Aside from the injuries, there are also some practical reasons why people choose to use a log splitter over an axe.

Split A Wider Variety Of Wood

Softwoods and those which do not have knots in are far easier to split by hand compared to hardwoods and green woods, and often logs are not perfectly straight like we would hope for, making it harder to split them by hand. Also, consider the size of the wood that you are going to be splitting. Wood with a large diameter will take up more of your time, whether you go for an axe or a hydraulic log splitter method, but you will need a lot more effort to split it by hand, as opposed to rearranging the log on the splitter beam.

Suitable For Any Level Of Fitness

Splitting wood with an axe requires a reasonable amount of stamina physical strength, and depending on how much wood you have to split, you could be working at it for a while. Swinging an axe burns a lot of calories, but it can easily take its toll on your body, but using a log splitter can save you from the strain. You will still get a work out from lifting the logs on to the log splitter beam, and if you don’t want to lose all the physical advantages of using an ax, then consider getting a manual log splitter such as the Sun Joe LK10M, which you will need to pump to activate the hydraulic ram.

More Efficient And Quicker

This will, of course, vary for different types of wood, but generally using a log splitter is far quicker than splitting them by hand with an axe. Some models, such as the Champion 100251, are capable of completing up to 300 cycles per hour, which is far quicker than any human could manage! A log splitter also won’t get fatigued like a human, and if it has an automatic return then you can just concentrate on feeding and organizing the logs, while it does the hard work for you! Plus, by saving your energy, you’ll likely have longer sessions of using a log splitter than you would with an axe.

Log splitter: more cycles per hour + more hours spent = far more logs split each session

Minimal Maintenance

Granted, an axe is low-maintenance too – all you really need to so it sharpen it, and you may need to sharpen your log splitter’s wedge too occasionally. The only other maintenance you may need to do is sometimes top up the oil and fuel.

Some Log Splitters Can Be Used Indoors

If you choose one that is manually-powered or powered by electricity as opposed to one that requires gasoline, then you may be able to use it inside, saving you from working outside in the cold, wet winter months! This can also make it easier for you to find a flat surface to work on, which is necessary for many log splitters and harder to come by outside, especially in winter.

They Don’t Create Much Mess!

You will probably get some chips spreading around, and for that reason, it is important that you wear eye protection, but this is easy to sweep or rake up once you are done. Plus you can always collect them to use as tinder!