Customer Reviews

Fisch 4-Ton 2 HP Electric Log Splitter LS-8000 II

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I needed a big splitter occasionally, but just don't have room for a gas model. So, with some reluctance I ordered this one. It has worked out far better than I expected. I have split about 10 fireplace cords so far, and "split" is not an accurate description. Most of it is windfall large willows and elm - stringy and hard to split. It works hard when I need it, is suprisingly powerful and capable, quiet, and stores away easily in the garage.

I have some suggestions if you buy one of these:
1) DOUBLE your splitting power - buy a spray can of PAM cooking stuff. Spray it on the wedge often. Wood splits easily that stalls the splitter without the PAM.

2) Sharpen the wedge. Nothing fancy - use a flat file. You don't need to take off much metal - just put a little edge on it.

3) Make a helper pusher. This should be 5" long and 4-5" in diameter. It can be a small piece of log. Use this to push stubborn logs all the way to the wedge, or speed up splitting short logs.

4) Change the oil. After a fairly short use, I noticed the oil looked a bit dirty - not good. Not having much faith in Chinese petrochemical lubricant technology (or metalurgy for that matter) I decided to change the oil. The new stuff stays much cleaner, so probably there was just "crud" in the system in the new machine that got dumped with the change. The oil is Mobil DTE 24 or DTE Medium. This is a very common high quality general purpose hydraulic oil. You need a couple quarts. Any machine shop should have DTE 24 or equivalent. Any place that maintains forklifts will have it as well. It isn't hard to find, and probably is worth the effort to prevent wear to the hydraulic components.

Make sure you have a good 12 gauge extension cord. Don't use anything lighter. You can get a decent 12/3 100 footer for under $20 at Home Depot or Costco. You need to use a 20 amp circuit. If in doubt, a kitchen outlet over countertops is 20 amp. Laundry room outlet will also be 20 amp.

Overall, this is a decent little machine, and is very useful. Sure beats a wedge and a maul.

After facing two back surgeries in two years, and hand splitting wood for 40 years previously, I realized swinging the splitting maul was no longer a option. I researched several different brands of electric splitters over a 6 month period and finally decided on the FISCH LS 8000 4 Ton Electric Log splitter.
When I received shipment,which was only 5 days,the external packaging appeared normal,but opening the package was another story. I discovered several pieces of broken plastic, that came from a shattered electrical box, and a missing bolt for the leg assembly. I found a bolt in my shop and a roll of duct tape, finished assembly and plugged the unit in. I immediately challanged the splitter with some small diameter slab wood, next a green 12 in. block of stringy White Elm, and finally a knotty piece of green Ironwood. The little 4 Ton FISCH, said good by to all of them. I can hardly wait to use it again. I emailed the Company Direct, and within a day I received a email message and a phone call to confirm that they would ship the damaged electrical box and missing nut and bolt. My back is feeling great!

I ordered this based on the reviews posted here. The motor in the unit I received has a crack in the bell housing causing it to trip the circuit breaker because it is in a locked rotor condition. I am now trapped in an seemingly endless email loop of contacting Amazon's return department for a replacement which generates an email stating the site is no longer accepting email, and contacting customer service for over two weeks with no response. Until Amazon works with the company to resolve the packaging issues which can lead to damaged motors I suggest you not order this. Or take your chances. Stay tuned.
Latest update May 8,. Finally got a response from customer service and a new splitter. Still no resolution on shipping the defective one back. The new splitter arrived in a very damaged box. The UPS guy even waited around until I could at least plug it in and see if the motor worked. He was concerned about the damage to the box and thought we had another defective unit.
Either the distance involved from the warehouse to California is a shipping problem or handling of something this heavy is an issue. From what I can tell the interior packaging is not sufficient to keep the unit intact during its ocean journey and the handling during offloading. Good news is it works. Bad news is the box and the interior foam is in pieces.
I hope I don't have to ship this one back.

April/May 2006. After struggling with using this splitter multiple times. I gave up until recently (after my wife kept badgering me to get the firewood cleaned up). I dragged it out again, checked the oil and... split some wood! I was shocked. I learned several things. The other reviewers recommend using PAM cooking spray or similar non-stick product on the wedge. I agree. I have been using Silicone spray.
Also, for the larger pieces of wood, I pre-split them by using my chainsaw to cut an "X" in the diameter of the wood to help the splitter. Still, I have some hard eucalyptus that refuses to split. Also on large diameters of wood, I have been targeting an area near the side of the piece rather than going down the middle, it's tricky because you have to balance the piece of wood AND hold the switch AND work the lever. But it can be done. Watch your fingers!!!
I got through about 8 very large pieces of ash, euc, and maple before my back finally said enough.
So now I am glad I bought it and my wife is happy I didn't waste the money. Still I think I may get one of those 10ton manual splitters I just saw on Amazon...

I had several trees taken down, including an oak that was 36x39 inches at the base. I was bouncing a maul off of a log when my wife found this splitter on Amazon. I said "An electric splitter? That's a toy!" Sore and aching, I broke down and ordered it a week later - the free shipping helped.

