Dirty Hand Tools 35-Ton Horizontal / Vertical Gas Log Splitter

First off The delivery was way to fast and efficient! Hats off to Log Splitters Direct..
I Chose the Dirty Hands 35 ton Unit, For two reasons, I live in Colorado & it was engineered here in Colorado, Secondly the Design & Craftsmanship. "Stout"

Packaging/crating was well done from the factory.

Assembly was a snap, and fluids were provided. I chose the 35 ton over all the others because I didn't mind paying more knowing that the unit would not have to be overworked in splitting Larger or wet logs so that it would last must longer in the long run, and cycle time faster"

I am extremely thrilled in the operation and quality of this Unit, It performed better than thought, The sturdy design, simplicity of use The self retracting ram frees up your hands so you can set up the next log.

I purchased the optional Table, " A Must Have" Glad I did, Simplifies the process and helps to protect the the engine from logs falling on it.

Kohler Engine, It's a bit hard starting, could be its new and needs to be broken in or I still need to learn the Choke setting, Altitude could be a factor also I am just above 6000 ft here. Once started & After letting it Idle and break in a bit the next day I split a cord of Wood effortlessly in no time at all, I had the engine running on a low speed & this machine split wood beautifully.

After a few days and a little over six cords of wood Its's still hard starting, Yet the performance overall of the Splitter is a 9 out of 10...
Wished it had a Honda Engine though... I absolutely without question am pleased with this product.

I read the other reviews, About the fuel tank being in a bad spot, and difficult to refuel, It's so simple to tilt the machine up, it really is not an issue, besides I ran this thing all day and didn't have to refuel..

I purchased a 4way splitting head, Have not had the opportunity to use it yet, But it looks very beefy.

I also bought the generic Cover offered, wished I had waited on that, Found a cover made to fit from Dirty Hands Directly. Log Splitters Direct should offer the Cover ... Hint Hint.....

I should have done my research a little better, Found that A local Lowe's sells this same product already assembled for roughly the same price.

I am still pleased with my purchase....

First off The delivery was way to fast and efficient! Hats off to Log Splitters Direct..
I Chose the Dirty Hands 35 ton Unit, For two reasons, I live in Colorado & it was engineered here in Colorado, Secondly the Design & Craftsmanship. "Stout"

Packaging/crating was well done from the factory.

Assembly was a snap, and fluids were provided. I chose the 35 ton over all the others because I didn't mind paying more knowing that the unit would not have to be overworked in... more

Being handicap and over 65 it sure is a big help around the place. I have to say it split year old season wood without a pause. Only problem I have is checking the oil as like I said I'm handicap and it's hard to get down but other than that it is one fine machine. Thanks for asking.

Bought the DHT assembled and test fired --pulled it home(25 miles) and it does all I ask it to. Glad we went for the 35 ton for the small cost difference.

The larger ram and 8 gal. fluid tank is worth it not to mention the I" bigger plate and wedge. Previous to the DHT 35 we ran a 22 ton homemade splitter with a 5 hp horizontal shaft engine. The dht brings us to the 21st century.

Quick overview. I did lots of research and there are many options and good equipment out there, but after reading specifications and product reviews over several days - I purchased the Dirty Hand Tools (DHT) 35-Ton Horizontal / Vertical Gas Log Splitter. My next pick would have been the DHT 28-Ton as it also had the larger engine and pump for faster cycling times. But since the price difference was not much, I opted for the heavier 35-ton unit. BTW when ordering - the log cradle listed as optional was included in my package!

I ordered from PED on line this past Sunday, unit was shipped from their warehouse on Monday via Saia Shipping and arrived at my home on Wednesday! Very fast!

DHT did a great job crating up the pieces - one big, heavy box and my impression was, "If they built the unit like they did the crate, we are in business" and so far, this has held true. As the crate is over 600lb, better be ready to handle that type of weight. I'm fortunate to have a tractor with a front-end loader with forks, so not a problem.

Assembly was not that bad. I completed assembly by myself - but another set of hands would have been great. Took about 2 hours start to finish, but again, I'm fortunate enough to have had a good spot for the assembly, correct tools, and straps/tractor to lift with.

I will say the assembly instructions left a bit to be desired. Fortunately, other reviewers gave plenty of thoughts and these were invaluable. So here's my advice -- assemble the "trailer section" completely before trying to mount the engine/pump. The drawings make it look like you should install the engine/pump early on, but a careful reading of the notes says otherwise. Go ahead and get all pieces of the trailer together, get the wheels on and you'll have a stable platform ready to mount the engine/pump. BTW - kudos to DHT for even including a tool to seat the wheel grease covers!

Mounting the engine/pump was not much of an issue. Some have expressed the bolts were hard to reach, but I had no issues. The least difficult to assemble but heaviest was lifting, completing assembly, and then attaching the hydraulic ram. Again, straps and something to lift with make this much easier.

None of the engine oil or hydraulic fluid required is provided, so you need to be ready for that. The DHT manual called for a different oil rating than Kohler - I'm just going to use 10-30 Mobile 1 like everything else as it certainly meets spec. You'll want to use a funnel as the oil port is a bit tight to reach, but otherwise not an issue.

I opted to use AW46 hydraulic fluid (I went ahead and bought two 5 gallon buckets) - but seems that a Universal Tractor Hydraulic fluid with an ISO 46 weight rating would have worked as well and maybe have made more sense. However, I bought what was called out in the operations document.

