An increasingly popular piece of garden machinery over recent seasons, chiefly because of the rise in popularity of wood burners and peoples’ preferences to prepare their own firewood, the log splitter provides a safer and less tiring way to split wood than with the traditional axe or maul. The quantity and type of wood that you intend to split will determine the size and style of log splitter that you purchase. For normal sized logs that are soft wood or unseasoned hardwood, a standard electric log splitter with 5 tons of splitting pressure will suffice. If you have a large quantity of wood to split, it is preferable to use a more powerful log splitter with an upright stance; these machines are capable of accommodating large logs and normally operate with 6 to 8 tons of splitting force. Petrol log splitters are also an option, capable of delivering splitting forces between 8 to 10 tons, more than enough to split seasoned hard wood and ideal if no electrical power supply is available.