Denise Okafor, Hydraulics & manuals editor

I'm the person on the team who reads a manual from the safety warnings to the parts list, including the pages most people skip. For log splitters that's where the real differences hide: the hydraulic oil the maker specifies and how much of it, the filter and the service intervals, how the controls are laid out, and what the warranty quietly leaves out.

Warranty small print is a habit of mine. On a gas splitter the engine can be covered by the engine maker rather than the splitter brand, home and commercial use can get very different terms, and some coverage only holds if you keep service records. I write those details down model by model so they end up in the guides.

I also write about accessories, mostly to stop people buying a cover, a wedge or a log cradle made for a different version of their machine. And I write the kinetic versus hydraulic guide, since flywheel splitters and pump splitters get compared on the wrong numbers more often than not.

I don't maintain these machines for the site. I read the documents, lay them side by side and point out what's missing.