I read all the old posts and the Ryobi seems the way to go. I'm just curious if I can get one without paying $70 shipping from the website and how to return it if it fails. I use the neighbor's 20 ton gas splitter right now. Anything that the Ryobi can't split, I'll just throw into his wood pile or save it until I set up the gas splitter. I'm sure that the Ryobi will do 99% of the alder I need to split. The gas splitter pops the alder in half after it rams it about 2 inches. So the full 20 ton strength of the gas splitter is needed only 1% of the time. I think the electic will be quicker and without the noise, fumes, starter fluid, pulling on the cord, adjusting the throttle, checking the oil, hitching the trailer, hearing protection, filling the gas tank, air filter changes, etc. Mark

i just bought a powerhouse electric 7 ton log splitter. used it about 5 hours yesterday. split probably a cord and a half. (this was taking it off the trailer , splitting, then stacking it, so lot of walking) I was impressed with the splitter. I have been using a maul for the past 2 years and this splitter is a real nice piece of equipment. dont get me wrong it wont split 18 inch diameter stuff or anything but it will handle 12 to 14 inch if it has been seasoning for about 2 months. The powerhouse splitter sits close to the ground and is only 100 pounds so the first thing you want to do is build you a little table to get it to the right height. next there are 2 handles you must hold down to make sure you dont have you hand in the splitter. I made a bracket to hold both handles together. then i made a handle so i didnt have to bend over at all to activate the forward motion of the ram. next you need a good heavy duty 12-2 extension cord about 50 feet long. 19.5 amp motor needs 12-2 and must have a 20 amp breaker. I never tripped the breaker once. when i got a big piece it wouldnt split, instead of sitting the log all the way down in the splitter, i would hold the end up on the wedge so it was only biting about an inch or inch and a half of the wood. it would start splitting then back off on the ram arm and put the log all the way doen in the splitter. it would then split the log. this is for home use and for 400 dollars i cant complain.

"alphonse, Please explain more on your statement." Sorry for a late reply, I was out of town. You have the gist of my comments though. Bigger cylinders and heavier steel tolerate the higher system pressures or the developed pressure and racking from any misalignment between cylinder mounting and the tracking during extension. The larger the cylinder diameter (force area of the piston) the lower the system pressure, though that equates to slower flow. "I felt the bypass at 2,500 on the 3,000 psi gauge basically showed built-in protection in the hydraulic system." Yes, you need a pressure relief valve. On the splitter I built which has a 5" bore piston, the relief is set at about 60% of the cylinder rating which is plenty of force but conservative of all components. Some reliefs can be adjusted to give greater pressures but without knowing any ratings bumping pressure up can be playing with fire. "When needed I run the 1 HP motor on a 25' 12-3 (12 gauge) extension w/o feeling the extention getting warm, is that heavy enough?" Should be. The longer the cord, the greater the voltage drop which will "starve" the motor, causing overheating and possible failure. 220V gives an advantage there, the transmission wire can be smaller though consumption is unchanged. Tangential splitting and the ramp are good ideas. My splitter has a table that the ramp hooks to and allows big stuff to be repositioned without having to pick anything back up off the ground.

Got it going today! New plug. Blew everything out with air. Took the tank and carb off, cleaned and reinstalled. Changed the oil (twice... the second time after the oil was good and hot)and did a Sea Foam treatment. It was a bit difficult to start, but once running, it was fine. Although it had a pretty widely oscillating tempo. Fast and slow... fast and slow. But later in the afternoon, I bought a new air cleaner to replace the totally ruined one that was on it. Actually... I had been running it without the air cleaner to facilitate the Sea Foam treatment and I also doubted that it would even run with the gummed up old filter. Anyway... with the new air cleaner on, the oscillating tempo was gone... ran as smooth as could be! I didn't get to the points today. Where I got my parts, they had the replacement coil that does away with the points. It was $36... didn't buy it. But might, if you think it would help with the starting. I do have to yank on the cord quite a bit to get it running. BTW... last night, I didn't have much hope for the engine as my compression test showed only about 50 lbs. But it sure doesn't run like it has low compression. Thanks to all for your suggestions. Perhaps I can keep this little engine running for a long time.