Cooch...wish I would have seen this earlier. I went out and purchased the Ariens 27 ton splitter. I did this after my late father in law's 50+ year old splitter finally split it's last piece of oak. So I spent a good two days online researching wood splitters. I know I did not need anything larger than the 27 ton. Anymore would have been over kill.
I ended up going to the Home Depot website and taking that price and going into the home Depot store and they "matched" the online price for the Ariens. I paid just a wee bit above $1600.00 for the 27 ton. I finally decided on this splitter for a few reasons:
1) Made locally just about 10 miles south of me in Brillion, WI.
2) Strong machine made of solid steel and not flimsy Chinese metal
3) Good value/price and warranty
4) Sips fuel with the Suburu engine
5) Friend has the same splitter and speaks highly of this Ariens.
6) Made in the United States of America
I've used it to split cotton wood and the splitter went right through the wet wood and the machine did not grumble a bit. I do agree that the table is a bit on the small side, but as an option, one can purchase a larger table....though I do believe this should be standard on the machine.
Jerry