After years of hand splitting oaks, the hand splitting of a big hickory nearly got the best of me. I started researching splitters. I figured I could get by with a 20 ton. Hoped to find a good used one. One popped up one night on Craigslist. “Brand new, never used, 35 ton Huskee log splitter. $750.” I think they were selling around $2000 back then.

Well, that got my attention! I called the number. The first thing the lady said was “I won’t take a penny less than $750!” She assured me it was brand new. I made arrangements to meet her halfway between our homes ( which was still an hour drive each way.) I took my buddy with me and we were carrying… just in case.

The lady showed up, towing the splitter. I looked it over. It looked like it had just come out of the show room. It had never even had gas in the tank. I put some gas in it and it fired right up on the second pull. Hydraulics checked out okay. She had a receipt for purchase so I know it wasn’t stolen. I said “I’ll take it.” I handed her the money.

THEN… I said “So tell me the story about this splitter.” She said her husband bought it to put on their land in Arkansas. (We were in Houston). He put it in a storage lot until they could take it to Arkansas. Then he ran off with his secretary. After about a year, the lady got tired of paying the storage fees so she started selling all the husband’s stuff, including the splitter!

Score!