If you heat with wood fuel, log splitting is a big topic on your mind come the end of the summer and into the fall.  There’s nothing more comforting than seeing all those cords of neatly stacked wood sitting out in the yard, patiently waiting until they’re needed, like an army of heat soldiers ready for duty.  If you split your wood with a maul or axe, you’ve probably considered upgrading to a gas- or electric-powered log splitter at some point.  You’ve probably also wondered if buying or renting one is best for you.  Is buying a log splitter worth it?  Would renting one once a year be adequate?  Here are some factors to consider:

The Cost

This is probably your first concern.  And for good reason: while there are many reasons people choose to heat with wood, one common reason is its cost economy over heating oil or other fuels.  So you don’t want to cut into that savings by paying too much for the tool you use to split.  If you rent a splitter, you could pay anywhere from $50 to $200 for a day of use, depending on where you’re located and what type of machine you choose.  If you only want to split one or two cords, you may be able to do it in a day and that cost might make sense.  Most people, however, need to split significantly more wood than that.  If a winter’s worth of wood for you is six or seven cords — or even more — you’re probably looking at a weekly rental, which will run you $400 or more.  That cost, either for a day, a week, or more, adds up over the years.  And if you’ve committed to heating with wood, you’re probably in it for the long term.  A $400 price tag on a weekly rental adds up to way more than the cost of buying a log splitter after just a few years.  Look into the rental costs in your area and see how many seasons it would take to add up to the cost of owning your own splitter.  You might be surprised how quickly those costs add up!

The Convenience

When you rent a log splitter, you are pretty much tied to it for an entire day, and then have to return it at the end.  All your splitting for the season has to be crammed into that small window of time.  Even if you have a person or two around to help, it can be pretty difficult to get all the wood you need to split done in that small period.  When you own your own machine, you can split at your own pace, whenever you have time.  An hour here, an afternoon there, and before you know it the whole season’s worth of wood is finished.  Splitting wood can be a pleasure, but it loses its charm when you have a deadline to meet.

The Wood

Whether you have wood delivered to your house or cut your own from a woodlot, you probably have a mix of larger logs that need to be split multiple times and smaller logs that can be used without being split at all.  If almost all of your wood needs to be split multiple times — and especially if you use wood that is knotty and often difficult to split — getting through a cord of wood can be quite time-consuming.  And the more time-consuming splitting a cord of wood is, the more you would benefit from owning your own log splitter and being able to spread the work out over several months rather than a single day or week.  If most of your logs are small and do not need to be split, maybe renting is best for you.  But we’d bet that’s not the case for most wood burners!

The Toll on Your Body

Depending on your physique, splitting wood for long stretches can be hard on your back and shoulders.  When you have to do all your splitting in an 8- or 24-hour period, the toll on your body can be intense.  Compare that to splitting for short periods of time over the course of several months.  Your back will thank you for not making it do a whole year’s worth of splitting in one day!

The Opportunities

Many people who own their own log splitters find that they can make back some of the money they spend on it by renting it to friends and neighbors or bartering for other services with it.  This is obviously not an option if you’re renting!  If you have friends and neighbors who also need to split wood, consider purchasing a wood splitter and renting it out for a reasonable rate a few times a year.  They’ll enjoy the discount over larger stores, and you’ll enjoy a little extra cash.  Have a friend who works on cars?  Next time you need some car/truck repairs, see if you can barter a week with your log splitter in exchange for having the work done.