I got it two days ago. I put an 11 inch diameter oak log on it and split it into 8 pieces in about 2-3 minutes. Wow! Where has this thing been all my life?

Strongly recommended for the homeowner/casual log splitter!

- Arnie

First things first. When the splitter arrived, the box was in excellent shape but I did notice a large stain on the outside. Upon opening the box, the extra bottle of hydraulic fluid supplied with the splitter was about 90% empty. I guess that explained the stain on the outside of the box. For the life of me I can't figure out how the fluid leaked out, there were no holes in the bottle and the seal on the cap was still in place. The fluid didn't come out of the splitter, the dip stick said it was full. Anyway, the other item that was broken, as experienced by another reviewer here, was the plastic electric box. Not just the cover, but the whole box. I sent Fisch an e-mail and they sent me a new box and a bottle of hydaulic fluid. Odd thing though, the hydraulic fluid came in a pint sized spring water bottle with the cap taped on. Thought that was odd, or maybe people at Fisch are drinking hydraulic fluid instead of Poland Springs water? The electrical box was also shipped and was a pain to get on. All of the wire connections had to be seperated, the new box put on and then re-connected.

After all was right with the world again, I began splitting logs. Let me tell you, this thing can split 'em! Don't be fooled by it's size, it can handle everything you can fit into it. I tried a number of logs with knots and they too were cut in half.

The performance of the splitter along with the excellent customer service makes this a top choice in my book.

My extended family has always enjoyed a good fire during the winter months, and when given the opportunity to harvest several nice oak trees, I jumped at the chance and began to investigate both gas and electric log splitters. Gas log splitters were out of my price range, so I narrowed my choice to electric and settled on the Fisch. I read all the reviews, helpful hints and owner's manual thoroughly before starting to split my initial 4 cords of wood. To be quite honest, this machine outperformed my expectations completely. Not only did it split logs that were wider than 12" in diameter, it did them when they were freshly cut, with no hesitation nor sticking. I sprayed the wedge with cooking spray before every log and rarely had any problems at all with the logs not splitting completely after the cycle. To make the splitter operate at best effeciency, I would recommend following the owner's manual completely (spraying the wedge before each log, opening the air screw, checking on hydraulic fluid regularly) and of course, clean the splitter from time to time to reduce the amount of goop accumulating on it. In one weekend, I cut and split enough wood for both myself, my two sisters, and my father...over 4 cords of wood. With seasoned wood going for about $150.00 per cord, it paid for itself immediately. I would not hesitate at all to buy this machine, as I was more than pleasantly surprised by its performance.

We've got lots of oak on our property and a fireplace in the house.

For years, we've split the wood with a maul and/or axe.

When I decided to get a log splitter, I went for this one. Not because it was the lowest priced but because it was physically small. We don't have a lot of storage space and it had to be small enough to drag to the storage shed.

The unit is not made well. Within the first couple of hours, the support rails on either side of the bed had been bent. It's also a wimp of a machine.... almost a joke. With that said however, there are very few of our logs that it will not split! And we have some pretty large pieces we've put through it.

We've found that green oak is just too much for the splitter. But logs that have been down for a year or more can be split. Sometimes we have to reposition the log or turn it to find that sweet spot where it will split.

We've used the machine for two years now and it still is fully operational. I figure we've cut up two or three cords with it so far. So, it's almost paid for itself.

It's a wimp but it beats doing this by the good ole fashion way.

I've read the reviews, and looked around... Wanted a gas powered 20 ton unit, but the money, and storage space were an issue. I should state I burn a lot of firewood, in a airtight woodstove. Splitting wood is a great workout, when young, a pain in the back as you get wiser. I have run all sorts of aged wood through this unit, and will try the better oil (read other comments) and the pam spray. It simply is under powered for the larger hardwood logs. I compensate by cutting the logs shorter, and generally, it works.

I shop Amazon all the time - yet - got mine on ebay, no doubt bought one that was damaged in shipping (mine had a broken electric box - duct tape fixed it)and returned... Anyway I got a steal / deal, and so I will not complain about the limitations of it. A friend dropped off some green wood, and I split it all. So I am pleased with the performance, reconize it's limitations, and compesate for it by cutting smaller logs - lengthwise...

I have been using this to split firewood that I had delivered for this winter (already seasoned - mostly). Works very well, low noise, and simple enough to use that my wife (who does not do any sort of "yard work")and 5-year old (with me standing over him)have been using it. Go to the hardware store and buy a gallon of hydraulic oil, because the bottle that comes with it is not enough - only half full. Very basic instructions, but not difficult to put together. Much easier on the back than splitting with an axe/wedge...

I received in about a week this was fast shipping ,I went to work the next day and started to split my wood what a great unit it split with no problems at all,before I knew it I had a cord split sure beats the old splitting maul,everything arrived in excellent condition even came with a bottle of extra oil,for the shorter logs I used a 4x4 to take up the extra space of the 20 inch throat,I built a 20 inch tall table to put the splitter on and that way you do not have to kneel down just remove from log pile split and stack I highly recommend this splitter..