UK’s best electric log splitters: Heavy duty Forest Master and Handy splitters compared for value

For your average home with a wood burner and open fire, the Forest Master Fast Lightweight 5 Ton 2200 Watt Electric Hydraulic Log Splitter is the best electric log splitter. It ticks all the boxes:

• Lightweight: yes
• Powerful: yes
• Cuts decent length logs: 12 inches so yes
• Easy to move about: yes

Honestly it’s hard not to sound like a salesman pitching their product 😀 Look at the power to weight ratio. It’s insane. Compare the Mitox petrol log splitter. This bad boy weighs in at 135kg and costs £999. It’s a hard thing to move about too. Meanwhile the Forest Master is 32kg and costs £300. It gives up a bit on the log length but that’s about it, everything else it wins hands down in my mind. So you’re talking petrol power for electric money.

It’s pretty rare I get excited but this thing is the real deal and at sub £300 worth every penny. I assume you value your shoulders over £300? This thing cuts logs effortlessly and even logs in excess of 30cm in circumference too.

One thing to be careful of is the power rating. This model is so easy to manoeuvre that you’ll find yourself moving it everywhere but at 2200 Watts you want to be close to your socket. It’s not ideal to put this thing on a power cable (you’ll heat it up with that much power continuous). If I could fault it the assembly takes a fair while and it’s a two handed machine to operate.

Bigger wheels would have been a plus too but then that goes back to the distance from the socket…

It’s really hard to pick fault and if you buy it and find one, be sure to let me know as I’d love to throw a bit more balance into the review 😀

Sealey are a reliable but well priced tool supplier and they’ve been doing this for longer than I can remember. So welcome the Sealey LS520H Horizontal Log Splitter to Amazon! It won’t be long before this becomes a sensible mid range well selling product. How do I know that?

Well, firstly, the most popular selling electric log splitters online are 5 tonne and for home use. This one is exactly that. Secondly the power delivery is exactly the same as the other motors in this review 2200Watt. Most importantly though, it’s the usual decent value for money you expect from Sealey.

Just like the other decent electric log splitters this needs two handed operation. That’s an important part of safety and virtually guarantees you can’t just nudge the lever or buttom by accident and do some real damage to yourself. You need both engaged to make it work properly.

And on the damage talk, this splitter will handle a 50cm knotty log well and the bed can take 520mm so you can get a serious log broken down on this, well beyond what you’d want to lift anyway!

Overall this is an excellent alternative to the top pick and I would have no hesitation using this at home, whilst not heavy duty, it’s more than enough for a home running on a log burner or open fire.

Like most quality machines the The Handy THPLS8TE Vertical Electric Log Splitter is built with a simple two hand operation requirement. This means try to be clever and remove a hand from the lever and it’ll instantly cut off. I say try to be clever because whenever I’m using log splitters with a two hand requirement I always try to find a way to be quicker. Zooming out, and getting older and wiser, taking my time log splitting isn’t such a big deal anymore. Long gone are the days of racing to get my wood out the wet, cut and drying by the fireplace. I’m well organised now with the wood stacked neat and tidy, dry, and ready to roll. Ironically I am much slower these days 😀

You’re going to like the fold up table, that’s handy – no pun intended 😀 The base is well weighted so doesn’t rock about and decent size wheels make movement no issue. A picture speaks a thousand words though and describes these in a much better:

you’ll note I mention the half metre log chop space, that’s no sales scam, this thing will take on decent half meter length logs – the 3kW motor helping that. The smaller 5 ton only have 2.2kW so this is a good 30% more powerful.

I don’t know if you’ve used a vertical log splitter before, my opinion is they are much more comfortable but I have only used the manual version more often than not or petrol. This requires two hand op so you’ve got to have a sturdy level log and base. Otherwise, being 5″ 10 this thing is absolutely ideal for the average height man.

I’ll update as I get more feedback and use examples next time. Certainly worth considering!

This is another electric log splitter from Forest Master but is more powerful than the previous model. It can handle 50cm logs (diameter) and is built for power. Interestingly it has a ‘duocut’ as they call it. To you and I that is essentially an axe head both ends. This definitely helps with the speed of cutting and a very nice idea. It’s also capable of handling 45cm long logs, more than the 30cm of the model above. I know that I sound a bit over keen on these, I just want to show you what other people are cutting with these so you can understand my enthusiasm for them:

Really the only reason you get this model in my mind is because the first model isn’t big enough. Otherwise they are both superb products, just with a different price point. Also I would say the blades at both end make it a bit trickier cutting logs. You need a nice square cut so it doesn’t slip and then move off centre. This isn’t so much a problem on the single blade model but on this model the out of alignment cut splits the log in different places, and can even cause the table to warp a bit.

A friend of mine I know has a bit of grief with the bleed valve – he’s hammered his silly though for both workshop and home, runs everything off logs and offcuts from his carpentry op. And by some miracle I happened to find this chap with the same problem:

It’s a lovely bit of kit but overall if you can get away with the smaller and cheaper model then I would say do so.

The Handy 6 Ton Log Splitter with Guard is a nice comparable to the Forest Master Fast Lightweight 5 Ton 2200 Watt Electric Hydraulic Log Splitter with the same motor size and similar ram power. This model handles logs 25cm in diameter but 50cm in length. This makes it better for longer logs though then can’t handle so much diameter. Much depends then on how you personally cut your logs and how thick the trees are.

The power cable is a tad under 2m which makes working from an extension avoidable and being a two handed operation it’s certainly safer than single. handed otherwise would be. The instructions for initial setup need work but you’ll get there with a little perseverance.

It’s much heavier than the Forest Master though still moves on the wheels reasonably well. With a one year warranty it’s not a bad shout considering the price points all line up.

If you’re looking for something a bit heavier and harder using then I would again go for a Forest Master but this time the Forest Master heavy duty 7 ton version. I like almost everything about this log splitter. It’s essentially a beefed up version of the other reviews. It costs slightly more but the split is effortless and quick.

You want to make yourself, or get a decent stand for this splitter. Ideally you’ll wedge it in one end to keep it steady and lock the wheels. This will give you the much needed stability it needs. Most of the issues with this splitter is the base, the machine itself is superb for tackling even the gnarliest of knotty wood. Have a cutter at each end practically guarantees a quick cut; a complete cycle is 15 seconds but the Ram stop means you don’t need to do so and can expedite the process some too.

One cool thing I like about this log splitter is the angle of the blades. One aims downward and it’s obvious the idea is to pin the log into position and stop it jumping out the table and I have to say it works nicely.

Weighing in at 47kg it’s a bit heavier than the 32kg Fast Lightweight 5 Ton Electric Log Splitter model I am always raving about. If you need the power to cut wider logs 400mm or so then that’s that. If however you get small logs then this isn’t necessary and I’d opt for saving the money. Talking money, make sure you fill out the warranty card so you get an extra year. That said, these things very rarely break down. A hydraulic ram and good welding will last much much longer than this.