First start up of the engine was a little slow (a shared experience). Turns out the Kohler engine doesn't require much "choking" and after a few pulls I pulled off the choke and the engine fired right up. On a second cold start, I closed the choke, made a pull, opened the choke and the engine fired right up.

"Burping" the hydraulics was a non-event. I added 5 gallons of fluid prior to start and then just operated the ram a couple of times and all smoothed out. Then I topped the hydraulic fluid off and all seems good to go! The hydraulic tank, filler, and cap are well made - just be sure you have a funnel.

Since start up, I have had zero issues. No leaks after an hour or so operation (at least not yet). I did read about some leaks occurring due to the use of Teflon pipe compound rather than Teflon tape on factory made connections and thought about reworking these. But I'll let "sleeping dog lay" for the time being. The unit performs as expected easily handing some knotty hickory.

The ram cycle time is fine for me. I haven't clocked, but it is supposed to be about 12 seconds. I can say that at the bottom of the cut, I push the control to "return" and by the time I get positioned for the next split, the ram is ready. That's all I need. Anything longer than I'm experiencing would seem like a "delay in game". Again, this was one of my reasons to go with a larger engine and higher volume hydraulic pump.

The hydraulic control works great and no adjustment was needed in the "auto-return" as it kicks right out at the top of the upstroke.

I will say the ram does get warm/hot to touch when continually operating, but this doesn't seem to be too big of an issue. DHT may wish to think about increasing fluid volume to help with the temperature rise as other units I reviewed required more fluid (and maybe for good reason).

The only feature the unit didn't have which I'll probably try to add is an hour meter on the Kohler engine so as to keep up with the proper service intervals.

All in all, no "buyer's remorse" here. A sturdy unit "built in the USA" in Colorado so I'm counting on good service (and others have given good reviews for DHT's service).

I'd recommend this unit to anyone who wants a heavy-duty splitter.

Quick overview. I did lots of research and there are many options and good equipment out there, but after reading specifications and product reviews over several days - I purchased the Dirty Hand Tools (DHT) 35-Ton Horizontal / Vertical Gas Log Splitter. My next pick would have been the DHT 28-Ton as it also had the larger engine and pump for faster cycling times. But since the price difference was not much, I opted for the heavier 35-ton unit. BTW when ordering - the log cradle listed as... more

Easy to set up and the Kohler engine started on the first pull...very impressive. Splits oak and maple logs easily with no strain.
I would highly recommend the 35 ton model with plenty of power. This is a heavy machine and I would recommend that a trailer dolly be purchased to aid in moving the machine around.

I did a ton of research on log splitters and was very impressed with the specs and reviews this log splitter was receiving. I contacted the company out in CO and they were very informative of answering all of my questions. I purchased the 35-ton Dirty Hand Tools largest log splitter which recently just came on line. The splitter arrived on Monday. We had assembled it within 1.5 hours.

Pros:
a) It was packaged well.
b) It was easy and enjoyable to assemble.
c) The splitter is heavy and well made.
d) The Kohler 9.5 horse motor started on first pull.
e) I tested this splitter out the following day on some big knotty Elm and it split it without a problem.
f) The unit is balanced well.
g) The ram is very quick up and back.
h) After splitting Oak and Elm for the last few days, this has been an awesome splitter so far.
I) Finally, having the peace of mind of being able to contact the company "Friction World" out in CO if I have any questions or concerns.

I did a ton of research on log splitters and was very impressed with the specs and reviews this log splitter was receiving. I contacted the company out in CO and they were very informative of answering all of my questions. I purchased the 35-ton Dirty Hand Tools largest log splitter which recently just came on line. The splitter arrived on Monday. We had assembled it within 1.5 hours.

Pros:
a) It was packaged well.
b) It was easy and enjoyable to assemble.
c) The splitter is heavy and... more

Got this thing a few months ago and I have to say it is much larger than I expected, and that is a pleasant surprise in this day and age.

Kohler Command engine is awesome, nice and quiet, and has a huge fuel tank. The Dirty Hand 35-ton will split anything, and we have thrown some real nasty logs on this machine.

I hardly ever write a review but the DHT customer service group and this splitter deserve some attention and recognition. As does the PED team. After a whole lot of research I settled on this 35 ton bad boy and I must say I made the right decision. This splitter is awesome. Thanks again!

Really you don't need a splitter this big, at least not for the wood I split.....but you'll want one. Not only will you want one, but your neighbors will too as I have found out they want to borrow it. 35 tons is big, and will split anything you can throw at it. Kohler Command is a great engine. Nice and quiet too. Can't go wrong with DHT and PED was awesome to deal with. Splitter showed up 4 days after I ordered.

Heavy duty unit I like the log catcher. Every thing on this unit is heavy duty. Easy assembly, well created. It should have come with hydraulic oil, but didn't, so Log Splitters Direct made good for it.

This unit should come with a 4 way because it's a must have. I had to buy that separate, so add that to total cost - still well worth it. They claimed 12 second cycle time. I don't see that.

The only small issue is where the wedge goes from narrow to wide. The wide angle is welded on to the narrow and there is a squared off lip that catches on the wood and causes the whole splitter to shake when it releases.. Could grind it and paint..