts through the fibers, which I have found to be helpful. Since I've only split a few pieces of Elm so far, I haven't yet decided if I will remove the wedge and sharpen it with an angle grinder.

Overall, I am very pleased with the splitter after splitting 1/4 cord of mixed woods.

I rented log splitters for years and finally decided to get my own. From my renting experience I determined that I needed a 25-28 ton splitter to handle White Oak and Elm and to power through large knots and crotches. I decided not to go as high as a 35-ton splitter because of expense, noise, excessive gas usage, and difficulty in maneuvering the splitter due to the weight. I did a LOT of research and decided on the 28HP Dirty Hand splitter.

Let me start at the beginning: unpacking and... more

After 35 years of busting up our wonderful Oak trees for firewood with a monster maul (a rental splitter when needed) the elbows and wrist joints are pushing back at age 60. With the kids having moved away from home, and a pipeline crossing the property, I have an ample supply of wood, and lack the manpower I used to have. So the purchase of the 28 ton splitter was necessary.

When you order this splitter just make sure you have a way to move the crate where you can have it ready for the assembly effort. A 67 year old friend came over, and we had this splitter fired up running in less than 2 hours. An engine lift was used for the placement of the heavy I-beam, but we may have been able to do this with just the two of us. It was a pleasant surprise to find the fluids in the crate, but I needed the AV32 for my temperature range.

Initially I busted up a rick of wood that was lying around waiting for a splitter. The Oak, Walnut, and Elm split just fine in both the standing and horizontal position. There is a place for both modes. While splitting smaller wood, I like the I-beam in the horizontal position. This allows me to stand and reduces one to bend over with the handy log catcher. The larger wood I use the standing I-beam which allows one to roll the heavy pieces to the splitter.

Time will tell if the tires are too small, and if I need to put a guard around the motor. I don't see these as a deal breaker. The price of this 28-ton splitter makes it a real value, and the 10 second cycle time is great.

Holidays are over, the deer is in the freezer, and it's off to the wood pile for me.

After 35 years of busting up our wonderful Oak trees for firewood with a monster maul (a rental splitter when needed) the elbows and wrist joints are pushing back at age 60. With the kids having moved away from home, and a pipeline crossing the property, I have an ample supply of wood, and lack the manpower I used to have. So the purchase of the 28 ton splitter was necessary.

When you order this splitter just make sure you have a way to move the crate where you can have it ready for the... more

Ordered on Friday, arrived the following Thursday. Very fast delivery. Unpacked the crate in the back of my pickup so I could remove each piece by my self. Assembled in about 1.5 hrs. On the 28 ton you have to mount the engine. Instructions say to mount engine first before doing wheels and tow bar. It's actually easier to start by mounting the wheels to the tank, then the tow bar, and then the engine. This way the engine mount platform is off the ground so you can get the bolts through from underneath.
Engine started on first pull, watch overfilling hydraulic oil tank, makes a big mess on your first log split. Ask me how I know.
Good quality, having fun so far.

Ordered on Friday, arrived the following Thursday. Very fast delivery. Unpacked the crate in the back of my pickup so I could remove each piece by my self. Assembled in about 1.5 hrs. On the 28 ton you have to mount the engine. Instructions say to mount engine first before doing wheels and tow bar. It's actually easier to start by mounting the wheels to the tank, then the tow bar, and then the engine. This way the engine mount platform is off the ground so you can get the bolts through from... more

Bought this from a friend who purchased this item from PED so I thought I would share my positive experience here. We hauled it a few hours out to our cabin because we heat with wood there and my body is getting old for swinging an axe. This thing towed no problem. Once we got it to the cabin it fired right up and we split for about 5 hours. Mostly 24"-30" Oak, Elm, Pine. Nothing even slowed it down. Ran forever on a full tank of gas. I highly recommend this product.

I ordered the splitter on a Tuesday and I had it splitting wood Friday. High quality with a great engine. All kinds of power nothing could stop it. Dirty Hand Tools is a great company to deal with!

I'm 68 & have split with a maul for a LONG time....wish I'd bought this splitter years ago....
SHIPPING - I opted for the lift gate delivery...good thing I did to as I never could have got it on the ground otherwise. This thing is heavy duty with emphasis on heavy....

ASSEMBLY - If you have an indoor shop, good for you - it will probably save a lot of time. The directions were easily followed but I assembled in my driveway which was far from ideal. An overhead hoist of some kind to get the main frame vertical will save your back. It wasn't difficult but at 4 hours a bit more time consuming than I anticipated.

OPERATION - Be sure to follow the directions re adding engine oil & hydraulic oil before starting. My unit started on the 2nd pull & ran great. Only took 2 cycles of the ram to bleed out air & then my grandson & I went to work. Between blocking the longer pieces, splitting & stacking it took a bit over 3 hours to get almost 2 cords ready for winter.

ASSESSMENT- This 28 ton unit is awesome. Built heavy with a 9.5 hp engine it split aspen & cedar with ease & hesitated only slightly before going through the largest, gnarliest pinon I had on hand. As a previous reviewer commented..."it's the last splitter you'll ever buy..." I totally agree - a bit pricey but you get your money's worth in my opinion... J Earl Wilson

I'm 68 & have split with a maul for a LONG time....wish I'd bought this splitter years ago....
SHIPPING - I opted for the lift gate delivery...good thing I did to as I never could have got it on the ground otherwise. This thing is heavy duty with emphasis on heavy....

ASSEMBLY - If you have an indoor shop, good for you - it will probably save a lot of time. The directions were easily followed but I assembled in my driveway which was far from ideal. An overhead hoist of some kind to get... more